Hey guys, I just added three new lessons inside the Fingerstyle Chords program.
We are finally going to learn the chord built on the 7th degree of the scale: The B diminished chord.
Now that we have completed the scale and learn the seven chords we will be able to start playing chords melodically and create beautiful sounding chord progression.
In today’s lessons you will learn:
Music Theory Tip 3: Difference between major and minor chords
Lesson 8: Learn the Diminished chord and Play the C major scale melodically.
Lesson 9: Add additional notes to the scale.
In this program the basic chords are the one played within the first three frets of the fretboard while the extended chords are played above the 3rd fret. Extended chords are as simple as basic chords but they are also very fulfilling to play. Not many beginners play chords above the 3rd fret from lesson one!
Let me quickly recap the lessons we have so far:
Music Theory Tip 1: Learn where chords come from
Lesson 1: The one note chord. Learn how to play chords with root note only using basic and extended chords.
Lesson 2: Play the chords using root note and 3rd.
Lesson 3: Simple chord progression with Root note, 3rd and 5th with a simple plucking pattern.
Lesson 4: The F major chord basic and extended.
Lesson 5: F major chord played melodically.
Music Theory Tip 2: Interval Pattern for the C major scale.
Lesson 6: The E minor chord and how to play it in basic and extended position.
Lesson 7: Melodic chords using only the notes of the chords.
[ADDED TODAY] Music Theory Tip 3: Difference between major and minor chords
[ADDED TODAY] Lesson 8: Learn the Diminished chord and Play the C major scale melodically.
[ADDED TODAY] Lesson 9: Add additional notes to the scale.
This program is perfect for beginners who want to finally understand
How to build simple chord progressions
How to come up with new chords.
Where chords come from.
How to use fingerstyle to play chords.
In this first volume we are going to cover all the chords from the C major key.
The chords are always played in two different ways:
Five Fingerpicking TIPS to Save Months of PRACTICE
Hey guys, in this fingerstyle guitar lesson I am going to show you five fingerpicking tips to save months of practice.
If you don’t have a lot of time to practice, but you still want to improve your fingerpicking technique then try to follow some of the fingerpicking tips I explain in this video.
These are the five fingerpicking patterns we will discuss in this lesson:
Tip 1: Practice simple fingerpicking patterns but with challenging chords.
Tip 2: Practice scales with purpose.
Tip 3: Implement Travis picking technique in your playing.
Tip 4: Learn Classical music pieces.
Tip 5: Challenge your rhythmic chops.
The tabs for everything I play in this video available on my Patreon page.
1. Fingerpicking Tip 1 – Practice a Simple Fingerpicking Pattern with Difficult Chords
If everything you play is always too simple, you will never become a good guitar player. On the other hand, practicing things that are way too difficult will be one of the reasons why you suck at playing the guitar.
So how can we find the sweet spot between simple and difficult?
The amazing thing about playing guitar is that the right-hand and left-hand perform entirely different tasks. The left-hand frets the notes while the right-hand play them.
We can, therefore, customize the level of difficulty for each hand.
In the first fingerpicking tip, we are going to simplify the right hand while keeping the left-hand reasonably challenging.
Practicing a SIMPLE fingerpicking pattern with a DIFFICULT chord progression or melody will boost your learning curve massively.
Easy vs. Difficult
In the video, I am showing you two different guitar parts with the same fingerpicking pattern.
The first example is straightforward. I am just playing a few chords in the first position. Any guitar player can play this quickly.
The second example is way more difficult because the melody is played up and down the neck. I am also playing a three strings bar chord which can be pretty stretchy for some beginners. If you want to play this exercise correctly, you will have to practice harder.
Notice how the same picking pattern sounds completely different when I play it with the melody and how it seems to be way more difficult.
Learn how to play the fingerpicking exercise I show you in the video and challenge your left hand if you want to improve your guitar playing faster.
Three Steps for Learning Difficult Exercises on Guitar Easily
We just learned that practicing a challenging exercise will improve your guitar playing faster.
Let me share with you the three steps for learning difficult exercises easily that I teach all the time.
Step 1. Correct hands position on the guitar.
Step 2. Learn the exercises from memory.
Step 3. Learn the notes of the fretboard.
