Hey Friend,

I put together a handful of chord changes from D major to G major, or the old I to IV chord progression. Each pair is located close to each other, but that doesn't mean you have to follow that approach. You can use any of these triads in any location on the neck to get the sounds you want.

Mix them up, move them around, experiment. Nothing prevents you from changing the order, or selecting a chord in a different location because it supports the sound you're going after.

This sort of thing happens in the recording studio all the time. You might have your main rhythm guitar track laid down with straight barre chords (or power chords). But say you want something lighters to harmonize with the vocals or to give a brighter sound to the barre chords. Add some of these triads finger picked or with a little different strum pattern. Or play the same pattern, which will give the progression a little brighter sound. 

There's tons of things you can do. Once you start finding all the positions for the various chords on the neck, your creative brain will latch on to those sounds and you'll begin to piece together progressions. You'll find yourself coming up with riffs and ideas, and you'll start to "hear" where other artists have gotten their song ideas from.

It's as simple as picking a spot on the neck and finding the notes that fit into the working key.

Explore. Experiment. You can't do it wrong. 

Rock on!

Peace~

Dave