carlos A. torres presents I want to play guitar Learning Guide Written by Dan Cross

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1 carlos A. torres presents I want to play guitar An Learning Guide Written by Dan Cross

2 About.com Learning Guitar - Beginner Guitar Lessons I Want to Play Guitar 2013, Dan Cross Self publishing ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

3 I want to play guitar About the Author Dan Cross is a professional guitarist and private instructor living in New York City. About Guitar on Facebook: Follow on Twitter: AboutGuitar: Experience: Dan has experience teaching, and playing numerous styles of music. A wide assortment of students keep Dan on top of all the current trends in music and guitar. Dan has been the Guide to Guitar for About.com since Education: Dan got his formal music education at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, enrolling in their Applied Music program. After a year, Dan transferred to the Mohawk College Jazz Studies program, in Hamilton, Ontario, from which he graduated with honors. Teaching is in my blood, and I enjoy helping others further their guitar knowledge. I m an avid music fan, with a keen interest in all types of music - from pop, to jazz, to classic rock, to German beer jingles. I hope the Guitar at About site will be able to provide information for guitarists of all skill levels. The following free guitar lessons have been created with the beginner in mind. It is suggested that new guitarists begin at lesson one, spending at least one week learning the exercises and songs in that lesson before moving on. Learning to relax while playing guitar will help immeasurably, so be sure to have fun! The original web-based lessons written by Dan Cross can be found here:

4 Lesson Introduction 2. Guitar Parts 3. guitar Neck 4. Holding a Guitar 5. Holding a Pick 6. Tuning 7. Scales 8. Basic Chords 9. Learning Songs 10. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. A New Scale 3. Names of Guitar Strings 4. Learning Minor Chords 5. Learning to Strum 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. Blues Scale 3. Major Chords 4. Chord Review 5. New Strumming Pattern 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. The Musical Alphabet on Guitar 3. Names of Guitar Strings 4. Learning Minor Chords 5. Learning to Strum 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. Sharps and Flats Bar Blues 4. B Minor Chord 5. Scale Review 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. Chromatic Scale 3. Open 7th Chords 4. Barre Chord Intro 5. Strumming Patterns 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule

5 Lesson Introduction 2. Barre Chords 3. Fingerpicking 4. Hammer-ons 5. Pull-offs 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. Palm Muting 3. Major Chord Inversions 4. Chord Quiz 5. Advanced String Bends 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. Fingerpicking 3. Strumming Patterns 4. Slash Chords 5. Slides 6. String Bending 7. Learning Songs 8. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. Major Scale 3. Strumming Patterns 4. Sus4 Chords 5. Essential Knowledge 6. Learning Songs 7. Practice Schedule Lesson Introduction 2. 7th Barre Chords 3. More Major Chords 4. Strumming Patterns 5. Learning Songs Appendix How to Tune a Guitar 2. Tips on Playing Guitar Chords 3. How to Read Guitar Tablature 4. How to Read Guitar Chord Charts 5. Technique Building Exercises 6. Learn to Play Like BB King 7. Chord Quiz Answers Contents

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7 Lesson 1

8 8 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction Have you always wanted to play guitar, but never got around to actually getting started? Here is reason to begin... free guitar lessons, which is essentially the same lesson I teach all new students. You ll learn how to hold a guitar and pick, the names of parts of the guitar, a scale, a few chords, and a couple of songs. The web has a vast number of resources available for learning how to play guitar. You can learn how to play songs, how to repair your broken instrument, how to play fancy scales, and much more. The trouble is, there just aren t many GOOD guitar lessons available to someone looking to start playing guitar. These guitar lessons are designed for people who own (or have borrowed) a guitar, but don t yet know the first thing about playing it. What you ll need for these Guitar Lessons A guitar with six strings. Any type of guitar will work fine. A guitar pick. Medium gauged picks are recommended, but any will work okay in a pinch. A chair without arms. A reasonable amount of patience. What you ll learn By the end of this guitar lesson, you will have learned: the names of many parts of the guitar, the names of the open strings, the process of tuning the guitar, how to hold and use a pick, how to play a chromatic scale, and how to play a simple song using Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Dan Cross

9 Lesson Parts of a Guitar Although there are many different types of guitars (acoustic,electric, classical, electric-acoustic, etc.), they all have many things in common. The diagram to the left illustrates the various parts of a guitar. At the top of the guitar in the illustration is the headstock, a general term which describes the part of the guitar attached to the slimmer neck of the instrument. On the headstock are tuners, which you will use to adjust the pitch of each of the strings on the guitar. At the point in which the headstock meets the neck of the guitar, you ll find the nut. A nut is simply a small piece of material (plastic, bone, etc.), in which small grooves are carved out to guide the strings up to the tuners. The neck of the guitar is the area of the instrument you ll concentrate a great deal on: you ll put your fingers on various places on the neck, in order to create different notes. The neck of the guitar adjoins the body of the instrument. The body of the guitar will vary greatly from guitar to guitar. Most acoustic and classical guitars have a hollowed out body, and a sound hole, designed to project the sound of the guitar. Most electric guitars have a solid body, and thus will not have a sound hole. Electric guitars will instead have pick-ups where the soundhole is located. These pick-ups are essentially small microphones, which allow the capture the sound of the ringing strings, allowing them to be amplified. The strings of the guitar run from the tuning pegs, over the nut, down the neck, over the body, over the sound hole (or pick-ups), and are anchored at a piece of hardware attached to the body of the guitar, called a bridge.

10 10 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. The Neck - A closer look Examine the neck of your guitar. You ll notice there are metal strips running across it s entire surface. These pieces of metal are referred to as frets on a guitar. Now, here s what you ll need to keep in mind: the word fret has two different meanings when used by guitarists. It can be used to describe: 1. The piece of metal itself 2. The space on the neck between one piece of metal and the next To further explain, the area of the neck between the nut and the first strip of metal is referred to as the first fret. The area on the neck between the first and second strip of metal is referred to as the second fret. And so on... Dan Cross

11 Lesson Holding a Guitar Now, that we know about the basic parts of a guitar, it s time to get our hands dirty, and start learning to play it. Get yourself an armless chair, and take a seat. You should be sitting comfortably, with your back against the back of the chair. Slouching significantly is a no-no; you ll not only end up with a sore back, you ll develop bad habits on the guitar. Now, pick up your guitar, and hold it so the back of the body of the instrument comes in contact with your stomach/chest, and the bottom of the neck runs parallel to the floor. The thickest string on the guitar should be the closest to your face, while the thinnest should be closest to the floor. If this isn t the case, turn the guitar the in other direction. Typically, a right-handed person will hold the guitar so the headstock points to the left, whereas a left-handed person will hold the guitar so the headstock points to the right. (NOTE: to play the guitar as a lefty would, you will need a left-handed guitar.) When playing the guitar sitting down, the body of the guitar will rest on one of your legs. In most styles of guitar playing, the guitar will rest on the leg farthest away from the headstock. This means, a person playing the guitar in a right-handed fashion will typically rest the guitar on his/her right leg, while someone playing the guitar in a lefty manner will rest it on their left leg. (NOTE: proper classical guitarist technique dictates the exact OPPOSITE of the above, but for this lesson, let s stick to our initial explanation) Next, concentrate on your fretting hand (the hand closest to the neck of the guitar, when sitting in proper position). The thumb of your fretting hand should rest behind the neck of the guitar, with your fingers in a slightly curled position, poised above the strings. It is extremely important to keep these fingers curled at the knuckles, except when specifically instructed not to do so.

12 12 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 5. Holding a Pick Hopefully, you ve found, bought or borrowed a guitar pick. If not, you ll need to buy yourself some. Don t be stingy, go and pick up at least 10 of them - guitar picks are easy to lose (they often don t cost more than 30 or 40 cents each). You can experiment with different shapes and brands, but I highly recommend medium gauge picks to start; ones that aren t too flimsy, or too hard. The following documentation explains how to hold, and use a pick. When reading, keep in mind that your picking hand is the hand which is nearest to the bridge of the guitar, when sitting in the correct position. 1. Open your picking hand, and turn the palm to face you. 2. Close your hand to make a very loose fist. Your thumb should remain beside your index finger. 3. Rotate your hand until you are looking at it s profile, with your thumb s knuckle facing you. With your other hand, slide your guitar pick between your thumb and index finger. The pick should be approximately located behind the knuckle of the thumb. Be sure the pointed end of the pick is pointing directly away from your fist, and is protruding by about a half an inch. Hold the pick firmly. Position your picking hand over the soundhole of your acoustic guitar, or over the body of your electric guitar. Your picking hand, with thumb knuckle still facing you, should hover over the strings. Do not rest your picking hand on the strings or body of the guitar. Using your wrist for motion (rather than your entire arm), strike the sixth (lowest) string of your guitar in a downward motion. If the string rattles excessively, try striking the string a bit softer, or with less of the pick surface. Dan Cross

13 Lesson 1 13 Now, pick the sixth string in an upwards motion. Repeat the process several times. Try and minimize motion in your picking hand: one short picking stroke downwards, then one short picking stroke upwards. This process is referred to as alternate picking Try the same exercise on the fifth, fourth, third, second, and first strings. Tips: 1. Holding the pick in this manner will invariably feel awkward at first. You will initially have to pay special attention to your picking hand whenever you play guitar. 2. Try and create fluidity in your alternate picking. Your downstrokes should sound virtually identical to your upstrokes. 6. Tuning Unfortunately, before you begin playing, you ll really need to tune your guitar. The problem is, it is, at first, a relatively difficult task, one that becomes much easier over time. If you know of anyone who plays guitar, who could do the job for you, it is advised that you get them to tune your instrument. Alternately, you could invest in a guitar tuner, a relatively inexpensive device which listens to the sound of each string, and advises you (via a few blinking lights) on what you need to do in order to get the note in tune. If neither of these options are realistic for you, however, don t fear. You can learn to tune your instrument, and with some patience and a bit of practice, you ll become a pro at doing it. An instructional guide can be found on page 148 of the Appendix.

14 14 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 7. Playing a Scale Now we re getting somewhere! In order to become skillful on the guitar, we ll need to build the muscles in our hands, and learn to stretch our fingers. Scales are a good, albeit a not very exciting way to do this. Before we start, look at the diagram on the left to understand how fingers on the fretting hand (the hand that plays notes on the neck) are commonly identified. The thumb is labelled as T, the index finger is the first finger, the middle finger is the second finger, and so on. The Chromatic Scale Hear the chromatic scale here: The above diagram may look confusing... fear not, it s one of the most common methods of explaining notes on the guitar, and is actually quite easy to read. The above represents the neck of the guitar, when looked at head on. The first vertical line on the left of the diagram is the sixth string. The line to the right of that is the fifth string. And so on. The horizontal lines in the diagram represent the frets on the guitar... the space between the top horizontal line, and the one below it is the first fret. The space between that second horizontal line from the top and the one below it is the second fret. And so on. Dan Cross

15 Lesson 1 15 The 0 above the diagram represents the open string for the string it is positioned above. Finally, the black dots are indicators that these notes should be played. Start by using your pick to play the open sixth string. Next, take the first finger on your fretting hand (remembering to curl it), and place it on the first fret of the sixth string. Apply a significant amount of downward pressure to the string, and strike the string with your pick. Now, take your second finger, place it on the second fret of the guitar (you can take your first finger off), and again strike the sixth string with the pick. Now, repeat the same process on the third fret, using your third finger. And lastly, on the fourth fret, using your fourth finger. There! You ve played all the notes on the sixth string. Now, move to the fifth string... start by playing the open string, then play frets one, two, three and four. Repeat this process for each string, altering it only on the third string. On this third string, play only up to the third fret. When you ve played all the way up to the first string, fourth fret, you ve completed the exercise. TIPS: 1. When playing a note, place your finger at the top of fret (the area of the fret farthest away from the headstock). This will produce a clearer sound. 2. Try to use alternate picking while attempting this exercise. If this is overwhelming, try using only downstrokes with your pick, but learn properly once you ve gotten used to the scale. 3. Once you ve finished the scale, try playing the scale backwards, by starting at the first string, fourth fret, and playing all notes in exactly the reverse order.

16 16 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 8. Playing Basic Chords Although practicing the previous chromatic scale will certainly provide you with great benefits (like limbering up your fingers), it is admittedly not a whole lot of fun. Most people love to play chords on the guitar. Playing a chord involves using your pick to strike at least two notes (often more) on the guitar simultaneously. The following are three of the most common, and easy to play chords on the guitar. Playing a G major chord This diagram illustrates the first chord we are going to play, a G major chord (often simply called a G chord ). Take your second finger, and put it on the third fret of the sixth string. Next, take your first finger, and put it on the second fret of the fifth string. Lastly, put your third finger on the third fret of the first string. Make sure all of your fingers are curled, and are not touching any strings they re not supposed to. Now, using your pick, strike all six strings in one fluid motion. Notes should ring all together, not one at a time (this could take some practice). Voila! Your first chord. Now, check to see how you did. While still holding down the chord with your fretting hand, play each string (starting with the sixth) one at a time, listening to be sure each note rings out clearly. If not, study your hand to determine why it doesn t. Are you pressing hard enough? Is one of your other fingers touching that string, which is preventing it from sounding properly? These are the most common reasons why a note does not sound. If you re have trouble, read the feature on getting your chords to ring clearly on page 152 of the Appendix. Dan Cross

17 Lesson 1 17 Playing a C major chord The second chord we ll learn, the C major chord (often called a C chord ), is no more difficult than the first G major chord. Place your third finger on the third fret of the fifth string. Now, put your second finger on the second fret of the fourth string. Finally, put your first finger on the first fret of the second string. Here s where you have to be slightly careful. When playing a C major chord, you do NOT want to strum the sixth string. Watch your pick to make sure you only strum the bottom five strings when you are first learning the C major chord. Test this chord as you did with the G major chord, to make sure all notes are ringing clearly. Playing a D major chord Some beginners have slightly more difficulty playing a D major chord (often called a D chord ), since your fingers have to cram into a fairly small area. Shouldn t be too much of a problem, however, if you can comfortably play the other two chords. Place your first finger on the second fret of the third string. Then, put your third finger on the third fret of the second string. Lastly, place your second finger on the second fret of the first string. Strum only the bottom 4 strings when playing a D major chord. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with these three chords... you will use them for the rest of your guitar-playing career. Make sure you can play each of the chords without looking at the diagrams. Know what the name of each chord is, where each finger goes, and which strings you strum or do not strum.

18 18 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 9. Learning Songs We now know three chords: G major, C major, and D major. Let s see if we can put them to use in a song. At first, switching chords will take far too long to be able to play any songs properly. Don t give up, though! With a bit of practice, you ll be playing away, sounding great. In our next lesson, we ll start learning about strumming, so you can come back to these songs, and be able to play them better. Here are a few of the songs you can play with G major, C major, and D major chords: Leaving on a Jet Plane - performed by John Denver NOTES: when playing the G and C chord, strum them 4 times each, but when playing the D chord, strum it 8 times The Gambler - performed by Kenny Rogers NOTES: these aren t the exact chords for the song, but they ll do for now. Try strumming each chord one time, letting them ring. Brown Eyed Girl - performed by Van Morrison NOTES: There is one chord in this song that we don t know yet, but it s only used briefly. Skip it for now. Try strumming each chord four times. Dan Cross

19 Lesson Practice Schedule Realistically, to start improving on guitar, you re going to need to set aside a bit of time to practice. Developing a daily routine is a good idea... planning to spend at least 15 minutes daily practicing all you ve learned will really help. At first, your fingers will be sore, but by playing daily, they ll toughen up, and in a short amount of time, they ll stop hurting. The following list should give you an idea of how to spend your practice time: Get your guitar in tune. Make sure you re sitting, holding the guitar, and using your pick properly. You ll have to correct your natural bad habits at first, until it becomes second nature. Play the chromatic scale several times. Try playing it backwards. Play each of the three chords you ve learned. Check to be sure each note is ringing. If not, find out why, and correct the problem. Try moving from one chord to another. Before switching chords, mentally picture exactly where each finger is going to move in order to play the next chord. Only then should you switch chords. This is the key to switching chords quickly. Try playing some, or all of the songs listed in the previous page. At first, try only to think of the songs as a way in which to practice playing chords. Don t get discouraged. This is hard stuff at first, and you ll probably feel like you can t do it. You certainly can. Everyone struggles, so just put in your 15 minutes, and then don t worry about it until the next time you play. This is supposed to be fun! That s it for now! Once you re comfortable with this lesson, move on to lesson two, which includes information on the names of the guitar strings, plus more chords, more songs, and even several basic strumming patterns. Good luck, and have fun!

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21 Lesson 2

22 22 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction This free guitar lesson picks up where lesson one left off. This second beginner lesson teaches scales, names of the open strings, minor chords, strumming patterns, and songs. In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. If you are not familiar with any of these, be sure to read lesson one before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Two This second lesson will continue to focus on exercises to strengthen the fingers in the fretting hand. You ll also learn several new chords, in order to play many more songs. String names will also be discussed in this feature. Lastly, lesson two will also introduce you to the basics of strumming the guitar. Are you ready? Good, let s start lesson two. Dan Cross

23 Lesson A New Scale To play this scale, we need to review which fingers to use to play which notes on the fretboard. In the following scale, we will use our first finger to play the all notes on the first fret of the guitar. Our second finger will play all notes on the second fret. Our third finger will play all notes on the third fret. And, our fourth finger will play all notes on the fourth fret (since there aren t any in this scale, we won t use our fourth finger at all). It is important to stick to these fingerings for this scale, because it is an efficient way of using our fingers, and is a concept we will continue to use in upcoming lessons. E phrygian (fridge-ee-n) Listen to an mp3 of the E phrygian scale shown above. One of the best ways to start working on the co-ordination in your fingers is to practice playing scales. Although they may seem boring, they will certainly help build the strength and agility your fingers need to play the guitar well. Keep that in mind while practicing this new scale. Start by using your pick to play the open sixth string. Next, take the first finger on your fretting hand, and place it on the first fret of the sixth string. Play that note. Now, take your third finger, place it on the third fret of the sixth string, and play the note. Now, it s time to move on to playing the open fifth string. Keep following the diagram, playing each note indicated until you have reached the third fret on the first string. Remember: To use alternate picking throughout. Try starting the scale with a downstroke, then next time try starting the scale with an upstroke. Once you ve finished the scale, try playing the scale backwards, by starting at the first string, third fret, and playing all notes in exactly the reverse order. The key here is accuracy, not speed! Try playing the scale very slowly, making sure that each note is ringing clearly.

24 24 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. Names of Guitar Strings Just a little bit more technical talk before we get into playing more chords and songs. Don t worry, this shouldn t take you more than a couple of minutes to memorize! Every note on the guitar has a name, represented by a letter. The names of each of these notes is important; guitarists need to know where to find these notes on their instrument, in order to read music. The image to the left illustrates the names of the six open strings on the guitar. The strings, from sixth to first (thickest to thinnest) are named E, A, D, G, B and E again. In order to help you memorize this, try using the accompanying phrase Every Adult Dog Growls,Barks, Eats to keep the order straight. Try saying the string names out loud, one by one, as you play that string. Then, test yourself by pointing to a random string on your guitar, then trying to name that string as quickly as possible. In following lessons, we ll be learning the names of the notes on various frets on the guitar, but for now, we ll just stick with the open strings. Dan Cross

25 Lesson Learning Minor Chords Last week, we learned three types of chords: Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor. In this second lesson, we ll explore a new type of chord... a minor chord. The terms major and minor are terms used to describe the sound of the chord. In very basic terms, a major chord sounds happy, while a minor chord sounds sad. Most songs will contain a combination of both major and minor chords. Listen to the difference between them here: Playing an E minor chord Easiest chord first... playing an Eminor chord only involves using two fingers in your fretting hand. Start by placing your second finger on the second fret of the fifth string. Now, place your third finger on the second fret of the fourth string. Strum all six strings, and, there you have it, an Eminor chord! Now, like last lesson, test yourself to make sure you re playing the chord properly. Starting on the sixth string, strike each string one at a time, making sure each note in the chord is ringing clearly. If not, study your fingers, and identify what the problem is. Then, try to adjust your fingering so the problem goes away.