Step 1. Correct Hands Position
The Right-Hand Position and how to Pluck the Strings Correctly
Position the right hand on top of the sound-whole.
Thumb plucking movement. The right-hand thumb should always be in front of the fingers. This position allows you to pluck the strings smoothly. Start the plucking by moving the fingers away from the string to generate momentum and pluck the string downwards with the side of the finger.
Fingers plucking movement. Position the index, middle and ring finger at a 45-degree angle and pluck upwards. This position gives you the best timbre and control. As for the thumb, start the plucking by moving the finger away from the string before striking with the side of the fingertip.
The Left hand and How to Position the Thumb for Stretch, Control and Speed
The left hand is responsible for fretting the notes of the chords and melodies.
There are two different positions: The Classical approach and the Modern approach.
With the Classical approach, you will lower the thumb behind the neck, in the middle position. Make sure there is space between the palm and bottom neck and press down the frets with the fingertips. The Classical approach is perfect for classical pieces or songs that require fingers to stretch. It is the position adopted by Classical guitar players.
With the Modern approach, you will bring the thumb on top of the neck. The palm touches the bottom neck, and there is more grip over the guitar neck. Use the Modern approach for chords and strumming.
I suggest that you learn how to play both Classical and Modern approach.
#2 Learn the Exercise from Memory
Learning exercises from memory helped me a lot when I first started playing guitar because allowed me to focus 100% on my fingers.
If I am playing a song or practicing an exercise, I want to focus on my right and left-hand position and make sure I am plucking the strings correctly. I also want the music to flow beautifully.
I can’t do that if I am reading the exercise from the guitar tab or sheet music.
I know that many of you struggle with memorizing songs, chords or melodies, so I am going to give you a few tips on how to remember chords and songs easily.
How to Memorize Chords Easily and Faster.
I was inspired by a lesson from a great guitar player and teacher called Jody Fisher. In his tutorial, he explains how the majority of guitar players learn chords and why this is not beneficial.
“A lot of guitar players would strum a chord and then quickly let go. It works, but it takes too long to memorize the chord. Instead, position the chord and strum (or pluck) the string. Don’t let go the chord, instead, press harder for about 30 seconds”.
Jody explains that while you are holding the chord down your muscle memory is memorizing the chord shape faster than if you keep pressing and releasing the chord.
This approach shows you how to memorize chords easily and faster.
Step 1. Position the chord.
Step 2. Hold the chord for 30 seconds.
Step 3. Rest and try five more times again.
How to Memorize a Melody Easily
I find that melodies are way easier to memorize than chords.
The reason for that is because a melody can be sing. When you can sing something, you can remember it.
If you want to memorize a melody easily, listen to it day and night. Then, grab your guitar and practice. I am sure you will be able to play it from memory easily.
Step 1. Listen to the melody day and night.
Step 2. Try to sing the melody.
Step 3. Learn the melody on the guitar.
#3 Learn the Notes of the Fretboard
Learning the notes on the fretboard is probably the very first step for becoming better at playing guitar.
If you want to learn how to play strenuous exercise and become a better guitar player, you should know the fretboard like the palm of your hand.
Neck memorization allows you to practice guitar purposefully and navigate between scale, chords, and melodies easily.
If you are still asking yourself “Should I memorize the fretboard,” stop. Grab your guitar and start learning the notes on the neck.
Just a few beneficial things that you will get by memorizing the notes on the fretboard.
Playing chords fluently and transpose chords in a different position of the neck.
Memorize scales on fretboard easily.
Read music fluently and with confidence.
Remember chords with no effort.
Come up with new exciting chords.
Combine chords and melody.
Write beautiful chord progressions
Understand songs and keys.
There is no reason why you shouldn’t learn the notes on the fretboard. The sooner you start, the better.
Use the diagram below for the neck memorization exercise. Use the Chromatic scale to fill in the missing notes.
The Chromatic scale goes as follows: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G.
Fingerpicking Tip 2 – Practice Scales with Purpose
What’s the point of practicing scales on guitar?
Scales are still the most crucial tool guitar players use for technique, music theory, and solos.
Six reasons why scales you should practice scales on guitar:
Number 1: Music theory. Even before you get to play it, a scale can tell you a lot about “Where chords come from,” “How to improvise a solo over a chord progression, and “How to write beautiful chords.”
