Question on EP367 Chord Embellishments

[mrsmugs]

Can these chord embellishments be played while the singer is singing (or would that be too distracting) or should they only be played while the singer is silent? I’m never sure if the appropriate time to use single notes intricate embellishments (as opposed to strumming a simple G to Gsus4 to G, for example).

[Reuben B]

I think, like in many situation, the answer is “it depends”. I’d reserve the more intricate embellishment for the spaces in between the singing so as not to clash with the singing. Coloring chords, or something like line cliché, or walking up / down for chord changes are probably fine done with the singing.

[sunjamr]

The master of chord embellishments and when to use vs not use, is John Mayer. Have a listen to this:

And some of his other songs just involve simple strumming, until he stops singing for a while and plays a cool little solo piece.

Sunjamr Steve

[Jean-Michel G]

Hi,
In general there is no problem embellishing chords while backing a singer (jazz players do it all the time), but as Reuben says, you have to make sure the embellishments don’t clash with the melody.

[Author]

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