Guitar Lesson: Learn Open Chords - By Peter Edvinsson

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It is really exciting to play guitar! You can experiment with chords in a completely different way than on the piano. The construction of the guitar and the tuning of the strings allow you to find these easy sounding chords!

You will first learn a very easy form of tablature with only numbers. Tablature staffs written the ordinary way can easily be displayed in a distorted way in articles like this one.

To show how to read the tab notation I give you this note to play on your guitar:

3/2

The first number tells you to play the third fret. The number after the slash indicates which string to play. This means that you are to play the third fret on the second string. That will be the note D on an commonly tuned guitar.

Open chords are used in many types of guitar tunes. First you have to know what an open chord is. It usually refers to the most common chords played in the first position with some open strings, that is, strings that are not pressed down.

You will start with an ordinary C-chord. It looks like this:

C: 3/5 2/4 0/3 1/2 0/1

Now you are going to try the nice sounding but easy Fmaj7 chord by changing two fingers. Here it is:

Fmaj7: 3/4 2/3 1/2 0/1

these two chords can be played together as an intro to your new song for example.

You can play them like this:

C / / / Fmaj7 / / / C / / / Fmaj7 / / /

We will now take a look at a chord you will find by sliding the Fmaj7 chord up two frets. You will get the chord G6:

G6: 5/4 4/3 3/2 0/1

We can now play the following chord progression:

C / / / Fmaj7 / / / G6 / / / Fmaj7 / / / C

You will now test a chord progression starting with the common open A-minor chord that can be used together with the previous progression. Here is the A-minor chord:

Am: 0/5 2/4 2/3 1/2 0/1

By sliding this chord up two frets you will get a nice sounding chord that can be called Bm7add11:

Bm7add11: 0/5 4/4 4/3 3/2 0/1

The last chord in this progression is an open A-minor 7th chord in the fifth position:

Am7: 0/5 5/4 5/3 5/2 0/1

The guitar chord progression with the previous chord shapes will look as follows:

Am / / / Bm7add11 / / / Am7 / / / Bm7add11 / / /

We will now play a little chord progression with the previous Am7 chord. We will need two more chords to complete this progression. Here is the open Am6 shape:

Am6: 0/5 4/4 5/3 5/2 0/1

We will now alter the fret on the fourth string again and we will get the Fmaj7/A chord.

Fmaj7/A: 0/5 3/4 5/3 5/2 0/1

Here you have a guitar chord progression with the last chords we learned:

Am7 / / / Am6 / / / Fmaj7/A / / / Am6 / / /

Let’s take a look at the open E-major chord:

0/6 2/5 2/4 1/3 0/2 0/1

By sliding this chord up three frets you will get the following interesting guitar chord:

0/6 5/5 5/4 4/3 0/2 0/1

It is a form of the E-minor 7th chord.

If you continue to slide this chord up you will get an A-major add 9 chord:

Aadd9: 0/6 7/5 7/4 6/3 0/2 0/1

If you move the chord up two more frets you will get a B sounding chord that can be called Bsus/E:

0/6 9/5 9/4 8/3 0/2 0/1

These three chords can replace the more common E, A and B chords in a progression.

Starting with the open E-major chord you will now learn a flamenco guitar sounding progression

First, the E-major chord:

0/6 2/5 2/4 1/3 0/2 0/1

Now, slide this chord up one fret and you will find the three open strings sounding the same but blended with a F-major chord on the strings that are pressed down. An interesting morish sounding chord. Here it is written with tabs:

0/6 3/5 3/4 2/3 0/2 0/1

The next chord to use in this flamenco progression is the E-minor 7 chord you will get by sliding the chord two frets further up the fretboard:

0/6 5/6 5/5 4/3 0/2 0/1

You can do many things with the basic open guitar chords by sliding them to other frets and slightly change them. These were just a few examples to start your investigation!

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free piano sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, music lessons and read his guitar lesson blog at http://www.capotastomusic.com

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Guitar Lesson: Learn To Become A Sight Reading Guitarist - By Peter Edvinsson

By Peter Edvinsson

It’s time for you to reap the benefits from all sheet music that has been written by good composers. Let’s see how you can improve your sight reading skills.

I know by own experience that many guitarists at first find it hard to read sheet music. Why is that?

A guitar is a fantastic instrument in many ways. One interesting feature is that you can find the same note on different strings. It makes for interesting effects if you want.

However, the same feature can make it hard to read a sheet music note as you can find it on more than one place on a guitar. Many beginners on classical guitar master the notes in the first position on the guitar. That is, the first four frets on the fretboard.

I suggest that you also learn to find the notes you know on the first four frets on your guitar on the higher frets. For example, the C on the first fret on the second string can also be found on the fifth fret on the third string and on the tenth fret on the fourth string.

A fun little exercise you can use to become a little more familiar with the entire guitar fretboard is to work on finding a note on all six strings on the guitar. You will of course have to play the note in various octaves on the strings.

For example, try to play the note G on all six strings beginning with string six down to the first string and back again until you can find the frets without to much thinking.

