Banjo · Chapter 19 of 23

More Chords and Moveable Shapes

A few more open chords cover the minor and less common chords in banjo tunes. Then three moveable shapes unlock the whole neck.

G, C and D7 play the majority of tunes. These six play most of the rest. Press each diagram to hear it, and look up anything else in the chord finder.

Em and Am

Em is easy: two fingers at the 2nd fret, on the 4th and 1st strings. Am adds the 3rd and 2nd strings. Both appear often in old-time tunes and in songs in G.

A and E7

For A, lay your index finger flat across all four strings at the 2nd fret: a barre. E7 uses two fingers. They are the chords for tunes in D, together with D and G.

F and Bm

F uses all four fingers and is the start of the moveable F shape below. Bm is a stretch from the 3rd to the 4th fret; place it slowly and let it settle.

Practice: G, Em, C, D7

A very common chord progression, with a forward roll on each chord.

Three moveable shapes

A chord shape with no open strings can slide anywhere on the neck. Every major chord can be played with three shapes. Here they are for G, from low on the neck to high:

The F shape: the F chord moved up two frets. The root, G, is on the 4th and 1st strings.

The D shape: like the open D chord, moved up. The root is on the 2nd string.

The barre: one finger across all four strings, an octave above the open strings.

Move any shape up or down and the chord name moves with it: one fret is a half step. The barre at the 2nd fret is A, at the 5th fret C, at the 7th fret D. The F shape at the 3rd fret is F, at the 5th G, at the 7th A. Bluegrass players use these shapes for backup (the last chapter) and for playing melodies up the neck (the next one).

Try it. Play the G, Em, C, D7 progression four times. Then find C and D with each moveable shape. A start: the barre gives C at the 5th fret and D at the 7th; the F shape gives F at the 3rd fret, so C is seven frets higher, at the 10th. Working out where each shape puts each chord is how you come to know the neck.

Remember

Em 2 0 0 2, Am 2 2 1 2, A = barre at 2, E7 2 1 0 0, F 3 2 1 3, Bm 4 4 3 4 (strings 4 to 1).
Three moveable major shapes: barre, F shape, D shape.
Slide a shape one fret and the chord moves a half step.