This lesson will require a basic working knowledge of
theory and harmony.
Chord Fragments are 2 or 3 note voicings which,
when
combined with a bass note, can suggest complete chord
qualities without taking up a lot of space in the music, and
on the fretboard. They are very useful in comping situations
where a bass player is present (They can be used in other
ways, too, but for the purposes of this lesson we will only
talk about using them for comping). They tend to not get in
the way tonally or harmonically with other instruments as
can be the case with big, full guitar voicings. Below are
some commonly used fragment voicings. Consider the
examples, listen to the playback, and then read my
additional comments at the end of the page for further
analysis.
(*the root notes, which are included in the
voicings, would normally be supplied by the bass player.
They are included in the diagrams only to generate the
complete chord sounds on playback, so concentrate on the
notes other than the root . All examples are in the key of C.)
You have probably noticed a few things about the above
example. First, the 2 note interval shapes above the root,
which suggest the chord quality, all occur on the same
string set (4 and 3, respectively). Also, each successive
chord has only one note changed from it's previous
diagram. For example, between the C chord and the Cmaj7
that follows, only one note has been altered to convert the
chord sound from major to major7th. This is to illustrate
how easy it is to convert a simple interval shape to get the
desired chord sound. Another thing you will notice is a
familiar sounding moving line within the sequence, taking
place as you play from chord to chord. These are common
voice-leading cliches' which you will encounter in many
standard progressions. This is to demonstrate how you
can use chord fragments not only to imply chord sounds,
but also to imply moving lines within the harmony.
