Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Pesky "Off Chord"

Last time I mentioned we were going to talk about what is commonly referred to as the "off chord." I'm not certain if all musicians call it that. Music teachers probably have a "real" name for it, but the musicians I hang around with, who are professionals in the music business, have always referred to it as the "off chord." And if you're playing a gig, don't be afraid to ask, "What's the off chord?" because I guarantee you they'll know what you're asking. So what the heck is it?

In many songs, at the bridge or chorus, you will find a change that doesn't fit your typical 1-4-5 chord progression that's going on in the rest of the song. And if you're just starting out, it's easy to get confused and have no idea where to go. But after you read this, it will all become crystal clear, and in the future you'll know exactly what chord to use. Just think of the number 2 position. Remember that, because that's the key (no pun intended) to the off chord.

For example, if you're playing a song in the key of C (the 1st position), the number 2 position (the off chord) would be D. We're only counting whole steps here, not sharps and flats. If your song is in G, the off chord would be A.

Now let's mix it up a bit. What if your root chord is E? Since there's no note between E and F, you're going to have to move up to F# for the off chord. Make sense? The secret is to just move up two half steps in every case. If you're in the key of Bb, you skip the B major and go to C for the off chord.

Let's go back to our Hank Williams song and see where that pesky off chord comes in. It starts out in the key of C, and it's a 1-4-5 progression. The previous post has the progression for the verses. So, let's go to the bridge...

(C) When tears come (F) down

Like fallin' (C) rain

You'll toss a- (D) round

And call my (G) name.

And there you have it. It's as simple as that. (And you thought this was going to be hard.) So now you should be able to figure out the off chord way ahead of time without ever having played the song before by simply remembering to go up two half steps from your root chord.

As always, any questions, leave a comment.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this. I commented on someone's prowess in hearing the off-chords today .. and suddenly it dawned on me that I had no concrete way of explaining what I meant.

    This explains it far better than I ever could have. I appreciate this! -- Jim Hardin

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