The 'Alex Lifeson' chord is actually an F#7(add11), or a F#11.  It can't technically be a suspended chord because of the presence of the 3rd.  Same thing is true of the Bsus, it's a Badd11.  These corrections will be made in the PDF as well!  Apologies for the confusion!!

Rush is the greatest band of all time. RIP Professor.

Alex has to be one of the most imaginative guitarists of all time.

I agree. He's deserves a lot more credit. He's fantastic

Fantastic vid. Alex's voicings are so ingrained in my fingers from years of cutting my teeth on Rush, that to this day when writing I can't get away from em. And they still sound fresh and colorful with and without distortion.

Great video. Alex is probably my favorite guitarist of all time because of just how interesting his guitar parts always are. Xanadu for example is an absolute masterpiece in music. I love how the parts transition from one to the other.

I go back with RUSH to 1978. Grew up reading all the guitar mags of the late '70's and '80's. I don't recall Alex ever having been underrated or overlooked. He was on the cover of many a guitar mag.

Thanks for this. Non-musician here but I like to try to understand the composition of the music that changed me.

Nat Sci is basically just a bazaar of sus2 chords, LOL.  The opening riff (gulls & waves tide pools section) is reprised with distortion at the end section (wave after wave will flow with the tide)

what a great video man! thanks for the deep insight on alexs use of extensions, thats one of the mainreasons why rush sounds so complete being a 3 man band.

Notes built high like a mountain or notes that fall..  gently... like rain 🎶
His chord voicings are second to none. The icy yet frantic work on Grace Under Pressure (afterimage, between the wheels, distant early warning, enemy within) his bluesy earlier work on Necromancer, 2112, selftitled Bytor and The Snowdog. Ugh hes just so good. I love his playing

I’d love to see this PDF. Amazing guitar player. Full, lush sound and chops for days!

Wow! A torrent of Alex chords! You covered so much ground in so little time! Thank you!

I love this video. You are so right that Alex is underrated. I didn’t realize that I use some of these chords. But I need to learn more as his chordal work is my favourite. I love how he can build chordal progressions that also carry melody that negate the need for lead guitar on top, other than the breaks in songs where he soloes.

Ok. Wow! Been playing Rush songs for years and now my mind is blown 😂 I knew a lot of these chords, but some are real eye-openers. Thanks 🤘👍

Love this! As a Intermediate player and huge Rush fan, most Rush songs are to dam hard. Will work on some of these cords. Thanks and subscribed.

I also love his arpeggios and tone.
My first Rush album was _All the World's a Stage_, and that set for me Alex's "default" tone, and that became the sound of Rush for me.
So crunchy and often dripping with echo.
The sequence of Lakeside Park into 2112 is my favorite part and shows their diverse sounds.  And then Bytor... blasting out of nowhere is perfect.
Geddy has said this is his least favorite [live?] album and doesn't like the sound, but, sorry dude, you are wrong!
He also doesn't like the version of _Lakeside Park_; but like every other song, I prefer the live versions on this album.
Mmmm... crunchy, arrrgggghhhhl!

Just discovered this great video! Thanks for saving so much time figuring out Alex's amazing sound. Would love to get the PDF.

I just came across this video today & really enjoyed watching it. My favorite band is Rush and I am a guitar player so I have been plugging away at Rush songs for many years now. I have seen them 16 times over 14 different tours with my first show being on the Signals tour in 1982 when I was 16 years old. I had 2112 & Fly By Night in my LP collection & bought Hemispheres in 1978 when I was 12 years old and they have been my favorite band ever since. I also started waiting for their new releases and buying them the day they were released starting from Permanent Waves on. You did an excellent job covering & naming the chords Alex uses. I have seen a few other videos on this subject & I think you did the best job out of the videos I have seen.

I do recall one "Alex" chord I don't think you mentioned. On the song "Making Memories" from the "Fly By Night" LP Alex starts off by using 3 chords which the first 2 you mentioned it is the 3rd one I don't recall seeing. The first 2 are  "D" & "F/D" which is just the "D" shape moved up to the 5th fret, the 3rd chord is a "CaddD" which is basically a "C Major" chord with an open "D" string rather than fretting the 2nd fret of the "D" string in a normal "C Major" chord. I also think of a few other chords when I think of Alex & Rush. On the track "Time & Motion" from the "Test For Echo" release he plays classic "Alex riffs" (maybe a topic for another video?) but after the solo he plays this very cool Rush sounding chord in between playing an open E5 power chord. He arpeggiates the "Dmin7(6)" chord and it sounds amazing! He is using this version of the "Dmin7(6)" chord  x5350x Sometimes he just plays 5,3,5,0 & other times he plays 5,3,5,0,5,3 I haven't listened to it in a while so I can't remember exactly but I also play quite a bit of this song on guitar as well. The opening chords to the track "Where's My Thing" from "Roll The Bones" has Rush chord written all over it. I could also list dozens of Alex/Rush riffs as well which helped create the Rush sound. I think of the song "The Anarchist" from "Clockwork Angels" Alex starts off with 4 chords that are definitely Rush chords & then launches into a killer Rush riff that I use for a stretching exercise when I am warming up.

I did join your mailing list BUT, I had issues trying to enter my birthday. It wouldn't let me enter it and wouldn't complete the form without it. I also would LOVE to get a copy of your tablature file for this. I did scribble down the chords the best I could in my own tab notebooks I create but it is a bit messy and not as easy to use as a tab file is. I look forward to watching more of your videos now that I have completed this one. Thanks for taking the time to do this and put it out free for guys like me.

Wow...that is a LOT of information...thanks for putting that all together and sharing it with us...Prog On!🤘