Mandolin Swing Chords

Mostly mandolinists don't bother with full swing chords. Three notes is enough most of the time, and if you're playing swing, you usually have a guitar playing plenty of chord notes. Still, there are times when it is useful, or pretty, or just plain fun to whack out those Bingo chords (Under the B, 13. . .)

If you are deft enough, there are split-string tricks where you get two different notes from a pair of strings. And there are tuning things you can do - for instance, make one pair of strings six semitones apart, so you always have a one-finger tritone available. This article is going to eschew such things and cover playable chord forms for most swing sequences.

The way I'm going to show the chords is pretty close to standard chord diagrams, with letters below (R,3,5,7, etc) to clarify which note is the root, 3rd, 5th, etc of the chord. As usual, when I say "up" I mean "toward the bridge", which gives a higher note but is actually lower on the page unless you read this upside down. Also, when I say "First string", I'm talking about the E string, which is rightmost in the diagram. If you've looked at chord diagrams before, you've probably already gotten used to this inconsistency. Large M means "Major", small m means "minor", and a small b is a flat symbol. Here we go . . .

Major Chords

   C Major      A Major      E Major     F Major      F# Major
 |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|
 |  O  |  |   O  O  |  |   |  O  O  |   O  |  |  |   |  |  |  O
 |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|
 |  |  O  O   |  |  |  |   |  |  |  |   |  O  O  |   O  |  |  | 
 |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--+   |--+--+--+
 |  |  |  |   |  |  O  |   O  |  |  O   |  |  |  |   |  O  O  |
 |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|
 O  |  |  |   |  |  |  O                |  |  |  O
 |--+--+--|   |--+--+--|                |--+--+--|
 R  3  R  5   R  5  3  R   5  R  5  3   3  R  5  3   3  R  5  R

If you play bluegrass, you're already wondering what happened to the G shape. If you know a lot about theory, you're wondering why anybody would use such a lousy F shape, with a 3 note in the bass and another on top. And if you just learned a few beginner chords, you miss the two-finger chords with open strings in them. Sorry to all of you. The bluegrass G shape sounds fine, but it isn't easy to warp it into related chords. The F shape sounds almost as pretty as the E shape moved up a fret, and sometimes it's much easier to get to. And there aren't any open note chords because all of these shapes are intended to slide up and down the neck, so the C shape could as easily be C#, or D, or anything up to G. You can slide a shape down until the lowest fret becomes the open note for that string, and often that's the easiest thing to do.

II - V - I Sequences

The defining sound of swing is the IIm7 - V7 - I cadence. In C, that would be Dm7-G7-C6. (Usually the tonic chord is a 6 or a major 7). Since swing is usually in flat keys, I'm going to show the shapes for Cm7 - F7 - Bb6 and Fm7 - Bb7 - Eb6.

    Cm7    -->    F7     -->    Bb6             Fm7   -->     Bb7    -->    Eb6
 |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |      |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |    |  O  |  |
 |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|      |--+--+--+    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--+
 |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |      |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|      |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |    |  O  |  |    O  O  |  O      |  O  |  |    O  O  |  |    O  |  O  O
 |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|      |--+--+--+    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |    |  |  |  |      |  |  |  O    |  |  |  O    |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--+    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|      |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|
 O  O  |  |    O  |  |  O    |  |  O  |      O  |  |  |    |  |  O  |
 |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|      |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|
 |  |  O  O    |  |  O  |                    |  |  O  |
 |--+--+--|    |--+--+--|                    |--+--+--|
 R  5  m3 7    5  R  7  3    R  5  3  6      5  R  7  m3   R  5  3  7    5  R  6  3

These aren't hard shapes, but I'm going to explain where they come from anyway. The A major shape is just one member of a family of closely related chords. Slide the 3 note on the 4th fret down to the 3rd fret, and you have an A minor. Slide the upper root note down one, two, or three frets to give a major 7, 7, or 6 chord. So sliding the 3 down to a minor and the upper R down to a 7 gives an A minor 7 chord. Slide the whole thing up three frets and it's a Cm7. The Bb6 comes from the same shape family, moving the upper root of the A shape down to the 6 note, then sliding the whole chord up one fret to produce Bb6. The F7 chord comes from the family based on the E shape. Move the upper 5 note up three frets and you have an E7, which slides up one fret to be an F7. (In this case, you would use a new finger to add the new note, while some of the previous alterations can be done by sliding a finger.)

In the same way, Fm7 and Eb6 derive from the E shape and Bb7 from the A shape.

Usually I start players off with two families of chord shapes. Here they are:

The A shape family

   A Major         A7             A6             AMaj7          A7+5           A9
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 O  O  |  |     O  O  |  |     O  O  |  O     O  O  |  |     O  |  |  |     |  O  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  O     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  O  |  O     |  |  |  O
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  O  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  O  O     |  |  O  |     O  |  O  |
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  O     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|
 R  5  3  R     R  5  3  7     R  5  3  6     R  5  3 M7     R +5  3  7     9  5  3  7 

  A Minor          Am7            Am6            AmMaj7         Am7b5         A#dim      
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 O  O  |  |     O  O  |  |     O  O  |  O     O  O  |  |     O  |  |  |     |  O  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  O  |     |  |  O  O     |  |  O  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  O  O     O  |  |  O
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|  
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  O     |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  O     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|
 R  5  m3  R    R  5 m3  7     R  5  m3 6     R  5 m3 M7     R b5  m3 7     R b5  m3 6 

