Rhythm Guitar 1

The first three chords that we will be covering are major triads. Each chord will be built on one of the seven natural notes in the musical alphabet:

A B C D E F G

These chords will be played in the lowest position on the neck, open position. A chord is being played in open position if it contains strings which aren’t fretted, or open strings. These chords will all be laid out in chord diagrams like the one below.

X = Don’t Play O = Play Open String

Major Triads:

v Practice all of these chords with your 1st 2nd and 3rd fingers.

v Go back and practice them with your 2nd 3rd and 4th fingers.

v This second method will end up being even more valuable than the first. (Important!)

v Memorize All Scale Degrees.

Example Diagram:

Nut  

Frets

Fingering

Chord Changes Practicing changing between chords is important part of guitar playing. As guitar players we need to work to gain muscle memory which allows us to switch quickly and efficciently between chords so that if a song is written at a fast tempo we can keep up. (You can always slow down your chord changes, but you can’t always speed up.) These chord changes need to be practiced on a daily basis in order to make the transition from one chord to the next automatic and effortless. When you are practicing changing between chords be sure that your fingers are moving fast and you are leaving as small a gap as possible between the ringing of one chord to the next. During your musical journey you are going to encounter a lot of these. Repeat Signs When playing a progression if you get to the end and see a repeat sign, this means go back to the beginning and play it one more time. Occasionally you will see a 4x above the repeat sign, this is telling you to play the progression four times total. When you are practicing the following progressions be sure to repeat them a minimum of 4 times. As you gain endurance double that number, maybe tripple it. Rhythm Strokes When strumming on the guitar there are two dirrectons that the pick can travel, up or down. We call them up strokes and down strokes. When notated these are reffered to as rhythm strokes, as seen above the staff in this example.

Up Strokes Down Strokes

Fun Fact The orgin of the symbols for rhythm strokes was not guitar strumming, but violin bowing. The symbol for the down stroke was meant to represent the frog (base) of the violin bow and the up stroke was designed to look like the head (tip) of the violin bow. When bowing the frog will travel down (toward the floor) and the tip will travel up (toward the celing). When most guitarists first encounter this type of notation it looks backwards, this should clear up any confusion. Let’s Practice Chord Progressions! Put these chord progressions into your sequencer and play along with them. Just play a simple quarter note groove, one strum per beat in 4/4 time. For now just keep it simple and play each progression with the rhythm below. Arguably the most common progression in rock music, the I, IV, V (1, 4, 5) You may not need to understand what I am saying in a theoretical sense, but you will be able to hear the commonality of this chord progression. Popular songs like Wild Thing (The Troggs), Louie Louie (The Kingsmen), La Bamba (Ritchie Valens), Led Zeppelin (Rock and Roll), Walking By Myself (Gary Moore) U2 Still Havent Found What I’m Looking For (U2) and many more, are based off of this chord progression. Strumming: Right Hand Grooves Be sure to practice strumming relaxed and even with the beat. If you feel awkward in either hand; espically the strumming hand. The music won’t Groove. Always strive to keep the foot tapping and the strumming hand relaxed. Play all these progressions with these simple quarter note and eighth note rhythms. Be sure to verbalize the groove. (Count Aloud) Exercise 1. Chord Changes; Switch between chords quickly and efficciently. Exercise 2. Practice the two assigned chord progressions, and listen to the songs with I, IV, V.

Scale Degree Labeling Exercise Knowing the scale degrees of the chords on your guitar is vitally important. It is going to allow you to create new chords from preexisting chord knowledge, understand how harmony works, become better at soloing, songwriting, and set you apart from a ton of other guitar players out there. To start the exercise, simply fold the page on the dashed line, or cover the answers with a piece of paper. Then, label the scale degrees from on the void chords and compare them with the pre-labeled chords below the line. (You may choose to photocopy this page first, if you want to do the exercise multiple times.)