Volcz

Could someone please tab out a Bbsus7 for me and the different variations. I'm not the best at theory and am completely stumped here.

Cheers.

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rockingamer2

Bbsus7

Bb Eb F Ab (1 4 5 7)

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Volcz

Still haven't been able to get the chord name man, just can't see how to lay it down, especially with the F.

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fearofthemark

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1
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1

would actually be one way of playing it, albeit in second inversion. It's a pretty easy chord to play.

A sus7 chord has the tones I, IV, V, bvii.

Bb is the root (first fret A string.)
Eb is the fourth (first fret D string)
F is the fifth (first fret E string)
Ab is the b7 (first fret G string).

And if you need to play it in some other inversion, you can get away with omitting the root or the fifth sometimes. They're not as integral to the chord tone as you might think, and the bass usually has one or both of them covered anyway.

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chronowarp

First step, bro.
Learn how to build dem chords.

If you think of the major scale as your color palette, then building chords is just a matter of following the formula. If major chords are 1-3-5, and minor chords are 1-b3-5. If suspended or sus means that the third is "suspended" - aka replaced with the 4th, then it becomes simple!

If you know a '7' by itself implies a dominant 7th, and you know a dominant 7th is 1-3-5-b7, then combine the two!

sus7. ...take a guess...ya, that's RIGHT! 1-4-5-b7. Ok! So what's the Bb major scale? That's easy!

Bb C D Eb F G A

How do I know that? Because if I look at the circle of fourths, Bb is two FOURTHS away from C...F (1 flat)...Bb (2 flats). Or...you could just memorize it because it's really easy.

Ok!

So...if I take that major scale and apply that formula...Bbsus7 should be...Bb-Eb-F-Ab

SHIT THAT WAS EASY BRO!

Now I just translate those notes to the guitar, and I can have all kinds of crazy voicings!

Like this! x1314x

Or this! xx8864

OR EVEN THIS! xx3344 (holy shit!)

maybe even 6x686x

perhaps 13x13 11 11

or x8889x (wow thats the same as one of the others...if you knew where the notes were on your fretboard, then you have noticed! the options are limitless*)



*there are a finite number of ways you can voice this chord

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Volcz

Thanks for your help guys! I've got it!

But now I was wondering if you could help me these chords you see on the sheet music, I'm not even sure what they're called! As well as what those black bars mean.

Sorry I'm really terrible at theory, I'm working on it!

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rockingamer2

This sheet should help:
www.tsmp.org/keyboard/lias/pdf/Symbols.pdf

The black bars represent measures of rest. The number indicates how many measures you are resting for. The sideways arrow means to accent that chord.

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chronowarp

IF that's a big band chart I'd be more worried about nailing those rhythms than what notes/chords i'm playing. Real talk here; in big band you probably don't need more than 2-3 note voicings. Just pick a fraction of the chord and nail it in that hole, bro.

Don't be dropping big clunkers in there.
Anyway, big bros post above gives you some information about lead sheet nomenclature.

EbΔ7 = Ebmaj7 = Eb G Bb D
AØ7=Am7b5=A half diminished = A C Eb G
D+7=D7 WITH AN AUGMENTED 5TH BRO= D F# A# C.

There's about 4gajillion ways you could voice these, but maybe try doing partials up high and see how it sits (I don't know anythin about the instrumentation in the group/how white you are, etc).

xxx12 11 10 Ebmaj7
xxx12 10 8 Am7b5
xxx11 11 11 D7+ (its really a #5b9, but you could xxx11 11 8

also you could do the Bb7sus up there...xxx10 11 11

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Volcz

Yeah it is a Big Band chart. I'm not even sure how the damn piece goes - only got the music today.

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chronowarp

When I was in big band I'd treat it like a game/exercise in how absolutely little I could do.
What you absolutely want to avoid is doing giant 4-5 note voicings, and doing them low. Stay out of the mud. You don't want to be heard, you want to just lock in with the rhythm section and give that color.

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Volcz

What do you mean by doing 'giant 4-5 note voicings' :p Hahah sorry man.

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chronowarp

I mean...you have 6 strings...if you're using 4 or more of them then you're probably playing too many notes. If it's a typical highschool/college big band then you most likely have a piano player...which means he's going to be going ham over there on the keyboard ****ing michael j foxxing enormous chords like a guitar noob all over the shitting place.

You need to be the antithesis of that approach and concentrate on rhythm and color and playing chords that are higher in register and use 2-3 notes (See my previous post on voicings for the thing you posted). Don't give into the temptation, dude. When in doubt, lay out.

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Volcz

That's exactly what it is, I'll definitely observe the rehearsal and see how it goes. Thanks a sh*tload man!

The one thing I'm confused about right now is how to play with the measures of rest. So this piece is in 4/4 and for example if a bar has the chord Bbsus7 in it, then theres another bar which I have to rest for "3 measures" then theres another bar which says Ebmaj7 would I play the Ebmaj7 on the 4th beat of that 2nd bar, or just the first beat of its bar?

If I'm not too confusing!

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chronowarp

Don't play anything where there are rests, you're resting! Just count.

I'm guessing that these notated chord stabs are backgrounds to a solo section or something of that nature, am I right? The backup horn parts may possibly have that same rhythm, and no doubt the piano/bass/drums will have it at minimum.

If you're unsure on how to count this stuff, then put it into GuitarPro or some MIDI editor and just try to follow along. There's no harm in that if you aren't confident with your reading skills yet, but you need to work on them.

I've gone through and converted an entire guitar score from a big band piece into guitar pro so that I had something concrete to practice from. There's no shame in that (maybe a little), but you gotta do what you gotta do to learn it.

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fanapathy

A measure is the same as a bar. It sounds like you got confused. 3 measures rest = 3 bars rest

Volcz

Here's a picture of the first page of the music so you can see

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chronowarp

When a chord is written over a bar, it means that is the harmony until otherwise specified.

So you've got 2 bars of Ebmaj7 there, then Am7b5 and D7+ in the same bar...it changes to D7+ on 4 where the chord is written about the quarter note.

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mdc

Here's your chords for the C Section, buddy.



if you want more voicings for the rest of the piece then just say...

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Sweet

Volcz

Yeah I understand that much, but when do I hit the Ebmaj7. Cause if you look before theres a rest for 3 measures. If 3 measures is 3 bars, then do I just hit Ebmaj7 on the 1?

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