26 26 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Learning an A Minor Chord Here is another chord that gets used all the time in music, the Aminor chord. Playing this shape shouldn t be too hard: start by placing your second finger on the second fret of the fourth string. Now, place your third finger on the second fret of the third string. Lastly, place your first finger on the first fret of the second string. Strum the bottom five strings (being careful to avoid the sixth), and you ll be playing an Aminor chord. As with all previous chords, be sure to check each string to make sure all the notes in the chord are ringing clearly. Learning a D Minor Chord Last week, we learned how to play a Dmajor chord. In lesson two, we ll examine how to play a Dminor chord. For an inexplicable reason, newer guitarists have a hard time remembering how to play this chord, perhaps because it doesn t get used as often as some others. For this reason, you should make an extra effort to memorize a Dminor chord. Start by placing your first finger on the first fret of the first string. Now, put your second finger on the second fret of the third string. Lastly, add your third finger to the third fret of the second string. Now, strum only the bottom four strings. Check to see if your chord is ringing clearly. Watch the Dminor chord... be sure you are only strumming the bottom four strings... otherwise, the chord might not sound so nice! Dan Cross

27 Lesson Learning to Strum A guitarist with a good grasp of strumming can bring a two-chord song to life. In this first lesson on strumming, we ll examine some of the basics of strumming the guitar, and learn a widely used strumming pattern. Grab your guitar, and, using your fretting hand, form a G major chord. The pattern above is one bar long, and contains 8 strums. It might look confusing, so for now pay attention to the arrows at the bottom. An arrow pointing down indicates a downward strum. Similarly, an upwards arrow indicates that you should strum upwards. Notice that the pattern starts with a downstroke, and ends with an upstroke. So, if you were to play the pattern twice in a row, your hand wouldn t have to vary from it s continual downup motion. Play the pattern, taking special care to keep keep the time between strums the same. After you play the example, repeat it without any pause. Count out loud: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and (etc.) Notice that on the and (referred to as the offbeat ) you are always strumming upward. If you are having problems keeping a steady rhythm, try playing along with an mp3 of the strumming pattern. Make Sure: If playing an acoustic guitar, you strum over the sound hole all strings ring clearly Make sure the volume of your downstrums and upstrums are equal Be careful not to strum too hard, as this produces an undesirable sound Be careful not to strum too softly, as this will produce a wimpy sound. Your pick should be striking the strings with a relatively firm, even stroke Think of your elbow as being the top of a pendulum - your arm should swing up and down from it in a steady motion, never pausing at any time. Most of the picking motion should come from a rotation of the wrist, rather than from the forearm. Be sure not to keep your wrist stiff when playing.

28 28 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR By removing only one strum from the previous pattern, we ll create one of the most widely used strumming patterns in pop, country, and rock music. When we remove the strum from this pattern, the initial instinct will be to to stop the strumming motion in your picking hand. This is exactly what we DON T want, as this alters the on-beat downstrum / off-beat upstrum pattern we ve established. The key to this playing this strum successfully is to keep the strumming motion going while slightly lifting the hand away from the body of the guitar momentarily, on the downstroke of the third beat, so the pick misses the strings. Then, on the next upstroke (the and of the third beat), bring the hand closer to the guitar, so the pick hits the strings. To summarize: the upward/downward motion of the picking hand should not change from the first pattern. Deliberately avoiding the strings with the pick on the third beat of the pattern is the only change. Listen to ( and play along with, this second strumming pattern, to get a better idea on how this new pattern should sound. Once you are comfortable with this, try it at a somewhat faster speed ( audio/100strum2.mp3). It is important to be able to play this accurately - don t be satisfied with getting MOST of the up and down strums in the right order. If it s not perfect, it will make learning any harder strums virtually impossible. Be sure that you can play the pattern many times in a row, without having to stop because of an incorrect strum. This is a tricky concept, and it can be guaranteed that you will have some problems with it at first. The idea is, if you introduce basic strumming patterns early, within a couple of lessons, you ll have gotten the hang of it, and will be sounding great! It is important to try not to get frustrated... soon, this will become second nature. Dan Cross

29 Lesson Learning Songs The addition of three new minor chords to this week s lesson gives us a total of six chords to learn songs with. These six chords will provide you with the opportunity to play literally hundreds of country, blues, rock, and pop songs. If you need to refresh your memory on which chords we ve learned so far, you can review themajor chords from lesson one, and the minor chords from lesson two. Here are a few of the songs you can play with G major, C major, D major, E minor, and A minor chords: Take it Easy - performed by The Eagles NOTES: You know all of these chords, but this song will take you a while to play well. For now, use a basic strum (only slow downstrums), and switch chords when you reach the word that the new chord is above. Mr. Tambourine Man - written by Bob Dylan NOTES: this tune will also take a while to master, but if you keep at it, you ll make progress quickly. For strumming, either strum four slow strums per chord, or, for a challenge, use the hard strumming pattern that we learned in this lesson. About a Girl - performed by Nirvana NOTES: Again, we won t be able to play the entire song, but the main part we can do rather easily, as it only contains an Eminor and Gmajor chord. Play the song as follows: Eminor (strum: down, down up) Gmajor (strum: down up down up) and repeat. Brown Eyed Girl - performed by Van Morrison NOTES: We learned this song last lesson, but try it again, now that you know how to play the Eminor chord we didn t know before.

30 30 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 7. Practice Schedule Practicing at least 15 minutes per day on the guitar is recommended. Playing every day, even for this small amount of time, will get you comfortable with the instrument, and you ll be amazed at your progress. Here s a schedule to follow. Make sure your guitar is in tune Go over material from lesson one. Concentrate on the chromatic scale and major chords. Review the open string names. Play the E phrygian scale several times. Play the scale forwards and backwards, slowly, in an even tempo. Concentrate on accuracy! Spend at least five minutes on strumming. Try these patterns with different chords. Try playing the strumming patterns with one chord, switching chords, and playing the pattern again. Play this week s minor chords. Say the name of the chord as you play it, to help with memorization. Practice switching from one minor chord to another, or from a minor to a major chord. Try playing some, or all of the songs listed. Review songs from lesson one.they will certainly not sound very good at first. Try only to think of the songs as a way in which to practice playing chords. Dan Cross

31 Lesson 2 31 You can see that we are quickly building a large amount of material to practice. If you find it impossible to practice the above in one sitting, try playing them over several days. Be sure not to ignore any of the items on the list, even if they re not a ton of fun to practice. You will undoubtedly sound pretty rough when you first start playing this new material. Everyone does... that is why we practice. If you can t seem to get something right even after a lot of practice, shrug your shoulders, and leave it for tomorrow. We re done lesson two! When you re ready, move on to lesson three, we ll discuss even more about chords, more strumming patterns, the basics of reading music, plus new songs and more. Hope you re having fun!

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33 Lesson 3

34 34 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction Lots more instruction for beginner guitarists in lesson three, including learning a blues scale, a new strumming pattern, three new chords, and many new songs. This third lesson will include both review material, and new material. We ll learn the three remaining open chords that are generally considered the basic chords. We ll also learn another strumming pattern, and an A Blues Scale. And, as with the previous lessons, we ll finish up by learning a few new songs that use these new techniques we ve learned. Are you ready? Good, let s begin lesson three. Dan Cross

35 Lesson The Blues Scale Before we jump into playing this useful new scale, let s review the fingers we will use to play the scale s notes. This scale is referred to as a movable scale, meaning that we can play the scale anywhere on the neck. For now, we will play the scale starting on the fifth fret, but feel free to play it at the tenth fret, at the first fret, or anywhere else. As with previous exercises, the blues scale requires precise fingering in your fretting hand in order for it to be most useful. All notes on the fifth fret will be played by the first finger. Notes on the sixth fret will be played by the second finger. Notes on the seventh fret will be played by the third finger. And all notes on the eighth fret will be played by the fourth finger. One of the best ways to start working on the coordination in your fingers is to practice playing scales. Although they may seem boring, they will help build the strength and agility your fingers need to play the guitar well. Keep that in mind while practicing this new scale. Count up to the fifth fret of your guitar. On most guitars, the fifth fret will be marked with a dot on the fretboard. Place your first finger on the fifth fret of the sixth string and play that note. Next, put your fourth (pinky) finger on the eighth fret of the sixth string, and again play that note. Now, continue to the fifth string, and follow the pattern illustrated above, until you ve reached the eighth fret on the first string (listen to the scale here: Take your time and learn this scale well... it ll be one that you use often. Remember: Use alternate picking. Once you ve finished the scale, try playing the scale backwards. Start at the first string, third fret, and play all notes in exactly the reverse order. The key here is accuracy, not speed! Try playing the scale very slowly, making sure that each note is ringing clearly.

36 36 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. Major Chords Just a few more chords this week to fill in the ones we didn t cover previously. Once you ve learned these three new chords, you ll know all of what are generally considered to be the basic open chords. Learning an E Major Chord Playing an Emajor chord is actually very similar to playing an Aminor chord; you just need to switch the strings you are playing the chord on. Start by placing your second finger on the second fret of the fifth string. Now, place your third finger on the second fret of the fourth string. Lastly, place your first finger on the first fret of the third string. Strum all six strings and you re playing an Emajor chord. Now, like last lesson, test yourself to make sure you re playing the chord properly. Starting on the sixth string, strike each string one at a time, making sure each note in the chord is ringing clearly. If not, study your fingers, and identify what the problem is. Then, try to adjust your fingering so the problem goes away. Learning an A Major Chord This chord is a little tougher; you ve got to fit all three of your fingers on the second fret, and it can feel a little crowded at first. Start by placing your first finger on the second fret of the fourth string. Next, put your second finger on the second fret on the third string. Lastly, place your third finger on the second fret of the second string. Strum the bottom five strings (being careful to avoid the sixth), and you ll be playing an Amajor chord. Another common way to play an Amajor chord is by flattening one finger across the second fret of all three strings. This can be tricky, and initially, will be extremely difficult to play cleanly. Dan Cross

37 Lesson 3 37 Playing an F Major Chord This chord has been left until last, because, honestly, it s a toughie. As the saying goes... it s not called an F-chord for nothing! Many new guitarists have such a problem with the Fmajor chord because it involves a new concept; using your first finger to press down frets on two strings. Start by placing your first finger on the first frets of both the first and second strings. Now, slightly roll the finger back (towards the headstock of the guitar). Many people find this technique makes playing the Fmajor chord slightly easier. Next, place your second finger on the second fret of the third string. Lastly, place your third finger on the third fret of the fourth string. Strum only the bottom four strings, and you re playing an Fmajor chord. Chances are, at first, very few, if any of the notes will ring when trying to strum this chord. Check to make sure your second and third fingers are curled, and not flattened against the other strings of the guitar. Although this chord seems nearly impossible at first, within weeks, you ll have it sounding as good as the rest of the chords you play.

38 38 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. Chord Review Including the three new chords in this week s lesson, we ve now learned a total of nine chords. That might not seem like a whole lot, but at first, they can be hard to memorize. If you re having a hard time remembering all these chords, refer to the following archive. Practicing these chords Getting these chords memorized is just the first step. In order for them to be useful, you ll have to learn to move from chord to chord fairly quickly. This will take much practice and patience, but you ll get the hang of it! Once you ve reviewed these chords thoroughly, move on to learning a new strum. The main reason most beginners have trouble switching chords quickly is because of wasted movement in their fretting hand. Study your fingers when moving from chord to chord. Chances are, one (or a few) of your fingers will come way off the fretboard, and often hover in mid-air while you try to decide where each finger should go. This is unnecessary, and can really slow you down. Now, try again... play a chord, and BEFORE you switch to another chord, visualize playing this second chord shape. Picture in your mind exactly which fingers will need to go where, and only after you ve done this should you switch chords. Pay attention to any small, unnecessary movements your fingers make, and eliminate them. Although this is easier said than done, your hard work and attention to detail will start paying off quickly. Dan Cross

39 Lesson New Strumming Pattern In lesson two, we learned all about the basics of strumming. If you still aren t comfortable with the concept and execution of basic guitar strumming, I suggest you return to that lesson and review. This strum isn t much different from the one in lesson two. In fact, many guitarists find it slightly easier. Before you try and play this pattern, take some time to learn what it sounds like. Listen to an mp3 clip of the strumming pattern ( and try to tap along with it. Once you are comfortable with it, try it at a faster speed ( media/audio/100strum3.mp3). Now pick up your guitar and try playing the pattern while holding down a Gmajor chord (be sure to use the exact upstrokes and downstrokes the diagram illustrates). If you re having trouble, put down the guitar and practice saying or tapping out the rhythm again, making sure to repeat it multiple times. If you don t have the correct rhythm in your head, you ll never be able to play it on guitar. Remember to keep the up and down strumming motion in your picking hand constant - even when you re not actually strumming the chord. Try saying out loud down, down up, up down up (or 1, 2 and, and 4 and ) as you re playing the pattern. Remember: Make sure all strings are ringing clearly Make sure the volume of your downstrums and upstrums are equal Be careful not to strum too hard, as this can cause strings to rattle and produces an undesirable sound Be careful not to strum too softly, as this will produce a wimpy sound. Your pick should be striking the strings with a firm, even stroke Think of your elbow as being the top of a pendulum; your arm should swing up and down from it in a steady motion, never pausing at any time. Having said that, the bulk of the picking motion should come from a rotation of the wrist, rather than from the forearm. Be sure not to keep your wrist stiff when playing.

40 40 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 6. Learning Songs The addition of three new minor chords to this week s lesson gives us a total of nine chords to learn songs with. These nine chords will provide you with the opportunity to play literally hundreds of country, blues, rock, and pop songs. Give these songs a try: House of the Rising Sun - performed by The Animals NOTES: This song is a little tough at first; it uses five of the nine chords we ve learned. Ignore the picking pattern for now - instead strum each chord six times quickly with only downstrums. Last Kiss - performed by Pearl Jam NOTES: this song is quite easy to play... it only uses four chords which repeat for the entire song. Use this week s strumming pattern for the song (play the pattern once for each chord). Mr. Jones - performed by The Counting Crows NOTES: This one might be tough, because it uses an Fmaj chord, and because some chords are held longer than others. Playing along with a recording of the song should help. Although this week s strumming pattern isn t exactly what they play, it will work fine. American Pie - performed by Don McLean NOTES: This one will be hard to memorize! It s very long, and has lots of chords, but it should be a good project. Ignore the 7ths... play Amin instead of Am7, Emin instead of Em7, and Dmaj instead of D7. Also, ignore the chords in the brackets for now. Dan Cross

41 Lesson Practice Schedule I hope you re putting in your fifteen minutes of practice per day! It s not a lot of time to play guitar, but even fifteen minutes will yield good results over time. If you have the time to play more, it s highly encouraged... the more the better! Here s a suggested use of your practice time for the next few weeks. Make sure your guitar is in tune (review how to tune). Warm up by playing the blues scale, forwards and backwards, several times. Play slowly, use alternate picking, and make sure each note rings clearly. Play the E phrygian scale from lesson 2 several times, paying careful attention to detail. Review all nine major and minor chords we ve learned. Practice moving from chord to chord quickly. Spend some time working on this week s new strumming pattern. Also, be sure to revisit the lesson two strumming patterns. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns. Try to play one, or a few of the songs above. See if you can memorize part of a song, and the lyrics to the song. At this point, songs probably won t sound great when you try and play them, but with some patience, you ll be sounding like a pro within months! As was suggested in lesson two, if you find it impossible to find the time to practice all of the above in one sitting, try breaking up the material, and practicing it over several days. There is a strong human tendency to only practice things which we are already quite good at. You ll need to overcome this, and force yourself to practice the things you are weakest at doing.

42

43 Lesson 4

44 44 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction In the fourth installment of this this free guitar lesson series, we learn about power chords, note names on the sixth and fifth string, new strumming patterns, plus a whole bunch of new songs. Lesson Four Overview In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Guitar Lesson Four We ll start adventuring a little farther up the neck in this lesson. You ll learn a new type of chord... what is known as a power chord. You ll also learn the names of the notes on the sixth and fifth string. Plus, of course, strumming patterns, and a bunch more songs to play. Let s start guitar lesson four. Dan Cross

45 Lesson The Musical Alphabet on Guitar So far, most of what we ve learned on the guitar has been focused on the bottom few frets of the instrument. Most guitars have at least 19 frets - by only using the first three, we aren t using the instrument as effectively as we could. Learning the notes all over the guitar fretboard is the first step we need to take to unlock the instrument s full potential The Musical Alphabet Before we begin, it is very important to understand the way the musical alphabet works. It is similar in many respects to the traditional alphabet, in that it uses standard letters (remember your ABCs?). In the musical alphabet, however, the letters only progress up to G, after which they begin again at A. As you continue up the musical alphabet, the pitches of the notes get higher (when you go past G up to A again, the notes continue to get higher, they don t start at a low pitch again.) Another complication of learning the musical alphabet on guitar is that there are extra frets in between some, but not all of these note names. The graphic above is an illustration of the musical alphabet. The ties between the notes B and C, and also between the notes E and F, reflect the fact there is NO blank fret between these two sets of notes. Between ALL OTHER notes, there is one fret space. This rule applies to all instruments, including piano. If you are familiar with the piano keyboard, you will know that there is no black key between the notes B and C, and also E and F. But, between all other sets of notes, there is a black key. SUMMARY: On the guitar, there are no frets between the notes B&C, and between E&F. Between all other notes, there is one (for now, unnamed) fret between each.

46 46 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. Notes on the Neck From guitar lesson two, you ll remember that the name of the open sixth string is E. Now, let s figure out the other note names on the sixth string. Coming after E in the musical alphabet is... you guessed it... F. Referencing the musical alphabet we just learned, we know there is no blank fret between these two notes. So, F is on the sixth string, first fret. Next, let s figure out where the note G is located. We know that there is a blank fret between F and G. So, count up two frets, and G is on the third fret of the sixth string. After G, in the musical alphabet, comes the note A again. Since there is a blank fret between G and A, we know that A is on the fifth fret of the sixth string. Continue this process all the way up the sixth string. You can check the diagram here to make sure you are correct. Remember: there is also no blank fret between the notes B and C. Once you reach the 12th fret (which is often marked on the neck of the guitar by double dots), you ll notice you have reached the note E again. You ll find on all six strings that the note on the 12th fret is the same as the open string. Once you ve finished counting up the E string, you ll want to try the same exercise on the A string. This shouldn t be difficult... the process is exactly the same as it was on the sixth string. All you need to know is the name of the open string to get started. Dan Cross

47 Lesson 4 47 Unfortunately, understanding how to figure out note names on the fretboard isn t enough. For these note names to be useful, you ll have to go about memorizing them. The best way to memorize the fretboard is to commit several note names and frets to memory on each string. If you know where A is on the sixth string, for example, it will be much easier to find the note B. For now, we ll just worry about memorizing the notes the sixth and fifth strings. In lesson five, we will fill in the blank frets in the diagram with note names. These names include sharps ( ) and flats ( ). Before you start learning these other notes, however, you ll need to understand and memorize the above notes. Things to Remember: The musical alphabet goes from A to G, then back to A again. There is no blank fret between the notes B&C, and E&F. The note name on the 12th fret of any string is always the same as the open string. Memorize the open string name, and several more note names and locations on both the sixth and fifth string. This will make finding all other notes much quicker.

