So… there’s been a couple of discussions about this recently.
What (apart from strumming along) approaches are there to figuring out guitar chords? I know - from my casio synth - that there are some ways of creating suitable harmonies for tunes. But I’ve never seen a clear explanation of them that wasn’t aimed at someone who already knew enough music theory to work it out…
So… a challenge to the fipplers.. explain how to add sympathetic chords to a tune in words of one syllable 
My somewhat unhelpful reply: learn the music theory! Especially on an accompanying instrument, it’s really critical to your musical growth. You don’t need to learn stodgy academic theory like “figured bass” etc., but you need to learn enough modern, practically-oriented theory if you want to be able to come up with your own chordal accompaniment to music that wasn’t written with chords in mind. Don’t be afraid of the theory–if you spend just a couple of days with almost any book on guitar-oriented theory, you will reap immediate rewards. You’ll want to understand the common scales, how chords are constructed in those scales, and how keys relate to one another (look for the circle of fifths/fourths).
Once you have just a bit of understanding under your belt, “strumming along” suddenly becomes a much more valuable way of learning. Not only will you develop your ears as you figure out what a guitarist is playing, but you will come to understand why he/she is doing it.
I’d say it’s also important to do a little reading about the guitar in the ITM idiom, because from what I hear guitarists doing, they stray from the “classical” rules in some important ways.
When it comes down to it, there is no simple “melody has a B in it, so I’ll play a G Major chord” solution. Melodies create their own context, and you need to understand the context a bit before you can make good harmonization choices.
A quick google turned up these:
http://www.torvund.net/guitar/Theory/index.asp
I didn’t find any really informative sites dedicated to Irish music on guitar in my (admittedly brief) search, but I did find a page for a book on the subject:
http://www.irishguitar.net/the_book.html
-Jeff
Thanks for those links…
I forgot to mention I’m NOT a guitar player. Like the other posters recently, I’m a whistle player looking to be able to provide the chords to other guitar players…
Paul
Assuming we’re talking about ITM - a guitarist familiar with ITM will probably be able to figure out his or her own chords. ITM is pretty simple stuff for the most part. Even I can usually come up with chords (given a bit of time) for an ITM tune, and I’m a fairly dismal guitarist without a great ear.
Unfortunately, a guitarist unfamiliar with ITM probably won’t play the music “right” even if given the “right” chords. Guitar is one of those instruments that doesn’t fit into the ITM mold easily - very few people carry it off successfully. (Tuning to DADGAD and “bowing” to the melody can help - but it’s not something that comes naturally to most guitarists who’ve cut their teeth on pop/blues/folk/rock/what-have-you.)
Oops! Well, most of what I said I might still stand by. Maybe if you don’t want to invest the (huge?) amount of time it would take to write your accompaniment to hand out, you might just be stuck with tunes that others have provided chords for. Fortunately, there’s quite a bit of that out there, in books and online.
FWIW, learning about harmony is really helpful for melody players, too–improvising harmonized lines can be done by ear, but I think knowing the theoretical background opens up a lot of possibilities.
Now that I’ve said a lot of crap, perhaps a more experienced ITM musician can step in with some real practical advice for Paul? My experience is with jazz, and I may be overcomplicating a simple issue.
A first approach for most simple music, is to be familiar with the I, IV, and V chords in each major and minor key -example for D, it’s D, G, and A(7).
Once you are familiar with them, and how they sound, it is VERY easy to ‘hear’ what chord to play when listening to the melody.
Very occasionally, other chords will be required for some more complex music, and you will develop an ear for those over time as well. For example, a minor 6th is fairly common (Bm in key of D).
Having played along in many Irish sessions, as a guitarist, you soon discover that noone is going to tell you the chords, so this is a skill you must pick up. Luckily I already had it from years of listening to rock/pop tunes on the radion and figuring out how to play them.
I will list the chord groups from the most used to the least.
Key of D: D G Em/A Almost always used in this order.
Key of G: G C D or G Em D if it sounds better
Key of Am: Am G with an occasional Em
Key of Em: Em D
Key of A: A G D or A D whichever sounds best
Not sure what key but starts with D and has a strong secondary A chord: D A D G A D
Key of Bm: Bm A
Quietly play a key chord with the first note in the phrase. When you find the one that fits use the chord progression suggested above.
If it sounds good play it.
More important is getting the right hand rythem right.
Jigs come in three beats: ONE two three, ONE two three
Reels come in four beats: ONE two three four, ONE two three four
And follow the tempo set by the melody. Don’t try to slow it down to where you are more comfortable. You are Backup and not melody.
Chord “turnarounds” common in 50s and 60s rock (e.g. I-vi-IV-V) are also common in ITM.
Take Baglady’s advice. Also, learn to play the chords leaving out the thirds. A D major chord consists of the notes D (tonic or 1st), F# (major 3rd) and A (5th). Leaving out the third gives an ambiguous feel, neither major nor minor and goes well in lots of places.
go to the website for elderly intruments. they have 73 books listed if you search “irish guitar books” on their website.
have a good look at the 2 books by kilkelly and ralston.
both come with a CD.
if you need to work with guitarists, even if you never want to play guitar, you should buy and use these books.
the CDs have great tunes you can learn by ear. you can then go to the book for each tune and see what chords they use. this will give you a feel for what is common.
i am in the process of doing exactly this exercise now.
meir
Here are the strumming patterns I usually use in a session. v = downstroke, ^=upstroke, x=no stroke:
Jig - vxv^v^vxv^v^
Reel - vxv^v^v^vxv^v^v^ (usually with a slight shuffle)
Hornpipe - vxxvx^vxxvx^ (with a strong shuffle)
Slip Jig - vxxvx^vx^vxxvx^vx^ (also with a strong shuffle)
I usually fingerpick slow airs or play them on the whistle.
I have a site up on the essentials of DADGAD backup for sessions, including the chord shapes I use and progressions for the various modes:
http://members.cox.net/eskin/DADGAD.html
Hope you find it useful!
Cheers,
Michael
The nice thing about learning theory as a whistle player is the harmonies one can add to on the spot while one is playing a tune. Playing airs and Carolan’s with another player and not having any set harmonies can be very rewarding and artistic as you create the harmonies as you go. It is a lot harder to do this without any background in music theory. But it really isn’t that difficult. I encourage you guys to check it out.
Yes, and that pretty much gels with what I was saying. I find it better to think in terms of I IV V etc rather than the actual chords, because it gives you freedom to play in any key.
So far we mentioned I vi IV V
another common one is ii (minor second). Example, Em in key of D. Often used to get to the V. i.e. ii - V- I sequences are common..
one more that I see is VII - IV - I example, C- G- D in key of D