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NEW: First eight shapes for swing backup

 Here are basic voicings of three-note fragments of four note chords. This means in seventh chord the fifth is omitted and remaining root, third and seventh degree is played. The basic approach here is that we virtually divide our DGdg banjo to two instruments tuned DG and dg. On one string of the deeper pair we play root, the other is muted (either D is muted by left thumb, or G is muted by light touch of slanted finger which simultaneously frets D string). The higher pair is fully occupied as we play third and seventh degree of the chord here. In the table below substitute the Z letter for actual root. Of course you have to know where on the neck this note is in order to match red circle with it.

Seventh chords
without fifth 		Root at D string
G string muted by slanted finger
seventh at d string
third at g string 		D string muted by thumb
root at G string
third at d string
seventh at g string
Zma7 
    
||OO
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|||O
|O||
Z7 
    
||O|
|||O
O|||

    
||O|
|||O
||||
|O||
Zm7
or
Zm7/5- 
    
||OO
||||
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|||O
||||
|O||
Zdim 
    
||O|
|||O
||||
O|||

    
||O|
|||O
||||
||||
|O||

Here are two examples of turnarounds using these voicings.
   Gma7  E7     Am7   D7
g--4--4--7--7-|-5--5--5--5-|
d--4--4--6--6-|-5--5--4--4-|
G--------9--9-|-------7--7-|
D--5--5-------|-7--7-------|
and 
   Cma7  A7     Dm7   G7
g--4--4--6--6-|-5--5--4--4-|
d--2--2--5--5-|-3--3--3--3-|
G--5--5-------|-7--7-------|
D--------7--7-|-------5--5-|
All the chords shown above have root in bass and missing fifth degree. Next chapter shows many diferent possibilities regarding the bass note and omitted note.


"10th chords" on DGdg tenor banjo

 Note EITHER the D string OR the G one is NOT played in these voicings.

Inversion
(deepest note is...) 		Root Third Fifth Seventh
What note is
missing? 		no fifth no seventh no root no third
Zma7 
    
|O||
||||
||||
||||
||OO
O|||

    
|O||
||O|
||||
|||O
||||
O|||

x   
|   
|O||
||||
||O|
||||
|||O
Ox||

    
|O||
||OO
||||
||||
||||
O|||
(sounds bad)
Z7 
    
|O||
||||
||||
||O|
|||O
O|||

    
|O||
||O|
||||
|||O
||||
O|||

x   
|   
|O||
||||
||O|
|||O
||||
Ox||

    
|O||
||||
||OO
||||
||||
O|||
Zm7 
    
|O||
||||
||||
||OO
||||
O|||

    
|O||
||||
||O|
||||
|||O
O|||

x   
|   
|O||
||O|
||||
|||O
||||
Ox||

    
|O||
||||
||OO
||||
||||
O|||
Zm7/5- 
    
|O||
||||
||||
||OO
||||
O|||

    
|O||
||||
||O|
|||O
||||
O|||

x   
|O||
||||
||O|
||||
|||O
O|||
 x  

    
|O||
||O|
|||O
||||
||||
O|||
Zdim 
x   
|O||
||||
||O|
|||O
||||
O|||
 x

This table shows so called 10th chords - three-note-voicings of four-note chords where the range of notes (interval from the deepest one to the highest one) is tenth (octave + third). They are used by swing guitarists who borrowed them from 1930's jazz pianists. Swing guitar backup is of course played by flatpick, but we'll pinch the chords on DGdg banjo by thumb, index and middle fingers. The pressure of left hand fingers is relieved immediately after pinch to mute the sound and keep the rhythm sharp. The sound on 2nd and 4th beats should be even shorter.

Now to the voicings. In the tables there are shown five different chord types in rows: Note you can look to musical clock to understand the structure of these chords.

As the chords have four notes, one of them is always missing in the actual voicing. For each chord there are four possibilities (inversions) sorted by the deapest note, therefore the table has four columns of chords.

