An Introduction To Chords

A Chord occurs when three or more specific notes are played at the same
time using a strum. Unlike the earlier example where we moved a scale
along the first string while strumming.

A Chord Diagram is a small box pattern that shows you where to put your
fingers on the fretboard in order to play specific chords. Unlike Guitar
Tablature, Chord Diagrams oriented vertically. Let's look at one below.

The X means don't This is the name of the

play this string Chord

The O means
play
The dot is where to this string open
put your finger. The
number in the dot is
which finger to play
This line represents the
nut (0 fret)

The vertical lines

represent strings. See
how they are arranges The horizontal lines
from thickest to thinnest represent frets

When learning chords it is a very good habit to talk yourself through where
to put your fingers before trying to play it on the guitar. Let's try this now
with the E chord.

Put your first finger on the first fret of the third string
Strings 1 & 2 are played openly (with no fingers)
Strings 4, 5 and 6 are not played.
Strum the first three strings.

Congratulations! you just played your first chord. Try it a few more times.

When you're ready, turn the page so we can learn some more chords.

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 Beginner Guitar Chords

A Chord Chart is a collection of chord diagrams. You will often find a chord
chart at the start of piece of guitar music to tell you which chords will be
played in the song. Let's take a look at your first 9 Beginner Guitar Chords.

There are two main types of chords which you will encounter as a beginner:
Major Chords which sound happy and can be written with just the letter
name, and Minor Chords which sound sad and include a lower case 'm'
next to their letter name. E = E Major, Em = E Minor

Try to learn and play all of the chords in the chord chart above.

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Getting Into Guitar

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 Introduction To Chord Progressions

A Chord Progression is when you play two or more chords one after the
other. Most songs are simply chord progressions with singing over the top
of them.

The quicker you learn your chords and develop the ability to change
between them smoothly, the sooner you will be able to learn real songs on
the guitar.

A chord progression will generally be notated as follows:

You can see that you need to play a C chord in the first bar, and a G chord
in the second bar, another C chord in the 3rd bar and a G chord in the
fourth bar.

The dashes are used to signal strums. If you see / / / / you need to strum
four times on each chord before changing to the new chord.

How To Play The Chord Progression

Put your fingers in the right place for the C chord

Strum four times
Put your fingers in the right place for the G chord
Strum four times
Repeat this over and over for 20 repetitions, or one minute, whichever
comes first.

At first the transitions between chords will be clunky but as your improve
the time it takes will reduce and your chords will sound more like music.
Aim not only to memorise the chords, but to reduce the transition time as
you change between them

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 Practicing Chord Progressions

Below are 6 Fundamenal Chord Progressions which will help you develop
your ability to transition between chords smoothly. Practice each chord
progression 10 times before moving on to the next week. Tick them off
when you can transition between each chord without pausing or hesitating.

Chord Progression 1

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Getting Into Guitar

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 Introduction To Rhythms

Understanding Rhythms
Note Duration Values

The shape of a note indicates the duration of which that note needs to
ring out for. The four basic note durations we will encounter are
Semibreves, Minims, Crotchets and Quavers.

Semibreve Minim Crotchet Two Quavers

4 Counts 2 Counts 1 Counts 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 Count

The 4/4 Time Signature

If you see 4/4 at the start of a piece of music, it means that each bar of
music will last for 4 crotchet note counts.

This means that in any bar of music you can play one semibreve, two
minims, for crotchets, 8 quavers, or any combination of these notes that
adds up to 4 counts.

In order to play strum patterns in time you will need a good understanding
of rhythm.

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Getting Into Guitar

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 Clapping Rhythms

Before we try to pick up the guitar and strum a rhythm, it is important that
we first have an understanding of how it needs to sound. Clapping our way
through the rhythms is the best way to show that we not only understand
what we need to play, but can consistently play it in time.

Below is a 3 step process to help you learn what you need to strum and an
example to try it out on.

Step 1

Count the rhythm out loud

Step 2

Clap the rhythm while saying the counts out loud

Step 3

Clap the rhythm while saying the strum direction out loud

Count 1 2 & 3 4 &

Say D D U D D U

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Getting Into Guitar

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