Know Your Chords - 9th Chords (A Shapes)

7th Chords will be the first installment in the "Know your Chords" series. I'm going to approach this the same way you were taught bar chords, E shapes and A Shapes. The E shapes will be referenced at the 5th fret making it an A chord, the A shapes will be referenced at the 7th fret making it an E chord.

This way you can start with memorizing the shape and chord name based on a chord shape you already know. These shapes are also moveable, like a bar chord, so shifting them around will help you play them in other keys. I'm going to show them in E bar shapes and A bar shapes so you can have a few different places on the fretboard to play them.

9th Chords:
Here are the notes that are included to build these chords and their names:

Chord	Name	Chord Structure
E9	9th	1, 3, 5, ♭7, 9
Em9	minor 9th	1, ♭3, 5, ♭7, 9
Emaj9	major 9th	1, 3, 5, 7, 9
Eadd9	add 9	1, 3, 5, 9

Rather than focusing on the theory of the chord, which is included above in the chord structure, I want to focus on learning the shape. This will help you remember it and add it to your chord vocabulary.

I recommend playing through these over and over and memorizing their names when you play them.

Know Your Chords - 6th Chords (E Shapes)

6th Chords will be the next installment in the "Know your Chords" series. I'm going to approach this the same way you were taught bar chords, E shapes and A Shapes. The E shapes will be referenced at the 5th fret making it an A chord, the A shapes will be referenced at the 7th fret making it an E chord.

This way you can start with memorizing the shape and chord name based on a chord shape you already know. These shapes are also moveable, like a bar chord, so shifting them around will help you play them in other keys. I'm going to show them in E bar shapes and A bar shapes so you can have a few different places on the fretboard to play them.

6th Chords:
Here are the notes that are included to build these chords and their names:

Chord	Name	Chord Structure
A6	6th	1, 3, 5, 6
Am6	Minor 6th	1, ♭3, 5, 6
A6add9	6/9	1, 3, 5, 6, 9
Am6/9	Minor 6th add 9	1, ♭3, 5, 6, 9

Rather than focusing on the theory of the chord, which is included above in the chord structure, I want to focus on learning the shape. This will help you remember it and add it to your chord vocabulary.

I recommend playing through these over and over and memorizing their names when you play them.

New Pedalboard build plans

I have a board now I'm pretty happy with. It has all the tones I'm needing, sounds great with my amp, and is small. I've been through a few different creations using a PT Pro and a Trailer Trash which for me is just too big to haul around. For the most part I only use overdrive, delay, and reverb, so having a big board isn't necessary for what I play. I plan to build a 2nd board so I can leave my other board at home or at the church I regularly play.

Here are the build plans:

Diamond Comp > JHS Morning Glory > Klon Klone Jr > Ernie Ball VP JR > MXR Carbon Copy > Strymon Timeline > Strymon Blue Sky

Know Your Chords - 6th Chords (A Shapes)

6th Chords will be the next installment in the "Know your Chords" series. I'm going to approach this the same way you were taught bar chords, E shapes and A Shapes. The E shapes will be referenced at the 5th fret making it an A chord, the A shapes will be referenced at the 7th fret making it an E chord.

This way you can start with memorizing the shape and chord name based on a chord shape you already know. These shapes are also moveable, like a bar chord, so shifting them around will help you play them in other keys. I'm going to show them in E bar shapes and A bar shapes so you can have a few different places on the fretboard to play them.

6th Chords:
Here are the notes that are included to build these chords and their names:

Chord	Name	Chord Structure
E6	6th	1, 3, 5, 6
Em6	Minor 6th	1, ♭3, 5, 6
E6add9	6/9	1, 3, 5, 6, 9
Em6/9	Minor 6th add 9	1, ♭3, 5, 6, 9

Rather than focusing on the theory of the chord, which is included above in the chord structure, I want to focus on learning the shape. This will help you remember it and add it to your chord vocabulary.

I recommend playing through these over and over and memorizing their names when you play them.

Know Your Chords - 7th Chords (E Shapes)

7th Chords will be the first installment in the "Know your Chords" series. I'm going to approach this the same way you were taught bar chords, E shapes and A Shapes. The E shapes will be referenced at the 5th fret making it an A chord, the A shapes will be referenced at the 7th fret making it an E chord.

This way you can start with memorizing the shape and chord name based on a chord shape you already know. These shapes are also moveable, like a bar chord, so shifting them around will help you play them in other keys. I'm going to show them in E bar shapes and A bar shapes so you can have a few different places on the fretboard to play them.

7th Chords:
Here are the notes that are included to build these chords and their names:

Chord	Name	Chord Structure
A7	Dominant 7th	1, 3, 5, ♭7
Amaj7	Major 7th	1, 3, 5, 7
A7sus	Suspended 7th	1, 4, 5, ♭7
Am7	Minor 7th	1, ♭3, 5, ♭7
Aaug7	Augmented 7th	1, 3, ♯5, ♭7
Am7b5	Half diminished	1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭7
Adim7	Diminished 7th	1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭♭7

Rather than focusing on the theory of the chord, which is included above in the chord structure, I want to focus on learning the shape. This will help you remember it and add it to your chord vocabulary.

I recommend playing through these over and over and memorizing their names when you play them.

Great Show at the Kessler: @davebarnesmusic

Dave Barnes put in an amazing show at the Kessler on Sunday Night! The music was awesome and Dave was hilarious. I've never laughed so hard during a concert in my life.
Andy Davis opened the show, and playing solo piano or guitar. He is an amazing vocalist and put on a great show.
Dave's music was fun, moving, and entrancing to listen to.

I had a great time!

Using Isolation Cabs

For years, there has been a big push to minimize stage volume in church. Minimize, in some cases may be the wrong word, eliminate is probably more appropriate. The reason for eliminating stage noise from loud guitar amps and drums is to give the sound man more control over the balance and volume of the music. We have all jammed with another guitarist where you both rotate turning your own volume up so you can hear yourself until it is so loud that you really cant hear anything.
With your guitar amp on stage, the sound man must balance the level of the music to the stage noise you are creating, which in some cases is blaring loud. The great thing about running your amp off stage in isolation is that you can achieve the appropriate volume level where your amp sounds best. I play a Deluxe Reverb where the volume tends to sound best over 5 or 6. It gives it just enough drive to respond to when you dig in. Now if I had to play that loud on stage the sound guy would want to blow my amp up. For you cats who use AC30's or other louder amps, this is a big deal, since the amp sounds better the more it is opened up. When you are worrying about stage volume, you do not get to open up your amp.
I'm not 100% for having your amp off stage, I would much prefer having my amp with me and at the volume level I like. There is nothing like actually feeling your amp while you are playing and allowing your amp to respond to the pickups in your guitar. Your pickups also pickup the sound of your amp (known as feedback) and can be a very musical tool for you to use. But if I cannot set it at the volume level that makes my amp sound best, I'm all for having my amp off stage.

A couple of hints for running your amp in an iso cab:
#1 Set your amps volume to where it is clean with just a bit of break up, when you use an overdrive you can actually overdrive the amp not just fake it clipping the pedal.
#2 Know how to place your mics: http://dotted8thheaven.blogspot.com/2012/04/micing-your-amp.html
#3 Use an SGI for running long cable lengths. You lose signal the longer your cable run is and have a greater chance for picking up noise. Using an SGI can help retain your signal.

@guitarcenter #musiciansexpo

Had a great time at the GC Musician's Expo! Here are some photo highlights: