About Bill Palmer
BILL PALMER is a guitarist, composer/musician and an educational author. His style is a mix of rock tones, ambient sound-scapes and jazz-influenced harmony.
Along similar stylistic lines to Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson but with a voice all his own, Bill’s debut self-recorded album “Outlines” (ToneFreak records 2007) has garnered much critical acclaim from both music industry press and insiders and has been described as:
“Classic Satch style shred…” Australian Guitar Volume 64
“Face melting runs, complex arpeggios…” Rave Magazine 2008
“Your material is awesome, really great stuff…” Mark Holden – Aust. Idol Judge
“Great playing, writing and arranging – awesome!” T.J Helemerich (LA based producer)
“Bill Palmer’s “Outlines” is a guitar pickers heaven…” Manly Daily
“Tone, control and melody – epic sounding….” Australian Guitar Volume 64
“Plenty of heat, the songs are both catchy and original…” Manly Daily
Follow this link to reach Bill’s Website
Download Bill’s Songs from iTunes!
Video Guitar Lesson “Creative Open Chords”
Open chords on the acoustic guitar have a very particular sound and generally speaking, one that a lot of players (incl. myself) find preferable. For any chord to be considered “open” the only real premise is that it needs to make use of is at least one open string. Your standard “CAGED” chords use at least 2 open strings and sometimes 3 but an “open chord” need only use one to be considered as such.
Thinking about chords in terms of notes rather than strict “positions” or “shapes” allows us to come up with open chord shapes that may not otherwise have occurred to us.
To kick-start your fingers and your brain in this direction, here is a transcription to an original piece I wrote several years ago titled “New Rays From A Distant Sun.”
The chords in this piece are all what is loosely termed as “jazz chords” and I’ve tried to give it a distinctive sound by using open strings where possible:
New Rays From A distant Sun
Copyright © Bill Palmer 2007 track 7 of album ”outlines“
More Examples
As you’ll see in the video below, there are many different chord shapes and ideas that can be used with open strings. You can take an existing shape (such as G, or C) and experiment by moving it up the neck. Remember to try different variations of the open chord as well as some of these sound particularly nice when moved further up the neck.
You should bear in mind that not all open strings will work with every given instance of fret placement but generally speaking, you should be able to hear when the chord is woefully “off” and if you’re up on some basic theory, you can even take it a step further by establishing which keys contain which particular open strings.
Another thing to bear in mind is that some voicings will sound a lot nicer when picked as arpeggios rather than strummed. Again, experimentation is the name of the game – don’t be afraid to try these things out!
The key principle here is to mix up your chord vocabulary a little and to help you become more comfortable moving up and down the neck. Further, it’s a terrific way to become more confident with the names of the notes and to identify which open strings go with which particular keys.
As always, feel free to comment if anything is unclear. Have fun and I’ll catch you again soon.
Content Written Exclusively For:
http://www.learn-acoustic-guitar.com/
Questions? Comments?
Email - bill@billpalmer.com.au
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