In this lesson, you mix up the previous quarter note and eighth note strumming pattern in a different way. You learn: a versatile strumming pattern that can be used for hundreds of different songs how to read a standard chord chart with lyrics a song: I ve Been Working On the Railroad You will need to know the following chords: To play a major chord, place your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom string. The remaining strings ring completely open. To play a G major chord, place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the bottom string, your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the second string, and your index finger on the 2nd fret of the third string. The top string rings completely open. 1
To play an F major chord, place your index finger on the 1st fret of the second string and your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top string or the fourth string. Let the first and third string ring completely open. To play a 7 chord, simply place your index finger on the 1st fret of the first or bottom string. Let the other three strings ring completely open. To play a G7 chord, place your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the first or bottom string. Place your index finger on the 1st fret of the second string. Place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the third string. Let the top string ring completely open. 2
This is a chord you want to barre. To play a D7 chord, lay your index finger across all four strings on the 2nd fret. While these strings are barred, place your middle finger on the 3rd fret of the first or bottom string. To play an E7 chord, place your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the first or bottom string, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the third string, and your index finger on the 1st fret of the fourth or top string. Let the second string ring completely open. Strumming Pattern #4 This strumming pattern is very similar to the last one. This is a very versatile strumming pattern and can be used in a lot of different ways. Take a look. 3
As before, start off slow and count out loud. You want to be locking in with the count as closely as possible. As you start to feel comfortable, add a chord change. You might also try varying the tempo. Try playing the strumming pattern at a faster speed to see what happens. How to Read a Standard hord hart With Lyrics Before you learn another song with this strumming pattern, I wanted to talk about how to read and play from a standard chord chart with lyrics. This is where the lyrics of a song are written out with chord symbols above the lyrics indicating which chord to play. At the end of every lesson so far, I ve added lyrics and chords for the song. The last few songs you ve done have had fairly simple rhythms. The lyrics have matched up with the strumming pretty well for these songs. As we move forward, we re going to feel a little bit of a pull at times from the rhythm of our strumming and the rhythm of our lyrics. While our rhythm should compliment what is being sung, most of the time what we strum is not going to match up in perfect rhythm with what we sing. This is okay. With standard chord charts, you aren t given specified measures, tempo, or a time signature. So what do you do? How long do you strum a chord for? Let s take a look at this question. A Few Tips for hord harts 1.) Before playing a song, find the tempo of the song by listening to a recording of the song in a YouTube video or from an mp3 you purchase from an online music store. Tap your foot to find the beat. 4
The songs you will be learning right now are in 4/4. This means you repeat a count of four through the entire song. Most popular songs will never change time signatures mid-ways through a song. In the songs in this course, the count of four will be consistent and steady the whole time. 2.) Most of the time chord changes happen on the down beat (first beat) or third beat of a measure. hords are written above lyrics to approximate where chord changes happen in the song. 3.) Focus on singing the melody in time with your count. Stomp/tap your foot to keep the time going when you re singing. 4.) It takes some time and practice to familiarize yourself with the timing of a song. Listen to the song first. Listen for where chord changes happen and listen to the timing of the song. 5.) The more comfortable you are with your strumming pattern and the more consistent and steady your strumming pattern is the easier it is to find how the melody sits over top of the strumming pattern. I ll go over these tips in the video and look at the following song: I ve Been Working On the Railroad. 5
I ve Been Working On the Railroad 7 F I've been working on the railroad all the livelong day 7 D7 G7 I've been working on the railroad, just to pass the time away G7 F E7 an't you hear the whistle blowing? Rise up so early in the morn F G an't you hear the captain shouting, "Dinah blow your horn!" F Dinah won't you blow, Dinah won't you blow, G Dinah won't you blow your horn, your horn? F Dinah won't you blow, Dinah won't you blow, G Dinah won't you blow your horn? Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah, G7 Someone's in the kitchen I know, F Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah, G Strummin' on the old banjo G7 Fee fi fiddle-y-i-o, fee fi fiddle-y-i-o-o-o-o, F G7 G Fee fi fiddle-y-i-o, strummin' on the old banjo 6
Practice Objectives Focus your practice on these things before you move to the next lesson: learn strumming pattern #4 practice changing from different chords for strumming pattern #4 continue to practice this new strumming pattern and the old ones at different tempos spend time just listening to me playing I ve Been Working On the Railroad --tap your foot along as you listen for the tempo, listen to my strumming pattern, and try to identify which beat different chords change on (hint: most chords change on beats 1 & 3 of the measure) use strumming pattern #4 to learn and practice I ve Been Working On the Railroad There is a lot to practice in this lesson, so take your time, before moving on the next lesson. When you re ready, I ll see you in the next lesson! 7