Beginner Guitar Chords – Learn How to Play the D7 Chord

The D7 Chord (also known as the Dominant D 7th Chord) is often referred to as a Blues chord. Once you learn to play it, you will understand why. It just has a real bluesy sound to it. It is definitely one of the easiest beginner chords to learn how to play.

There are several different ways to play it, but I will demonstrate the easiest way in the following post. The D7 Chord is found by first locating the 1(root note), 3 and 5  positions (D, F# and A) of the D Major Scale: D E F# G A B C# D, and then adding a flat 7 note. To locate the flat 7 note, we first find the 7th note of the D Major scale (C#) and then go back a 1/2 step to the C. So the notes of the D7 Chord are: A D A C F# .

Here is a key that will help you read the chart:

Chord Playing Tip: Be sure that you are pressing down on the string hard enough. You should play each string one at a time to make sure you have a nice clean sound. If any of the strings buzz or sound muted, then something is not right.

The video below will further demonstrate how to correctly play the D7 Chord. Enjoy!

Blues Guitar Chords – Using 7th Chords

By Keith Dean

You hear a song and instantly know it’s a blues tune. How do you know?

It might be in the tempo or the rhythm pattern. Maybe it’s a fast shuffle, or the deliberate staccato of a slow 12/8 beat.

It may be the familiar changes of a I, IV, V chord progression that tips you off – or the lyrical ramblings lamenting lost loves and “you-done-me-wrong’s”.

But there is a good chance the recognition was triggered by structure of the song’s underlying chords.

Most beginning guitarists become familiar early on with major chords and minor chords. And millions of songs from many genres of music can be played using them.

But in blues music, it’s rare to find the use of a standard major or minor chord. Not unheard of, but rare.

More typically, you will encounter 7th chords, minor 7th chords, 9th chords, and augmented chords – just to name a few.

Many of these chords are very similar to their major or minor parent, with only a small change in one of the notes of the chord.

But it’s this subtle change that gives these chords the “bluesy” sound that tells your ears that you’re listening to the blues.

Here we will talk about 7th chords and how to use them to create blues progressions.

Technically, a 7th chord is formed using the major triad, and adding a flat 7th to it.

From a practical standpoint, let’s take a look at how to form a simple 7th chord from a standard “G” barre chord at the 3rd fret.

E———-3———-3—–

B———-3———-3—–

G———-4———-4—–

D———-5———-3—–

A———-5———-5—–

E———-3———-3—–

The first chord in the TAB above represents a G barre chord played on the 3rd fret.

The second chord is a G7 played at the same position. The only difference is the note on the D (4th) string. That note was lowered from the 5th fret, to the 3rd fret to make the G chord a G7.

A much easier way to visualize this is to think of the fingering pattern used when playing a G barre chord in this position. All you have to do to make it a G7 chord is to lift the 4th finger. No other change is necessary.

The neat thing about guitar is that you can transpose this to any key by simply sliding this chord position up or down the neck. In this way you can now play 7th chords anywhere.

Another commonly used 7th chord can be formed using barre chords in the “A” shape.

For example, a “C” major barre chord in the “A” shape, played at the 3rd fret would look like the first example below:

E———-3———-3—–

B———-5———-5—–

G———-5———-3—–

D———-5———-5—–

A———-3———-3—–

E—————————-

The second example above represents the C7 chord which is formed by lowering the note on the 5th fret of the 3rd string two frets to the 3rd fret. This requires a minor change in fingering, but is easily accomplished.

These 7th chords can also be transposed to any key by simply sliding them up or down the neck to the desired position.

By using the two formations of 7th chords shown above, you can now apply these to a multitude of blues songs.

To illustrate, a song using a I, IV, V chord progression in the key of “G” would consist of the chords G, C and D.

You can make this into a blues sounding progression by substituting the major chords with 7th chords.

The result would be a chord progression comprised of G7, C7 and D7.

The G7 would be played using the formation in the first example above – the C7 would be played using the second example above, and the D7 would be played by sliding the C7 chord formation up two frets.

Experiment with these chords in different keys and get used to playing them. You’ll find that you will use them over and over.

The subtle difference of changing a major chord to a 7th chord can take a standard rock or country song and turn it into blues song just by inserting these simple blues guitar chords.

For more information on how to play blues guitar visit: http://learnandmasterbluesguitar.com/

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Flamenco Guitar Lessons

By Ricky Sharples

Are Flamenco guitar lessons worth taking for somebody not raised in Andalucia? Many years ago you had to be a black American to have any credibility as a blues singer or guitar player. And if you were not Spanish you never got anywhere as a Flamenco artist no matter how good you were. But these days, like many musical traditions, Flamenco is now embracing young people from non-Spanish origins.

Twenty or thirty years ago Flamenco guitar playing, at least as perceived by people outside of Spain was dominated by a couple of third-rate guitar players who were good at promoting themselves. Now you can see many fantastic guitar players, professional and amateur, Spanish and non-Spanish giving wonderful Flamenco guitar performances on YouTube. Here is a rundown on the guitar techniques you will be introduced to if you decide to take Flamenco guitar lessons.