Number 2: Co-ordination. Playing scales can be tedious but also beneficial for developing coordination. If you practice scales on a daily basis for a consistent period, it is almost guaranteed that you become better at playing guitar. Your coordination will improve dramatically.
Number 3: Tone. Playing scale will help you develop a unique, beautiful tone. The reason for that is because playing scales will teach you how to pluck the strings smoothly; therefore the quality of your timbre will improve.
Number 4: Melody. With scales, you can create beautiful sounding melodies along with chords.
Number 5: Ears. A big part of playing scales is the development of your ears. As you keep playing the scales your ears memorize the sound to the point that you can sing the progression of notes easily.
Number 6: Transcribing. Learn chords and melodies from other guitar players easily. With scales, you can easily recognize a melody and play it on guitar. You can also transcribe a chord progression or a solo.
How to Make Scales Less Boring
There are three reasons why we practice scales:
Reason 1. Technical purpose (Boring).
Reason 2. Music theory (Interesting).
Reason 3. For writing melodies (Motivating).
Out of the three, learning how to make beautiful melodies out of scales is the best way to make scales less boring.
In this lesson, I am going to show you how to write a beautiful Spanish melody from the A minor scale.
We will start by learning the A minor scale.
How to Use Scale to Create Beautiful Melodies
Once you learn the A minor scale in one position strum a chord before playing the melody.
You can pick as many notes as you want with a rhythm of your choice. Once your playing improves, write more complex melodies, add more chords and experiment with different phrases.
Here’s an example on the A minor chord.
Fingerpicking Tip 3 – Travis Picking Technique
The Travis picking is one of the most common fingerpicking guitar technique. It improves your ability to fingerpick while holding down the bass notes throughout the song.
It was popularized by the American singer/songwriter Merle Travis and adopted by other acoustic guitar legends like Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel.
How to Play Travis Picking on Guitar in Three Steps
Step #1. Basic Travis Picking with Thumb only
Learning to bounce between the bass strings will also improve your timing and rhythm. There are a lot of musical genres that use this technique. This skill will serve you well.
Let me show you the most common Travis picking pattern on guitar with this example in C major key.
Step #2. Add a Melody to the Travis Picking Technique
Once you are done learning the basic thumb plucking movement, go ahead and add a simple melody.
Travis Picking Benefits
Remember that it’s muscle memory that you’re developing so be patient in the beginning. It will come to you if you keep practicing to improve your skills. Choose a few pieces of music to learn to use this technique and strengthen your thumb and picking hand by rehearsing these pieces.
Pay extra attention to your timing on the chord changes so that you don’t lose the rhythm in the bass while changing chords.
Working on the right-hand thumb position is of paramount importance.
By implementing the Travis picking technique in your routine, you should be able to strengthen the thumb and balance the plucking fingers.
Fingerpicking Tip 4 – Learn Classical Pieces
Classical music influence is everywhere.
Think about classical composers such as Bach and Mozart and the impact they had on the evolution of music.
Classical music is significant for anyone who’s interested in music. Whether you like pop, rock, metal, jazz, country or blues music, the musical influence from classical composers becomes evident the moment you start analyzing the musical aspect and chord progressions within a song.
Is Classical Music More Difficult than Modern Music?
Classical music can be extremely complex to play. Even the most simple fingerpicking classical melodies can be challenging to play at first.
Think about simple compositions such as Air on the G string and Minuet by Bach or the Fernando Sor Study for classical guitar. These compositions are simple but also very complex compared to strumming a chord progression in C major.
Practicing classical pieces can drastically improve your technique.
When you play a classical piece, you ask your fingers to move in a way you haven’t ask it before. Think about the complexity of a fingerpicking pattern in the 24th Paganini’s Caprice or the intricate melodies and counterpoint in a Bach piece. Overcoming such challenging pieces will drastically improve your technique.
3 Popular Classical Pieces for Acoustic Guitar
In this video I am showing you three simple pieces:
Malaguena. A beautiful Spanish piece by Ernesto Lecuona.
Asturias. One of the most popular pieces on Classical guitar. Written for piano then transcribed by the Spanish guitar player Segovia.
