Add

Sunday, April 25, 2010

(Guitar) Chord Window F


Yes, it is a bit of a stinker, isn't it? But don't panic. You'll notice that in this chord the first finger stops both the 1st and 2nd strings, which means that you can't use the tip of the finger as before. Instead, the first finger is flattened down to bring its first joint in line with the fingerboard. Try that first, picking the 1st and 2nd strings only. If the strings don't ring, adjust the position to your finger until they do. Take your time. Then when you're certain you've mastered this part of the chord, place your second finger on the 3rd string at the second fret, still keeping your first finger in position. Now pick the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings in that order.

When those three are sounding clearly, you can then add the fourth note, which is made by placing your fourth finger on the third fret of the 4th string. Now play all four strings - arpeggio fashion at first to make sure they're all ringing as they should - then five strings, by including your un-fingered 5th - then strum.

When you've mastered the F chord on it's own, try changing between it and the other chords in the key, something like this:
||:F///|G7///|F///|C///:||

I can't emphasise too much how important it is to learn to change quickly from one chord to another. Each chord is a building block, and its shape has to be learned individually, but to play a chord sequence like that given above, without stumbling or hesitating between the bar lines, it is necessary to go on practising until the left-hand fingers move automatically to the correct position on seeing a given symbol.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

(Guitar) Chords In C

The next simple and frequently used key for accompaniments is C. Here again we have a set of three principal chords. This time C is the tonic, or home chord. The dominant is G7, and the sub-dominant is F. You've already learned the four-string version of the chord of C in the previous lessons, so you're part of the way there. However, this time we're going to use the sixth string version, which looks like this:



Your first and second fingers go on the 2nd and 4th strings in the same positions as before, but now we are adding the fourth finger on the third fret of the 5th string and the fourth finger on the third fret of the 6th string. You won't do this perfectly the first time, but will become easier with practice. Try moving from this version on to the other chords that you know already and back again. Like this: ||:C///| D7///| C///| G///|:||

Now we can move on the sub-dominant of the key, G7. The four-string version of this is probably the easiest chord there is to play on the guitar. It requires only the use of your first finger left hand. The other three notes of the chords are formed naturally by the open 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings, as well from the window below.
Try these out with your download able browser and get the super-unique song for you. And then begin the practice on your own personal room. You need no help after reading these .



It shouldn't take you long to get this one, but here again the important thing is to be able to move as quickly as possible from the fingering of one chord to another, so you try practicing something like the following:
||:G7///|C///|G7///|C///:||
We talked in the last chapter about the three chord trick, but here's something even easier-a song accompaniment that uses only two chords. The song is OH DEAR! WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE? and i've written out the chords and words below. You may be familiar with certain variations on this lyrics, but whether you use them or not depends on you, and your audience, if any.

The melody of the song begins on the note G, which is the sound of your open string, so hit that note first.