Bb7 alternative?

There's a few variations of Bb7 barre on the sixth fret, if they're ones you've not tried - 686766, or 688796, or 686796 (Bold is the note that turns the Bb into a Bb7). The first is probably easiest as I imagine that, like most people do, you use two barres to make your A-shaped Bb and have trouble 'leaving out' the middle note. Using an E-shaped barre, you're only using one barre and it's a lot easier to leave a note out. You can even fret it as an 'ordinary' Bb and then raise the finger to make it a Bb7 when you're ready.

This is the kind of thing that my site was made for - working out your own voicings for a chord. If you have a look at http://ChordsAndScales.co.uk/viewer/b10/cs26 you can see all the notes you can use to make up this chord laid out on a fretboard. At the top, you'll see "Notes: A#, D, F, G#" - this tells you what notes make up that particular chord. You'll need to make sure they are all there, but other than that you just use whichever shape suit you :)

...and just so you know, it's not 'by' her. She ran around at the time telling anyone who would interview her about how much the song meant to her; where she wrote it; and how it was a very personal song etc. It was then found to be a cover of an obscure song that her record company had given to her, telling her that they'd written it just for her and she could claim it was hers. She threw a major wobbly by all accounts, smashing up offices etc. :roll:

"Notes: A#, D, F, G#"

Strictly speaking, the notes are Bb, D, F and Ab.

Yes, I know they're enharmonic, but it's moderately important for the musician to know the difference.

The Bb7 is the V chord in the key of Eb (3 flats), which has the notes Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D.

Most tab of "Torn" I have seen are in F (F (I), Bb (IV), C (V), Am (iii) and Dm (vi)) and use Bb major, not Bb7.

"Notes: A#, D, F, G#"

Strictly speaking, the notes are Bb, D, F and Ab.

Yes, I know they're enharmonic, but it's moderately important for the musician to know the difference.
Indeed - I lifted them straight from C&S, but I should have corrected it manually.

OT: One of the things I have to get my head around is finding a way to get the site to choose which enharmonic alternative is 'correct' in each case. Currently everything is a sharp, as that's what I've always used by default myself. It's been noted and on my list :)

Thanks for the replies, between you you have solved my problem - I knew where the Bb7 shapes were, I just can't play them for some reason so I was after a different chord that would fit the song. However, as Hbriem pointed out, I somehow picked the only tab that uses Bb7, all the others seem to use plain old Bb. So now I have a different tab, problem 1 solved!

Problem two is probably as much technique as it is theory, I now have so many more questions.....

When I play an F I can get the right sound (DUDUD/ D/ UUDUD) when I strum. But when I play an Am at the first position I can't, because I can't lift off to mute the sound (you know what I mean?). So, I thought I'd try the Am at the 5th, Bb at the 6th and Dm at the 5th. Now the strumming sounds closer but the pitch/tone(?) doesn't seem right.

Can someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks for using the term enharmonic too - I finally understand what that means (although I still don't understand why some notes are flat and others are sharp - but at least now I feel that one day I will.

So much theory - so little time!

P.S. C&S - your chord finder (and others like it) show something that has always confused me and I wonder if you guys could clarify my understanding?

If you look up an A chord, your fretboard shows the E string open (fat E as opposed to thin e). I know that E is in the chord, but I think I read somewhere that the note of the chord should be the bass note (in this case the open A string). If you play the A string with an open E in the bass, does that technically make it a slash chord A/E?

Also, again looking at your fret board for the A chord, how do you use the C# on the 4th fret of the A string?

I guess I am saying that when I look at these charts I get confused. Things are getting clearer, slowly.

I also have an idea for a really good fretboard page - C&S if you are good with web pages drop me a line and I'll mail you the idea (I have a spreadsheet version that I could mail you).

If you look up an A chord, your fretboard shows the E string open (fat E as opposed to thin e). I know that E is in the chord, but I think I read somewhere that the note of the chord should be the bass note (in this case the open A string). If you play the A string with an open E in the bass, does that technically make it a slash chord A/E?

You've got it correct. If you choose to include the "fat" E in your A chord it technically becomes an A/E chord.
Also, again looking at your fret board for the A chord, how do you use the C# on the 4th fret of the A string? I guess I am saying that when I look at these charts I get confused. Things are getting clearer, slowly.

What do you mean with "how do you use it"? What the diagram shows is what notes go into an A chord and where you find those notes on the fretboard. How you play these notes is up to you. For example, you could play 002220 to form an A/E chord, or if you play it as x02220 it is just a plain vanilla A chord. Want to use that 4th fret C#? Try playing x42220, which gives you an A/C# chord. Another way to play the A chord is as a barré at the fifth fret: 566755. Remember that a chord is made up of several notes, and there are many different ways (voicings) to play the same chord.

P.S. C&S - your chord finder (and others like it) show something that has always confused me and I wonder if you guys could clarify my understanding?

If you look up an A chord, your fretboard shows the E string open (fat E as opposed to thin e). I know that E is in the chord, but I think I read somewhere that the note of the chord should be the bass note (in this case the open A string). If you play the A string with an open E in the bass, does that technically make it a slash chord A/E?

Also, again looking at your fret board for the A chord, how do you use the C# on the 4th fret of the A string?

I guess I am saying that when I look at these charts I get confused. Things are getting clearer, slowly.
As Zaiga said, you have it - If you use C# as your bass note you're playing the first inversion of A, if you use E as your bass note you're playing the second.
I also have an idea for a really good fretboard page - C&S if you are good with web pages drop me a line and I'll mail you the idea (I have a spreadsheet version that I could mail you).
PM on the way! :)

Thanks, I think I am getting somewhere.

I think I have misunderstood the tool. When I type in A I want to see all the ways to finger an A chord - thats what I am looking for. What I am actually seeing is 'all the notes on the fretboard that make up an A chord' and from this information I have to figure out the fingering.

Apologies for being dim, but as a newbie I used to look at all the markers and think "great, how do I know which ones to put together to form the chord". Now I know a bit more about chord structure I am learning how to spot 'do-able' fingerings. If I get time tonight I'll try and post an image of my spreadsheet with an explanation of how I see it working - then someone can create a clever web page for it. I do think what I have will help newbies like myself.

Thanks for all the replies - I appreciate the help.

Rich.

I think I have misunderstood the tool. When I type in A I want to see all the ways to finger an A chord - thats what I am looking for. What I am actually seeing is 'all the notes on the fretboard that make up an A chord' and from this information I have to figure out the fingering.

Apologies for being dim, but as a newbie I used to look at all the markers and think "great, how do I know which ones to put together to form the chord". Now I know a bit more about chord structure I am learning how to spot 'do-able' fingerings.
Aye - there's quite a few out there that give your standard voicings, but none that give you the notes so that you can experiment with your own voicings (or rather, there weren't any good ones I could find at the time I wrote it :)), hence taking that approach. I plan on adding a 'common voicings' option at some point to show the basic shapes for most chords. You'll be pleased to hear I also plan on putting a decent bit of explanatory intro text on the re-write I'm working on :)

I appreciate the feedback too, btw, cheers!