Certain guitar players seem to be able to fit together chord progressions that offer a lot of inspiration. The sound of specific note combinations on the neck can resonate with a collection of intervals that while sounding simple enough, at the same time, these chord tone arrangements are very unique and in turn inspire us...

Whether it's; Tommy Emmanual, David Crosby, James Taylor, or Lindsay Buckingham, many guitar songwriters have found a way of blending note combinations that can instantly inspire us by changing our state of mind and our mood within seconds of us hearing these types of chords.

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THE 2nd INTERVAL:
One of the top abstract sounds that guitar players can rely on to produce that inspirational dreamy "cloud-9" sound-effect are chords that add on 2nd or 9th intervals.

C add2: One of the most common of these is the "Cadd2." In this chord, the "C Major" chord tones of (Root, 3rd and 5th) are all present, with the addition of the "C Major" scales 2nd note of "D." Here's popular chord pattern shape for it...


G add2: Another dreamy chord effect from the world of the add two color is the sound of using the "Gadd2" chord. This chord (when played in the open position), once again includes all of the, "G Major" chord tones and it adds the second scale degree of the "G Major" scale, which is an "A" tone. Here's a popular open position chord voicing for this inspiring chord sound...


E add2: The effects of including the added second interval can also exist off of placing the second degree into a lower register location of a chord. A great example of this sound is the open position,"E add2" performed with the overall shape of a typical, "E Major" chord voicing from open position.





COMPOUND INTERVALS:
Extensions can be taken up an octave and included within seventh quality chords creating a compound interval of a "9th, 11th or 13th." And, they can be combined to produce calming and abstract extended chord sounds.

Bm9/add11, (Bm11): One of the most popular chord voicings for this sound is the "Bm9/add11." Often called the "James Taylor" chord. Here's the voicing that James Taylor will often use in his music...


SUSPENDED:
Another chord idea that can be included in this group of inspiring, relaxing chord effects, is the sound of the suspended 2nd. And, one of the most popular of these is the "Dsus2."

Dsus2: Suspended chords, have no quality, since their 3rd chord tone, (the defining note), is missing. Here's an easy to play dreamy sounding, "Dsus2"



ADD CHORDS:
Along with those dreamy suspended sounds, there's also the abstract effects of one of my personal favorites the "add4" chord.

The "add4" chord in our example takes a common "C Major" open position chord voicing that includes all of the chord tones, and slides it up to 3rd position.

Once in this 3rd position, the shape adds in the scales 4th degree. The end result (when its played), is a very captivating sound that certainly doesn't come off sounding like very many of our typical open position chords.





EXTENDED INVERSIONS:
I have one more "INSPIRING chord" that you'll really enjoy using. This one (in particular) is an inversion of "D Major" that also inverts the chords third chord tone (F#), into the bass, (which is referred to as a first inversion voicing).

To further enhance the effect of this chords' color even more, the open "B" string can be included for an extension of a "6th." Practice playing the voicing I've provided below...


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I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on all of this in the comment section below... if you enjoyed this video (on YouTube), give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more. Thanks again and we'll catch up next week , for another episode of the, "Guitar Blog Insider."