[OCSupertones]

Hey everyone,

Im new to the board and have a question.

I'm playing "Arms of Love" and i dont know what to do when it says Em - Em/D

and again

D/F#

and again

G - Bm7

I'm a newbie to the guitar, so lay it out easy to comprehend.

Thanks!

[bobthecockroach]

OK...

Em - Em/D they most likely just want you to play an Em and the quickly go to Em/D (correct me if I'm wrong anyone)

Which would be... 022000 to xx0000 or any other forms of those chords

D/F# is a D major chord with an F# for the lowest note

200232 is the easiest way to play it... i use my thumb for the first 2

G - Bm7 I'd imagine would be the same thing basic thing as Em - Em/D (assuming i was right about that)

320033 - x24232 or some other form of those chords

[OCSupertones]

Ok, we'll then i'll just have to skip the "switch fast" part...i dont have anything that involves speed down yet

what do you mean by

D/F# is a D major chord with an F# for the lowest note

and

320033 - x24232

Thanks for responding also

[GMartin2R]

okay let me see if i can clarify a bit there.

first off i need to know if you know the notes on the fretboard. i'm going to assume you do. now the open string notes from biggest to smallest are EADGBE

so 2 frets from the nut would be an F#. now when a chord says for example D/F# the first matter of business is to play a D chord. now while you are still holding that D chord, wrap your thumb around the biggest string on the 2nd fret. and you have a D/F#


and the numbers... 320033 indicate which fret to play. the string order is from left to right, biggest to smallest. so for the above example you would play the 3rd fret on the biggest and bottom 2 strings and the 2nd fret on the 5th or A string. a 0 means you play the note without fretting anything and if you see an x such as in x32010 you don't play that string.

help any?

[OCSupertones]

Originally posted by GMartin2R
okay let me see if i can clarify a bit there.

first off i need to know if you know the notes on the fretboard. i'm going to assume you do. now the open string notes from biggest to smallest are EADGBE

so 2 frets from the nut would be an F#. now when a chord says for example D/F# the first matter of business is to play a D chord. now while you are still holding that D chord, wrap your thumb around the biggest string on the 2nd fret. and you have a D/F#


and the numbers... 320033 indicate which fret to play. the string order is from left to right, biggest to smallest. so for the above example you would play the 3rd fret on the biggest and bottom 2 strings and the 2nd fret on the 5th or A string. a 0 means you play the note without fretting anything and if you see an x such as in x32010 you don't play that string.

help any?

[everyman]

The notes after the slashes usually state a bass line. For example, in "Arms of Love," you might have this sequence of chords: G - D/F# - Em, which states a descending bass line of G - F# - Em.

Since you're a beginner, I suggest that you ignore the slashes and focus on playing the main chords. For D/F#, just play a D chord; for Em/D, just play a Em chord.

Let the bass player take care of the slash notes. Main thing is that you keep tempo and let the chords flow smoothly.

[OCSupertones]

Originally posted by everyman


Since you're a beginner, I suggest that you ignore the slashes and focus on playing the main chords. For D/F#, just play a D chord; for Em/D, just play a Em chord.

ok thanks, that did help.

[Pete_H]

Originally posted by everyman
Since you're a beginner, I suggest that you ignore the slashes and focus on playing the main chords. For D/F#, just play a D chord; for Em/D, just play a Em chord.

Everyman is right. But someday you will learn how to do these chords, and when done properly they will be very effective in a song. Here's how I play the D/F#, XX4232. To me wrapping my thumb over the low string doesn't come in to clear, so doing it this way really gets to the point.

[MJ_Avalanche]

Originally posted by Pete_H
Here's how I play the D/F#, XX4232. To me wrapping my thumb over the low string doesn't come in to clear, so doing it this way really gets to the point.

I don't wrap my thumb over, personally...

I put my middle finger on the F# and my last 2 fingers on the G and B strings...

Like this:

200230

And that way I can slide it so that it looks like this:

402450

That's the first form inversion... lol.. Much easier than wrapping my thumb around the E string...

[Shredcheddar]

Originally posted by OCSupertones
Im new to the board and have a question

Welcome!

I wouldn't reccomend playing a chord like this :XX0000. Some fretted notes are pretty much neccesary with chords for me. Not that open strings sound bad. Listen to slide/steel guitar.

Good luck.

[nate95366]

I wouldn't reccomend playing a chord like this :XX0000.

Since the definition of chord doesn't include the word fingers, even in the context of guitar, I'll have to disagree with your sentiment toward completely open chords. Maybe they're not the best thing to take four down-strum "hacks" in a row at while you're playing "Home on the Range," but if you jazz up the strum rhythm a bit, that chord in particular works very well in transition between other chords...

Nate

[GMartin2R]

Originally posted by nate95366
Since the definition of chord doesn't include the word fingers, even in the context of guitar, I'll have to disagree with your sentiment toward completely open chords. Maybe they're not the best thing to take four down-strum "hacks" in a row at while you're playing "Home on the Range," but if you jazz up the strum rhythm a bit, that chord in particular works very well in transition between other chords...

Nate

yeha i've found that too.

depending on the song, i can use that as a good transition between chords. doesn't always work but sometimes it does.