Cigar Box Guitar Headquarters - CBG HQ

Essential Chords for 3 string tuned to gbe

So I spent a couple hours this weekend working out chord charts for gbe tuning.

I got Major, minor, dim, aug, and 7 chords. All the 7 chords are minus the root, since I've only got 3 strings to work with. The chords work though, especially if you have another player nearby to pick up the root in the bass.

Right now it's literally the only thing up on CigarBox101.com, but I'm hoping to add more content over the next several weeks. Anyway if you're tuned to gbe this ought to at least get you started.

CigarBox101%203%20string%20chords%20gbe%20tuning.pdf

If anybody's interested I could also do similar charts for other tunings. Just let me know.

Michael

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Robert Novickas on May 8, 2011 at 8:41pm

Thanks for your efforts. I've never tuned GBE, but I'll try it.

Robert

Permalink Reply by Richard Sanabia on May 8, 2011 at 9:45pm

You da' man!

Permalink Reply by Ted Crocker on May 8, 2011 at 10:01pm

That's great Michael, thanks! Lots of us here play GDG, DAD, EBE or other open tunings. I'm going to try GBE, sounds deep, might tame my tinny tin build.

Good luck with CigarBox101 dotcom, let us know if we can help.

Permalink Reply by Michael Glenn on May 9, 2011 at 1:10pm

Awesome, thanks guys. I'm not exactly sure what direction the website's gonna take; I just know I want an easy reference site for beginners. There's tons of stuff here and at the Nation on how to tune, how to play, etc., but a lot of it's buried so deep in the threads it's really hard to find. Or you have to watch 11 videos to find out "well, that's great but it's not what I was looking for." Not anybody's fault, it's just the nature of networking sites. I just want something that has all the real basic stuff in one easy to find spot.

I know "there are no rules" in cigar box guitar playing - but there's gotta be room somewhere at least for some guidelines. I don't know, I think something that can get a new buyer "up and running" right away, that shows a couple of tuning options, and explains a little bit about basic strumming patterns and how to form chords, give a brief overview of "here's what you need to know to start playing/building/whatever" could be a valuable tool for all of us. But people have to be able to find the very basic stuff or they'll never get started.

So that's what I'm hoping to do. (And then of course, link to the networking sites so more newbies can come in and ask more newbie questions...)

Thanks for the feedback,

Michael

Permalink Reply by Michael Glenn on May 12, 2011 at 10:46pm

It took me awhile to realize this, but gbe tuning actually sets you up to play open tuning in a minor key! (e-g-b)

So you've got open E minor, A minor at the 5th fret and B minor at the 7th! (i, iv and v)...

I love it when something new just "clicks" - one of those wonderful aha moments.

Permalink Reply by Steve on July 20, 2011 at 7:41pm

Just got into CBG and just checked your site. Nice, very nice. Bookmarked for sure. I like how you have given good detail at a "trained chimp" level. Look forward to reading it in more detail and learning more.

Permalink Reply by Glenn Reither on July 21, 2011 at 1:20am

Hi Michael. Nice work on the website. Suggestion: put an email contact on there? I have done a chord chart for all the closed chord shapes on GDgd tuning. Lemme know if you would like to add it to your resource there.

cheers

Glenn (Blind Gee Guitars)

Permalink Reply by Justin Mantelli on November 12, 2011 at 3:45am

Glenn Reither Id really like that cord chart as I use open g tuning also! Thanks!