HeyJaredRichard Barrett
- Indexed articles, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 26, 2026
- Outlet visibility, for Guitarworld
- Top 50K sites
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 16, 2026
Latest articles
5 ways to make the C chord much more interesting (opens the original)
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As guitar players, we need to take a flexible approach to how we voice our chords. Not to suggest that there’s anything wrong with open-position ‘cowboy’ chords, but we have the practical consideration of six strings and five fingers, as opposed to the 88 keys and 10 fingers available to a keyboard player… Of course, preference does come into this at some stage. It’s just that this tends to be secondary in the face of finding a suitable chord voicing for a given song. That’s where this article c
Meet the ‘no 5’ chord – the jazz-friendly option for guitar solos (opens the original)
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While ‘no 5’ isn’t an official theoretical term, there are a couple of reasons why we might choose to omit the 5th interval of a chord. The first is that on the guitar we can often run out of fingers and/or strings to make up a complex chord voicing. Leaving out the 3rd takes away the harmonic information needed to differentiate between a major or minor chord – which is common in blues and rock but not so much in jazz. Omitting the root isn’t a problem if there’s a bass to cover for us, but in a
“If we add in the convenience of the pentatonic shapes also being available… I think we have a pretty compelling case for staying with standard tuning”: Why you don’t need open tunings to play slide guitar (opens the original)
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When people discuss slide guitar, they often presume the guitar will be open-tuned to a chord. This is fair enough as it’s a time-honoured method that allows a lot of flexibility. However, unless you’re going to play the whole gig in an open tuning, it might feel a bit excessive to keep retuning or to carry an extra guitar for a couple of songs. If you’re just looking to play solos, or even just getting into slide, it isn’t necessary to go to such lengths. Bear in mind that in standard tuning th
How rhythm and lead techniques can combine for the ultimate blues solo – especially in a trio (opens the original)
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There are several benefits to be taken from this solo, even if I do say so myself, depending on how you might choose to approach it. First, the selection of ideas is particularly useful to call upon in a trio situation where there is limited harmonic support available from a simple groove-based backing like this. Second, there are useful pentatonic/blues scale ideas, transferable to any key and not limited to the trio format. And, not least, third, there is a kind of SRV vibe, so that’s always n
“If the Beatles started with a regular D major, rather than D6, it would definitely lose something”: 5 chord voicings that are a songwriter’s best friend (opens the original)
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The old adage is ‘a good song can stand on its own played on acoustic guitar’. But is it really that black and white? A specific chord voicing can make a significant contribution to the feel of a song. For example, if the Beatles’ The Fool On the Hill started with a regular D major, rather than D6, it would definitely lose something. The common thread linking together all the examples in this lesson is that they are what we might call a ‘deluxe’ alternative to the regular major and minor chords
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