Chord Of The Week 19/4/14 - Eminor

bigjon

Roland said:

X75757

That's another great-sounding Em7 - I associate with 'Sunflower' by Paul Weller

Roland

I like it because it doesn't stand out. Many of the Em shapes seem to jump out of the arrangement, which is fine if you want to accentuate it, but sometimes you just want it to lie there quietly then this is the one

If you want a standout Em then try 12 14 12 12 12 12, but don't fret the strings, just touch them to bring out the harmonics, and flick your index finger across the strings as though you were flicking a peanut across the bar. The 5th string stays muted, and the others bloom out into a warm, strong chord. [\anorak mode]

HAL9000

Then there's the Robert Cray Em...

XX545X

I've always quite like the slightly ambiguous sound this shape gives (presumably because it's an inversion, and the voicing has hints of a Maj7 sound).

Roland

And its neighbours xx5453 and xx5457 which accentuate the 3rd and 5th for voice leading.

I'd forgotten just how much fun this is

bigjon

Roland said:

And its neighbours xx5453 and xx5457 which accentuate the 3rd and 5th for voice leading.

I'd forgotten just how much fun this is

Or middle 4 strings Em variants 02545x / 07545x or 025450 / 075450

mellowsun

I love the fingerpicked Em9 Martin Taylor plays on the intro to 'Polkadots and Moonbeams' on the Artistry album, following a nice A mixolydian run on the G, B and E strings starting on the off beat:

----------------------5
--------2 3 5 5/7
--2 4

0 x 4 0 3 2

bigjon

This is a good 'un - toggle between

Em7: 0 7 9 7 8 10

and

Em6: 0 7 9 7 2 9

mike_l

@bigjon I'm hoping the second has a typo in it, unless you have seriously bendy fingers. 

bigjon

Ah yes, should be 0 7 9 7 8 9 - well spotted

bigjon

There are lots of good pick-y Eminor chords where you let an open string ring against a fretted note just below it, like this -
Em9: 024030
A good picking pattern is 6 5 4 3 1 2 3 4

bigjon

Here's another good pick-y Em9 - 

Em9: 0x5773