48 48 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. Power Chords In order to learn power chords effectively, you ll need to really understand the names of the notes on the neck of the guitar. If you glossed over that page, you ll want to revisit it, and learn it well. What a Power Chord Is In some styles of music, particularly in rock and roll, it s not always necessary to play a big, full sounding chord. Often, especially on an electric guitar, it sounds best to play two-or-three note chords. This is when power chords come in handy. Power chords have been popular since the birth of blues music, but when grunge music started to rise in popularity, many bands chose to use power chords almost exclusively, instead of more traditional chords. The power chords we are about to learn are movable chords, meaning that, unlike the chords we ve learned so far, we can move their position up or down the neck, to create different power chords. Although the power chord pictured here contains three notes, the chord contains only two *different notes* - one note is doubled an octave higher. A power chord contains the root note - the root of a C power chord is C - and another note called the fifth. For this reason, power chords are often referred to as fifth chords (written C5 or E5, etc). The power chord does not contain the note which traditionally tells us whether a chord is major or minor. Thus, a power chord is neither major nor minor. It can be used in a situation where either a major or a minor chord is called for, however. Take a look at this example of a chord progression: Cmajor - Aminor - Dminor - Gmajor We could play the above progression with power chords, and we d play it as follows: C5 - A5 - D5 - G5 Dan Cross

49 Lesson 4 49 Power Chords on the Sixth String Take a look at the diagram to the left - note that you do NOT play the third, second, and first strings. This is important - if any of these strings ring, the chord won t sound very good. You ll also notice that the note on the sixth string is circled in red. This is to denote that the note on the sixth string is the root of the chord. This means that, while playing the power chord, whatever note is being held down on the sixth string is the name of the power chord. For example, if the power chord were being played starting on the fifth fret of the sixth string, it would be referred to as an A power chord, since the note on the fifth fret of the sixth string is A. If the chord were played on the eighth fret, it would be a C power chord. This is why it is important to know the names of the notes on the sixth string of the guitar. Play the chord by placing your first finger on the sixth string of the guitar. Your third (ring) finger should be placed on the fifth string, two frets up from your first finger. Lastly, your fourth (pinky) finger goes on the fourth string, on the same fret as your third finger. Strum the three notes with your pick, making sure that all three notes ring clearly, and that all are of equal volume.

50 50 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Power Chords on the Fifth String If you can play the power chord on the sixth string, this one should be no trouble at all. The shape is exactly the same, only this time, you ll need to be sure you don t play the sixth string. Many guitarists will overcome this problem by lightly touching the tip of their first finger against the sixth string, deadening it so it doesn t ring. The root of this chord is on the fifth string, so you ll need to know what the notes are on this string in order to know what power chord you re playing. If, for example, you re playing a fifth string power chord on the fifth fret, you are playing a D power chord. Things to Know About Power Chords: Power chords are often referred to as a fifth or 5 chord. If you see a chord written as C5, it is a C power chord You can optionally omit the pinky finger, and play a power chord as a two-note chord. Most guitarists stick with the 3-note version, as they sound more full A common fingering for a power chord is to play the root note with the first finger, while the third finger barres the other two notes Power chords are generally used in pop, rock, and blues music. Because they are not big, full sounding chords, power chords are not commonly used in acoustic strumming situations Many guitarists prefer to use all downstrokes when strumming power chords. This results in a more chunky sound. This is not a rule, only an observation Dan Cross

51 Lesson F Major Chord Review It might seem silly to devote an entire page to going over one chord we ve already learned, but, believe me, you will appreciate it in coming weeks. The F major chord is the most difficult we ve learned thus far, but it uses a technique that we will use constantly in future lessons. That technique is using one finger in your fretting hand to hold down more than one note at a time. The F major shape In case you re having trouble remembering how to play the chord, let s go over it again. Your third finger plays the third fret on the fourth string. Your second finger plays the second fret on the third string. And, your first finger plays the first fret on both the second and first strings. Make sure when you strum the chord that you re not playing the sixth and fifth strings. Many guitarists find that slightly rolling the first finger back (towards the headstock of the guitar) makes playing the chord slightly easier. If, after you ve done this, the chord still doesn t sound properly, play each string, one by one, and identify what the problem string(s) are. Keep practicing this chord - play it every day, and don t give up. It won t take long for the Fmajor chord to start sounding just as good as the rest of your chords do. Songs that use an F Major Chord There are, of course, thousands of songs that use an F major chord, but for practicing purposes, here are just a few. They may take some work to master, but you should have them sounding good with some solid practice. If have forgotten some of the other chords we ve learned, you can check the guitar chord library: Mother - performed by Pink Floyd This is a good acoustic song to start with, because there aren t many chords, the changes are slow, and F major only occurs a couple of times.

52 52 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Kiss Me - performed by Sixpence None the Richer The strum for this song is tricky (we ll leave it alone for a while... for now, play quick downstrums 8x per chord, only 4x for the chorus). There are a few chords we might not have covered yet, but they should be explained at the bottom of the page. Not many F major chords... just enough to keep you challenged. Night Moves - performed by Bob Seger Just a quick F major in this song, so it might be a difficult tune to play at first. If you know the song well, this one will be much easier to play. 6. Strumming Patterns In lesson two, we learned all about the basics of strumming the guitar. We added another new strum to our repertoire in lesson three. If you still aren t comfortable with the concept and execution of basic guitar strumming, it is advised that you return to those lessons and review. Just a slight variation from the strum we learned in lesson three gives us another very common, usable strumming pattern. In fact, many guitarists actually find this pattern to be slightly easier, as there is a slight pause at the end of the bar, which can be used to switch chords. Before you try and play the strumming pattern above, take some time to learn what it sounds like. Listen to an mp3 clip of the strumming pattern, Dan Cross

53 Lesson 4 53 to and try to tap along with it. Repeat this until you can tap out this pattern without thinking about it. Once you ve learned the basic rhythm of this strum, pick up your guitar and try playing the pattern while holding down a Gmajor chord. Be sure to use the exact upstrokes and downstrokes the diagram illustrates - this will make your life much easier. If you re having trouble, put down the guitar and practice saying or tapping out the rhythm again. If you don t have the correct rhythm in your head, you ll never be able to play it on guitar. Once you re comfortable with the strum, try playing along with the same pattern at a faster tempo. Listen to faster tempo strum here: Again, remember to keep the up and down strumming motion in your picking hand constant - even when you re not actually strumming the chord. Try saying out loud down, down up, up down (or 1, 2 and, and 4 ) as you re playing the pattern. Things to Remember If playing an acoustic guitar, make sure to strum directly over the sound hole On electric guitar, strum over the body, not over the neck Make sure all strings are ringing clearly Make sure the volume of your downstrums and upstrums are equal Don t strum too hard, as this causes strings to rattle, and produces an undesirable sound Don t strum too softly, as this produces a wimpy sound. Your pick should be striking the strings with a relatively firm, even stroke Think of your elbow as being the top of a pendulum; your arm should swing up and down from it in a steady motion, never pausing at any time. Having said that, the bulk of the picking motion should come from a rotation of the wrist, rather than from the forearm. Be sure not to keep your wrist stiff when playing.

54 54 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 7. Learning Songs Since we ve now covered all the basic open chords, plus power chords, we have a lot of options in which songs we can play. This week s songs will be focus on both open and power chords. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana This is perhaps the most famous of all grunge songs. It uses all power chords, so once you can play those comfortably, the song shouldn t be too hard. Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR We can use our new strum with this fairly simple song. Although it does have a couple of chords we haven t covered yet, they should be explained well on the page. Still Haven t Found What I m Looking For - U2 Here s a nice, easy one to play, but unfortunately the tab is a little difficult to read. When trying to figure out this sheet music, be aware that the chord changes are UNDER the words, instead of over them, which is normally the case. 8. Practice Schedule As we progress further in these lessons, it becomes more and more important to have daily practice time, as we re starting to cover some really tricky material. Power chords can take a while to get used to, so I suggest making a habit of playing them regularly. Here s a suggested use of your practice time for the next few weeks. Make sure your guitar is in tune (review how to tune). Warm up by playing the chromatic scale, forwards and backwards, several times. Play slowly, use alternate picking, and make sure each note rings clearly. Play the E phrygian scale from lesson two several times, paying careful attention to detail. Dan Cross

55 Lesson 4 55 Review the names of notes on the sixth and fifth string. Practice calling out a random note (e.g. C), and trying to find that note on BOTH the sixth and fifth string. Memorize at least two other notes, and their positions on each string. Work on your power chords. Make sure your ring finger is positioned well on the appropriate fret (it is the finger that most often makes power chords sound bad). Slide from chord to chord, and try moving from the 6th string power chords to the 5th string power chords. Review all nine major and minor chords we ve learned. You should really be close to memorizing all of these chords by now. Pick two chords, and practice moving from one to the next quickly and smoothly. Then, pick two new chords, and repeat the process. Spend some time working on this week s new strumming pattern. Also, be sure to revisit the patterns from lesson two and lesson three. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns. Work on playing that pesky F major chord. Don t give up until it sounds perfect. Try playing some of the songs listed on that page. Try to play all of the songs in lesson four. Each of these songs has been chosen to help you work on a particular aspect of your guitar playing. We are starting to build up a large archive of things to practice, so if you find it impossible to find the time to practice all of the above in one sitting, try breaking up the material, and practicing it over several days. There is a strong human tendency to only practice things which we are already quite good at. You ll need to overcome this, and force yourself to practice the things you are weakest at doing. I can t emphasize strongly enough that it is important to practice everything we ve done in these four lessons. Some things will undoubtedly be more fun than others, but trust me, the things you hate doing today are probably techniques that will become the basis for other things you will love to play in the future. The key to practice is, of course, fun. The more you enjoy playing guitar, the more you ll play, and the better you will get. Try to have fun with whatever you re playing. In lesson five, we ll learn a blues shuffle, names of sharps and flats, a barre chord, plus more songs! Hang in there, and have fun!

56

57 Lesson 5

58 58 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction We continue our online series of beginner lessons, this week delving into sharps and flats, learning a 12-bar blues, a B minor chord, new songs, and more. Lesson features RealAudio clips to play along to. In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Five Get ready for a real challenge this week... lesson five will introduce a whole new type of chord that you ll use a lot in the future, the barre chord. We ll also complete our learning of the note names on the sixth and fifth string, learn a blues shuffle and several guitar leads, as well as learn a bunch of new songs. Are you ready? Good, let s start guitar lesson five. 2. Sharps and Flats In guitar lesson four, we learned the names of the notes on the sixth and fifth string (you ll want to review them first if you re unsure of them). While that lesson was designed to teach you the basic note names, it did not tell you all you need to know as a guitarist. The following lesson will fill in the gaps lesson four intentionally avoided. Dan Cross

59 Lesson 5 59 If you ve absorbed the material in lesson four, you ll know the names of all the notes in red on the diagram to the left. What you won t recognize is the names of the notes in between these red dots. Let s begin by examining two new terms... sharp - which is written like this: #, and flat - which is written like this: b. Essentially, the term sharp means a note is raised a note by one fret (a semitone ), while flat means a note is lowered by one fret (a semitone ). Upon studying the diagram to the left, you ll notice each in-between note has two alternate names: one being a letter name followed by a sharp sign, and the other being a letter name followed by a flat sign. To explain this, we ll name the note on the second fret of the sixth string. The note is one fret above the note F on the first fret, so we will refer to the note as an F sharp(f#). Alternately, the same note is also one fret below the note G on the third fret, so it can also be referred to as G flat(gb). You ll see this note referred to as either F# or Gb (for theoretical reasons that don t concern us now), so you must be aware that they are the exact same note. This same principle holds true for all other notes on the fretboard. Things to Remember: Sharp is notated as # Flat is notated as b If a letter name is followed by a sharp(#), the note is one fret higher than the fret you d normally play that letter name on. Example: you d play G on the third fret, sixth string. You d play G# on the fourth fret sixth string. If a letter name is followed by a flat(b), the note is one fret lower than the fret you d normally play that letter name on. Example: you d play D on the tenth fret, sixth string. You d play Db on the ninth fret sixth string. F# = Gb, G# = Ab, A# = Bb, C# = Db, D# = Eb The note name on the 12th fret of any string is always the same as the open string. Memorize the open string name, and several more note names and locations on both the sixth and fifth string. This will make finding all other notes much quicker.

60 60 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Bar Blues Learning the blues is an essential step in becoming a well-rounded guitarist. Since the basic blues is so simple, many guitarists will use it as a common ground - a means of playing with others who they ve never played with before. Consider this: a 50 year old man, and a 14 year old teenager are trying to play guitar together. Chances are, they re not going to know many of the same songs. This is when knowing a simple blues will come in handy... one guitarist can play the chords, and the other can either sing, or play guitar solos over those chords. And then, they can trade off, to let them both have a turn playing lead guitar. The following provides instructions for learning a 12-bar blues in the key of A. There is a very simple intro and outro which have been included, which might take a little practice to play quickly, but shouldn t be too difficult. For the sake of simplicity, the following is presented in a very basic, almost hokey style. Learn it as is, and we ll vary the style in upcoming lessons, to make the blues sound a little more interesting. NOTE: The following lesson uses tablature. If you are unfamiliar with this term, take a moment to learn how to read guitar tablature on page 154 of the Appendix. The Intro This is a blues intro at it s most basic.. just a few chords, and a few single notes, which will lead nicely into the main part of the song. Hear this intro (mp3) Dan Cross

61 Lesson 5 61 The Outro This is a basic guitar part that will wrap up the song, the last time you play it. It s not very long, and shouldn t be too tough to learn. Hear this intro (mp3) The 12-Bar Blues This is the main part of the song. The song starts with a simple intro (not shown below), then continues for 12 bars, then repeats (without repeating the intro). The last time the song is played, the last two bars are replaced by the outro. Hear this 12 bar blues played twice, with intro and outro (mp3) The above gives the general breakdown of the twelve bar blues, and you ll need to memorize it. Chances are, though, when you hear it played, it will sound logical, and shouldn t be at all hard to memorize.

62 62 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Although the previous diagram shows us generally which chords we will play in each bar, we are going to play something a little more complex than just A5 for four bars, D5 for two bars, etc. To see exactly what you ll play for each bar, study the following: For each bar of A5, you ll play this tablature. Play the note on the second fret with your first finger, and the note on the fourth fret with your third finger. For each bar of D5, you ll play this tablature. Play the note on the second fret with your first finger, and the note on the fourth fret with your third finger. For each bar of E5, you ll play this tablature. Play the note on the second fret with your first finger, and the note on the fourth fret with your third finger. For each bar of E5, you ll play the above tablature. Play the note on the second fret with your first finger, and the note on the fourth fret with your third finger. If you listen to the above recording, you ll notice there s one small variation not included so far. It is this: the first time through the 12 bar blues, on the 12th bar, we play a different pattern on the E5 chord. This is often done at the end of each 12 bars, because it gives the listener and the band a solid way of knowing that we re at the end of the song form, and we re going back to the beginning again. Dan Cross

63 Lesson 5 63 Here is how you play this very simple pattern: And, that s it! Looking at all the above instructions, you re probably going to feel overwhelmed. Pick up your guitar, and try playing through it all... it s actually quite simple, and rather easy to memorize. Things to Try: Loop the 12 bar blues without an intro, and without the outro. Keep repeating the 12 bar form, until you ve memorized it. Try playing the intro and outro, along with the song, WITHOUT losing the timing. Play along to the recorded examples. Try playing an A blues scale over the recorded example. This is something we re going to examine further in the future. Be sure you re not hitting open strings that you shouldn t be playing.

64 64 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. The B Minor Chord Here s where we take the next big step in our progress as a guitarist... learning about a shape of chord referred to as a barre chord. The technique of playing barre chords is one which we have utilized when playing the F major chord - using one finger to hold down more than one note. The B minor shape We re going to put your first finger to work on this chord. Your first finger has the job of covering the second fret, from the fifth to first strings (we don t play the sixth string). Next, put your third finger on the fourth fret of the fourth string. Then, add your fourth pinky finger to the fourth fret of the third string. Lastly, place your second finger on the third fret of the second string. Got it? Now, strum the chord, and try not to get upset when most of the notes don t ring clearly. This is a tough chord at first, no doubt about it! You re going to have to have patience, it WILL sound good soon, but it s going to take some work. Here are some tips that will help you: Very slightly bend your first finger. A straight and rigid finger is not what we re looking for. Roll the finger back slightly, so that more of the side of the index finger closest to the thumb is in contact with the strings. Try slightly pulling the body of the guitar towards your body, using the arm of your picking hand. Also gently pull the neck towards you with your fretting hand. This makes fretting barre chords somewhat easier. Dan Cross

65 Lesson 5 65 Movable chord One of the greatest things about the B minor chord shape is that it is a movable chord. This means that, unlike the chords we ve learned so far, we can slide the same shape around to different frets to create different minor chords. The note we re interested in is the note on the fifth string. Whatever note your finger is playing on the fifth string is the type of minor chord it is. If you were to slide the chord up the neck, so that your first finger was at the fifth fret, you d be playing a D minor chord, since the note on the fifth fret of the fifth string is D. THIS is why learning the note names on the sixth and fifth strings are so important. We ll be getting into different movable chords in the next lesson. Things to Try: Hold the shape of the B minor chord, and play strings one at a time. Correct any notes that aren t ringing clearly. Try moving from other chords to a B minor chord, then back to other chords. This will be a slow and difficult process at first. Keep trying! Try playing different minor chords by moving the B minor shape around to different frets (eg. try playing C# minor, F minor, G minor, Bb minor, etc.) Do NOT play the sixth string when playing a B minor chord. Pay careful attention to this.

66 66 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 5. Scale Review The blues scale plays a big part in rock in pop music, both in the solos of guitarists, and often within the songs themselves. In lesson three, we learned the basics of the blues scale. Now, we ll review the scale, and explore it a little bit further. The Blues Scale If you re having trouble remembering exactly how to play the blues scale, have a look at the diagram on the left. Truthfully, it s one of the easier scales you ll learn.. probably because your first finger starts on the same fret of each string. Play the scale forwards and backwards several times. What fret you start this scale at depends on which scale you d like to play.. like the B minor chord we learned in this lesson, the blues scale is movable. What type of blues scale you re playing depends on which fret you start at. If you start the scale with your first finger on the fifth fret of the sixth string (the note A), you re playing an A blues scale. If you start the scale with your first finger on the eighth fret of the sixth string, you re playing a C blues scale. Dan Cross

67 Lesson 5 67 Uses of Blues Scale If you re interested in learning to play guitar solos, you ll want to spend a whole lot of time with the blues scale. Many pop, rock, and blues guitarists use the blues scale almost exclusively in their solos. The basic premise is this: a guitarist will play a series of notes from the blues scale, which sound good together. Learning to do this well takes experimentation and practice, but it gets easier. Many songwriters use parts of the blues scale as the foundation for their songs. Led Zeppelin did this often: in the song Heartbreaker for example, the blues scale is used extensively in the main guitar riff. Eric Clapton used the blues scale too, for the riff in Cream s Sunshine of Your Love. Things to Try: Play the scale forwards and backwards. Try starting in the middle of the scale, and finishing it, going forwards, and backwards. In short... memorize it well! Experiment with playing various notes from the A blues scale If you have an interest in learning more about soloing, study the older archived lesson Learning to Improvise: Play around with the notes in the blues scale, and see if you can t come up with a cool guitar riff that could be the basis of a song.