Finally, there are two possible voicings for each chord as the deepest tone can be played either on D or on G string of DGdg banjo (while the other one is NOT played). You can choose between the D-dg or -Gdg voicing. I would recommend to use primarily the D-dg voicing unless the other one is less stretchy for your left hand. On the contrary, if you play way up the neck, the -Gdg voicings may be more comfortable. Both voicings are shown together on one diagram, therefore you will play either its lower part on D-dg strings or the upper part on -Gdg strings - NOT all four notes together.

Z in the chord symbol substitutes the real tone (e.g. C or D or Eb etc.). Match the root showed in the voicing in bold red with the actual location of the note on the fretboard. Example: Bm7 in the root position (third row, first column) is 9-77 or -477 as the root B is on 9th fret of D string or on 4th fret of G string.

Did I say you have to know the fretboard?


Example: 12-bar blues in F

Transcribed from www.freddiegreen.org,
part Lessons and Technique, 12-bar Blues in the Key of F by Michael Pettersen
LISTEN 
g--2--2--2--2-|-3--3--4--4-|-5--5--5--7-|-8-10--8--8-|
d--2--2--1--1-|-3--3--3--3-|-5--4--3--6-|-8--8--7--7-|
G-------------|------------|------------|------------|
D--3--3--4--4-|-5--5--6--6-|-7--7--7--9-|10-11-10--9-|
   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |

g--7--7--7--7-|-6--6--6--6-|-5--5--5--5-|-5--6--5--5-|
d--7--7--6--5-|-7--7--6--5-|-3--3--5--5-|-4--5--4--4-|
G-------------|------------|------------|------------|
D--8--8--8--8-|-8--8--8--8-|-7--7--7--7-|-7--8--7--6-|
   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |

g--3--3--5--5-|-7-10-10--9-|10--8--7--6-|-5--3-2-2---||
d--3--3--5--5-|-5--8--8--8-|-7--7--5--5-|-3--2-1-1---||
G-------------|------------|------------|------------||
D--5--5--7--7-|-8-12-11-10-|10--9--8--8-|-7--4-3-3---||
   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |_| | |
Other three-note chord progressions recorded by Freddie Green are located at www.freddiegreen.org,
part Transcriptions


Chord inversions on DGd- strings

If you do not like the high sound of g string in the chord, you can switch the note from this g string to the G string one octave lower. From the terminology point of view it will no longer be the "10th chord", as the range between the notes is not the tenth, but the seventh or sixth - but what matters is whether you like the sound or not.

Note the thin g string is NOT played in these voicings.

Inversion
(deepest note is...) 		Root Third Fifth Seventh
What note is
missing? 		no fifth no seventh no root no third
Zma7 
    
|OO|
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|O||
||||
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|O||
Ox||

    
|OO|
||||
||||
||||
O|||
(sounds bad)
Z7 
    
||O|
|O||
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|O||
||||
O|||

    
||O|
|O||
||||
Ox||

    
|OO|
||||
||||
O|||
Zm7 
    
|OO|
||||
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|O||
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|O||
||||
Ox||

    
|OO|
||||
||||
O|||
Zm7/5- 
    
|OO|
||||
O|||

    
||O|
|O||
||||
O|||

    
||O|
||||
|O||
O|||
 x  

    
||O|
|O||
||||
||||
O|||
Zdim 
    
||O|
|O||
||||
O|||
 x


One chord up and down the neck

To practice these voicings, try to play one chosen four-note chord with all possible three-note voicings up and down the neck.