Spanish Romance. Another great classical composition in E minor. Shame we don’t know who wrote it.
Also try other things such as Canon in D, Minuet in G, Fur Elise and any other easy classical piece played with fingerpicking technique.
How to Approach Classical Piece on Guitar
We talked about the left-hand Classical position at the beginning of the article. As we are about to learn this classical piece. I recommend that you lower the thumb at the back of the neck. Also, leave space between the bottom neck and the palm of your hand.
For the right hand, play with the thumb in front of the fingers and pluck the strings with the side of the fingertip.
Fingerpicking Tip 5 – Challenge your Rhythmic Chops
Make sure you challenge your rhythmic skills as much as you challenge your technique.
In this guitar lesson, I am going to show you how to practice rhythm with a simple fingerstyle percussive technique called “Thumb slap” and “Slap&Strum.”
The chord progression I am playing in this example is straightforward: Am | C | G | F |. You can make this chord progression more interesting by adding the “Thumb slap” and “Slap&Strum” technique.
The Thumb Slap Percussive Technique
With the thumb slap technique, you strike the strings with the thumb.
The strings that give you the best percussive snare sound are the low E string, A string and, D string. Strike the strings with the side of the thumb as shown in the video.
The ThumSlap&Strum Percussive Technique
The ThumbSlap&Strum technique adds a strum to the ThumbSlap movement.
You can strum the strings with either index or middle finger.
Let’s Wrap This Up
It’s incredibly important to reach and challenge yourself with these fingerpicking techniques using my tips to improve your playing.
You’re going to absorb these skills much faster using the five tips I’ve outlined in my video.
I want to encourage you not to get discouraged if your playing isn’t perfect right away. If you’re struggling through practicing one of the fingerpicking tips, you can go over it a few times, leave it to go to another fingerpicking tip, then come back to it again later on. It doesn’t help to get burnt out or fatigued in working on a piece. You need to feel fresh and excited about your guitar practice.
You can also break a piece down into short sections. Practice playing each part until you’re feeling confident. Start from the beginning every time you add a new section until you can play the piece all the way through.
Challenge yourself to improve your guitar playing by always having a more difficult piece to work on. It doesn’t matter if you take a week or a month to learn it, continue to practice it until you can play it competently, then pull it out on a regular basis to keep your chops up.
Develop your sense of rhythm by regular guitar practice. Some guitarist like to use a click track or a metronome to keep time when playing. It’s a great idea to record yourself practicing every so often.
You can’t be objective when you’re in the middle of your rehearsal, so listen back to identify the places where you need the most improvement. Foot tapping is helpful to keep your rhythm, but if you are playing with other people, that can be a distraction, so it’s not something I recommend. Don’t always choose easy or slow pieces.
Learning how to use a scale to write music will improve your overall musicality and will inspire you to learn how to create melody and solos.
I know that all of you someday want to be able to vamp and solo on your guitar. To develop that ability, you have to start somewhere. That “somewhere” is with scales.
Don’t make them a problem, or a negative thing. Instead, view them as a stepping stone on your path to proficiency with your guitar. If you take the time to practice your scales, you will find that your fluency on the fretboard comes much faster and more efficiently. You will build that memory that will cause your fingers to automatically know where to go for that next note in the scale.
You can do this while watching TV, sitting around, it doesn’t have to be a regimented thing. However, the more you do it, the better you become at it. Find those notes that are pleasing to the ear as you noodle through the scales.
Play around with notes that go together, and you’ll also learn about creating melodies. When you’re able to do that within your scale during guitar practice, you’re on your way to improvisation, soloing and even composition, if that’s something you want to pursue.
Instead of just drilling on scales repeating the same notes over and over, change it up to keep your practice sessions interesting and develop your ear for melody. Increase your musicality, tone, and control by challenging your left hand as you practice guitar.
Learn your scales and practice improvising chords and melodies using the notes within the scales. This improves overall musicality and will inspire you to learn improvisational skills in creating melody and solos.
Explore Classical pieces to learn your music history and find beautiful pieces of music to learn. Expand your musical knowledge and stretch yourself as a guitar player by devoting yourself to a few classical pieces. You never know when you’ll have an occasion to perform them. Be sure to pay attention to proper hand position as I mentioned in the video. Your thumb of your chord hand should be behind the neck and keep your strumming/picking hand balanced for proper technique.
