How To Play A Chord Progression Without Using Chords - 6th Harmony

by Simon Candy

In this lesson, I show you how to create a great fingerpicking sound using 6th harmony.

You are about to learn how to spice up the chord progressions you play on guitar without using a single chord.

Rather, you will use 6th harmony to imply the chords of the progression, resulting in a very cool and unpredictabel sound.

What you are about to see is an expert from a live masterclass I presented in Chicago.

First, I show you how to apply 6th harmony to the guitar. There are many ways, but the way I show you in this class will be best for the fingerpicking approach we use.

Next, I show you how to use 6th harmony by applying it to a chord progression, adding the drone of open strings as you go for a really cool sound.

Watch the video below to learn more:

Fingerpicking Guitar Using 6th Harmony

The Concept:

G Major Scale Harmonised In 6ths Ascending

The folloing is the G major scale harmonised in 6ths ascending. The scale is on the 3rd string, the harmony is on the first string:

G Major Scale Harmonised In 6ths Descending

Here is the same G Major scale harmonised in 6ths descending:

6th Harmony Open String Drone 1

Here is the same G Major scale harmonised in 6ths with the added drone of the open second string:

6th Harmony Open String Drone 2

Here is the same G Major scale harmonised in 6ths with the added drone of the open sixth string:

6th Harmony Open String Drone 3

Here is the same G Major scale harmonised in 6ths with the added drone of the open fifth string:

Masterclass 6th Harmony Example:

The Chord Progression

The following is the chord progression used to apply the 6th harmony fingerpicking concept:

6th Harmony Application Example

Here is the example from the masterclass of 6ths being used to spice up a chord progression. As always, it's important to focus on the concept here and not get caught up on all the details of this specific example:

For more great fingerpicking concepts and techniques check out my online fingerpicking guitar lessons