Have you heard the terms “flat” and “sharp” used in music theory but wondered what they mean in terms of building chords? This lesson will give an introduction to these terms as applied to Ab chords.
Flattening a chord often refers to altering one or more notes within it by one half tone (one semitone), thus altering their qualities and changing its tone. This process is called flattening.
Basics
The Bb chord can be challenging for beginner musicians, but its versatility makes it worth your while to learn. From classic rock classics such as “Good Vibrations” to New Wave gems like The O’Jays’ “Now That We Found Love,” its presence can be found throughout a wide variety of songs.
While some students mistakenly believe that flat chords are minor, this is not the case. Most flat chords (like Ab) are major unless “flattened,” in which notes of a chord are lowered by half-tones to change its quality, such as making it minor or augmenting or diminishing it.
To create a flat chord, altering the intervals between its notes (also called flats and sharps) is necessary; other ways include tuning down a guitar by half steps – some guitarists opt to play this way as well.
Barreled chords are among the easiest way to form flat chords on guitar, as they require less finger positions and provide greater range of motion in the hand than open chords which must be played using all fingers at once. There are other non-barre flat chords which may also be played either all or some fingers simultaneously.
Flat chords consist of three notes repeated three times, like Major triads. When these chords are arpeggiated they become augmented and diminished chords.
As open chords require notes outside the key to form, flat chords are typically impossible to play without using a capo, which allows you to use finger positions of common open chord shapes into flats by moving unfretted finger positions up or down one fret. This method makes flat chords more accessible for beginners while helping build guitar skills without needing to learn all accidental notes in scales.
Fingerings
Flat chords on guitar refer to chords where either the second (or sometimes third) note has been altered from its original key by flattening, usually one fret. Most often these chords are either major or minor chords; sometimes an altered chord also includes seventh or ninth notes which have also been flattened, creating an altered sound.
Simple barre chord fingerings will do just fine to play these chords; just place your index finger on the fourth string’s fourth fret, middle finger on fifth string third fret and ring finger on second string third fret respectively. Or mute both E and A strings using index and pinkie fingers as arpeggiators on remaining two strings to produce arpeggiated versions of these chords.
Beginners often find this method to be inefficient for learning the fretboard, but with practice you will find one that best fits your hands and playing style. Furthermore, you may discover other methods of building flat chords by using different chord shapes or fingering techniques.
Before beginning flat chords, it would be helpful if you could learn some fundamental scale patterns and key signatures. This will make understanding music theory simpler, and help explain why certain notes may be sharp or flat when creating chords.
G major and A flat chords share the same root note, yet do not sound similarly due to being composed using different scales (a series of intervals arranged around their root note).
G major scale has an interval of one whole step between its first and second notes, while A flat scale uses minor third intervals between second and third notes; these differences in intervals can influence how chords sound and are played.
Notice when some chords have an extra note name listed after their root note – this is known as a slash chord and signifies that an additional note exists above its roots. An example would be Deep Purple’s “Hush”, where Ab chord is used to heighten obsessive love feelings depicted within. Slash chords often add dramatic tension to songs across genres – find one in your favorite rock tune now!
Inversions
As you become more adept with chord shapes, you may wish to experiment with various inversions. A chord inversion involves switching around the order of notes so that its root no longer sits at bass position – this changes its overall sound while opening up new possibilities for creating unique melodies and songs.
Chord inversions can be easily located on a keyboard; however, fretboard chord inversions may be more challenging to identify due to movable chord voicings. Therefore, having a visual guide such as this one below to assist with finding all of the different triad inversion patterns is very helpful in keeping tabs on these elusive inversion patterns on the fretboard.
To invert a guitar chord, simply move the fingers that are pressing down on its base notes around on the fretboard to produce different sounds. This works for major and minor triads alike – simply keep to an interval pattern from low to high that does not violate chord formula 1-3-5-7!
Flattening notes to change the color of a chord is also an option; however, this typically only has minimal effects on its overall sound. For instance, switching from C major chord to D minor won’t change its sound significantly as both keys differ by only two octaves.
Flatten a triad to transform it into a minor by simply lowering one of its notes by half step – for example, changing a G major triad into a minor chord simply requires changing its E to an F and changing one half step downwards in frequency – although the G major chord will remain audible due to maintaining its interval pattern of 1-3-5-7.
Use of inversions on chords can add variety and depth to your rhythm playing while further developing fretboard understanding. Just be sure to remember the letter count of whatever scale or chord you are working with and avoid mixing sharps and flats unless necessary.
Variations
Some flat chords feature an upbeat, perky sound that’s ideal for crafting uptempo pop and rock tracks. One such chord is the Bb chord (also known as G sharp). There are countless ways you can use it and plenty of great songs that feature it!
As with other major chords, the Bb chord can vary quite considerably in form and sound. Finding an adapted shape that works with your fingers and hand shouldn’t be hard; just learn some different fingerings and practice playing it regularly! In this post we will look at eight ways of playing the Bb chord including some barre versions as well as non-barre versions.
People often struggle with the second variation of this shape as it requires stretching their pinky from 3rd to 6th freet. If your fingers can get into position as described in the first variation, though, this shape becomes relatively simple to play – especially if you use “muting” the high E string by lightly rocking back your index finger to intentionally kill it off; this will stop its ringing out and making the chord sound weaker than it actually is.
One of the great advantages of the Bb major chord is that it also makes an effective sus4 chord. To create one, simply switch out its seventh note for that of an F minor scale’s fourth note; sus chords add tension and work especially well immediately prior or following another major or minor chord in a song.
Another effective way to add tension and depth to a flat chord is by moving it up an octave. This will have an immediate impact on its sound, so experimentation should definitely be undertaken as this could give your flat chords some additional dimension.
Once again, here’s some ways of playing a flat chord on guitar. These are among the more frequently seen forms, but there are lots of others out there too! Experiment with different shapes, inversions, and variations until you find ones that best suit your fingers and hand and soon you’ll be crafting Bb songs of your own!