Show me?

[Ripper]

Im going nutso!....I have tried a few places online but, nuffin!
Can someone show me what an[glow=red,2,300] F# add 4[/glow] looks like?

[spitfire23bc]

Powertab Editor says: 2 2 4 3 2 2

[Ripper]

Thanks Spitfire...Im going to get my daughter to show me new ways of finding out info via the internet.
Im sooooo out of the loop!
Cheers mate!

[sumgai]

deep,

Just be aware that adding the 4th will clash with the 3rd that remains in that Powertabs chord, the 3rd string, 3rd fret. Nominally, you'd want to also raise that by placing your little finger at the 3rd string, 4th fret. Using the 3rd, 4th and 5th notes in the same chord can be ear-wracking if not used with care.

A couple more thoughts....... Usually, adding a 4th is actually suspending a chord - that's where we raise the 3rd to get the 4th in an otherwise standard Major triad. That changes the ratio between the notes from 4:3 to 5:2, a different tension altogether. That's not an easy thing to resolve, so we often insert a dominant 7th below the 4th. For that chord, in F#, one would use 2 4 2 4 2 2, rendering root, 5th, 7th, 4th, 5th and root. Why does that work so nicely? Well, let me leave that as an exercise to the reader for now, I'll answer it more fully later on, if an interest should be expressed.

If one elects to use only the lower three strings (4, 5 and 6) to play a so-called power chord, one will nominally have merely the root, 5th and root again. (Often denoted in modern tablature as F#5, meaning 'no 3rd'.) Removing the ring finger from that power chord will then give you the root, 4th and root again, that's true. (Providing that you barred the thing in the first place, like you should have. ) But this has little effect without 5th note, there's no tension to be resolved. In fact, depending on the rest of the musical piece, this formation actually takes its root from the second string (B in your example), with 5th notes below and above it - very powerful indeed, in the right context.

Just some things to think about, during breaks from those lessons your daughter is giving you on how to use both hands to find...... the innerweb. ;D

HTH


sumgai

[Ripper]

Sumgai...In a word * WOW*
I did play the chord as per spitfires instruction.
I guess I should have worded the request this way...
The opening chord to Rush's Cygnus X from the Hemispheres album is apparently F# add 4
I tried finding it from a chord finder, but I had no luck.
I think the F# add 4 is wrong. It sounds similar, but not exact. The sheet music that I have must be wrong. When I get time tonight im going to try and find the proper music online.
Thanks Sumgai...
As always you make us feel loved here at GN2!

[sumgai]

deep,

Certainly, an ".... add 4" is legitimate, but in many cases, it's simply labeled incorrectly. I suspect, and I have no proof of this one way or the other, that adding a 4, as denoted by the chord name, is meant not be a suspended chord..... it's meant to create dissonance and great tension.

While I would be the last to say that I listen to all kinds of music, and can enjoy anything even as I dissect it in my mind, the fact is, I probably haven't heard 1% of all the different aspects available to a listener in today's modern world. That leaves me breathless with wonder as to how the hell I'm ever gonna catch up, at this late stage in the game!! ;D But the stuff I do listen to, I can still thank Mr. Ludwig from my 7th grade Music Apprciation class, way back in the mid 50's. There's nothing like a solid grounding in the fundamentals (even if it's only fundamentally Western in focus), it makes life so much easier when someone springs on you a new scale, a new mode, or a different chord progression.

Your motto should be (and I say this with no small humility), "The day you stop learning, that's the day you start dying." Of course, I myself am a wee bit behind in my lessons and homework.

;D


A final note...... unless you're sitting side-by-side with the person who originally crafted the tune/song in question, then you should suspect absolutely all written materials. Over the years, things tend to go from absolute (the first time it was dreamt up by the author) to "I think it went this way" to "Aw screw it, who cares, let's just get this over with". Written materials always fall somewhere on the timeline much closer to the second instance than the first.

Them's my words of wisdom for the day, now let me go back to my Homer S... I mean, my homework.


sumgai