Many classical pieces require stretching and reaching across the fretboard, and you don’t want to hurt your hands. Do lots of warm-ups, scales and picking patterns to get your hands in shape for these challenging pieces. Some of the most beautiful pieces can also be complex and challenging. If you get stuck on a difficult passage, break it down into measures and learn it a measure at a time. Pay close attention to the notation on the music and learn to read ahead so that your playing will sound effortless without any pauses in the timing.
Classical music is awesome. There are so many pieces you can learn that will improve your fingerpicking technique quickly.
In this module 2 of the Technique Lab program we are going to challenge our Travis picking technique with two elements:
Strumming the chord before beginning the picking pattern.
Play chords on a higher position of the neck.
Merle Travis, the guy who made the Travis picking famous was a country/blues player so in his style we hear a lot bluesy chords such as dominant 7, 13 and 9 chords. We are not there yet so we will be practicing this technique with basic chords before moving on to more challenging one.
About this lesson
Key: E minor
Chord Progression: Section 1 – Em7 | Cadd9 | G | D. Section 2 – Em | D | Am | Em | Cmaj7 | D | Em
How to Practice: When it comes to Travis picking the thumb should always be prioritize. Start by practicing the strum and thumb movement only before adding the fingers.
What a day! A day playing James Taylor chords is a day worth living. There is so much guitar stuff to learn from this guy that is sometimes overwhelming.
In this fingerstyle lesson I am going to show you a guitar part I wrote this morning in the style of James Taylor. A simple chord progression using his embellishment and picking pattern.
This short instrumental is a compound everything I like about James Taylor’s playing.
In this simple yet beautiful fingerpicking lesson I am going to show you a chord progression using what I call “James Taylor chords”.
The chord progression you’ll learn is this one: D | Em7 – D | Cadd9 | G/B. There is also a B section with this chord progression: Cadd9 | G/B | D.
There are three elements that we are going to combine in order to make this chord progression close to the James Taylor style and those are:
Chord progression.
Melody within chords.
Bass lines
Chord Progression
James Taylor’s acoustic guitar and fingerpicking style has been recognizable since the very beginning of his music career back in the 70s. He’s influenced many guitar players and singer-songwriter that are today as good and popular as he is. James style is unique and even thought he’s not a virtuoso, his guitar playing is insanely beautiful and rich.
One of the trademark of James Taylor’s approach is transforming simple chords into beautiful sounding pianistic chord progression enriched with minor 7, add9 and 11th chords as well as dominant 7th and bluesy chords. This requires a lot of research, time and meticulous work as well as fingerpicking control and dynamic control.
Another awesome thing he does a lot is to introduce notes from the next chord usually by connecting a note in common between the two chords. This is definitely one of the most predominant aspect of James Taylor chords.
Melody Between Chords
One of the amazing approach of James Taylor is the ability to enrich chords with simple, short and effective melodies. This is something I also show you in this fingerpicking lessons as I think it adds a lot of personality and beauty the chords.
With a combination of fingerpicking control and chords extensions James is able to embellish chords beautifully with single notes around the chord. Most of the time he will just transform a basic chord into an add9, 11 or 13 chord and play around with different voicing.
There are also arrangements such as “You Got a Friend” in which he would play short solos between chords. If you listen to the Live on North Sea Jazz Festival in 2009 you can appreciate the beautiful melodic approach on chords. I particularly love the short phrase he plays on the E minor chord in the chorus.
Bass Line
The last thing I love about James Taylor chords is the amazing and particular work he does on the bass lines that connect chords. This is a very interesting approach which can be used over chord progression that follow the scale pattern or with passing chords.
In the fingerpicking lesson I am showing you today you can appreciate the bass lines played between the Em D and C add9 chord as well as the beginning of the B section which starts with two bass notes on the A string.
Hey guys, I just added three new lessons inside the Fingerstyle Chords program.
In this new lessons I am going to show you how to play the E minor chord and how to play a chord progression with both basic and extended chords.
