GUITAR 786: GUITAR LESSON PART 2

6 - Guitar Chords Part 2

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 6 – Guitar Chords Part 2Great to see you back for lesson six! In lesson three of our beginners learn the guitar series, we talked about the basics of Guitar Chords, and learned the C and G major chords. So let’s continue and get a few more chords mastered!First up, to make learning the guitar easier, we have provided the lesson on audio which goes hand in hand with the written lesson below.
As we mentioned before, chords are taken from major scales. Since we love the C major scale so much, we’ll work on the other chords that work within C major. Remember that chords are simply groups of complimentary notes taken from a particular scale. Therefore, all the notes contained in the chord must also appear in the scale. Music has rules, which rely on other related rules. So learning the basics right from the start will help you all along the way.Let’s refresh our memories with the notes of the C major scale. It has no sharps (#) or flats (b) so we start at C and move forward alphabetically:C D E F G A B1 2 3 4 5 6 7Since each key and corresponding chord has a number of sharps and flats (with the exception of C), we’ll need to modify the chords slightly so they contain notes which appear in the major scale we are working in. Our chords will be either major or minor, with the exception of the 7 chord, which in the case of C major is B, will be a diminished chord. Diminished chords are marked with the abbreviation: dimJust as we have formulas for scales and chords, we have a formula for the basic chords within a key. Note that this does not include every possible chord, but it is a starting point for the basic chords, with others built from them. The basic chord formula for any major key (or major scale) is as follows. The numbers represent the notes within the scale as they appear in order.1=major chord, 2=minor chord, 3=minor chord, 4=major chord, 5=major chord, 6=minor chord, 7=diminished chord, and finally back to the 1, which is a major chord again.In the case of C major, our Guitar Chords will be: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, and C.Notice that the name of major chords are not marked as major. So if you see chord marked only by a note name, it will always be a major chord.Our next chord to learn will be A minor (Am). As we’ll learn in a future lesson, all major scales have what is called a relative minor key. The relative minor key is always the sixth note of any major scale, which in this case is A. The A minor chord contains the notes: A, C and E, and is played like this:Next, we’ll learn the D minor chord. D minor contains the notes: D, F, A, and is played like this:Now for the complete C major collection of guitar chords:Another quick note: When you see a chord with … next to the name, as with the F and Bdim/A above, this means that this is one of several similar versions of the chord.Practice – Using Guitar Chords To Form A Basic SongLet’s work on a song using some of our new guitar chords. A slash above the chord name means to strum each time a slash is present. You may also practice the song using one of the strumming patterns we covered in the Picking and Strumming Lesson.//// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// ////C C G G Am Am G G Em Em Dm Dm G G C CTry different combinations of Guitar Chords and write them down, creating your own song.

7 - Guitar Tablature (lead)

Ok, so you've got a guitar, it looks great! But how do you play it?! The first thing you should know is this lesson works for both accoustic guitars and electric, but bass players are going to have to find another place. Ok, now that's cleared. Here we go.There are two different ways of writing down or reading songs. There is the professional way, with all the fancy note symbols and there is the basic, more common way. I will be teaching you how to read the basic type. These are called Tablatures.The basic structure for a tablature (or tab) looks like this:
E|------------------------ B|------------------------D|------------------------ G|------------------------A|------------------------E|------------------------

This may have confused you. Firstly, ignore the letters on the left. You have six lines. Each one of these lines represent a string on your guitar. Ok?The bottom line represents the top (thickest) string on your guitar. The top line represents the bottom (thinest) string on your guitar. Look at this:
Thinest |------------- 2nd Thinest |-------------3rd Thickest|------------- 3rd Thinest |-------------2nd Thickest|-------------Thickest |-------------

Does that make sense? Now for the frets. This is the really awkward part. I will try and explain.A fret is the area between the two (usually metal) bars on your guitar. If you were told to play the first fret on the top string then you would push down on fret 1 on the top string with your finger and pluck the string. I'm really hoping that made sense.The first fret is the furthest away from you. There are usually 21, 22, 23 or 24 frets on a guitar. If you look, they all get thinner as they get closer to you. There are also marks telling you what fret is what. There is a dot on the third fret, the fifth fret, the seventh fret, the ninth fret, the twelve fret, the fifteenth fret, the seventeenth fret, the ninteenth fret, and the twenty first fret and maybe more. This is to help you get around your guitar quicker. Now to put frets into a tablature:
E|----------------- B|-----------------D|----------------- G|-----------------A|-----------------E|1-2-3-4----------