The E shape family

   E Major         E7             E6            EMaj7          E7+5            E9
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  O  O  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 O  |  |  O     O  |  |  O     O  |  O  O     O  |  |  O     |  |  |  O     O  O  |  O
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     O  |  O  |     |  |  O  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|                    |--+--+--|                    |--+--+--|  
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |                    |  |  O  | 
 5  R  5  3     5  R  7  3     5  R  6  3     5  R  M7 3     +5 R  7  3     5  9  7  3 

  E Minor          Em7            Em6           EmMaj7         Em7b5          E#dim   
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |   
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+
 |  O  O  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  O     |  |  |  O     |  |  |  O     |  |  |  O     O  |  |  O     |  O  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 O  |  |  |     O  |  |  |     O  |  O  |     O  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     O  |  |  O
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  O  |
 |--+--+--|                                   |--+--+--|                    |--+--+--|
                                              |  |  O  |     
 5  R  5  m3    5  R  7  m3    5  R  6  m3    5  R M7  m3    b5 R  7  m3    b5 R  6 m3

I have included the m6 and mMaj7 shapes to show how they fit into the shape families. You don't use them often.

Comments on the diminished chords: I have notated them as R-m3-b5-6. The upper note is really a diminished 7 (which is the same note as a 6, doing a different job), but there wasn't room to put this on the chord diagrams. I have put in A#dim and E#dim for two reasons: first, because A#dim contains the same notes as A7 with the root, and only the root, shifted up one fret, and the same with E#dim and E7. Second, one of the very commonest sequences is I - I#dim - IIm7 - V7. Notice that both diminished chords are the same shape, but different strings have different functions. A#dim, with the root on the 4th string, could as easily be heard as E dim, with its root on the 3rd string. It could also be heard as C#dim or Gdim, with the root on the 2nd or 1st string. This leads us naturally to . . .

Inversions and Voicings

Your first priority is to get the notes played. But it does make a difference which note goes on which string. In general, a chord sounds best with the root on the lowest string, second-best with the root on the 3rd string. If your chart calls for an Abdim, you could play it with the 4th-string note on the 1st fret(Ab), the 4th fret(B, with Ab on the 1st string), the 7th fret (D, with Ab on the 3rd string), or the 10th fret(F, with Ab on the 2nd string). Normally, you'd choose the first or third of these alternatives, unless the chord before or after makes one of the others play better.

This is most important with 6th and minor 7th chords, since a C6 and an Am7 contain exactly the same four notes. You really want the root to be on one of the lower strings so the listener can tell which chord you mean. This applies even more to m6, m7b5, and 9th chords, since Am6, F#m7b5, and D9(omit root) all use the same notes. It is least important with 7th and major 7th chords, where the 7 note rings out so strongly that the ear accepts the function of the rest of the notes. This is particularly useful because the Maj7 in the E family is quite difficult to finger in lower positions. So here are some

Alternative 7th and Maj7 Voicings

  G7             C7             GMaj7          CMaj7
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  O  O  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  O  |  O     O  |  O  O     |  |  |  O     |  |  |  O
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 O  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     O  O  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  O  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |     O  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|                    |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 3  7  5  R     7  3  R  5     3 M7  5  R     R  3 M7  5

Leaving Out Notes

Four-note chords may lead to choices between finger-busting shapes or less-than-optimal voicings, but we can get them played. What do we do when faced with a 9th, 11th, or 13th chord? The 9th shapes in the E and A families omit the root, but this is kind of an important note. In general, the four most important notes of a chord are the root, the third (because it determines whether the chord is major or minor), the highest add-in note, and the 7th. That would make a 9th chord contain root, 3rd, 7th, and 9th. Possibilities for a D9 with root on 7th fret of 4th string: R-3-7-9 would finger 7-4-3-0 or 12, R-3-9-7 gives 7-4-7-8, R-7-3-9 is 7-10-9-0 or 12, R-7-9-3 is 7-10-7-2. Only 7-4-7-8 can be fretted very easily. Look at A9th with root on the 3rd string: 3-R-7-9 fingers 6-7-10-7, 3-R-9-7 is 6-7-2-3, and putting the 7th or the 9th into the bass just sounds wrong.

Two of the 9th shapes lead to good 11th shapes: R-3-7-11 fingered 7-4-3-3 and 3-R-7-11 fingered 6-7-10-10. The need to have the 7th note well away from the 13th note means there are only two playable 13th chords, R-7-3-13 and R-3-7-13. So here are the 9th, 11th, and 13th chord shapes that are easiest to use:

  
   C9            Ab9             C#11           F11            A13            C#13   
 |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |   
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+
 |  O  |  |     |  |  |  O     |  |  O  O     O  |  |  |     O  |  |  O     |  |  O  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  O  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  O  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--+     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 O  |  O  |     O  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  |  |  |     |  O  |  |     |  |  |  |
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 |  |  |  O     |  O  |  |     O  |  |  |     |  |  O  O     |  |  |  |     O  |  |  O
 |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|     |--+--+--|
 R  3  9  7     3  R  9  7     R  3  7  11    3  R  7  11    R  7  3  13    R  3  7  13

That is all I would put in an introduction to mando swing chords. Use the same techniques moving from chord to chord as you would anywhere: find which finger doesn't move or slides on the same string. You can go up a 5th by moving up one string, and down a 5th by moving down one string, in both cases dealing with the note that falls off the edge of the fretboard if you have time to think about it. You'll find a few sequences like I - I#dim - IIm7 - V7 or I - VIm7 - IIm7 - V7 or I - I7 - IV- IVm that crop up again and again, so once your fingers know how to play them in two different ways, your eyes can send them directly to your hands and leave your mind free to think about what happens next.//Zeke Hoskin, July 2008.