Allen Hinds is no stranger here on GuitarPlayer.com. His legato tutorial and interview about his GIT days and studying alongside Jeff Buckley have been seen by many around the world.
But these are just reflections on his colorful career as both a sideman for artists like Gino Vanelli or Randy Crawford and his many solo albums (we particularly like 2011's Monkeys and Slides). Schooled, intuitive and open minded: These are the components that sum up his stunning musicianship.
For this video article, Allen focuses on his favorite chords that straddle jazz, fusion and blues rock. Instead of just playing numerous random chords though, Allen takes a more considered, real-world approach. For many of his examples, he takes a vibrant-sounding chord and recycles it by elaborating and/or changing the context. This is achieved by keeping the bass note the same, shifting the shape up and down the neck, or keeping the chord fragment the same but changing the bass note.
When talking about chords, Allen often refers to its voicing. Put simply, this references the notes in the chord in the order and register in which the notes are played.
For the purposes of this article, it's helpful to talk about chord notes in terms of their intervallic property. So here's a quick reminder of all of the interval names: root, minor 2nd, major 2nd, minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, augmented 4th/diminished 5th, perfect 5th, augmented 5th, major 6th, minor 7th, major 7th and octave.
For the higher extensions, simply add the number 7 to the 2nd, 4th and 6th intervals. So a 2nd becomes a 9th (2+7=9), a 4th becomes an 11th (4+7=11), and a 6th becomes a 13th (6+7=13).
Jon Bishop is a U.K.-based guitarist who's written tutorials for Guitar Techniques and Total Guitar. He is also a guitarist for orchestra and film tours (Love Actually, Twilight) and haas worked for over a decade with British rock and roll royalty, Shakin’ Stevens. As a fan of fusion guitar, he's well suited for transcribing Allen's sophisticated chords.
As many of the examples are performed free time, we have provided notation with the most obvious rhythmic subdivisions. When practicing, we recommend getting familiar with Allen's fingerings and the sound of the chords, rather than getting caught up in playing the examples verbatim.
Allen — whose electric guitars include signature Xotic models, like the Strat-style California Classic XSC-AH and Tele-style XTC-AH and XTC-AH2— plays with a clean tone throughout, with plenty of ambience and chorus. Whatever you choose, we’d recommend you dial in your favorite clean tone so you can hear all notes clearly.
Example 1: Drop D chords
Allen starts out in a drop D tuning — standard tuning with the sixth string detuned from E to D (D A D G B E). This allows him to add an extra bass note on the bottom, which would be hard to do otherwise.
Here the same fingering is recycled through three positions. With the open D bass note, a Dmaj9 chord is produced. By using a barre, a great-sounding minor 11 chord fingering is produced. Allen plays this one in fifth and second positions, creating Gm11 and Em11, respectively.
Example 2: Gm9/Gm11
Allen retunes to standard tuning, and shares a great-sounding open-position chord. He starts out calling this one Gm9, but after analyzing the notes and intervals (root, b3, 5th, b7 and 11), he updates the name to Gm11. He likes to incorporate open strings as much as possible as they provide extra sustain, as well as a chorusing effect not found on other instruments.
Example 3: D minor
Allen views the guitar neck as a slide rule and often repurposes nice-sounding chord shapes up and down the fretboard. Here you are shifting the lowest three notes of the Gminor9 chord from Example 2 up to the 10th fret. This creates a rich-sounding open-voiced D minor triad.
Example 4: Smooth chord movement
Using the D minor triad chord from Example 3 as a starting point, Allen demonstrates how this fingering can be modified. The key here is to use your ear as a guide and change the intervals by one or two frets at a time.
Allen uses the same strings and fingers, and it frees him up to create the part, with the theory analysis coming later down the line if required. Dominic Miller also used this concept when creating the memorable chords in Sting’s “Shape of My Heart.”
Example 5: Staggering notes in chords
Allen often staggers out the intervals within a chord's fretting. This provides many melodic options and can facilitate sophisticated sounds. Allen uses a fingerstyle approach, employing the thumb, first finger and third finger to pick out notes on the fifth, fourth and second strings. The first and third fingers can then be used to play the first and third strings together. This example is fun to play and sounds quite pianistic.
Example 6: Amaj9 - Fdim7/A
Here Allen shares one of his favorite major7 chord fingerings. To create this, he combines the E and A shapes to provide a pleasant-sounding open-position grip. This chord can transition into a great-sounding Fdim7/A. To make the notation easier to work with, we have notated only the two chord fingerings in the tab.
Example 7: Tight chord voicings
For this next example, Allen uses the sixth interval played on the first and third strings as a foundation. This leaves the second string free to sandwich in a crunchy second interval. All of the fingerings here are performed free time, so we have used the most logical rhythm to make the notation user-friendly.
Example 8: Tight chord fingerings v2
Here is another permutation of the idea in the previous example. Again, the sixth interval is played on the first and third strings. This time, however, the note on the second string is placed higher up. This creates a different type of dissonance and is a great way to improve your chord vocabulary without studying lots of music theory.
Example 9: A13
This is a chord fingering that Allen has used for years: a great sound with just enough jazz in it. The A13 chord has almost every note of the A Mixolydian scale (A B C# D E F# G) despite this being hard to achieve on a six-string guitar. This fingering is successful as it contains the root, b7, 9, 3rd and 13.
Example 10: Amaj7b5 or Amaj7#11
To create new sounds, Allen keeps the A bass note the same and simply moves the fingering up the fretboard. If the shape from Example 9 is played with the first finger on the 4th fret, a Lydian type sound is created. As Allen explains, this one is an A major triad with the 7th (G#) and #11 (D#) added.
