Ive been wonderin for sometime how to come up with other chords to use for rhythm along with the essential progression. Such as in "Not Fade Away" Weir will play Up at the 15 fret he will play a G down to F# to E. How do you come up with the right chords to use for spicin up a solid progression. Like there are some tunes like Bertha for example where they stay on the same chord for a while like the C chord in Bertha during verses. I dont wanna just sit there playin that. I wanna spice it up. Is there any theory behind how to add variations or any tips? Thanks in advance guys.
There are 4 things I consider when deciding where to play chord:
1 - where can I get to with the time alloted?
2 - what tonal qualities am I looking for?
3 - relation to previous and subsequent chord
4 - the voicing of the chord
#4 might be tough but let me explain.
If you barre your chords like E and A all the way down (G & C off the third, A & D off the 5th, etc) you get the same sound of the chord: 1,5,1,3,5,1 & 1,5,1,3,5
But if you play it like a G or C and barre it all the way down you get: 1,3,5,1,3/5,1 & 1,3,5,1,5
Or you play the triad 1,3,5
Or if it's blues just play the 3 and 7
Things like that require some work up front but become second nature.