waynejo - Posted - 03/21/2018:  14:58:23

okay I am not good at music theory. in playing banjo riff in open d tuning with the 4th string fretted at 4, the third at 3, the 2nd at 2 and the 1st open that gives you f sharp note and a note and a b note and a d note. that tells me it is a b minor chord but and a note is not in a b minor chord as far as I know.

Mooooo - Posted - 03/21/2018:  15:26:18

It depends on what the other chords are, and what key it's in, it's function....but I will take a stab at it and say D6 or Bm7.

Edited by - Mooooo on 03/21/2018 15:28:01

jazz-phil - Posted - 03/21/2018:  15:27:01

The A functions as a dominant 7 in a Bm chord, so it's Bm7. As the notes you have are D F# A and B this could also be thought of as D6.

Mooooo - Posted - 03/21/2018:  15:30:03

Jinx you owe me a coke jazz-phil

Jim_R - Posted - 03/21/2018:  15:32:04

Dang. I had it all typed up, too.

Mooooo - Posted - 03/21/2018:  15:36:33

I'll take a coke from you as well, we still don't really know what the chord is. It could be an F#m6 add 11, it's very unlikely though.

Edited by - Mooooo on 03/21/2018 15:43:28

waynejo - Posted - 03/21/2018:  15:49:41

hey where is my coke lol? the key its played in is d. 1 4 5 progression. in that song that chord we are talking about is played as a triplet and then g7 triplet and then a7 triplet then back to straight picking. if that makes any sense..

Mooooo - Posted - 03/21/2018:  16:04:30

my best guess is D6, maybe someone knows that arrangement of the tune and can tell you for sure. You can have one of my cokes...i'm not greedy

PKM - Posted - 03/21/2018:  17:06:39

Of the F#, A, B, D combination, the only note being added that is not in the D major chord ( D, F#, & A)is of course the B. You're playing a D6.
Its a cool sound.
Cheers

PKM - Posted - 03/21/2018:  17:18:32

PS - As an aside but still relevant to WayneJo's post:
Many years ago, in one of Jack Hatfield's fantastic Banjo Newsletter articles wrote something that sent a nuclear sized lightbulb to go off for me regarding D-tuning. It was Jack that caused me to realize how chord shapes in open-G tuning can be used in open D tuning just by shifting the shape up on string.
I know, I know, "duh", right ? But in my early years of playing that hadn't occurred to me. Shift a C shape that would be in open G tuning, up one string in D-tuning, and you have a G chord. Shift a D chord ( in open G) up 1 string in D-tuning and you have an A chord. Instant 145.
Without knowing much music theory, this simple epiphany, combined with exploring partial chords, years ago, was a way for me to learn the fretboard in D-tuning.
Cheers

waynejo - Posted - 03/22/2018:  09:01:54

the tune I am talking about is don renos banjo riff. thanks for all the replies. I will have a beer instead of a coke. anybody want one?

Mooooo - Posted - 03/22/2018:  10:58:02

Yes, I could use one.

By the way, when you strum a chord it is a chord....when you pick arpeggios on a banjo, you are not always making a chord, sometimes you are filling in notes to a chord to reach the melody notes, so don't get to worried about naming chords. If someone is playing backup, they should probably be playing the D chord over that bit of the song and not a D6. If everyone plays the same thing, it gets boring, in general.

*I have commented a lot on this post and should not mislead  you, I am not a theorist, anything I say is based on my experiences and what I have read, I am not a theory scholar by any stretch of the imagination. I have just learned a thing or two and could be wrong.

Edited by - Mooooo on 03/22/2018 11:06:20