What this tab is telling you to do is first, to put a finger (The Index Preferably) on the first fret on the top/thickest string. Then you pluck the string. If you are pushing hard enough onto the fret you shall find that you get a nice, deep note. Next, you put your next finger (preferably your middle finger) onto the second fret on the top string. Now hit the string. You should get a nice, slightly higher pitched note.Then you put your next finger (your ring finger) onto the third fret, if you are pushing down hard enough you will find that when you pluck the string you will get a slightly higher pitched note again. Then you push your next finger (your pinky) down hard onto the top string pushing it down into the forth fret, pluck the string and you will get another, slightly higher pitched sound. If you followed this carefully you should be getting the idea. Look at this:
E|1-2-3-4---- B|-----------D|----------- G|-----------A|-----------E|-----------

On this one, you are doing the exact same as the last one but you are put your fingers on, and hitting the thinnest string. You should get a very high pitched sound. Try this:
E|---------- B|----------D|1-2-3-4--- G|----------A|----------E|----------

Had a good try? If you're stuck, what you're doing is putting your fingers on the third thickest string, the third one away from you. So what about this?
E|--------- B|---------D|--------- G|---------A|---------E|0-1-2-3--

A 0? What do you do with a 0? Fear not! A zero simply means you pluck that string without putting your finger on a fret. This is fret zero. Make sense? Here are two, infamous and simple riffs, try them out:
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple:

E|----------------------------

E|---------------------------- B|----------------------------D|---------------------------- G|----------------------------A|----------------------------E|0-3-5---0-3-6-5---0-3-5--3-0

Ring a bell? Note that the whole song is played on the thickest/deepest pitch string.
Come As You Are by Nirvana:

E|------------------------------

E|------------------------------ B|------------------------------D|------------------------------ G|------------------------------A|--------0---0---------2-----2-E|0-0-1-2---2---2-2-1-0---0-0---

This song is played on the top two strings of your guitar. It looks hard but do it slowly at first and you'll have it in no time. These two riffs are the first things I ever learnt on guitar!Now you know how to play basic tabs! Now the advanced bit:What does the EADGBE stand for? You may have noticed that between nearly all the tabs I have written here there is:
E BD GAE

On the left of it. Why is this? Each letter represents a note. If you have ever played on a keyboard or a piano before you will notice that each note is written as a letter. C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. All the EADGBE is is different notes. The thickest string on your guitar is a low E, the thinest is a high E, in between them is A, D, G and B. You don't have to remember this but if you do then you're one more step closer to being a professional. I remember it like this:
Eddy AteDynamite GoodByeEddy

It works for me! I hope it helps. Next, bends, slides, hammer ons and pull offs. Sooner or later you're going to stumble on a tab with one of these three in it. I guarantee. It will help alot if you know what they mean.
Bends:

E|--------------

E|-------------- B|--------------D|-3b4---------- G|--------------A|--------------E|--------------

What do I do? What do I do? Fear not. Firstly, put your finger on the forth fret of D and play it. That is what you want it to sound like. Now, what you want to do is put your finger on the third fret, play the string and bend it so it makes the excact same sound as fret four. Got it? It's not that hard.
Slides:

E|------------

E|------------ B|------------D|----7/9----- G|------------A|------------E|------------

This, too, is also simple. Put a finger on seven of string D, hit the string and quickly, making sure the finger is still pushing the string down onto the frets, slide your finger up to nine. If performed correctly you'll get a nice sound rising in pitch.
Hammer On:

E|-2h4-------

E|-2h4------- B|-----------D|----------- G|-----------A|-----------E|-----------

The "h" represents a hammer on, put your index finger on fret two of High E (the thinest string on the guitar) and pluck the string, quickly slam your ring finger down onto the fourth fret. It will change pitch and be a bit quieter. That's all a hammer on is.
Pull Off:

E|----------

E|---------- B|----------D|---------- G|----9p7---A|----------E|----------

The "p" means pull off. Put your little finger on 9 and your index finger on 7, pluck the string, and quickly slide your little finger off in a downwards motion (this keeps the string vibrating) and the pitch will change quickly from 9 to 7. I hope you understood that, it's hard to explain so please don't flame me if you don't get it.I hope this lesson helped you alot, tablaturesare the most important thing you will come across when you try and learn guitar.

