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Lesson time: (8min 36sec)
Aprende a variar ritmos y voicings de acordes para acompañar en diferentes estilos musicales.
This lesson is part of the course Rockschool Guitarra Grade 7
Watch this lesson for free below.
Lesson transcript:
Alright then, guys.
As you get more competent at this whole comping concept, the style of the music you're playing will dictate the types of chords and the routes you choose.
Let's take funk as our first example. If you're playing a funk piece, it probably isn't appropriate to base your rhythm part on open chords.
For instance, with a simple chord progression, A minor to D minor, it won't sound particularly funky in open position down here. Funk comping usually lives on the thinnest three strings: the G, B, and E strings. You play these little mini chunks of chords, and it sounds great.
So why don't we try that here? We'll use the same strum pattern but with chord voicings on the top three strings.
A Minor Chord Voicing: Bowing across the fifth fret on the G, B, and E strings. This is taken from the common barre chord shape but only using the top half.
D Minor Chord Voicing: For my D minor, I'll play a D shape here on the fifth fret (a D minor 7, which I'm sure you're all familiar with as well).
Let's try that instead.
You can hear instantly how much more stylistic that sounded playing that funk part on the top three strings as opposed to the wrong place, either down here or on lower strings, where it sounds quite muddy.
We want funk parts to cut through, which they do if you play them on the top three. It's also a good way to develop your chord library.
In the example I did, I used some simple embellishments. I added the same note over both chords, creating a minor 9 kind of idea on the A minor and then using that same note over the D minor 7 chord.
This creates movement within the parts without becoming a melodic line, giving that rhythm part some groove, bounce, and interest.
As a final point on funk, try to avoid moving too much between chord voicings.
You could play something that sounds cool but involves a big jump between chords, like this:
When playing funk, we've talked about maintaining a 16th note driving right hand. Varying the pressure on the left hand is essential for achieving that percussive sound.
Now, let's apply the same idea to a rock context.
The first thing that changes would be the sound. The funk sound is clean, while the rock sound is typically driving and dirty.
In terms of voicings, instead of extending them out (like in funk), in a rock context, you often make them smaller and play power chords rhythmically.
For the same chord progression, instead of extending it, I might make it smaller and use power chords.
If you're looking for more stylistic ideas in either funk or rock, or any genre in the Rock School syllabus, check out the performance pieces.
Enjoy, have fun with it, and let's move on to the next topic.
