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On the guitar, some chords sound better than others because of the way the strings are tuned, especially if there is going to be folkstyle fingerpicking.

When I play in church, my guitar is the only instrument and I like to be able pick out parts of the melody here and there with my thumb and combine it with picking patterns and strumming to help the people sing better. If you try to do that with bar chords, it often sounds choppier and less fluid than with chords with open chords.

People with very small and or very narrow hands can have some problems with bar chords and in some keys the open chords are just exercises in torture for them. So a capo is the best solution for them. It isn't always a case of laziness.

I like the sound of most open chords better than some bar chords too. Probably doesn't make that much of a difference when you are playing in a band with a lot of other instruments, but if you are playing solo it can make difference sometimes. In some rock music for the rhythm player , the bar chords sound better than the open chords. If there is a lot of percussive strumming, bar chords usually sound better to me in those cases.


When I compose on the computer using notation and write parts for piano, I noticed some songs do sound better in different keys.

I tend to think in the key of C because it is easier to see the harmony without having to think of sharps and flats but if I have to transpose the music into a different key to make it more singable I do notice a difference in the sound and sometimes have to rearrange it so it sounds better in the new key.

I think it has something to do with the sound of the chords in first position and how close they are to the middle of the keyboard. Some chords in first position which have to be further away from middle C sound heavy and thumpy to me (for left hand) or thin and brittle in the right hand. I can use different chord inversions of course but it doesn't sound the same. Then again, that probably matters more if the piano is the solo instrument, or the most dominant one. If you are writing parts for a whole orchestra though , the other instruments can compensate.

JeanB