68 68 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 6. Learning Songs Since we ve now covered all the basic open chords, plus power chords, and now the B minor chord, there are a countless number of songs to tackle. This week s songs will be focus on both open and power chords. Note: A few of the following song transcriptions use tablature. If you are unfamiliar with this term, take a moment to learn how to read guitar tablature on page 154 of the Appendix. Like a Rolling Stone - performed by Bob Dylan Try strumming this one as Down, Down, Down, Down up. Some rather quick chord changes in this song will keep you on your toes! Wonderful Tonight - performed by Eric Clapton Here s a nice easy one. Strum chords 8x downwards each, with a few exceptions (use your ears to tell you which ones).instead of D/F#, play Dmajor. If you re brave, you can try the lead guitar part (it s not that hard). Hotel California - performed by The Eagles Okay this one is tough... since it uses a Bminor, and many other chords. There is also a new chord: F#, which you ll play like this: play an Fmajor chord, and slide your fingers up one fret (so your first finger is barring the first and second strings, second fret).. only play strings four through one for this chord. When you see Bm7, play Bminor. Good luck! Otherside - performed by The Red Hot Chili Peppers This song is surprisingly easy. Learn the opening single note riff, and the chords (don t worry about the notes below the chords for now). Strum chords: down, down up, up down up. Dan Cross

69 Lesson Practice Schedule Realistically, in order to play the B minor chord properly, you re going to have to invest some time in practicing. Here is a routine I would suggest, in order to keep your progress moving smoothly. Make sure your guitar is in tune (review how to tune). Warm up by playing the blues scale, forwards and backwards, several times. Play slowly, use alternate picking, and make sure each note rings clearly. Play through all chords you know, including the open chords, power chords, and the B minor chord. Be sure you know the name and shape for each chord. Spend time reviewing the note names on the sixth and fifth string. Memorizing these notes is essential. Start by memorizing a few notes on each string. Review all strumming patterns we ve covered. We ve learned patterns in lesson two, lesson three, and lesson four. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns. Review the F major chord. It might not sound perfect yet, but chances are, if you ve been practicing it, it s getting better and better. Keep it up. Try to play all of the songs above. Don t get frustrated if a song is too tough for you. Take a deep breath, and try some more. If you re feeling overwhelmed, move to an easier song, or try songs from previous lessons. As we continue to learn more and more material, it becomes easy to overlook the techniques we learned during earlier lessons. They are all still important, so it is advisable to keep going over older lessons, and be sure you re not forgetting anything. There is a strong human tendency to only practice things which we are already quite good at. You ll need to overcome this, and force yourself to practice the things you are weakest at doing. If you re feeling confident with everything we ve learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you re interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the GUITAr TAB ( com/od/guitartab/guitar_tab_bands_a_to_z.htm) area of the site to hunt down the music that you d enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them. In lesson six, we ll learn more strumming patterns, a few 7th chords, another barre chord, new songs, and much more. Have fun until then, and keep practicing!

70

71 Lesson 6

72 72 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Intro to Lesson 6 In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. Most recently, in lesson five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12 bar blues. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Six Hopefully, you won t find this lesson so tough. We ll tackle a few new chords, which are called 7th chords. Also, we ll learn a few more of the tricky barre chords. Plus, a new handy strumming pattern. Additionally, if you looking for warm-up exercises, we ll learn a movable chromatic scale pattern. And, as usual, we ll get down to applying what we ve learned, by using these techniques in various songs. Are you ready? Good, let s start guitar lesson six. 2. Chromatic Scale If you think all the way back to lesson one, you ll recall we previously learned a chromatic scale pattern. We used that scale as a means of getting our fingers accustomed to pressing down frets on the guitar. Here again, we will study another method of playing this scale, except farther up on the neck. The goal of learning this new scale position is to get our fretting hand to move smoothly and quickly all over the neck. Before we begin, let s clarify exactly what a chromatic scale is. In Western music, there are 12 different musical pitches (A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab). Dan Cross

73 Lesson 6 73 The chromatic scale includes EACH of these 12 pitches. So, we could actually play a chromatic scale simply by sliding our finger up one string, playing each fret. Our reason for learning the chromatic scale, at this point, is simply as a means of improving our finger technique. Start by placing your first finger on the fifth fret of the sixth string, and play that note with a downstroke. Follow that by using your second finger to play the sixth fret of the sixth string (with an upstroke). Then, your third finger should play the seventh fret on the sixth string, and lastly, your fourth (pinky) finger should play the eighth fret. Now, move on to the fifth string. Playing this string will require a position shift in your fretting hand. Move your hand position down one fret, starting on the fourth fret of the fifth string with your first finger. Play each note on that string, as you did on the sixth. Repeat this process on each of the sixth strings (notice that you DON T switch positions on the second string. This is because the second string is tuned differently than the other five.) When you reach the first string, play the first fret with your first finger, as usual. Then, immediately switch positions, and also play the second fret with your first finger. This step allows you to reach the fifth fret, thus completing the two octave A chromatic scale. When you ve reached the end of the scale, try playing it backwards. Remember: Keep your fretting hand as loose as possible. Don t grip the neck too tightly, or switching positions will become more difficult. Try and set up a steady rhythm while playing the scale. Focus on making it sound as fluid as possible. Play the scale as slowly as necessary in order to make the tempo even throughout. Alternate picking here is extremely important. Don t allow yourself to be careless. Try looking at your picking hand while you play, instead of at your fretting hand. Is it doing everything as efficiently as it should? Don t rush through this exercise, and don t allow yourself to get frustrated. Pay careful attention to any minor flaws in your technique, and try to remedy them. Let s move on to learning the 7th chords...

74 74 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. Open 7th Chords Up until this point, we ve dealt with only major, minor, and 5th(power) chords. While these are all extremely common, there are many other types of chords, each of which have their own unique sound. The 7th chord (aka the 7 chord) is one of these many different chords. This week, we ll look at a few of these 7th chords, in open position (not barre chords). Playing a G7 chord Start playing the G7 chord by placing your third finger on the third fret of the sixth string. Next, put your second finger on the second fret of the fifth string. Lastly, place your first finger on the first fret of the first string. Make sure your fingers are nicely curled, and give the chord a strum. Voila! Notice that this G7 chord looks quite similar to a Gmajor chord - only one note is different. Playing a C7 chord The C7 chord shouldn t give you too much trouble - it again is very close in formation to a Cmajor chord, with only one note being different. Play this chord as follows - form a Cmajor chord, by placing your third finger on the third fret of the fifth string, your second finger on the second fret of the fourth string, and your first finger on the first fret of the second string. Now, place your fourth (pinky) finger on the third fret of the third string. Strum the bottom five strings, and you re playing a C7 chord. Dan Cross

75 Lesson 6 75 Playing a D7 chord As with the previous two chords, you ll notice the D7 chord is rather similar to the Dmajor chord. Start by placing your second finger on the second fret of the third string. Next, place your first finger on the first fret of the second string. Lastly, put your third finger on the second fret of the first string. Strum the bottom four strings, and you re playing a D7 chord. Remember: In all cases, you should be checking each chord for accuracy by playing strings one at a time. If each string does not ring clearly, find out why not, and correct the problem. Be sure you re not strumming strings with an x above them in the diagrams. Playing these strings will almost always result in chords sounding yucky. Practice moving from chord to chord, saying each one aloud as you re playing it. It is very important to memorize the chord name as well as the chord shape. Let s move on to learning more barre chords.

76 76 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. Barre Chord Basics In lesson five, we took the big step of beginning to play barre chords, by learning a B minor chord. If you haven t practiced B minor recently, I d suggest taking some time to try and master it before continuing. Knowing the note names on the sixth and fifth strings is also required to properly use barre chords (Lesson 5: Part 2). The barre chords in lesson six will be somewhat similar to the shape we learned previously. These chords are difficult to play at first, but with practice, they will begin to open up whole new worlds in your guitar playing. The F Major Sarre Shape As with the Bminor chord, the key to playing this F major shape well is getting your first finger to flatten across the entire fretboard. Try rolling your first finger back slightly, towards the headstock of the guitar. Once your first finger feels firmly in place, try adding your other fingers to complete the chord. Playing this shape well requires much practice, but it WILL get easier, and soon you won t understand why these shapes ever caused you any problems. As with the Bminor chord in our last lesson, this major chord shape is a movable chord. Meaning, we can slide this chord up and down the neck, in order to play different major chords. The root of the chord is on the sixth string, so whatever note you are holding down on the sixth string is the letter name of that major chord. For example, if you were playing the chord at the fifth fret, it would be an A major chord. If you were playing the chord at the second fret, it would be a Gb major chord (aka F# major). Dan Cross

77 Lesson 6 77 The F Minor Barre Shape This chord is very similar to the Fmajor shape above. There is only one slight difference... your second finger is not used at all. Your first finger is now responsible for fretting four of the six notes in the chord. Although it looks slightly easier to play than the major chord, many guitarists initially have a harder time making the chord sound correct. When playing the chord, pay careful attention to the third string. Is the note ringing clearly? If not, try and correct the problem. Playing these chords well will take time - don t allow yourself to get frustrated! It took me months to get them to sound as clearly as I liked. Try to keep that in mind. Again, this minor chord is a movable shape. If you played this chord on the 8th fret, you d be playing a C minor chord. On the 4th fret, you d be playing an Ab minor chord (aka G# minor). Using Barre Chords Once you get the hang of playing these new shapes, you can start to use them everywhere. One of the best ways to practice barre chords is to try using them in songs you already know how to play. Simply use barre chords instead of the open chords you were using previously. Try playing Leaving on a Jet Plane using the major barre chord shapes, for example. Things to Try: If you re feeling overwhelmed, try playing any songs you know that use an F major chord. Play all other chords in the song with regular open chord shapes, but try the barre shape for the F major. Make a sincere effort to learn note names on the sixth and fifth string. I can t stress enough how important this is to learn. Play barre chords for just a few minutes every day - but play them EVERY DAY. You ll be surprised how quickly you learn them. Now, let s move on to a new strumming pattern.

78 78 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 5. Strumming Patterns In lesson two, we learned all about the basics of strummingthe guitar. We added another new strum to our repetoire inlesson three. In lesson four, we studied yet another common strumming pattern. If you still aren t comfortable with the concept and execution of basic guitar strumming, it is advised that you return to those lessons and review. If you didn t have any problems with prior strumming patterns, then this one won t give much difficulty either. This is another common strum, which is just a slight variation of several strums covered earlier. Let s take a moment to listen to what this strumming pattern sounds like at a slow tempo( about.com/library/media/audio/strum5slow.mp3). Try and internalize the rhythm of this strum before you even attempt to play it on guitar. Say down up down up up down along with the audio clip. Once you feel comfortable that you know the rhythm properly, pick up your guitar, hold down a G major chord, and try strumming along. If you can t seem to get it right, spend more time practicing the rhythm away from your guitar. I can t stress this enough - the key to learning strumming patterns is to be able to hear the pattern in your head before you try and play it. Once you ve gotten the hang of it, you ll want to try playing the same pattern at a faster tempo ( Dan Cross

79 Lesson 6 79 Remember: If you are playing an acoustic guitar, make sure to strum directly over the sound hole On electric guitar, strum over the body (different locations will give you different sounds), not over the neck Make sure all strings are ringing clearly Make sure the volume of your downstrums and upstrums are equal Be careful not to strum too hard, as this often causes strings to rattle, and produces an undesirable sound Be careful not to strum too softly, as this will produce a wimpy sound. Your pick should be striking the strings with a relatively firm, even stroke Think of your elbow as being the top of a pendulum; your arm should swing up and down from it in a steady motion, never pausing at any time. Having said that, the bulk of the picking motion should come from a rotation of the wrist, rather than from the forearm. Be sure not to keep your wrist stiff when playing. Let s use these new chords and strumming patterns by learning some new songs.

80 80 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 6. Learning Songs Since we ve now covered all the basic open chords, plus power chords, and now the B minor chord, there are a countless number of songs to tackle. This week s songs will be focus on both open and power chords. Best of my Love - performed by The Eagles NOTES: We can use our newest strum to play this song, which also includes a G7 chord we learned this week. The bridge includes an Fminor barre chord, but if you can t play that yet, at least attempt the verse. Californication - performed by The Red Hot Chili Peppers NOTES: This is the title track from the band s 2000 album. Some single notes to learn, but the song isn t too hard. Hotel California - performed by The Eagles NOTES: we did this one last lesson as well, but you ll be better equipped to play it now. Try using full barre chords for Bminor and F#major. When you see Bm7, play Bminor. Strum: down down up up down up Yer So Bad - performed by Tom Petty NOTES: if you re getting frustrated, here s a nice, easy song to learn. Just a few chords, none of them new. For now, we ll strum it down down up up down up. Dan Cross

81 Lesson Practice Schedule Don t spend all of your time trying to play barre chords - chances are you ll just end up frustrated with very sore fingers. If you want to conquer them, however, you ll have to put in a few minutes worth of work every time you pick up your guitar. Here are some other things you ll want to practice after this lesson: First, make sure your guitar is in tune. Warm up by playing the new chromatic scale slowly and accurately. Try not to hesitate when switching strings. Review the new 7th chords, plus open chords, power chords, the B minor barre chord, and this week s barre chords. We ve learned a lot, so it s important to keep them all organized in your mind. Review all strumming patterns we ve covered. We ve learned patterns in lesson two,lesson three, lesson four, and lesson six. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns. Try to play all of the songs above, plus keep playing those from previous lessons. Try committing one or several songs to memory. Pick an easy one to start with. As we continue to learn more and more material, it becomes easy to overlook the techniques we learned during earlier lessons. They are all still important, so it is advisable to keep going over older lessons, and be sure you re not forgetting anything. There is a strong human tendency to only practice things which we are already quite good at. You ll need to overcome this, and force yourself to practice the things you are weakest at doing. If you re feeling confident with everything we ve learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you re interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the easy guitar tab area ( about.com/library/bleasysongtabs.htm) of the site to hunt down the music that you d enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them. In lesson seven, we ll another barre chord (our last for a little while), hammer-on and pull-off techniques, new songs, and much more. Be sure you re always having fun while you re playing, and keep smiling!

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83 Lesson 7

84 84 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction In Lesson One of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar Lesson Two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar Lesson Three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson Four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. In Lesson Five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12 bar blues. Then, in Lesson Six, we tackled 7th chords, more barre chords, a new strumming pattern, and a movable chromatic scale pattern. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Seven Until now, we ve been playing the guitar with a pick. Most guitarists will spend the bulk of their time playing guitar with a pick, but there are incidences when using the individual fingers of your picking hand will be necessary. We ll study these techniques in lesson seven. Additionally, we ll learn one more barre chord, hammer-on and pull-off techniques, and, as usual, many new songs to play. Are you ready? Good, let s start guitar lesson seven. Dan Cross

85 Lesson Barre Chords In the previous several lessons, we have learned three of the four essential barre chord shapes: major barre on the sixth string, minor barre on the sixth string, and minor barre on the fifth string. Let s review those shapes: major chord root on sixth minor chord root on sixth minor chord root on fifth It is important to remember what we discussed in lesson five - the concept of using the above shapes (aka voicings) to play various chords. For example, a major sixth string barre on the third fret is a G major chord, whereas the same voicing on the eighth fret is a C major chord. To utilize these concepts well, you ll need to remember the sixth and fifth string note names (Lesson 5: Part 2).

86 86 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Fifth String Major Barre Chord We ve left this chord shape until last, because it is probably the trickiest of the four to play. There are two commonly used fingerings for the fifth string major barre chord. The first involves using your first finger to barre strings five through one, while the second, third, and fourth fingers play the remaining notes. This is probably the best way to accurately play the chord, so that each string rings clearly. A very common alternate fingering for this chord is the use of the third (ring) finger to play the necessary notes on the fourth, third, and second strings. The problem many people have with this fingering is the difficulty in getting the third finger to NOT fret the note on the first string. A common solution is to omit the note on the first string, since that note already exists elsewhere in the chord. Practice playing the chord using both fingerings - it will certainly be difficult at first, but, as usual, will get easier with time. Play the chord one string at a time, to be certain all notes are ringing properly. Using Barre Chords You have now learned the four most essential barre chords, and with them, you can play literally thousands of songs. You should be able to replicate all open chord songs you ve learned (provided they contain only major and minor chords) using barre chords. Memorizing the fretboard and getting the chord to ring clearly will take time, but if you don t practice them routinely, it ll take much longer. Try and devote a little time to playing barre chords each time you pick up the guitar. Things to try: Learn all four chords well. Remember the shape, the type, and which string the root is on. Call out a random chord (say Eb major). Now, see how quickly you can play it on the sixth AND fifth strings. When playing songs, try moving to the closest voicing for the next chord. Eg. when playing G major to C major, don t slide from the third fret up to the eighth fret. Now, let s move on to learning fingerpicking. Dan Cross

87 Lesson Fingerpicking Until this point, whenever we approached the guitar with our picking hand, it was with a pick. In lesson seven, we will for the first time put the pick down. Getting in Position Center the palm of your picking hand over the sound hole (acoustic) or pick-ups (electric) of the guitar. Curl your fingers and thumb at your second knuckle, and turn your hand so that your fingertips rest underneath the strings (so your second knuckles point towards the floor). Your hand should be in a loose claw-shape. Since we will start by playing a D major chord, we re only interested in the bottom four strings. Poise your thumb on the upper side of the fourth string. Your first finger will rest underneath the third string. Your second finger will rest underneath the second string. And your third finger will rest underneath the first string. Let your fingers settle in this position - try to make them feel as comfortable as possible. Plucking the Strings In your fretting hand, form a D major chord. Now, using a downward motion with the inside edge of your thumb, play the open note on the fourth string. Your thumb should not move far, and after you play the note, return it to it s original position. Do this several times, until the motion feels comfortable and natural. Then, play the third string, using an upward motion with the tip of your first finger. Again, there should be minimal movement by the finger, and you should return it to it s original position after playing the note. Examine the motion closely as you do it, and repeat it until it feels natural. Then, repeat this process with your second finger on the second string, and finally with your third finger on the first string. Your fingers should always remain curled, and the motion should come primarily from the second knuckle down. Now, try playing the strings once each, in order, from fourth to first. Be sure to use the correct fingers in your picking hand, and watch to make sure your technique looks good. Listen to the audio clip ( and compare your playing to it.

88 88 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Changing Chords The general concept of simple fingerpicking is this - the thumb moves to play the bass strings when the chord changes, while the three remaining fingers remain stationary - always responsible for playing the same string. We will utilize this concept as we play the following example: First of all - the fretting hand. All that changes from the D major to the C69 (pronounced C six nine ) chord is the second finger moves from the second fret of the first string, to the third fret of the fifth string. Similarly, only one thing changes in the picking hand as well - the thumb will move to play the fifth string, instead of the fourth. So, the pattern we ll play for the above example is strings 4,3,2,1 four times on Dmajor, moving to strings 5,3,2,1 four times on C69. I suggest listening to an audio clip of the above example ( In future lessons, we ll tackle a few harder picking patterns that will not include all strings being played in order. For now, work hard on making the above feel comfortable. Things to know: Make sure your picking hand fingers are curled at the second knuckle. Never let your fingers straighten out. Your palm should move very little in the fingerpicking process. All movement should be done with fingers. Your fingers should move back into position as soon as they ve picked the appropriate note. If strings are ringing very quietly, it means you aren t picking hard enough. Some guitarists choose to anchor their pinky finger on the bridge of the guitar, while using the other fingers to pick the strings. Many other do not - my suggestion: experiment with both methods. Now, let s move on to learning hammer-ons. Dan Cross

89 Lesson Hammer-ons Until now, we ve only played single notes in one way - whenever we ve played a note, we ve used a pick to hit that string. While this is very common, there are alternate ways to play single notes. The first differing method we ll examine is the hammeron. The concept of the hammer-on is fairly simple - playing a note, then, WITHOUT re-picking, playing another note on a higher fret on the same string. Let s examine further: Begin by fretting the second fret of the third string with your first finger. Got it? Now, ready your third finger - poising it above the fourth fret of the third string. Use your pick to play the note on the second fret, then, WITHOUT re-picking the note, put the tip of your third finger down firmly on the fourth fret. If you do this with enough force, the note on the fourth fret should sound, even though you didn t re-pick it. If you didn t put your third finger on the string accurately enough, or with enough force, all that probably happened was the first note stopped ringing. Try repeating the exercise, and keep doing so, until the second note rings out clearly. If you re having trouble understanding what a hammer-on should sound like, be sure to listen to the audio clip of the above example, played several different ways ( audio/hammeron.mp3). Things to try: If you can t get the second note to ring, be sure you re putting your fingertip down directly on the string. If you re not accurate, you won t get good results. Try repeating this technique on different strings, and on different frets. Hammer two fingers onto a string. For example, start at the fifth fret, then hammer on to the sixth fret, then the seventh. Now, let s move on to learning pull-offs.