So onto some basic Flamenco guitar techniques. The most distinctive technique used in Flamenco is the tapping on the body of the guitar. This technique is called the golpe and is performed just below the sound hole. Flamenco guitars are made with a tapping plate to minimize damage to the guitar from constant hitting of the body. The golpe is often used in conjunction with downward strokes of the thumb and with continuous up and down strokes of the index finger used by guitarists playing the Flamenco musical form called Bulerias.

The rapid picking exhibited by Flamenco guitarists is called picado. This is also used in classical guitar but to nowhere near the same degree. It is a “rest” stroke which is played by striking a string with an upward stroke of the first or second finger which comes to rest on the string behind it. So if you play a rest stroke on the second string the finger comes into contact with the third string after it has struck the note. Flamenco scale passages are played as picado using rapid alternating strokes of the first and second fingers.

Another Flamenco guitar technique is the use of rapid arpeggios. Arpeggios are played by placing the first, second and third fingers in position on the first, second and third strings as if you are going to pluck a chord. Instead of plucking all three strings you lift your whole hand slightly so that the fingers play the strings in rapid succession. The thumb and fingers of a guitarist who has practiced this technique can play some very fast arpeggio passages. The effect is similar to sweep picking used in rock guitar.

The thumb is uses almost exclusively in downstrokes. This is another rest stroke where the thumb plays, for example, the sixth string and comes to rest on the fifth string before starting the next stroke. It may seem strange to anybody who has not tried it to make the thumb and fingers “rest” between strokes, but this technique can produce some very fast thumb and picado playing.

Another technique used in Flamenco guitar is the tremolo. This is a technique for producing a long line of melody notes accompanied by the thumb playing bass notes. This technique was borrowed from classical guitar and differs in that Flamenco tremolo is played with four notes between each bass note whereas classical guitarists only play three melody notes between bass notes. In most guitar notation systems the thumb is shown as “p” (for the Spanish “pulgar”), the index finger is shown as “i” , the middle finger is designated “m” and the ring finger is “a” (for annular which is latin for ring).

To play a continuous E on the open first string of the guitar, use the fingers and thumb in this order:

Play a bass note on the open sixth string with your thumb using rest stroke.

On the open first string:
Play a free stroke with i
Play a free stroke with a
Play a free stroke with m
Play a free stroke with i

You have just played one bass note followed by four melody notes. To continue playing, make an E chord with your left hand and alternate the bass notes between the sixth, fifth and fourth strings.

As you can see these techniques are hard to explain in words. They are easier to understand if you use my written descriptions in conjunction with watching Flamenco guitarists on video. It will take some hard work to actually use these techniques, and I strongly suggest you take lessons from a guitar player who knows how to play Flamenco.

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.

Acoustic Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar Lessons

Basic Bluegrass Strumming Pattern

Great video from Peter Vogl of  FreeGuitarVideos.com.   In this video, Peter demonstrates some popular Bluegrass Guitar Strumming Patterns, which are excellent building blocks for learning more complicated patterns.

How to play Acoustic Bluegrass Guitar -- Standard Bluegrass Progression

Here is another great lesson from the folks over at Next Level Guitar.  In this video, Marty Schwartz demonstrates how to play a standard, but very enjoyable bluegrass guitar progression.  He teaches you how to play the chords and the rhythm.

Basic Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar Lesson

In this video, guitarist and teacher Ryan Crist demonstrates how to play some basic bluegrass guitar rhythms, progressions, chords and licks.

Acoustic Slide Guitar Lessons

Looking for quality acoustic slide guitar lessons?  The following post contains 10 awesome slide guitar lessons that were hand picked from Youtube and gathered here for your convenience.  Learning how to play slide guitar is challenging in the beginning, but as with anything else, practice will make perfect.  Just be persistent and do not give up now matter how long it takes.  Soon you will be playing slide guitar like a master bluesman.  Enjoy!

How to Tune Your Guitar -- Open D Tuning for Slide Guitar

This is the most common tuning for playing slide guitar.

Guitar Lessons -- Learn to Play Beginner Blues Slide Guitar

Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar Studio:Slide Workshop

John Morris from www.acousticfingerpicking.com teaches slide guitar techniques in the styles of Blind Willie Johnson, Duane Allman, Robert Johnson, Ry Cooder and many others.

Beginner Blues Slide Guitar Lesson -- Acoustic Slide Guitar

Absolute Beginner Guitar Lessons- How to Use a Blues Slide

This is a how to guitar lesson that shows how to hold a slide and get rid of unwanted sounds. Great for beginner blues guitar players!

Basic Blues Slide Guitar Lesson

Advanced Slide Guitar Lesson

Advanced Techniques for Slide Guitar.

How To Play Slide Guitar Intro To 1930 Bottleneck Blues Style

Slide guitar Lesson -- Different approaches

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