Another reason why it can be hard to read guitar sheet music is the habit to always look at the fretboard to find the right place to put your fingers. How can you avoid looking at the fretboard all the time?

One reason for looking at the fretboard is that it has become a habit probably initiated at your beginning endeavors when you really had a hard time finding the right places on your guitar.

To overcome this habit I suggest that you practice reading very easy guitar sheet music in the first position. Here your fingers already know how to find their ways without the aid of your eyes if you pay attention to correct fingering.

Trying to avoid looking at the fretboard will also improve your posture preventing you from muscle injuries in your neck for example.

A good ear is a great asset for a guitarist. It will help you play the music you hear in your head or with your ears and this ability is really something worth developing.

However, a good ear can be your enemy if you don’t watch up. That is, when you learn to play sheet music.

I myself as a beginning guitar student had a good ear and like many other such students developed my own strategies to find the frets to play by looking at the sheet music and listening my way around the fretboard.

This strategy really works but you will not really learn the notes on the fretboard and subsequently will not develop your sight reading skills.

You will have to make a conscious effort to learn the guitar fretboard in order to be able to find the notes fast enough to sight read sheet music.

One way to develop your sight reading skills is to put sheet music in front of you trying to play the music you see. Be aware though that you probably cannot use the same piece of music more than once. At least not for practicing sight reading. You need fresh pieces to play.

One way to get fresh pieces is of course to write them yourself. This will develop your sight reading skills from two directions. The concentrated effort to notate easy guitar pieces will also help you learn sheet music notation.

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free guitar sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, music lessons and read his music blog at http://www.capotastomusic.com

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The Benefits Of Learning Music Theory - By Kevin Sinclair

By Kevin Sinclair

That’s music to my ear is a common phrase used to express a person’s emotional Music theory can be an important attribute in a person’s life, for many reasons. People often ask, “Is music theory necessary?” “Why do we need it?”

First of all, even though you don’t have to understand how to read sheet music to perform as a musician, you will need an understanding of music theory. It opens so many other doors for you in the world of music. Music theory will not show you how to understand music, but with music theory you will be able to communicate musical ideas, explore music in whole new ways, and redefine the tremendous scope that entails the magical world of music.

Music theory allows you to voice your opinion with others in the field, expand your musical horizon. Give a little input to a fellow musician and you’ll get something in return.

Notations And Communicating With Other Musicians

Music lovers all develop a keen sense of awareness, musically speaking. Sometimes, musicians explain that if they study music theory, then it’ll stunt their creativity. Wrong! The world’s greatest composers were all masters of music theory: Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, J.S. Bach. These experts composed a keen understanding of the theoretical concepts. Years were spent studying the concept, down to some of the smallest details.

Music can be played by ear, picking out tunes without the aid of written music. Your ears can be your guide. The reason this is brought to light is that some musicians with strong theoretical training often disregard the art of playing by ear.

Think of playing music by ear this way: We’re all born as non-verbal creations. Communication begins with crying, making sounds, displaying body language. Parents quickly become experts on baby talk. It’s an innate sense. Over time, language develops by mimicking sounds. Toddlers don’t learn nouns and verbs; they learn to speak by example. Music can be the same way. Hence, the reason so many people pay top dollar for live performances. It’s invigorating, magical.

Understanding Harmony And Chord Progression

Chord progression and harmony, two features of music theory, help broaden any musician, regardless of their genre of study. Chord progression is a series of chords that are used to harmonize music. All compositions use chord progression. Those that improvise - which, as already mentioned, adds charm and magic to the environment of music - invent brand new melodies that blend in with an existing chord. It’s a musical transition, something that must be practiced, repeatedly. The great composers and musicians develop chord progressions and transitions until it becomes natural, a second-natured maneuver.

If a musician improvises in a more interconnected manner, these new melodies show the musician the progression as one whole unit, and not a series of bumpy transitions. The more practice that goes into this aspect of music learning theory, the more interesting substitutions they will develop along the way. Once the concept of chord progression and its structure is understood, it will be easier to remember. Jazz musicians, therefore, show a keen interest in the study and analysis of chord progression.

The study of music theory will show musicians and musical scholars that the objective, initially, is not to consider an entire composition in one sitting. Instead, musicians, students and teachers alike, view a chord progression in segments, or units. These units correspond to musical sections known as stanzas.

A stanza is the complete statement and development of a single musical idea. It’s a fairly simple act of dividing pieces into small manageable sections, with the melody itself forming, or suggesting the boundaries for sound.

Tonality, another element of chord progression, means different things to different people. Some would consider it to be this: any piece of music with a well-defined key center. Others envision any music that uses the conventional chords as tonal.

Music without the use of chords in a functional manner to reinforce a tonal center is not tonal. It is referred to as non-tonal music. The names of these styles are not always agreed upon between musical connoisseurs. But expressing difference is one key element that makes music such a beautiful art form, with countless possibilities.

So, if you are considering studying music, be it to play an instrument, teach music, or simply hone in on personal curiosity, learning music theory is a must for you.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development. http://www.musicianhome.com/

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