Example 11: Asus4b9
If you move up another semitone, keeping the A bass note going, an A Phrygian (A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G) sound is produced. The core chord that goes with the harmonized A Phrygian mode is Am7b9. This chord is rarely used due to its dissonant nature (the Bb rubs against the A root note). Here the b3 (C) is replaced by a 4th (D), which helps the chord's overall sound.
Example 12: Am9add6
Allen moves the shape up another two frets for a tasty-sounding Am9. As this chord is constructed from the root (A), b3 (C), 5th (E), 6th (F#) and 9th (B), we can refer to it more concisely as Am6/9.
Example 13: A7#9#5
If you move the same shape up another fret so the first finger is on the 8th fret, a really strong voicing for an A altered dominant chord is produced. The intervals here are the root (A), 3rd (C#), #5 (E#), b7 (G), and #9 (B#), creating A7#9#5.
Example 14: A7sus4b5
If we move the same shape up another two frets, so the first finger is on the 10th fret, we get A7sus4b5 chord. This is often used as a substitution for Am7b5.
Example 15: A7sus4b5 - D7alt - G6/9
In this example, Allen takes the opportunity to demonstrate how the A7sus4b5 chord can function as the first chord in a II-V-I progression in G. The chords are A7sus4b5 – D7alt – G6/9.
D7alt is short for D7 altered, implying that chord tones such as b5, #5, b9 and #9 could be included (often at the player's discretion). Here the alterations are #5 (A#) and #9 (E#).
Allen links these three chords with a simple melody built from notes near to each chord. It’s a great way to smooth over tense- or advanced-sounding chords.
Notice the G6/9 chord is without a G note and features stacked 4th intervals that fit well on the frets. Not all chords need the root note in them (and that can often be played by the bassist anyway).
Example 16: Bbmaj7sus2/D
This is another of Allen's favorite voicings, as it has an open sound and can be many different chords if the bass note is changed. Here the D is in the bass and this is the third of the chord. The other intervals in play are the root (Bb), 2nd (C), 5th (F) and 7th (A). So we can refer to this chord as either Bbmaj7sus2/D or Bbmaj9/D.
Example 17: Em9
This one sounds especially effective and the secret is the dissonant-sounding b2 interval (F# and G) sandwiched between perfect fifths (E-B and G-D). The easiest way to play the b2 interval with chords like this is between the third and second strings. If the root note is changed to a G, a rather pretty Gmaj9 sound is produced.
Example 18: E7(no3rd)
Allen shares a no-nonsense fingering for E7. This one has an ambiguous tonality, due to the third being omitted. The intervals here are the root, b7, and 5th.
Example 19: Blues Jazz Groove in E9
Here Allen demonstrates how one good chord fragment can be adapted and reused in a bluesy setting. The chords are played on the top three or four strings so you can funk out on it (and be cleanly heard above the rhythm section!).
Example 20: C/G - Dmaj7/A - Ebmaj7/Bb
Allen is fond of playing notes other than the root in the bass. Even a simple C chord can be thickened by adding the fifth in the bottom. Allen moves this shape around, creating a different vibe than if he'd used the root in the bass each time. The open third string's G note adds further color and serves as a pivot note in the middle of each chord's voicing.
Example 21: Bb6/9 - E6/9 - Bb6/9 - G6/9
These 6/9 chords are built from harmonized fourths (quartal harmony) and have a beautiful sound. The 6/9 chord is often used in bossa nova and jazz music as a colorful substitute for a maj7 chord. Here Allen cycles though three positions on the neck, keeping the chord fingering the same. Interestingly, you can use a sixth or fifth string root note and the 6/9 chord shape remains the same on the top four strings.
Example 22: Amaj9add6 (no3rd)
While we are in 6/9 chord mode, Allen also shares the closely related Amaj9add6(no3rd) chord. This type of sound is inspired by Joni Mitchell. The chord name may sound complicated, but playing-wise it's only one note different. To finger this one, it’s just a case of using the first finger to barre right across to the 4th fret on the first string.
Example 23: Bbadd9b5
This leads on from the previous fingering. This time we are letting the open fourth string (D) and open first string (E) ring out. The intervals in play here are root, 3rd (D), 5th (F), 9th (C) and b5 (Fb or E).
Example 24: Dsus2#11 - D
Allen further expands on ways to create the Lydian sound by moving between the 9th fret and 7th fret double-stop on the second and third strings. The D5 power chord remains unchanged underneath, and this provides a solid, consistent foundation. Moving between the two double-stops while keeping the D5 drone going provides a floating “Flying in a Blue Dream” vibe, à la Joe Satriani.
Example 25: E - F#/E - G/E - A/E - E
Here's another way to create a host of different sounds with one chord fragment. Allen lets the sixth, second and first strings ring while moving the classic E chord shape up the fretboard. Songs like the Who’s “I Can See for Miles” also use this concept to create a rich and spacey sound.
Example 26: A - D/A (repeated)
For this example, Allen once again demonstrates the power of alternating between chord fragments, while maintaining an A open-string pedal tone. Hammering onto the 7th fret adds to the delivery and may take a little practice to get the dynamics consistent.
Example 27: A/D - D (repeated)
Allen repurposes the previous example by changing the root note to D. The chord fingering and hammering remains the same. A/D (A chord on top of a D bass note) is the most concise way to label the first chord.
Example 28: Chord-tastic Finale!
To finish, Allen plays a flowing chord solo that incorporates several of the ideas covered previously. An ideal aim for you is to appreciate how each chord passage is linked with a single-line melody. If you are new to this idea, it may take a little practice to get used to. In the second-to-last bar, the Bbmaj7sus2/D chord is raised up a tone using a finger slide, but only the F note on the second string is re-picked.