Here is one example of G7, C7, D7 progression:
LISTEN 
    G7
g|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
d|--3---3---5---5-|--9---9--12--12-|-15--15--12--12-|--9---9---5---5-|
G|--4---4---7---7-|-10--10--12--12-|-16--16--12--12-|-10--10---7---7-|
D|--5---5---9---9-|-12--12--15--15-|-17--17--15--15-|-12--12---9---9-|

    C7
g|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
d|--2---2---5---5-|--8---8--10--10-|-14--14--10--10-|--8---8---5---5-|
G|--3---3---5---5-|--9---9--12--12-|-15--15--12--12-|--9---9---5---5-|
D|--5---5---8---8-|-10--10--14--14-|-17--17--14--14-|-10--10---8---8-|

    D7                                                                  G
g|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|-----
d|--0---0---4---4-|--7---7--10--10-|-12--12--10--10-|--7---7---4---4-|--5--
G|--2---2---5---5-|--7---7--11--11-|-14--14--11--11-|--7---7---5---5-|--7--
D|--4---4---7---7-|-10--10--12--12-|-16--16--12--12-|-10--10---7---7-|--9--


Chord inversions on -Gdg strings

On the other hand, if you would like to play three note chords on the higher strings GDg, you can modify the previous voicings (from deep strings DGd) by lowering the finger on middle string by two frets.

Note the thick D string is NOT played in these voicings.

Inversion
(deepest note is...) 		Root Third Fifth Seventh
What note is
missing? 		no fifth no seventh no root no third
Zma7 
    
||O|
||||
|||O
|O||

    
||OO
||||
||||
||||
|O||

    
||OO
||x|
||||
|O||

too wide
voicing
Z7 
    
||O|
|||O
||||
|O||

    
||OO
||||
||||
||||
|O||

    
||O|
|||O
||x|
||||
|O||

too wide
voicing
Zm7 
    
||O|
||||
|||O
||||
|O||

    
||OO
||||
||||
|O||

    
||OO
||||
||x|
||||
|O||

too wide
voicing
Zm7/5- 
    
||O|
||||
|||O
||||
|O||

    
||O|
|||O
||||
||||
|O||

    
||OO
||||
||x|
|O||

too wide
voicing
Zdim 
    
||O|
|||O
||||
||x|
|O||


Different inversions

Voicings in all three tables above omit always the same notes from the same inversions (e.g. if the voicing starts by root, there is no fifth). But what about another possibilities - root inversion without third, or root inversion without seventh? (Of course root inversion without root is not possible.)

Here they are - first the root without third type inversion on -Gdg strings:

Note the thick D string is NOT played in these voicings.

Inversion
(deepest note is...) 		Root Third Fifth Seventh
What note is
missing? 		no third no fifth no seventh no root
Zma7 
    
|||O
|OO|

    
|||O
||||
||||
||||
|OO|

    
|||O
||O|
||||
|O||

    
|||O
||||
||O|
||||
|O||
 x
Z7 
    
|||O
||||
|OO|

    
|||O
||||
||||
||O|
|O||

    
|||O
||O|
||||
|O||

    
|||O
||||
||O|
|O||
 |  
 x
Zm7 
    
|||O
||||
|OO|

    
|||O
||||
||||
|OO|

    
|||O
||||
||O|
||||
|O||

    
|||O
||O|
||||
|O||
 |  
 x
Zm7/5- 
    
|||O
||O|
|O||

    
|||O
||||
||||
|OO|

    
|||O
||||
||O|
|O||

    
|||O
||||
||O|
||||
|O||
 |  
 x
Zdim 
    
|||O
||||
||O|
|O||


The voicings can be also moved from -Gdg strings to DGd- ones by shifting the finger on middle string two frets up the neck, but most of the voicings become uncomfortable to play.

Similarly to creation of second table from the first one, both tables with -Gdg voicings can be modified by moving the note on d string one octave lower to D string, to obtain voicing on DG-g strings - do it yourself. By this movement you get actually different type of inversion as there is now another bass note.

Do you need some three-note voicings of ninth chords? Coming soon...

Now go to my archive of TablEdit tabs and look and listen to the tab of January Blues, three-note-chord progression by Lubos Andrst.
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