DianaDee Easy Guitar Chord substitutes

As a songwriter, it's helpful to decide: Which will be your song's main instrument? If only a fairly skilled pianist will ever play it, then the key of Ab (with four flats and a few horrific guitar chord formations:) is great. But perhaps consider the ease of playing if you're hoping guitarists will join in with your music. And consider some chord substitutes. Or "Color" chords... those with numbers after their chord names!

I admit it: I've played guitar for 7 years now and still struggle with guitar chords. I blame small hands, but lack of practice and determination don't help! Still, my "lack" is helpful to other people including children, since I've worked out some *EASY* chord substitutes. In the chart below,
000000 stands for the 6 strings of a guitar; for example
022000 means hold down the A and D strings at fret 2 (an E minor chord).
An 'x' means to not play that string, or to mute it by touching it slightly with a finger or palm.

Eb is a bear to play on guitar, but it's the root of one of the most popular chords for pianists, since the key of Eb major has only two flats. An easy guitar substitute:
Use G minor 7th (Gm7). 3x3333
1. Put your thumb across the G at E string 3rd fret;
2, Touch thumb tip to the A string to mute it; and
3. Wrap your other fingers around the other strings, pressing Fret 3 for each.
Adding the 7th in chords often fits. Here, you lose some of the 'pretty' tone, which doesn't matter if the bassist or keyboardist are playing the Eb chord with that Eb as the 'bottom' while you put the chord's G as your bottom note. So try this one sometime instead of Eb.
Eb7 chord = Eb G Bb D
Gm7 chord = G Bb D F

HINT: This is the easy form for every minor 7th chord. Can't play Cm7? Use this form at Fret 8 (remembering that the E string at fret 8 is a C note).

C {CEG notes} is harder to play than Cmaj7: x32000
And C2 is jazzy easy version of C: x32030 (adds D)

F (FAC} is difficult for many, but Fmaj7 often fits as well:
(1) xx3210 adds the 7th by opening the E string on top
(2) x03210 is the same but gets the F chord's A on bottom

D {DF#A} is easy for most adults but hard until wrists strengthen, especially for children.
D2 is an easier substitute for an acceptable sound: xx0230 {DAE}
and a nice jazzy substitute even if D is easy for you.

Much Joy in Easy Songwriting to you!
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