90 90 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 5. Pull-offs The pull-off is a guitar technique that is, in a way, exactly the opposite of a hammer-on. Consider the following illustration: You re going to start executing the pull-off technique by putting your third AND first finger on the third string, on the frets illustrated to the right. Play the string with your pick, then remove your third finger from the string. As you do this, make a slight downwards tugging motion with your third finger. This should cause the note your first finger is fretting to ring out. The first few times you try it, the string may stop ringing as you remove your finger. Keep practicing the technique, and you ll get the hang of it. If you re having trouble understanding what a pull-off should sound like, be sure to listen to the audio clip of the above example, played several different ways ( pulloff.mp3). Once you ve conquered the above, it s important to challenge yourself a little more, and try playing things that combine multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs. One of the best ways to do this is to try playing scales - ascending with hammer-ons, and descending with pull-offs. Listen to an audio clip of the A blues scale being performed in this manner ( bluesscalehammerpull.mp3), and try to play it in a similar fashion. Things to try: Hammering onto a note, then pulling off to the original note. Repeat this as long as possible, without re-picking the string. Play all other scales we ve learned using hammer-on and pull-off techniques. Try not to get frustrated. Pay attention to detail - like using your fingertips on the frets instead of the pads of your fingers. Try hammer-ons and pull-offs whenever you play guitar. Most songs that include single notes use these techniques. Now, let s move on to learning songs/practice schedule. Dan Cross

91 Lesson Learning Songs We ve got a bit of an agenda this week, in the songs we learn. We ll learn music that utilizes fingerpicking, hammer-ons/pull-offs, barre chords, and more. If you re looking for more songs to learn, I suggest you check out the easy song tabs archive ( bleasysongs60s.htm). In case you need a refresher, here are the pages to check open chords (38), power chords (48), and barre chords (85). Everybody Hurts - performed by R.E.M. NOTES: This is a great way to get started with some basic fingerpicking. There are a couple of fancy parts, but they shouldn t be too tough. There are some barre chords later in the song, but don t let those intimidate you... you can play them now! Layla (acoustic) - performed by Eric Clapton NOTES: This is a challenge - a lot of barre chords in this song. Only attempt this one when you re starting to get comfortable with all four barre chords we ve learned. Day Tripper - performed by The Beatles NOTES: When playing this song, hammer-on between the 2nd and 3rd note of the riff (3rd fret 6th string to 4th fret 6th string). The song isn t as hard as it sounds. Free Falling - performed by Tom Petty NOTES: Simple, but good. Instead of the Asus chord they outline in the tab, I play A7sus (x02030). If you have a capo, put it at the third fret, but unless you re going to play along with the CD, it doesn t matter that much.

92 92 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 7. Practice Schedule Hopefully you ve gotten into a bit of a routine in picking up your guitar. If not, don t give up, just try to pick it up one more time than you did last week. Here are some things you ll want to focus on: First, make sure your guitar is in tune. Warm up by playing a blues scale, making sure you re using alternate picking. Then, see if you can play it with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Review the new barre chord, plus the other three we ve learned so far. Review all strumming patterns we ve covered. We ve learned patterns in lesson two, lesson three, lesson four, and lesson six. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns. Spend some time playing fingerpicked songs. Practice moving from chord to chord randomly, using a steady fingerpicking pattern. Practice hammer-ons and pull-offs for a minute or two. Try to play all of the songs above, plus keep playing those from previous lessons. Dan Cross

93 Lesson 7 93 I hope you re still having fun with these online lessons. Please feel free to me with suggestions, compliments, or criticisms. If you re feeling confident with everything we ve learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you re interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the easy song tabs archive ( or the guitar tab area ( of the site to hunt down the music that you d enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them. In lesson eight, we ll tackle some more advanced fingerpicking, a new bass alternating strum, string bends and slides, new songs, and much more. Best of luck, and happy picking!

94

95 Lesson 8

96 96 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Lesson Eight Introduction In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. In lesson five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12 bar blues. Then, in lesson six, we tackled 7th chords, more barre chords, a new strumming pattern, and a movable chromatic scale pattern. We learned the basics of fingerpicking, another barre chord, hammer-ons, and pull-offs in lesson seven. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Eight We ll tackle a more complex fingerpicking pattern, a new strum with an alternating bass, learning about slash chords, sliding, string bends, plus our usual assortment of new songs to learn. Are you ready? Good, let s start guitar lesson eight. Dan Cross

97 Lesson More Advanced Fingerpicking In lesson seven, we learned the basics of fingerpicking. In lesson eight, we ll expand on the concepts learned in that lesson. So, if you re not comfortable with this technique, it is strongly suggested you practice that first lesson before continuing. New Picking Pattern When playing the above exercise, it is important to hold down the chord shape in your fretting hand. For the first bar, hold down the Dmajor chord (xx0232), then move to Cadd9 (x30030), then finally to G6/B (x20030). The concept of the above pattern is the same as in the previous lesson - fingers one, two, and three play the top three strings, while the thumb floats to play notes on the fourth and fifth strings. The picking pattern has changed somewhat though - we re no longer playing the strings in order. Play the exercise slowly, making sure your hand position is good, and you re always using the correct finger to play the correct string. Another New Picking Pattern This one shouldn t be too tough... your thumb doesn t need to move to cover other strings. Plus the only thing that changes from the Amin to the Fmaj7 chord is the note on the fourth string moves up a fret. To make switching chords as easy as possible, I suggest fretting the Aminor chord so your third finger is on the fourth string, your second finger is on the third string, and your first finger is on the second string. Again, practice this pattern slowly, and listen to the audio clip to make sure you re playing it correctly.

98 98 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Things to Know: Keeping your picking hand fingers curled is extremely important. If your fingers are even somewhat straight when fingerpicking, you need to adjust your technique. Your palm should move very little in the fingerpicking process. All movement should be done with fingers. If you are serious about wanting to fingerpick well, you might want to consider growing the nails on your picking hand slightly. This will give you a brighter sound. Now, let s move on to learning new strumming patterns. 3. Strumming Patterns We ve explored various strumming patterns in previous lessons, but up until this point, we always played the exact same strings with each strum. In lesson eight, we ll explore playing single notes combined with a full strum. Simple G Major Strum This first pattern uses a strumming rhythm we ve learned before: down, down up, up down up. The only difference is now, on the first strum of the pattern, we re only hitting the sixth string. Important: When playing this single note, it is important to keep the same strumming motion you use when playing a full chord. Your pick should still pass across all six strings - but should only play the sixth. You can accomplish this by slightly pulling the pick away from the strings after you ve struck the sixth string on the first strum. Practice this technique - you ll find it gets easier and easier to master. Dan Cross

99 Lesson 8 99 Alternate Bass Note Strum This is a pattern you commonly find in old folk songs, traditional country and western, polka music, and other styles. You might find this strum a little bit tricky to play accurately at first, but soon you ll be able to play it with ease. Play the chord on the right by first fretting a Cmajor chord. Now, move your third finger to the third fret of the sixth string, and put your fourth (pinky) finger on the third fret of the fifth string. Hold this shape throughout the pattern. The strumming pattern for the above tablature is a simple one: down, down up, down, down up. As in the previous strum, we will be playing some single notes, followed by full chord strums. The main difference with this strum being we are alternating between two bass notes. Strike the fifth string with a down strum, then strum the full chord: down up. Now, play the sixth string with a down strum, then again play the full chord with a down up strumming pattern. This, of course, will get easier and easier with practice. Remember: It is extremely important, when playing the above patterns, to keep your strumming motion constant, whether you re playing the single notes or the full chords. You might find that at first you accidentally play several strings when trying to strum one string. Don t get upset, just try to remedy the problem. Be sure to master the above strums, because we ll get into much more complex variations of these in future lessons. Now, let s move on to learning about slash chords.

100 100 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. Slash Chords The chord example in part three uses a C/G (pronounced C over G ) chord. This is just one of the hundreds of these types of chords you ll find in popular music, and is referred to as a slash chord. Understanding how to read these chords is simple - the letter to the left of the slash is the type of chord - so in this case it is C chord (aka a C major chord). The note to the right of the slash is the bass note in the chord - a G in this circumstance. So, a C/G chord is a C major chord with the note G in the bass. If you study the chord in part three, you can clearly see the C major chord, with the G on the third fret of the sixth string also being fretted in the bass. Here are a few of the many common slash chords: D/F# - (pronounced D over F# ) - a standard Dmajor chord with an F# in the bass, usually played by wrapping the thumb around the neck of the guitar, and fretting the second fret of the sixth string. A/C# - (pronounced A over C# ) - An Amajor chord with a C# in the bass, usually played by barring the second fret of the fourth, third, and second strings with your first finger, and playing the fourth fret of the fifth string (the C#) with either the third finger, or the pinky finger. C/E - (pronounced C over E ) - A Cmajor chord with an E in the bass, usually played by simply fretting a Cmajor chord, and including the open low E string in the strum. Amin/G - (pronounced A minor over G ) - An Aminor chord, with a G in the bass, usually played by fretting an Aminor chord, and using the pinky finger play the third fret of the sixth string (the G ). Things to Try: Invent slash chords, by simply thinking of a chord type, then picking a random note to play in the bass. Next, try and figure out how to play these chords. They may not sound wonderful, but you may stumble upon some that you like. And, it s great practice for learning note names on the fretboard. Try making up some chord progressions that use the above, or other slash chords. Here are a couple to get you started: Amin - Amin/G - Fmaj, or Gmaj - D/F# - Emin, or Dmin - Dmin/C - G/B - Cmaj. Now, let s move on to learning how to slide. Dan Cross

101 Lesson Sliding This is another guitar technique that is extremely popular, and one that needs to be mastered by all budding guitar players. As with all other techniques, learning to slide well will take a bit of practice, but you should get the hang of it almost immediately (listen to it here: Here s the basic concept - we re going to fret a note, play it, then slide the note to another one on the same string, without re-picking. In the above example, we re starting on the third string, second fret. Play the note, then briskly slide your finger up to the fourth fret on the same string. Done? Chances are, the note died as soon as you started to slide it. The key is to keep exerting downward pressure on the string with our finger while sliding the note. Try it again, making sure you keep pressing the note down as you slide. This second example is almost the same as the first (listen to it here: - it just adds another step. This time, try sliding on the third fret from the second fret to the fourth fret, then back to the second fret, all without re-picking the string. Sliding Practice It s important to try and use all the guitar techniques we learn to play many different things. For example, try playing the A blues scale using the sliding technique, hitting each string only once (listen to it here: To play it this way, you ll need to use only one finger to play the entire scale. You can also try something similar using hammer-ons and pull-offs, and also utilize all these techniques on different scales we ve learned.

102 102 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR You Should Know: You ll commonly hear a squeeking sound when sliding on the lower strings. Notice that this doesn t happen as much on the thinner (unwound) strings. When sliding, only press down as hard as you need to in order for the note to keep ringing. Pressing too hard will slow your finger down too much, and the slide won t sound smooth. When sliding to another fret, focus your eyes on the fret you re aiming to slide to, and your finger will naturally slide to that fret. Now, let s learn how to bend strings. 6. String Bending We ve learned some interesting new techniques in the past few lessons, but none that will give you as much trouble in the beginning as string bending. Bending strings is a technique used, when playing single note riffs and solos, to give the guitar a more vocal quality. Although it s a technique used mostly by lead guitar players, even three chord folk guitarists will call upon string bends from time to time. Bending Technique Bending the strings far enough to get the pitch to change (which is what we re trying to do) takes a good deal of effort. The key is to use three of your fingers to bend the string, instead of just the finger on the fret you re trying to bend. You accomplish this by placing your third finger on the fret you re trying to bend. Place your first and second fingers on the frets behind it, and exert pressure with all three fingers. Let s look at the first exercise (listen to it here: audio/bendone mp3). Start by fretting the note on the tenth fret of the second string, with your third finger. Your second finger should rest on the second string, ninth fret. Your first finger should rest on the second string, eighth fret. Our goal is to bend this note up one semi-tone (called a half step ), and then return the note to it s original pitch. Dan Cross

103 Lesson Play the tenth fret, then the 11th fret, so you can hear the proper pitch of the note you re trying to bend to. Then pick the note, and exert force in an upwards motion (towards you), while still putting some pressure on the string so it keeps ringing. Try and use all three fingers to bend the string, not just the third finger. Then, return the note to it s original pitch. Chances are, when you first attempt this, you won t get the pitch to change much. This will be especially true if you try bending on an acoustic guitar - they are much harder to bend strings on. Be extremely patient... chances are you haven t used these muscles before, and they ll take time to strengthen. Keep practicing, and you ll get the hang of it eventually. Be sure and listen to the audio clip to hear what the bend should sound like. A Harder Bending Technique This exercise is exactly the same as the one above, except this time, we re going to attempt to bend the note up two frets (a tone, or a full step ). Start by playing the tenth fret, then the 12th fret, to hear the pitch you re trying to bend the note to (listen to it here: Now, while fretting the note on the tenth fret of the second string with your third finger, pick the note, and try to bend it up to the 12th fret, then return it to it s original pitch. Remember: use all three fingers to help bend the note, or you ll never be able to push the note far enough. Things to Remember: If the note is dying before you ve completed the bend, you ve probably stopped exerting enough pressure against the fretboard to keep the note sounding. You HAVE to use all three fingers Make sure you re pushing the strings in the direction of the sky, not the ground. Bends are almost always done on the top three strings, as they are lighter, and are easier to bend. It s easier to bend strings on the higher frets on the guitar. Down near the headstock, it gets very hard to bend. It will take time to master this technique, so be patient. Now, let s move on to learning some new songs.

104 104 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 7. Learning Songs This week, we ll concentrate mostly on songs that use fingerpicking, and/or strumming patterns that include single notes. If you re looking for more songs to learn, I suggest you check out the easy song tabs archive ( In case you need a refresher, here are the pages to check open chords (38), power chords (48), and barre chords (85). The Weight - performed by The Band NOTES: A great song to learn for playing with other people. Strum this one down, down, down, down up. The little instrumental part after the chorus should be strummed: bass note, down up. Play A/G# with your first finger barring the A chord and your ring finger playing the fourth fret on the sixth string (4x222x) More Than a Feeling - performed by Boston NOTES: It s the very first guitar part we re most interested in, for fingerpicking reasons. First three fingers remain by the first three strings, while the thumb floats to play notes on the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings. It should be somewhat similar to the first fingerpicking exercise we did in this lesson. Brian Wilson - performed by The Barenaked Ladies NOTES: Strum down, down up, up down up. For now, leave all the 7ths off the chords (eg. Bmin7 becomes Bmin... Cmaj7 becomes Cmaj). There are a couple of slash chords - I ll let you figure out how to play them (there is some fancy fingerpicking that has been left out of the guitar tab. Just concentrate on the tricky chords for now). Is There Anybody Out There - performed by Pink Floyd NOTES: this is a very nice instrumental guitar song from The Wall. It is very similar to the second fingerpicking exercise we did in this lesson. This will be a challenge, but you ll love the results. Let s have a look at this week s practice schedule. Dan Cross

105 Lesson Practice Schedule We ve covered so much material, I can t emphasize enough the importance of going back over old lessons, to be sure you remember how to play everything we ve learned. Here are some things you ll want to focus on: First, make sure your guitar is in tune. Warm up by playing a blues scale, making sure you re using alternate picking. Then, see if you can play it using a slide technique. Practice all barre chords we ve covered, making sure you also review note names on the sixth and fifth strings. By this point, you should know these quite well. If not... review, review, review. Play the new strumming patterns using a combination of single notes and chords. We ll be building on these in future lessons, so get them sounding perfect! Every time you pick up the guitar, play a few string bends. You ll get the hang of them in time. Review slash chord theory, and make sure you understand it. Try playing a few slash chords of your own choosing. Try the fingerpicking patterns, and the two songs above that utilize fingerpicking. Try to play all of the songs above, plus keep playing those from previous lessons. I sincerely hope you re enjoying these lessons, and are learning a few things. Please feel free to me with suggestions, compliments, or criticisms. If you re feeling confident with everything we ve learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you re interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the easy song tabs archive, or the guitar tab area of the site to hunt down the music that you d enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them. In lesson nine, we tackle some more advanced strumming techniques, more advanced bending techniques, new chords, new songs, and much more.

106

107 Lesson 9

108 108 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Lesson Nine Introduction In Lesson One of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar Lesson Two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In Guitar Lesson Three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson Four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. In Lesson Five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12-bar blues. Then, in Lesson Six, we tackled 7th chords, more barre chords, a new strumming pattern, and a movable chromatic scale pattern. We learned the basics of fingerpicking, another barre chord, hammer-ons, and pull-offs in Lesson Seven. In the Eighth Lesson in the series, we learned more fingerpicking patterns, alternating bass note strums, sliding, and string bends. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Nine We ll learn a major scale pattern in two octaves, a complex strumming pattern, the sus4 chord, a more advanced bending technique. Are you ready? Good, let s start guitar Lesson Nine. Dan Cross

109 Lesson The Major Scale The major scale is the foundation upon which our music system is built. It contains seven notes (do - re - mi - fa - so - la - ti). If you ve seen The Sound of Music, you ll remember the song about the major scale... Do(e), a deer, a female deer. Re (ray) a drop of golden sun... We re going to learn this scale on guitar, in two octaves. Major Scale Pattern This pattern for the major scale is a movable pattern, with the root on the sixth string. Meaning, if you start the scale on the third fret of the sixth string, you re playing a G major scale. If you start at the eighth fret, you re playing a C major scale (listen to it here: media/audio/amajorscale.mp3). It is extremely important when playing this scale to stay in position. Start the scale with your second finger on the sixth string, followed by the fourth finger on the sixth string. The next note will be played with your first finger on the fifth string, etc. It is important to be sure that each finger in your fretting hand is responsible for only one fret on the guitar when playing the scale. For example, when playing an A major scale (fifth fret), your first finger will play all notes on the fourth fret, your second finger will play all notes on the fifth fret, your third finger will play all notes on the sixth fret, and your fourth finger will play all notes on the seventh fret. Performance Notes: As always, use ALTERNATE PICKING as your primary method of performing this scale. You can also practice the scale using all upstrokes, or all downstrokes, etc. Memorize this scale. You ll use it extensively in years to come, if you want to learn to read music, or to play lead guitar. Play it forwards, then backwards, in a slow, even tempo. Build up speed only when your technique at slower tempos is flawless. Now, let s move on to learning a new strum.

110 110 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. Strumming Patterns In lesson eight, we started learning how to incorporate bass notes into our strumming patterns. Now, we ll explore that concept further, except now we ll try and incorporate single notes within the chord with our strumming patterns. A Strum Based on G7 This one will be tricky at first, but as your picking accuracy increases, it ll sound better and better. In your fretting hand, hold down a Gmajor chord, with your second finger on the sixth string, first finger on the fifth string, and third finger on the first string. Now, strike the sixth string with your pick, and follow that by down and up strums on the bottom four strings of the chord. Use the above tablature to complete the rest of the pattern. When finished playing the pattern once, loop it multiple times. Be sure to keep your picking motion constant, whether you are playing a single note, or strumming a chord. If you are too deliberate while playing the single notes, it will break the flow of your strum, and the resulting pattern will sound choppy. Dan Cross

111 Lesson A Strum Based on Dmajor This somewhat tricky strum should really help us work on our picking accuracy. You ll note that this strum also incorporates a hammer-on in the fretting hand - which is rather common. Begin by holding down a Dmajor chord in your fretting hand. Now, play the fourth string with a downstroke, and follow that by strumming the remaining three notes in the chord with a down and up strum. Then, play the open fifth string, followed again by a down and up strum of the remaining three notes. Now, play the open fourth string again, followed by a down and up strum. Then, take your first finger off the third string, play it open, then hammer your first finger back on to the second fret. Complete the strum with another down and up strum, and you ve finished the pattern once. Try it until you get the hang of it, then loop the pattern. It will seem much less complex in no time. Remember: It is extremely important, when playing the above patterns, to keep your strumming motion constant, whether you re playing the single notes or the full chords. You might find that at first you accidentally play several strings when trying to strum one string. Don t get upset, just try to remedy the problem. When hammering on, make sure that both the initial, and hammered on notes ring. These new strums are rather complex, and will probably be overwhelming at first. Don t get frustrated! You ll get the hang of it eventually! Now, let s move on to learning how to play sus4 chords.

