Eighth Notes
When using whole, half or quarter notes, only numbers are required for counting – 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. When using eighth notes however, some of the notes fall in between the beats, making it necessary to count one and two and three and four and (written 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +).
The following example demonstrates the difference between a quarter note rhythm and an eighth note rhythm. An important thing to remember here is that all the notes on the beat (the number part of the count) are downstrums while the notes between the beats (the and (+) part of the count) are upstrums. In the Easy Read notation an upstrum is indicated by a shorter upward arrow.
Techniques such as staccato are just as important when using chords as with single notes.
This one also makes use of staccato. The rhythm here is made up of half, quarter and eighth notes.
Voicings
C7
As with all chords, there is more than one fingering on the guitar for a C7 chord. The following diagram shows an alternative voicing for C7. The term "voicing" means the arrangement of notes in a particular fingering, with the notes arranged from the lowest to the highest.
The C7 chord will always contain C (1), E (3), G (5) and Bb (b7), but it is possible to arrange these notes in any order. The fingering shown is voiced 3, b7, 1, 5.
Like the C7 shape, this chord is also movable. The root note (C) in this voicing is on the second string, so when moving the chord along the fretboard, whichever note is under your first finger will be the name of the chord.
The following example moves between the chords C7, F7 and G7. A diagonal line and two dots as introduced in the Easy Read of this example indicates that the rhythm pattern used in the previous bar is to be repeated.
An important reason for using different chord voicings is that it creates more variety in the sound of the chords, particularly in the top note of the chord, which is usually the easiest to hear. Notice the difference in sound between the two 7th chord shapes used in this example. Each shape is played as C7 and then as F7.
