Beginner Archives - Page 18 of 21

The 8 Second Most Important Guitar Chords For Beginners

I noticed that a lot of beginner guitar players appreciate the easy step by step approach of learning new chords. That’s why I decided to chop things up a bit into a series of easy to follow chord posts, so you don’t get overwhelmed by the infinite amount of chords that are spread around the internet.

In one of the previous post I showed you The 8 Most Important Open Chords For Beginners. Today I show you “The Second 8 Most Important Chords For Beginners”. This way you can expand your chord vocabulary in the appropriate order that works best for learning new beginner songs and expanding your beginner path.

In Part I we learned the C, A, G, E, D, Dm, Am and Em chords. Today we learn the A7, B7, C7, D7, E7 and G7 chords. We call these dominant 7th chords (dom7). They are often used in pop music and essential chords in blues music. Also the F chord and Bm chord are a great follow up and common chords in every style of music.

Basic Strumming Patterns for Beginners Part II

By Klaus Crow 6 Comments

I hope you enjoyed Basic Strumming Patterns for Beginners Part I from last week. If you got those strumming patterns down and you’re ready for Part II then grab your guitar out of the stand and let’s get your skills to the next level.

Today I will show you another five important strumming patterns in 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4 time. Mastering the patterns of Part I & II will get you by playing most common pop, country and rock songs. These are the fundamentals for guitar strumming.

Enjoy!

Tips:
– Take your time to practice each pattern thoroughly
– Practice the patterns with the chord progression
– First practice slow and then gradually build up speed
– Listen to your favorite songs and figure out the appropriate strumming pattern.
– Practice the patterns daily!

“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.” ~ Lao Tzu

Basic Strumming Patterns for Beginners Part I

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

There are two things you need when you want to learn to play songs on the guitar: chords and strumming patterns.

A chord is a set of notes played on the guitar that will give you a particular sound and color. Many popular songs consist of only three or four chords.

A strumming pattern is a preset pattern of down and up strokes played with your fingers or a pick against the strings. The strumming pattern will determine the rhythm for your music.

You can strum with either your fingers or with a pick.

Strumming with your fingers
There are several ways to strum with your fingers. Here is one that is commonly used: Place your thumb against your index finger and hold them like that. This gives you a decent support. Strum down with the nail of your index finger against all the strings and strum up with the nail of your thumb.

Strumming with a pick
Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger. Place the pick on the top side of your index finger and clamp your thumb down on top of it. Hold the pick firmly.

The essentials
There are a lot of variations for strumming patterns and different ones for each time signature (4/4, 3/4, 2/4 time). In these strumming episodes I will show you the few essential and common strumming patterns that will get you started and ready to play tons of songs.

Don’t forget to take your time for each strumming pattern and practice daily.

Enjoy!

In Part II I will show you five more indispensable strumming patterns to get you equipped with the appropriate tools to conquer the world.

Have a great workout!

Beautiful Chord Embellishments & Tricks

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

Playing chords and strumming patterns makes up part of the guitar rhythm for a song. Adding colorful embellishments to your chords will make your rhythm playing more interesting to listen to. It can give the song just sparkle it needs.

Although it’s really cool to experiment with embellishments, try to use them when it’s appropriate. Use embellishments here and there to lift your music.

In the two videos below I explain how to use and apply embellishments using a basic strumming pattern, open chords C, D, E, F, G, A, Am, Em, Dm, adding sus2 sus4, add4, 6sus4, sus2sus4, dom7 and hammer-on tricks to chords and progressions.

Let’s spice up your rhythm playing.

Enjoy!

Beautiful Chord Embellishments & Tricks Part I

Beautiful Chord Embellishments & Tricks Part II

« Previous Page