112 112 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. Sus4 Chords We ve learned a variety of chords in previous lessons, and today, we re going to have a look at a new type - the sus4 (or suspended fourth) chord. Sus4 chords (pronounced suss four ) are often (but NOT always) used in combination with a major or minor chord of the same letter name. For example, it s very common to see the chord progression Dmaj to Dsus4 to Dmaj. Or, alternately something like this: Asus4 to Amin. As you learn these chords, try playing them, then following each with a major or minor chord of the same letter name. Asus4 Chord This is a chord which you can fret several ways, depending on which chord you re coming from/moving to. If you are planning to follow this chord with an Aminor, you can fret the Aminor chord, then add your fourth (pinky) finger to the third fret of the second string. Or, if coming from/going to an Amajor chord, you can fret the notes on the fourth and third strings with your first finger, while playing the second string note with your second finger. Lastly, you could try playing the fourth string with your first finger, third string with your second, and second string with your third. Csus4 Chord Practice: Amaj to Asus4 to Amaj Dmaj to Asus4 to Dmaj Amin to Asus4 to Amin You have to be careful not to strum the sixth or first strings when playing this chord. Use your third finger to play the note on the fifth string, your fourth finger to play the note on the fourth string, and your first finger to play the note on the second string. Practice: Cmaj to Csus4 to Cmaj Dmin to Csus4 to Cmaj Dan Cross

113 Lesson Dsus4 Chord This is an incredibly common chord you ll see all the time. If going from Dsus4 to Dmaj, use your first finger on the third string, your third finger on the second string, and your pinky finger on the first string. If going from Dsus4 to Dmin, try your second finger on the third string, your third finger on the second string, and your fourth finger on the first string. Practice: Dsus4 to Dmin Dmaj to Dsus4 to Dmaj Dmaj to Dmin to Dsus4 Esus4 Chord Try playing this with your second finger on the fifth string, your third finger on the fourth string, and your fourth finger on the third string (some people switch second and third fingers). You could also try first finger on fifth string, second finger on fourth, and third finger on third, in an A major chord shape. Practice: Esus4 to Emaj Emin to Esus4 to Emin Amaj to Esus4 to Amaj Fsus4 Chord Play this chord by placing your third finger on the fourth string, your fourth finger on the third string, and your first finger on the remaining two strings. Be careful to only play the bottom four strings. Practice: Fmaj to Fsus4 to Fmaj Cmaj to Fsus4 to Fmaj

114 114 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Gsus4 Chord Pay attention to the fifth string on this chord - it should NOT be played. Use your third finger (playing the note on the sixth string) to lightly touch the fifth string, so it doesn t ring. Your first finger should play the note on the second string, while your fourth finger plays the note on the first string. Practice: Gsus4 to Gmaj Amin to Gsus4 to Gmaj Gsus4 to Gmaj to Csus4 to Cmaj Sus4 Barre Chords 6th String Sus4 Chord Like all barre chords, we can learn one chord shape and move it around, to create many more sus4 chords. The diagram to the left illustrates the basic shape of the sus4 chord with the root on the sixth string. When playing the chord, be aware that the notes on the second and first strings are *optional*, and don t need to be played. You can try playing this chord shape by barring with your first finger, then playing the note on the fifth string with your second finger, fourth string with the third finger, and third string with fourth finger. Alternately, you could try playing the sixth string with your first finger, barring the fifth, fourth, and third strings with your third finger, and avoid playing the second and first strings. Practice: Bsus4 to Bmaj F#sus4 to F#min Dsus4 to Dmaj to Gsus4 to Gmaj Dan Cross

115 Lesson th String Sus4 Chord The diagram to the left illustrates the basic shape of the sus4 chord with the root on the fifth string. When playing this voicing, be aware that the note on the first string is *optional*, and is often left off. You can finger this chord shape by putting your first finger on the fifth string (and optionally the first string as well), your second finger on the fourth string, your third finger on the third string, and your fourth finger on the second string. Alternately, you could try playing the fifth string with your first finger, barring the fourth and third strings with your third finger, and playing the second string with your fourth finger. Practice: Esus4 to Emaj C#sus4 to C#min Gsus4 to Gmaj to Fsus4 to Fmaj You Should Know: Sus4 chords are also commonly referred to as simply sus or suspended chords. Sus4 chords tend to feel unresolved if left hanging - you probably wouldn t want to end a song on a sus4 chord. Many guitarists insert sus4 chords into music with simple major and minor chords, to spice up a guitar part. Got it? Now, let s talk about sight reading and other topics essential for guitarists to learn.

116 116 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 5. Sight Reading and More Essential Knowledge Sight Reading - There comes a point in the development of a guitarist that he/she must decide if they re really interested in learning guitar. If the answer is yes, then learning the basics of sight reading is essential. Until this point, I ve tried to keep the lessons as fun as possible, free from excessive technical exercises, musical theory, and sight reading. Although I ll continue to present the lessons in this way, the truth is, if you want to become a real musician, these are all important areas to explore. I recommend a purchase - the excellent Modern Method for Guitar books, by William G. Leavitt. ISBN# This series of publications are a valuable resource for working on sight reading, and honing your technical skills on the guitar. Leavitt does not hold your hand through the learning process, but with some focused practice you ll learn to read music, and improve your technique through playing some of the etudes presented within the book. If you are serious about becoming a musician, I highly recommend that you pick up at least one of these publications. Change of Strings - It s Murphy s Law... guitar strings break at the exact time you need them not to. You ll have to accept that, and be sure to always own at least one full set of unused strings, so you can replace any that break immediately. You should also be changing your strings at least once every couple of months (more often if you play constantly). For more detailed instructions on how to change guitar strings, take a look at this illustrated string changing tutorial ( od/guitarlessons/a/changingstrings.htm). Collection of Picks - Definitely own a reasonable collection of picks, so you don t have to go hunting between the pillows of your couch if you ever lose one. I d suggest finding a favorite brand and thickness of pick, and sticking with it. Personally, I avoid those extra thin picks like the plague. Capo - This is a small device which wraps around the neck of your guitar, pinching the strings off at a specific fret. It is used to make the guitar sound higher, so you could sing at a higher pitch if a song is too low for you. As long as you don t lose them, a capo should last you a long time (many years), so it s a worthwhile investment. I have found that Shubb capos work best for me - they re a little more expensive (about $20), but worth the extra money. Now, let s move on to learning songs. Dan Cross

117 Lesson Learning Songs We re making a lot of progress, so understandably, the songs each week are getting harder and harder. If you re finding these overwhelming at first, try looking for some easier songs to play in the easy song tabs archive. In case you need a refresher, here are the pages to check open chords (38), power chords (48), and barre chords (85), and sus4 chords (112). Needle and the Damage Done - performed by Neil Young NOTES: this song is great for practicing the strumming concept we learned today, as well as for improving your picking accuracy. This will take some time to master, but it s worth it. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - performed by John Lennon NOTES: Lots of sus4 chords in this one. This song is in waltz (three four) time, so strum: down, down up down up. You ve Got to Hide your Love Away - performed by The Beatles NOTES: As with the above Lennon tune, this is a waltz... strum: down, down up, down up. This should be a fairly simple song that illustrates the use of a Dsus4 chord. (This is an Oasis tab, but the idea is the same) The Man Who Sold the World - performed by David Bowie/Nirvana NOTES: this song is neat for several reasons - there are some neat chord movements, and the riffs are great. If you study the guitar riffs, you ll notice that some of them are simply major scales in one octave. (this mp3 is the Nirvana version of the song from the MTV Unplugged set.) Let s have a look at this week s practice schedule.

118 118 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 7. Practice Schedule As I do every lesson, I m going to plead with you to go back over old lessons - we have covered such a vast amount of material, it s highly doubtful you remember how to play everything we ve learned. After you ve done that, you can focus on the following: First, make sure your guitar is in tune. Get one of the freely downloadable PC sharewares KeepTime, or the Macintosh software Drone versions of a metronome, and use it to practice with. Practice the major scale, using the metronome to keep time (pick a tempo you re comfortable with) Review barre chords we ve covered. Also, go over the newly learned sus4 chord. Pay attention to how similar sus4 chords are to major chords with the same letter name. Practice this lesson s advanced strumming pattern. This is a tough one, but you re going to want to incorporate these concepts into your strumming, so it s worth the work. Try some string bends, slides, hammer ons and pull offs whenever you play guitar. Try playing your scales with these techniques. Keep practicing the fingerpicking patterns from lesson seven and lesson eight, and the songs from those lessons that use them. Try to play all of the songs above, plus keep playing those from previous lessons. Dan Cross

119 Lesson If you have any comments, criticisms, or random thoughts on these lessons, please feel free to me. I d love to hear that they are working for you, and if they aren t I d like to know how I can make them better. If you re feeling confident with everything we ve learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you re interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the easy song tabs archive, or the guitar tab area of the site to hunt down the music that you d enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them. In Lesson Ten, we ll tackle palm muting, a more advanced bending technique, chord inversions, new songs, and much more. Best of luck, and keep on strummin!

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121 Lesson 10

122 122 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Lesson Ten Introduction In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. In lesson five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12-bar blues. Then, in lesson six, we tackled 7th chords, more barre chords, a new strumming pattern, and a movable chromatic scale pattern. We learned the basics of fingerpicking, another barre chord, hammer-ons, and pull-offs in lesson seven. In the eighth lesson in the series, we learned more fingerpicking patterns, alternating bass note strums, sliding, and string bends. Lesson nine taught us a complex strumming technique, a two octave major scale pattern, and sus4 chords. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in Lesson Ten We ll learn a technique called palm muting, major chord inversions, and a more advanced bending technique. Plus, we ll have a little chord review quiz, and, as usual, learn more fun songs to play. Are you ready? Good, let s start guitar lesson ten. Dan Cross

123 Lesson Palm Muting Palm muting is a guitar technique, executed in the picking hand, used to muffle the strings slightly, while simultaneously hitting the strings with the pick. It is a technique used primarily on electric guitar, but it can also be useful when playing acoustic guitar. To get a feel for what palm-muting sounds like, listen to the following mp3 clip: Weezer - Hashpipe exerpt from The Green Album (2001) Can you hear how the guitar sounds slightly subdued at the beginning of the clip? That s the result of palm muting. If you listen carefully, you ll note that near the end of the clip, the band stops palm muting the guitar, and the music gets louder, and more unrestrained feeling. This is a common use for palm muting - if part of the song is played with palm muted guitar, the part that is not seems louder and more aggressive than it otherwise would have. Note that palm muting DOES get used in many styles of music, so even if the above music didn t appeal to you, this technique is still worth learning. How to Palm Mute The key to proper palm muting is in the picking hand (for most of you, the right hand). The concept is to slightly mute the notes you are hitting with the pick, yet not mute them so much that they can t be heard. Rest the heel of your picking hand lightly on the strings, close to the bridge of the guitar. In your fretting hand, position your fingers to play a power chord with the root on the sixth string. Now, with the heel of your hand still touching all relevant strings (make sure it s covering the sixth, fifth and fourth - the strings we re going to play), use your pick to play the chord. In a perfect world, you d hear all the notes in the chord, only they d be slightly muffled. Chances are, the first time you try it, it won t sound wonderful.

124 124 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Getting a proper feel for how much pressure to apply with the heel of your picking hand is the key. Apply too much pressure, and the notes won t ring at all. Apply uneven pressure, and some notes will sound muted, while others will ring unmuted. Concentrate on getting a very even, controlled sound whenever you attempt string muting. For further illustration of how palm muting is supposed to sound, listen to this mp3 clipof an A5 chord (A power chord) being played, first with palm muting, then without. To Do: Let the flesh on the heel of your palm do all the work. Play with your hand position until it feels comfortable on the strings. This is a technique that is easy once you get it, but can be frustrating to learn. Practice this technique a lot. Palm muting gets used all the time in many styles of music, and guitar players with poor palm muting skills are really quite painful to listen to. Concentrate on palm muting when playing power chords. This is where the technique is used almost constantly by many guitarists. If your amp has distortion, turn it on. Distortion tends to really accentuate the palm muting technique. Listen for palm muting in your favorite music. Once you learn to spot it, you ll start to realize exactly how often this technique gets used. Make sure your muting hand isn t too far up the guitar (towards the headstock). The farther up the guitar your hand is, the easier it will be to accidentally completely mute the strings. Now, let s move on to learning major chord inversions. Dan Cross

125 Lesson Major Chord Inversions Everyone knows how to play an Amajor chord, right? At this point, you should probably be able to play the A major chord three ways - the open A major chord, and the two barre chord shapes (one with a root on sixth string, and one with root on fifth string). If you remember all three shapes, then that s terrific! But I ve got news for you - there are many more ways to play A major, or any other major chord. In this lesson, we re just going to scratch the surface, and learn three new major chord shapes. A Bit About Major Chords Before we dive in, we should briefly explore what exactly a major chord is. Any major chord you have ever, or will ever play, contains only three different notes. Any more, and it becomes something else (like a major7 chord, or a major6 chord, etc.) Now, there are obviously a lot of times when more than three notes are strummed... an open Gmajor chord uses all six strings, for example. If you check each of the notes in that Gmajor chord, however, you ll find that there are only three DIFFERENT notes played. The remaining three strings played are merely repeated notes. The major chords we will explore today leave out any such repeated notes, so only three strings played in each chord.

126 126 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 6th, 5th, and 4th String Group Major Chords The first step in playing these three chord shapes (aka voicings) will be to find the root note of the major chord you want to play on the sixth string (eg. if you wanted to play A major, the root is on the sixth string, fifth fret). Then, play the first chord voicing above, making sure the root of the chord (marked above in red) is on the root of the chord you re trying to play. You ll probably want to finger the first chord above as follows: fourth finger on 6th string, third finger on 5th string, and first finger on 4th string. This is referred to as a root position major chord, because the root note is the lowest note sounding in the chord. There are two ways to figure out how to play the next chord illustrated above. The first would be to find the root note on the 4th string, and to form the chord shape around that. If you re not too familiar with the note names on the 4th string, however, you may find this difficult. Alternately, try the following: from the note you just played on the 6th string, count up four frets. This will be the starting note for the next chord shape. Plunk your fingers down (I might suggest third playing the note on the 6th string, and the first finger barring the 5th and 4th strings), and you have another way to play a major chord. This type of chord is referred to as a first inversion major chord, since the root note is no longer on the bottom. Try moving back and forth between the root position and first inversion chord. Eventually, you will get a feel for how far the distance between the two are, and will be able to move from voicing to voicing without counting frets. To play the last major chord voicing above, you again have two options. You can find the root note on the 5th string, and form the chord around that note. Alternately, you can count up three frets on the 6th string from the last chord you played, and start the new voicing on that fret (third finger on 6th string, second finger on 5th string, first finger on 4th string). Dan Cross

127 Lesson This third major chord is referred to as a second inversion major chord. If you would like to bring these voicings full-circle, count up five frets on the sixth string, and play the root position chord again. Once you ve memorized these chord shapes, try moving back and forth between all three chord voicings for the major chord you ve chosen. They should all sound similar; all three chords shapes above contain the exact same three notes. In each voicing, these three notes are just arranged in a different order. Example: to play an Amajor chord using the above 6th, 5th, and 4th string voicings, the root position chord starts on the 5th fret of the 6th string. The first inversion chord starts on the 9th fret of the 6th string. And the second inversion chord starts on the 12th fret of the 6th string. 5th, 4th, and 3rd String Group Major Chords If you take a quick look at the above diagrams, you ll notice they are exactly the same shapes as the previous chords formed on the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings. So, follow the above rules for these chord shapes, and you ll have learned three more ways to play a major chord. Once you re comfortable with the above chords on string groups 6,5,4 and 5,4, 3, try using these same shapes to play different major chords (eg. F, Bb, E, etc.)

128 128 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR When Can I Use These Chords? Since all of the previously illustrated major chord voicings have the same notes as a normal major chord, you could theoretically insert any of them at a time you were required to play a major chord. This is where personal preference becomes your guide; some guitarists will elect to use these shapes all the time, while others will use them more sparingly. There are circumstances where these new voicings will certainly sound out of place. Assume you are the lone guitarist in a campfire situation, accompanying a group of people singing. You would certainly not want to choose the A major chord shape on the 16th fret of the fifth string, amidst a bunch of other normal open strummed chords. In that situation, you d want the full sound of open chords. If you were the SECOND guitar in that situation, however, your role changes. In that circumstance, you could let the other guitarist play the open chords, and you could use some of these newly learned inversions. This would add a nice, fuller sound to the music. In any event, you ll need to let the musical situation dictate whether or not to use these major chord inversions. How Do I Practice These Chords? Trying to learn and utilize these new chord shapes is a daunting task at first. The thought of picking up a guitar, and playing a first inversion Amajor chord, that doesn t even have the root on the bottom, seems impossible. The key to using chord inversions properly is to know which string the root in each voicing is on. When you have internalized this, you can form the chord shape around that root. Learning major chord inversions this way will make the task of finding the root position chord, and counting up to the proper inversion, unneccessary. Here is a suggested practice schedule to help you learn these new chords as quickly as possible: Step 1. Randomly choose a major chord to work with (eg. Amajor, or C#major, or Dmajor, etc.) Start by playing only the root position chord; on each of the four string groups. Then, play root position, first inversion, and second inversion chords on each of the 4 string groups. Dan Cross

129 Lesson If space allows, try playing the chords down the neck starting with root position. Eg. Amajor on 5,4, 3 string group. play root position at twelvth fret, then second inversion on seventh fret, then first inversion on fourth fret. Repeat on other strings where possible). Next, try picturing the root position chord shape on each string group, without playing it. Then, play each first inversion shape. Picture the root position and first inversion chord shapes on each string group, without playing them. Play each second inversion shape. Play the first inversion major chord shapes on each of the four string groups, without playing the root position chord. Repeat the above with second inversion chords. Step 2. Choose two major chords. It may be easier to begin with if they are in the same key. If you are unsure about this, try one of the following pairs of chords: Cmajor and Fmajor, Dmajor and Amajor, Gmajor and Cmajor, Bbmajor and Fmajor, Emajor and Amajor, Gmajor and Dmajor. Play the root position voicing of the first chord, then the root position voicing of the second chord. Repeat on each of the four string groups. Play the root position voicing of the first chord, then the root position, first inversion, and second inversion voicings for the second chord. Repeat on each string group. While you are playing the voicings for the second chord, remember where you played the root position voicing for the first chord. Play the root position voicing for the first chord, then move directly to the closest voicing (on the same string group) for the second chord, whether it be root position, first inversion, or second inversion. Repeat on each string group. Play the first inversion voicing for the first chord, then move directly to the closest voicing (on the same string group) for the second chord, whether it be root position, first inversion, or second inversion. Repeat on each string group. Repeat the above for the first second inversion voicing, on each string group. Play the lowest voicing available on a string group for the first voicing (whether that be root position, first, or second inversion). Move up the neck to the closest available inversion for the second chord. Move again up the neck to the next available inversion of the first chord. Repeat this process all the way up the neck, on each string group. Now, let s move on doing a chord quiz.