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 8
– Guitar Arpeggios

Playing Guitar Arpeggios
An arpeggio simply means, broken chord. Rather than strum the entire chord, we’ll play it in an arpeggiated style, meaning that we’ll play the notes individually.
The ways to play guitar arpeggios are almost limitless, as we’ll find out, and it can make your playing sound very interesting, without a lot of effort. For starters, let’s take a C chord:

Rather than strum the whole thing, begin by playing the first three notes of the chord in succession, and repeat four times. Begin by playing the C note, on the 3rd fret of the A (5th) string, proceed to the E note, on the 2nd fret of the D (4th) string, the G note on the open G string, and repeat once.
After you reach the open G a second time, play the open G once more, go to the C note, on the 2nd fret of the B string, the open E string, and repeat. Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?
Try mixing it up a bit now. Play the C note (3rd fret, A/5th string), the open G/3rd string, the E note (2nd fret, D/4th string, the higher C (1st fret, B/2nd string), the open G/3rd string, the open E/1st string, back to C (1st fret, B/2nd string), and finally to the open G/3rd string.
With our new knowledge of guitar tablature, this is what this arpeggiated piece above looks like:

Try other guitar arpeggios with different chords, and make up your own patterns…you might even get the start of a cool new song!
More Guitar Chords…
Here a few more guitar chords for you to practice and play around with:

The D, E, G7, and A7 chords are popular and easy to play. We’ll get to how these chords are use in particular keys in a future lesson, but that’s no reason to not have fun with them now.
The B and F chords may be difficult at first, but it will get you used to playing bar chords, which are perhaps the most used chord type, aside from those you are now learning, in pop, blues, folk, and rock music.
In the B chord chart, you’ll notice that the (1) has parenthesis around it. This means that playing that note is optional. If you choose to play it, lay your first finger across the second fret, and press down on all strings. This is what is called “barring”, used in bar chords. You’ll also do a simpler form of barring on the F chord, by playing the 2nd and 3rd strings on the 1str fret with your 1st finger.
It may be tricky at first, but keep trying. By the way, remember in lesson 5 we talked about hand positioning? Give it a shot, and you may find that the more difficult chords, are not all that difficult.

9 - Major Keys

Major Keys
We’ve learned that C major is the only major key that contains no sharps (#) or flats (b) but what does that really mean? We covered the chromatic scale and the major scale structure formula in lesson two, but here is a refresher view:Chromatic Scale: A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, back A and infinity.Major Scale Formula in Steps: Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half (WWHWWWH)If we apply the step formula to the chromatic scale, starting on C, it just so happens that no sharp or flat notes are included. This isn’t the case with any other scale. But there’s another pattern there as well. As we move on to later lessons, you’ll find that the scales we’ll learn have an increasing number of sharps or flats, and the pattern will begin to become apparent.Let’s begin by learning the G major scale, or to put it another way, the major scale in the key of G major:

At this point, I’d like to call attention to the F#. Since F# is the same note as Gb, why is it called F#? The answer isalphabetical order. If it were called Gb, it could create some confusion, since we already have a G in the scale. Remember that music has rules, and this one of many that makes perfect sense.
Relative Minor
Remember that the sixth note of any major scale is called the Relative Minor. In the case of G major, the relative minor is E. You may have heard talk of songs being played in minor keys, and this is where they come from. A minor key is really a sort of misnomer, as minor keys are actually Major Keys played in a different order.
To demonstrate, let’s take E minor as an example. Now, there are a few different modifications of minor scales, but for now, we’ll deal with the natural minor scale. The natural minor scale begins with the sixth note of the major scale, and continues along for eight notes: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E. We’ll talk more about minor keys in another lesson, as there are a few commonly used rules in the modern use of minor scales.
An Endless Repetition Of Notes
To make this scale extension concept a little easier, think of any scale as an endless repetition of notes, as if it were written in a circle. If you start at any point and move around the circle, you’ll end up going around as many times as you’d like. As a linear example, think of a scale as a never ending line, starting at a given point:
GABCDEF#GABCDEF#GABCDEF#GABCDEF#GABCDEF#G…and so on.
The linear and circle example can also be applied to the chromatic scale, and applying formulas to get other scales, which is the case in the major scale formula in steps: WWHWWWH
We also talked about the basic chord formula for major scales: “M” stands for Major, “m” stands for minor, and “d” stands for diminished. We’ll use G major for our chords:
So how do we use this information? Well, let’s start by learning a new chord, F# diminished (F#d). You’ve already learned the other guitar chords in G major, but we’ll do a refresher on those as well.

So now we have the complete collection of the basic G major chords. Try playing them in order…

Now let’s try playing the major scale, G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G, using guitar tablature. To make things a bit easier, we’ve placed a chart below the tab, telling you which fingers to use, and the note names. You will sometimes see tablature written in this way:

Guitar Exercise
Here’s an exercise, using the chords in G major. A slash above the chord tells us to strum…