130 130 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. Chord Quiz We ve covered a whole lot of ground in our lessons up until this point. We ve learned a great variety of chords - includingopen major and minor chords, power chords, 7th chords, barre chords, and sus 4 chords. Here s your chance to test your knowledge, by trying to identify the following ten chords. Pick up your guitar, and try and play the following chords. When you ve fingered the chord, go to page 174 within the Appendix to see if you got it right! Question 1: How to you play an open G major chord? Question 2: How to you play an open A minor chord? Question 3: How to you play an open D minor chord? Question 4: How to you play an open E major chord? Question 5: How to you play a B minor chord, with root on fifth string? Question 6: How to you play an open C7 chord? Question 7: How to you play an F# minor chord, with root on sixth string? Question 8: How to you play a B5 chord (B power chord) with root on fifth string? Question 9: How to you play a Db major chord? Question 10: How to you play an open Asus4 chord? How did you do? It s rather important to know all of these chords... these, and many others, are commonly used in all styles of music, and you ll need to be able to remember how to play them quickly. If you had some trouble, make sure you reviewopen major and minor chords, power chords, 7th chords, barre chords, and sus 4 chords. Got it? Now, let s explore advanced bending techniques. Dan Cross

131 Lesson Advanced String Bending In lesson eight, we explored the basics of string bending. If you haven t studied that lesson, or need a refresher course, it is suggested you go back and spend some time learning the material there. Although the string bending style we learned in lesson eight is extremely valuable, there are a few nuances of string bending that will make the technique much more useful. Let s look at a few common bending techniques: Types of Bends The above is three variations of a very simple guitar riff used often by B.B. King. We ll use this phrase to illustrate the various types of bending. The first bending technique above, the bend and release, we already learned in lesson eight - bend the note up a tone, and bring it back to regular pitch. Rather straightforward. The second technique is generally just referred to as a string bend. It differs from the first bending technique in that rather than bending the pitch and then bringing it back to it s beginning pitch, we mute the string while it is still bent, so you don t hear the string returning to it s normal unbent pitch. You accomplish this by hitting the string with a downpick, bending the note up a tone, then touching the underside of the still bent string with your pick to cause it to stop ringing. You can then release the bent string back to it s original position. The third technique above is called a pre-bend. The pre-bend differs in that you actually bend the string BEFORE you play it. Bend the tenth fret of the second string up to the 12th fret, then hit the string with your pick. Now, release the bend, so the pitch returns to normal. This can be tricky, since you have to estimate how far to bend the note, without being able to hear it. Concentrate on trying to get the bend in tune.

132 132 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR If you re interested in this style of guitar playing, I ll encourage you to read the learn to play like B.B. King feature on page 166 of the Appendix. Most of that lesson isn t any harder to play than the material presented above. Now, let s move on to learning songs. 6. Learning Songs We learned quite a bit about specific guitar techniques this week, so let s try to put some of these principles into practice, while still having some fun! As usual, you can find about 200 other songs to play in the easy song tabs archive. If you need a refresher on the chords we ve learned so far, glance over the open major and minor chords, power chords,7th chords, barre chords, and sus4 chords. Hash Pipe - performed by Weezer NOTES: this was the clip used in the illustration of palm-muting. Lots of chunky power chords to play. Make sure you keep the palm mute happening! Although playable on acoustic, this is more suited to electric guitar. Better Be Home Soon - performed by Crowded House NOTES: A very nice song, with a fairly large assortment of chords. This one is perfectly suited to acoustic guitar. Desperado - performed by The Eagles NOTES: A bit of a challenge, to be sure. Originally played on piano, this one has LOTS of different chords, almost all of which you probably already know. Stairway to Heaven Guitar Solo - performed by Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page) NOTES: for electric guitarists only. Okay, so this isn t easy, by any standards. But, we ve gotta start somewhere! Be patient, and give this a shot - bit by bit. Dan Cross

133 Lesson Practice Schedule As always, I m going to try and convince you to go back over old lessons - we have covered such a vast amount of material, it s highly doubtful you remember how to play everything we ve learned (c mon... do you mean to tell me you got PERFECT in the chord quiz?!) After you ve done that, you can focus on the following: First, make sure your guitar is in tune. Download one of the software versions of a metronome, and use it to practice with. Practice scales we ve learned, using the metronome to keep time. Try palm muting the scale. Try sliding from note to note. Try hammering on as you ascend the scale, and pulling off as you descend. Practice this lesson s major chord inversions. We re going to keep studying these in detail, so it s important to get these basics together. Do some string bending. Do this often, because you won t get better at it until you build up some finger strength. Even if you hate doing it, try doing it for one or two minutes every time you play guitar. You ll be happy you did. Keep practicing the fingerpicking patterns from lesson seven and lesson eight. We re going to keep learning fingerpicking patterns in upcoming lessons, so all those we ve learned are extremely important. Try to play all of the songs above, plus keep playing those from previous lessons. In lesson eleven, we ll tackle seventh barre chords, more advanced strumming patterns, more chord inversions, and much more. Keep your chin up, and keep on strummin!

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135 Lesson 11

136 136 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. Introduction In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar Lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In Guitar Lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. In lesson five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12 bar blues. Then, in lesson six, we tackled 7th chords, more barre chords, a new strumming pattern, and a movable chromatic scale pattern. We learned the basics of fingerpicking, another barre chord, hammer-ons, and pull-offs in lesson seven. In the eighth lesson in the series, we learned more fingerpicking patterns, alternating bass note strums, sliding, and string bends. Lesson nine taught us a complex strumming technique, a two octave major scale pattern, and sus4 chords. In lesson ten, we studied palm muting, major chord inversions, and a more advanced bending technique. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding. What You ll Learn in This Lesson Seventh barre chords Major chord inversions New strumming patterns Many new challenging songs Ready to get started with lesson eleven? Okay then, let s dig in... Dan Cross

137 Lesson Seventh Barre Chords Until this point, we have only learned major and minor barre chords on the sixth and fifth strings. Although we can play thousands of songs using only these chord shapes, there are many more types of chords available to us. Let s have a look at various types of seventh barre chords... (of course you ll need to know the names of notes on sixth and fifth strings). Major Seventh Chords Written as, using the note C as an example, Cmaj7, or Cmajor7, or sometimes CM7. To the unfamiliar ear, the major seventh chord might sound a little unusual. Used in the proper context, however, it s a colorful, rather common chord. The chord shape with the root on the sixth string is actually not a barre chord, although it is usually labelled as such. Play with your first finger on sixth string, third finger on fourth string, fourth finger on third string, and second finger on second string. Be careful not to let the fifth, or first strings ring. TIP: try letting your first finger lightly touch the fifth string, so it doesn t ring. Playing the chord with the fifth string root involves barring strings five through one with your first finger. Your third finger goes on fourth string, second finger on third string, and fourth finger on second string. Be sure to avoid playing the sixth string. PRACTICE IDEA: pick a random note (eg: Ab) and try playing that note s major seventh chord on both the sixth string (fourth fret) and the fifth string (11th fret).

138 138 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR (Dominant) Seventh Chords Although technically referred to as a dominant seventh chord, this type of chord is often just referred to as just a seventh chord. Written as, using the note A as an example, Adom7, or A7. This type of chord is extremely common in all types of music. To play the sixth string shape, barre all six strings with your first finger. Your third finger plays the note on the fifth string, while your second finger plays note on third string. Check to make sure the note on fourth string is sounding - this is the toughest note to get to ring clearly. Play the fifth string shape by barring strings five through one with your first finger. Your third finger goes on fourth string, while your fourth finger plays note on second string. Be careful not to play sixth string. Minor Seventh Chords Written as, using the note Bb as an example, Bbmin7, or Bbm7, or sometimes Bb-7. To play the sixth string shape, barre all six strings with your first finger. Your third finger plays the note on the fifth string. Check to make sure all strings are ringing clearly. Play the fifth string shape by barring strings five through one with your first finger. Your third finger goes on fourth string, while your second finger plays note on second string. Be careful not to play sixth string. Dan Cross

139 Lesson Practice Ideas There are six unfamiliar shapes above, so it will assuredly take a while to get these under your fingers. Try playing some or all of the following chord progressions. Choose any strumming pattern you feel comfortable with. Bbmaj7 - Gmin7 - Cmin7 - F7 Dmin7 - Gmin7 - Bb7 - A7 C7 - F7 - C7 - G7 Try playing these chords in a variety of different ways - all on sixth string, all on fifth string, and a combination of both. There are a large number of possible ways to play each chord progression above. You can also try making your own chord progressions with seventh chords. Don t be afraid to experiment! 3. Major Chord Inversions II In lesson ten, we examined the concept, and practical usage of chord inversions. In that lesson, we explored three ways to play every major chord on the sixth/fifth/fourth, and the fifth/fourth/ third strings. This lesson expands on what was discovered in lesson ten, so be sure to read the original major chord inversions lesson before continuing.

140 140 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4th, 3rd, and 2nd String Group Major Chords The concept of playing this group of chords is exactly the same as it was for the previous groups. To play the root position chord, find the root note of the major chord on the fourth string of the guitar. If you re having trouble finding the note on the fourth string... here s a tip: find the root on the sixth string, then count over two strings, and up two frets. Now play the first chord above, fingered as follows: ring finger on fourth string, middle finger on third string, and index finger on second string. To play the first inversion major chord on this string group, you ll either need to locate the chord root on the second string and form the chord around that, or count up four frets on the fourth string to the next voicing. You ll barely need to adjust your fingering at all from the last voicing to play this one. Just switch your middle finger to the second string, and your index finger to the third string. Playing the second inversion of the major chord means either trying to find the chord root on the third string, or counting up three frets on the fourth string from the previous chord shape. To find the root on the third string, find the root on the fifth string, then count over two strings, and up two frets. This last voicing can be played any number of ways, one of which is just via barring all three notes with the first finger. Example: to play an Amajor chord using the above fourth, third, and second string voicings, the root position chord starts on the seventh fret of the fourth string. The first inversion chord starts on the 11th fret of the fourth string. And the second inversion chord starts on the 14th fret of the fourth string (or it could be played down the octave at the second fret.) Dan Cross

141 Lesson rd, 2nd, and 1st String Group Major Chords This pattern is probably becoming fairly clear by now. First, find the root of the chord you d like to play on the third string (to find a specific note on the third string, locate the note on the fifth string, then count over two strings, and up two frets). Now play the first chord above (the root position chord), fingered as follows: ring finger on third string, pinky finger on second string, and index finger on first string. To play the first inversion major chord, either locate the chord root on the first string and form the chord around that, or count up four frets on the third string to the next voicing. Play the first inversion chord like this: middle finger on the third string, index finger barres second and first string. The second inversion major chord can be played either by finding the chord root on the second string, or by counting up three frets on the third string from the previous chord shape. This voicing can be played as follows: index finger on third string, ring finger on second string, middle finger on first string. Example: to play an Amajor chord using the above third, second, and first string voicings, the root position chord starts on either the second or 14th fret of the third string (note: to play the chord on the second fret, the chord shape changes to accomodate the open E string). The first inversion chord starts on the sixth fret of the third string. And the second inversion chord starts on the ninth fret of the third string.

142 142 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. More on Strumming Patterns In several past lessons, we have explored a variety of ways to strum the guitar. Until this point, all patterns we ve learned have been only one measure in length - you simply repeat the one bar pattern ad nauseum. In lesson 11, we ll take a look at a more complex, two measure strumming pattern. This will probably be somewhat of a challenge at first, but with some practice, you ll get the hang of it. Two Bar Strumming Pattern Yikes! Looks overwhelming, doesn t it? You re welcome to try the above - hold down a G major chord, and give it a shot. Listen to the mp3 clip of the strum, and see if that doesn t help. Chances are, at first this pattern will probably be too overwhelming to play. The key is breaking the strum down, and examining smaller segments of the pattern, then putting them together. Dan Cross

143 Lesson Breaking the Strum Down By concentrating only on part of the initial strumming pattern, we ll make learning the whole strum much simpler. Listen to the mp3 clip of the incomplete strum, then try imitating it. Be sure to keep your arm moving in a constant down-up motion, even whennot actually strumming the strings. The pattern starts with down, down, down, down up. Get comfortable playing this much of the pattern before continuing. Now, add the final two strums (up down) of the incomplete pattern - down, down, down, down up, up down. This will probably take some practice, but stick with it. Almost there! Now, we need to simply tack on a down up down up to the end of the incomplete pattern, and our strum is complete. Once you re able to play the strum once through, try repeating many times. The strum ends with an upstroke, and begins againimmediately with a downstroke, so if there is a pause between repetitions of the pattern, you re not playing it correctly. Tips Once you ve got the strumming pattern down, you ll need to work on switching chords without breaking the pattern. This can be tricky, since the strum ends with an upstroke, and would begin again immediately on the new chord with a downstroke. As this doesn t give much time for switching chords, it s very common to hear guitarists leave the last upstroke of the strum off, when moving to another chord.

144 144 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 5. Learning Songs We have covered a whole lot of material in these eleven lessons. Chances are, your knowledge of the guitar exceeds your ability to perform at this point. This is natural.. your ability will never match your knowledge of the instrument. With a good practice regime, however, you should be able to bring the two closer together. Take a stab at the following songs, and remember - push yourself! Try and play things that are difficult for you. Although challenging material may not be as fun to play, or sound good initially, you ll reap the benefits in the long run. I Will Survive - performed by Cake NOTES: a perfect song for exploring our newest strum. Play the chords suggested in tab, using the pattern once for each chord (twice on last E ). If you want to sound more like the recording, use power chords instead of full chords. Kiss Me - performed by Sixpence None the Richer NOTES: another song we can use this lesson s strumming pattern with. This is a fun one to play, and shouldn t be too much of a challenge. The Wind Cries Mary - performed by Jimi Hendrix NOTES: this has a nice contrast of chords, with some fancy single note playing that you shouldn t find too difficult. For more insight into this song, check out the Wind Cries Mary tutorial right here on this site. Black Mountainside - performed by Led Zeppelin NOTES: this is definitely asking too much of you, but some guitarists like to be pushed. This song uses an alternate tuning known as DADGAD. It will take a tremendous amount of work, and you probably won t be able to play half of it, but, why not try? Dan Cross

145 Lesson Not sure about how to play some of the chords to the songs? Check the guitar chord archive. For now, this is the last lesson available. I m sure you feel ready to go charging ahead and learn more, but chances are (extremely) good there are areas of the previous lessons you ve neglected. So I urge you to start at the beginning, at see if you can t work your way through all of these lessons, memorizing and practicing EVERYTHING. If you have any comments, criticisms, or random thoughts on these lessons, please feel free to me. I d love to hear that they are working for you, and if they aren t I d like to know how I can make them better. If you re feeling confident with everything we ve learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you re interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the easy song tabs archive, or the guitar tab area of the site to hunt down the music that you d enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them. Good luck! -Dan Cross

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147 Appendix

148 148 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 1. How to Tune a Guitar Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of learning guitar is that it initially seems impossible to play anything that actually sounds good. While it is true that it takes some time to learn the techniques needed to play songs well, the real reason most new guitarists sound bad is because their instrument isn t in tune. Here is a guitar tuning tutorial that, with a little practice, should allow you to keep your instrument in tune. How Often Should I Tune my Guitar? You should tune your guitar every single time you pick it up. Guitars (particularly cheaper ones) tend to go out of tune quickly. Make sure your guitar is in tune when you begin to play it, and check the tuning frequently while you re practicing, as the act of playing the guitar can cause it to go out of tune. How Long Does Tuning the Guitar Take? At first, it may take you five minutes or more to get your guitar in tune, but the more familiar you are with tuning, the more quickly you ll be able to do it. Many guitarists can get their instrument roughly in tune in about 30 seconds. Let s move on to learning the process of tuning the instrument. Dan Cross

149 APPENDIX 149 Tuning the Sixth String In order to begin tuning the guitar, you ll need a reference pitch from another source. Once you ve found a source for this initial pitch (it could be a piano, a tuning fork, another guitar, or any number of other options), you ll be able to tune the rest of your instrument by using that one note. NOTE: Without a reference pitch, you can tune your guitar, and it will sound fine on it s own. When you try and play with another instrument, however, you will probably sound out-of-tune. In order to interact with other instruments, being in tune with yourself isn t enough. You ll need to make sure that your E note sounds the same as theirs. Thus the need for a standard reference pitch. STEP 1: Listen to this MP3 of a low E string in tune: Tune your low E string to this note. Repeat the audio track as many times as you need to, in order to try and match the note perfectly. Tuning to a Piano If you have access to a piano, you can alternately tune your low E to the same note on the piano. Look at the black keys on the keyboard of the image above, and notice that there is a set of two black keys, then an extra white key, then a set of three black keys, then a white key. This pattern is repeated for the length of the keyboard. The white note directly to the right of the set of two black keys is the note E. Play that note, and tune your low E string to it. Note that the E you play on the piano may not be in the same octave as the low E string on your guitar. If the E you play on the piano sounds much higher, or lower than your low E string, try playing a different E on the piano, until you find the one closer to your open sixth string.

150 150 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Tuning the Other Strings Now that we have our sixth string in tune, we need to get our other five strings tuned to that note. Using just a little bit of very basic music theory, we can see how we ll do that. We know, from lesson two, that the names of the six open strings are E A D G B and E. We also know, from lesson four, how to count up a string, and find the names of the notes on that string. Using this knowledge, we can count up the low E string (which is in tune), until we reach the note A, on the fifth fret. Knowing this note is in tune, we can use it as a reference pitch, and tune the open fifth string until it sounds the same as the sixth string, fifth fret. Because this string is in tune, we can assume that this note, A, on the fifth fret, is also in tune. So, we can play the open fifth string, also an A, and check to see if it sounds the same as the note on the sixth string. We ll use this concept to tune the rest of the strings. Observe the graphic above, and follow these rules to fully tune your guitar. Steps to Tuning Your Guitar 1. Make sure your sixth string is in tune (use reference pitch) 2. Play the sixth string, fifth fret (A), then tune your open fifth string (A) until it they sound the same. 3. Play the fifth string, fifth fret (D), then tune your open fourth string (D) until they sound the same. 4. Play the fourth string, fifth fret (G), then tune your open third string (G) until they sound the same. 5. Play the third string, fourthfret (B), then tune your open second string (B) until they sound the same. 6. Play the second string, fifth fret (E), then tune your open first string (E) until they sound the same. After you ve tuned your guitar, check it against this MP3 of a fully tuned guitar, and fine tune it if necessary: Dan Cross

151 APPENDIX 151 Tuning Tips Often, new guitarists have a very hard time tuning their guitar. Learning to listen to pitches very closely, then fine-tune them, is a skill that takes practice. In teaching situations, I ve found some students can t easily listen to two notes, and identify which is higher, or which is lower - they only know they don t sound the same. If you re having a similar problem, try this: Listen to, and play the first note. While the note is still ringing, try humming that note. Continue to play the note, until you ve managed to match the pitch with your voice. Next, play the second note, and again, hum that note. Repeat this - playing and humming the first note, then follow that by playing and humming the second note. Now, try humming the first note, and without stopping, moving to the second note. Did your voice go down, or up? If it went down, then the second note is lower. If it went up, the second note is higher. Now, make the adjustment to the second note, until they both sound the same. This may seem like a silly exercise, but it does often help. Soon, you ll be able to recognize the difference in pitches without humming them. I hope this has helped. As previously mentioned, it s extremely important to tune your guitar every time you pick it up to play it. Not only will it make your playing sound a whole lot better, but the repetition will allow you to conquer tuning your guitar quickly. Good luck!

152 152 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 2. Tips on Playing Guitar Chords Overcoming Dead & Muffled Strings Nicole writes: I am having trouble with my finger placement when I play the G major and C major chords. It seems like no matter what I do, my index finger is always touching the string below it, so I can t get a clear ring. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is a very common beginner problem, and is often the result of poor fret-hand positioning. To try and correct this problem, pay attention to the thumb on your fretting hand (the hand that holds down notes on the fretboard). Let s examine... Improper Guitar Chord Finger Positioning Here is an example of the wrong way to position your hands to play basic guitar chords. Notice the thumb on the fretting hand is resting on the top of the fretboard. This changes the entire position of the fretting hand: Palm sits underneath the fretboard - decreases mobility and ability to stretch Fingers flatten out when playing notes on the sixth and fifth strings - fingers will likely come into accidental contact with strings, causing muffled notes, or dead strings. It should be noted that at some point in the future, you may actually use your thumb to wrap around the neck of the guitar, to fret notes on the sixth string. You may also notice that some of your favorite guitarists grip the neck in a manner similar to the one illustrated here. It is a hand position that can be effective in the proper situation, but it will make learning the guitar much more difficult. Avoid it for now. Dan Cross

153 APPENDIX 153 Proper Guitar Chord Finger Positioning Here is an example of the proper way to grip the neck of your guitar. The thumb should rest gently at the center of the underside of the guitar neck. Your hand position should be curled, so that fingers approach strings at an approximate right angle, using the tips of the fingers to make contact with each string. This will help to eliminate accidentally touching two strings with one finger, and go a long way towards eliminating muffled notes. If you re still having issues with muffled notes, then isolate your problem, and try to come up with a solution. For example, if you notice that your Gmajor chord isn t ringing clearly, then play each string in the chord, one by one, noting which strings do not ring. Next, identify why the string isn t ringing. Are you not pressing the strings hard enough? Is one of your fretting fingers not curled enough, and is touching two strings? Is an unused finger lazily touching the fretboard? When you ve isolated the probem(s), try to correct them, one by one. Chances are, the same problems are occurring whenever you play that chord. Divide, and conquer.

154 154 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 3. How to Read Guitar Tablature The following tutorial will help to explain to you the basic concept of reading guitar tab. Although it may seem complex, learning to read guitar tab is quite simple, and you should find yourself reading tab easily in no time. (If you re just interested in learning to read basic guitar chord charts, look at page 160 within the Appendix). Guitarists are a unique breed. Chances are, if you play guitar, you are either self-taught, or have learned the basics from friends. If you were a pianist, you would have learned the instrument through years of private study, which would include both music theory lessons, and heavy focus on sight reading. There is nothing wrong with taking a more informal approach to learning music, but one of the basic skills that invariably gets ignored is learning to read music. Learning to sight read takes a reasonable amount of work, without immediate benefit, and it is these sort of skills that self-taught musicians tend to avoid. If you want to get serious about a career in the music industry, learning to read music really is essential. For the casual guitarist, however, there is a guitar-centric method of music notation called guitar tablature, which while flawed, provides a simple and easy to read way of sharing music with other guitarists. Read on to learn more about how to decipher guitar tablature. Understanding the Tab Staff A tab staff for guitar has six horizontal lines, each one representing a string of the instrument. The bottom line of the staff represents your lowest E string, the second line from the bottom represents your A string, etc. Easy enough to read, right? Notice that there are numbers located smack dab in the middle of the lines (aka strings). The numbers simply represent the fret the tab is telling you to play. For example, in the illustration above, the tab is telling you to play the third string (third line) seventh fret. Note: When the number 0 is used in tablature, this indicates that the open string should be played. This is the concept of reading tab, at its most basic. Now let s examine some of the more advanced aspects of reading tablature notation, including how to read chords in tab. Dan Cross

155 APPENDIX 155 Reading Chords in Guitar Tab Reading chords within guitar tab is a relatively simple process. When a tab displays a series of numbers, stacked vertically, it is indicating to play all these notes at the same time. The above tablature indicates that you should hold down the notes in an E major chord (second fret on fifth string, second fret on fourth string, first fret on third string) and strum all six strings at once. Often, tablature will additionally include the chord name (in this case E major) above the tablature staff, to help guitarists recognize the chord more quickly. Reading Arpeggiated Chords in Tab The above tablature contains the exact same notes as the first E major chord presented on the previous page, but it will be played differently. In this situation, the notes in the chord will be played one at a time, rather than all together. How fast should I play these notes? you may ask. Good question... most guitar tab won t tell you this. But, more on that later. Hammer-Ons in Guitar Tab It is most common in guitar tab to see the letter h representing a hammer-on, located within the tablature between the original fret, and the hammered-on fret. So, if you were to see 7h9, you would hold down the 7th fret and pluck/pick the appropriate string, then hammer-on to the 9th fret without re-picking that string. Occasionally, you ll see the ^ symbol used for a hammer-on (eg. 7^9). Sometimes, in more formally printed guitar tab (like in sheet music books or guitar magazines), you ll see hammer-ons written as slurs (see above), with a curved line appearing over top of the initial and subsequent hammeredon notes.

156 156 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Pull-Offs in Guitar Tab Similar to the hammer-on, the pull-off is generally represented by the letter p in guitar tab, appearing between the originally fretted note and the pulled-off note. So, if you were to see 9p7, you would fret and pick the 9th fret, then without re-picking pull off your finger to reveal the note behind it on the 7th fret. Occasionally, you ll see the ^ symbol used for a pull-off (eg. 9^7). For more details, a tutorial can be found in Lesson 7: Part 5. Sometimes, in more formally printed guitar tab (like in sheet music books or guitar magazines), you ll see pull-offs written as slurs (see above), with a curved line appearing over top of the initial and subsequent pulled-off notes. Slides in Guitar Tab Generally, a / symbol is used to notate an ascending slide, while a \ symbol is used to notate a descending slide. So, 7 / 9 \ 7 indicates sliding from the seventh fret, up to the ninth fret, and back to the seventh fret. If no number precedes the slide symbol, this indicates sliding from an indiscriminate fret. It is also not uncommon to see the letter s used to notate a slide. This is somewhat less concise, as when sliding from an indiscriminate point (e.g. s9), it is unclear whether to slide up to the note, or down to the note. For more details, a tutorial can be found in Lesson 8: Part 5. Dan Cross

157 APPENDIX 157 String Bends in Guitar Tab String bends are notated several different ways in guitar tablature. In the formal guitar tab found in guitar magazines, generally string bends are shown with an upward arrow, accompanied by the number of steps the string should be bent (1/2 step = 1 fret). In ASCII (text-based) guitar tab, a b is often used to signify a string bend. This b is followed by the fret at which the original note should be bent to. For example, 7b9 would indicate that you should bend the seventh fret until it sounds like the ninth fret. Sometimes, this target note is included in brackets, like this: 7b(9). Occasionally, the b is omitted altogether: 7(9). An r is generally used to indicate a return of a bent note to it s unbent state. For example, 7b9r7 indicates a note on the seventh fret being bent up to the ninth fret, then returned to the seventh fret while the note is still ringing. For more details, a tutorial can be found in Lesson 8: Part 6. Vibrato in Guitar Tab The use of vibrato can be notated several different ways in tablature. In formal guitar tab, a series of squiggles appears above the tab staff, directly above the note you should apply vibrato to. The bigger the squiggles, the more vibrato should be applied. In ASCII tab, most often the ~ symbol is used, generally strung together to appear as ~~~.

158 158 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Although it doesn t appear frequently, sometimes vibrato will be simply notated with a v in ASCII tab. Virtually every competent guitarist in the pop, rock, blues, and country genres uses vibrato in their guitar playing to a certain degree. If you re serious about guitar, you ll want to know how to use it. Here s How: 1. Choose a note on the fretboard. For the purposes of this text, we ll choose A on the 2nd string (10th fret). 2. Vibrato can be applied by any finger on the fretting hand, but most players generally favor the first (index) finger for adding vibrato. We ll use the first finger. 3. Play the note. Now, using the entire arm, push and pull the string slightly to the left and right of it s natural position on the fretboard. This should cause a change in pitch. 4. This is a type of vibrato preferred by many rock guitarists (think Neil Young). The intensity, and amount of bending applied in this type of vibrato are individual to the guitarist. 5. Now, try this. Play the same note, and bring the knuckle of your first finger into contact with the side of the guitar neck. Rapidly rotate your wrist, so your knuckle repeatedly comes in contact with, then stops touching the neck. 6. Your finger should naturally bend the string when doing this, to produce a rather different sounding vibrato. This style is favored by guitarists like B.B. King. 7. Lastly, try playing the note again, and firmly push the string forward, then pull it back (towards the bridge, then the headstock). This should give you a very subtle, classical sounding vibrato. Tips: Start paying attention to other guitarist s vibrato. Notice the big variation in vibrato in differing guitarists. Listen for when they choose to use vibrato, and when they don t. Try to emulate the vibrato of your favorite guitarists. From there, try and develop a vibrato that works best for you. Dan Cross

159 APPENDIX 159 Miscellaneous Notation A string mute is almost always notated with an x. Several x s in a row, on adjacent strings, is used to notate a rake. Right hand tapping (for right handed guitarists) is generally notated in tab via a t, in conjunction with the pull off and hammer on techniques used when executing right handed tapping. Thus, 2h5t12p5p2 represents traditional tapping technique. When notating the tab for harmonics, the <> symbols are usually used, surrounding the fret which the harmonic is played at. Fundamental Flaws of Guitar Tab The lack of rhythmic notation is the biggest flaw you ll find in guitar tab around the web. And it s a doozy of a flaw. Most guitar tab doesn t notate rhythm in any way, so if you haven t heard how the guitar part to the song you re playing goes, you have no way of knowing how long to hold each note. Some guitar tab does attempt to include rhythms, by putting stems on each number (to indicate quarter notes, eighth notes, etc), but most guitarists find this cumbersome to read. And besides, if you re going to include traditional rhythmic notation in guitar tab, why not just go the extra step and write the whole thing in standard notation? Another major problem with guitar tablature: only guitarists can read it. While standard notation is readable by those who play any instrument, tab is native to guitarists, so those who don t play guitar won t be able to comprehend it. This makes any sort of musical communication with a piano player, or other musician, very difficult. We ve covered the basics of the pros and cons of guitar tablature. Now, we ll take a moment to talk about a few of the intricacies of tab - like how to read/write string bends, slides, and more. This should give you all you need to get started reading and writing guitar tablature. Again, if you re serious about music, it highly advisable that you learn standard notation as well as tablature. The excellent Modern Method for Guitar will get you sight reading almost immediately. Okay, enough talk... time to get started learning beginner song tabs. Have fun!

160 160 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 4. How to Read Guitar Chord Charts Guitar chord charts, like the one above, are almost as commonly found in guitar music as tablature. The information these chord charts convey, however, is different than guitar tablature. Some of you might look at these chord charts and understand them right away, but it doesn t always click for everyone. For the sake of being thorough, let s examine what exactly these guitar chord charts tell us. Note that for the purposes of this instruction, we are assuming that the guitarist is playing a right-handed guitar, strung in the traditional manner. Dan Cross

161 APPENDIX 161 The Basic Chord Chart Layout If it s not immediately clear, the chord chart above represents the neck of the guitar. The vertical lines represent each string - the low E string (the thickest one) is on the left, followed by the A, D, G, B and high E string (on the right). The horizontal lines on the chart represent the metal frets on the neck of the guitar. If the chord chart is depicting the first few frets on the guitar, the top line will generally be bolded (or sometimes there is a double line), which indicates the nut. If the chord chart is depicting frets higher up on the fretboard, the top line will not be bolded. In cases where chord charts are representing places higher up on the fretboard, fret numbers will be shown, usually to the left of the sixth string. This provides guitarists with an understanding of which fret the chord shown is to be played at. If you re still having trouble understanding the basic layout of the image above, then do the following - hold your guitar up to the screen of your computer, so that the strings of the guitar are facing you, and the headstock of the guitar is pointing upwards. The image here represents this same view of your guitar - strings running vertically, with frets running horizontally. Which Frets to Hold Down The big black dots on the guitar chord chart represent the strings and frets which should be held down by the fretting hand. The chart above indicates that the second fret of the fourth string should be held down, as should the second fret of the third string, and the first fret of the second string. Some guitar chord charts indicate the fretting hand fingers that should be used to hold down each note. This information is represented by numbers displayed beside the black dots used to show which frets to play. Learn about the names of the fretting hand fingers on the next page.

162 162 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Open Strings / Avoid Strings Above the top horizontal line on the chord chart, you ll often see some X and O symbols over strings which aren t being fretted by the left hand. These symbols represent strings that should be either played open - represented by an o - or not played at all - represented by an x. Whether unplayed strings should be muted or avoided entirely is not represented in guitar chord charts - you ll have to use your judgement. If a string is not being fretted, and has neither an x or o above that string, assume that the string should not be played. Finger Names on the Fretting Hand In some types of guitar tablature and other music notation, the fretting hand (the left hand for most guitarists) is represented by numbers. The identification used is straightforward... your index finger is referred to as your first finger, or finger 1 your middle finger is referred to as your second finger, or finger 2 your ring finger is referred to as your third finger, or finger 3 your pinky finger is referred to as your fourth finger, or finger 4 your thumb is referred to as T You will often see these numbers beside the frets shown in guitar chord diagrams. Dan Cross

163 APPENDIX Technique Building Exercises Looking for speed and technique building exercises for guitar? The following drill has been designed to improve both your picking accuracy, and to strengthen the fingers in your fretting hand. Learning good technique involves paying attention to small detail - play these exercises carefully, and critically. Try and move seamlessly from step to step - don t stop playing to start the next part of exercise. If your technique is at all sloppy, then you re playing them too fast. Use of a metronome is suggested, but not required. Exercise Phase I Start with your first finger on the fifth fret of first string. Strike note with a downstroke. Next, place second finger on sixth fret of second string, and play note with an upstroke. Then, place first finger on fifth fret of second string, and play note with a downstroke. Lastly, use your second finger to hold down sixth fret of first string, and play with an upstroke. Begin this cycle again, for at least 30 seconds, taking care to play all notes evenly, and at equal volumes. Once you ve played the first step of this exercise for a reasonable length of time, try moving smoothly to this second pattern. Using the same fingers (one and two), play the same frets as above, except on the first and third strings. Take care not to vary your alternate picking pattern. Play this one for at least 30 seconds as well. Follow above guidelines for part three of this exercise. Play these notes on strings one and four, steadily, for at least 30 seconds.

164 164 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR Exercise Phase II When you begin to play the later stages of this exercise, with notes several strings apart, it is common for your technique to degrade slightly. A common error is throwing your fingers on the fretboard. Be sure to use your fingertips only when fretting all notes. Play this stage of the exercise for at least 30 seconds. For the final stage in the first phase of this technical exercise, play notes on the first and sixth strings. Again, pay careful attention to your technique, and make sure it remains flawless. Play for at least 30 seconds. At this point, you can either begin playing the above exercises in reverse, or move on two phase two of this technical drill. Follow initial guidelines (from first step) for the first part of the second phase of this exercise, except use your third finger to play notes on seventh fret (instead of second finger for notes on sixth fret). Exercise Phase III As with phase one of this exercise, you can move this new shape through all six strings on the guitar. Always use your first and third fingers to play the notes, and always use alternate picking. Play each part of the exercise for at least 30 seconds, and keep an eye on your technique. For the sake of space, not the rest of the exercises from this phase have been omitted. The only difference involved in playing phase three of this exercise is using your fourth finger to play notes on the eighth fret. Be sure you re using the tip of your fourth (pinky) finger, as many people have a tendency to let this finger go flat on the fretboard. Play each part of this exercise for at least 30 seconds before continuing. For the sake of space, the rest of the parts of this phase have been omitted. Dan Cross

165 APPENDIX 165 Exercise Phase IV Comfortable so far? Here s a challenge! Now, try the concept of the original exercise, except use your second and third fingers to fret notes. Most guitarists will find this difficult. As with previous exercises, take this new finger shape through all six strings, playing each part for at least 30 seconds. Exercise Phase V No surprises here. Using your second and fourth fingers, take this exercise through all six strings. Continue paying careful attention to your technique. Exercise Phase VI In the final phase of this exercise, you use your third and fourth fingers to play this four not repeating pattern. Take this shape through all six strings, playing each stage for at least 30 seconds. That s it! This is an exercise that takes some time, and attention from you, in order for it to have an effect on your technique. Pay extremely close attention to detail, and be sure to play the exercise only as fast as your technique will allow. If you are making small flaws, then you re playing the exercise too fast. Slow down! In a short while, you should see both your picking accuracy, and your finger dexterity improving.

166 166 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR 6. Learn to Play Like BB King When people speak of the world s greatest guitarists, blues legend B.B. King s name is almost always mentioned. Yet, B.B. King doesn t have the technique of shredders like Joe Satriani or Eric Clapton. As remarkable as B.B. King s music is, the truth is the fundamentals of King s solo style are easy to learn. Forgetting for a moment the actual notes that B.B. King plays, there are a few major concepts that define his guitar work - his phrasing, and his very unique vibrato. In this B.B. King guitar lesson, we ll take a look at King s choice of notes, his phrasing, and his vibrato. B.B. King s Phrasing The first concept to tackle when trying to learn to play blues in a B.B. King style is learning how to phrase your solos. Think of the way you talk - you form ideas into sentences, and at the end of each sentence, you pause. B.B. King plays guitar the same way. Listen to this mp3 clip of B.B. King s guitar solo on Paying the Cost to be the Boss ( about.com/library/audio/paying_the_cost_to_be_the_boss_edit.mp3), paying attention to King s phrasing. Notice that King plays an idea, and pauses before continuing with another idea. Musicians who play wind instruments (trumpets, saxophones, etc.) are forced to play this way, as they have to stop and breathe. Guitarists don t have the same limitation, and often end up playing notes endlessly. The use of more horn-like phrasing, however, can be very effective - the pauses between riffs allow the listener to digest what they ve just heard. You may find that initially trying to incorporate phrasing into your solos is a difficult concept to master. Using the blues scale, practice playing a riff of five or six notes, pausing for a few seconds, then continuing with a new series of notes. Concentrate on making each short riff sound complete - try not to let the series of notes sound unresolved. This may be overwhelming at first, but as you continue to practice, your phrasing will grow stronger and stronger. Listen back to the mp3 clip above, and try to emulate B.B. King s approach. Dan Cross

167 APPENDIX 167 B.B. King s Use of Vibrato Mastering the highly individual sounding vibrato of B.B. King will also take some practice. While some guitarists use only their fingers to create vibrato, B.B. uses his whole hand, rapidly rocking the string back and forth. Listen to an mp3 clip of B.B. King playing Worry Worry ( worry_worry_edit.mp3), and pay attention to the guitarist s vibrato. Notice that although B.B. s vibrato is very pronounced, he doesn t use it on every note. King reserves vibrato for notes that are held for longer periods of time, or notes he wants to accentuate. Using notes from the blues scale try to mimic King s approach to vibrato. But, don t take my word for it. Learn about B.B. King s vibrato (and more) from the man himself, in this B.B. King YouTube video guitar lesson: The B.B. King Hand Position If you ve had some experience playing blues guitar, chances are, when I say let s play blues in A, your hand automatically slides to the fifth fret of your guitar - the standard A blues scale position. You can certainly play a lot of great guitar licks in that position, but it s not a position that King uses that much. B.B. favors a different area of the guitar fretboard - he places his first finger on the second string root note. So, if you were playing a B.B. style guitar solo in the key of A, you d find the note A on the second string (tenth fret), and rest your first finger on that note. Note: even though the chords in the song change, usually B.B. will use this position as his home base, slightly varying what he plays to fit the different chords. Examine the above diagram. These are frets, centered around the root in red, that B.B. plays extensively. King will bend many of these notes, however, to change their pitch.

168 168 I WANT TO PLAY GUITAR For example, in the key of A, B.B. likes to play the 2nd string, 12th fret (the note above the root in the diagram) with his third finger, which he immediately bends up to the 14th fret. He ll then often follow that note with the root note, the 10th fret on the second string (with a healthy dollop of vibrato, of course). B.B. often plays the lowest note in the above diagram with his second finger, which he then slides up two frets to play the other note on the third string. Then, he ll end the mini-riff with the root on the second string. This is a really common B.B. phrase, one you ll hear in almost every solo he plays. Another favored B.B. lick is playing the highest note in the pattern (in the key of A it would be 12th fret on first string), then bending it up two frets. From there, King will often return the string to it s unbent position, re-play the same fret, and end the lick with (you guessed it) the root. Learning Note Names on the Second String What s that you say? You ve never learned the notes on the second string? Well, if that s the case, you re not alone. If you want to start playing like B.B. King, though, you re going to have to learn the notes on the second string, and learn them well. What you can do to begin learning the notes on the second string is to find the appropriate note on the fifth string, and count over three strings, and down two frets (see image above). Let s use C as an example for finding the note name on the second string. Knowing that C is on the fifth string, third fret, we can count over three strings, and down two frets to see that C is also on the second string, first fret. While this is a perfectly legitimate way to start learning the note names on the second string, I find this to be slightly tedious. You should instead opt to just memorize the names of notes on the second string, the same way you ve memorized note names on the sixth and fifth strings when you began to play guitar. Dan Cross