In this program the basic chords are the one played within the first three frets of the fretboard while the extended chords are played above the 3rd fret. Extended chords are as simple as basic chords but they are also very fulfilling to play. Not many beginners play chords above the 3rd fret from lesson one!
Let me quickly recap the lessons we have so far:
Music Theory Tip 1: Learn where chords come from
Lesson 1: The one note chord. Learn how to play chords with root note only using basic and extended chords.
Lesson 2: Play the chords using root note and 3rd.
Lesson 3: Simple chord progression with Root note, 3rd and 5th with a simple plucking pattern.
Lesson 4: The F major chord basic and extended.
Lesson 5: F major chord played melodically.
[ADDED TODAY] Music Theory Tip 2: Interval Pattern for the C major scale.
[ADDED TODAY] Lesson 6: The E minor chord and how to play it in basic and extended position.
[ADDED TODAY] Lesson 7: Melodic chords using only the notes of the chords.
This program is perfect for beginners who want to finally understand
How to build simple chord progressions
How to come up with new chords.
Where chords come from.
How to use fingerstyle to play chords.
In this first volume we are going to cover all the chords from the C major key.
The chords are always played in two different ways:
FINGERPICKING Stuff … Played on ELECTRIC GUITAR [awesome]
Hey guys, I just had a ton of fun playing my electric guitar so I thought I would record a lesson of what I was playing. I really like the badass fingerpicking stuff in A minor I was playing 🙂
I used to play electric guitar a lot before and it is still one of my favorite instrument even though acoustic guitar is still my favorite.
I hope you enjoy this lessons guys and remember that you can play this example on both electric and acoustic guitar so if you don’t have an electric guitar you can still give it a try.
How to Practice: Most of the time we will be playing arpeggiated chords with a simple melody on the B string. You should start by learning the chords and how to pluck them before adding the melody. Each chord has his own structure and some of them can be quite stretchy for the left hand. Practice slowly.
Additional resources: Get the tab and video with tab on screen on my Patreon page 🙂
The fingerpicking technique is one of the most popular fingerstyle approach on acoustic guitar.
With this technique, guitar players play the strings by plucking them with the fingertips or nails. Each finger will pluck the assigned string depending on the chord, melody and style of music.
One of the most amazing thing about fingerstyle guitar is that we can combine both chords and melody withing the guitar part. The accompaniment is usually played with the thumb plucking the bass notes (bottom three strings D, A and low E) while the fingers take care of the treble strings (G, B and high E).
There are a lot of different fingerpicking styles and each one of them has a slightly different rhythmic and melodic approach. This about the Travis picking in which the thumb plays on two bass notes or the classical guitar style which is beautiful and really complex.
The electric guitar is a completely different instrument so many people wander if it is possible to play fingerpicking stuff on the electric guitar.
Electric Guitar Approach
The electric guitar is a awesome, fun to play instrument. The very first electric guitar was built in 1931 by The Rickenbacker “Frying Pan” The “frying pan” was the first electric guitar ever produced. Les Paul is also considered to be the very first guy who invented this awesome instrument.
Usually the electric guitar is played with a pick, a plastic tool which the guitar player holds between thumb and index finger. There are so many different style of music that can be played on the electric guitar such as: Blues, Rock, Jazz, Funk and Metal.
One of the question I get asked the most is: “Can I play fingerpicking stuff on my electric guitar?” The answer is simple! Yes indeed.
In this fingerpicking lesson I am going to show you how to play fingerstyle chords and melody using the electric guitar.
There are few differences you must consider though:
The body of an electric guitar is smaller than the acoustic guitar. If you have been playing acoustic for a while you will feel the different body shape especially with the right arm.
The electric guitar has a different sound depending on which amp of effects you are using which will affect the way you pluck the strings. Try to adjust the volume on the guitar and amp in order to achieve the tone you feel more comfortable playing with.
Another important difference between electric and acoustic guitar is the space between the strings which is significantly smaller on the electric guitar. When you start playing fingerpicking chords or melodies on the electric guitar you will notice that the right hand fingers will pluck multiple strings involuntary due to the tighter space between the strings. Keep practicing slowly while the fingers adjust.
In this fingerstyle guitar lesson I am going to show you how to write inspiring, emotional and epic movie soundtrack on guitar using fingerpicking technique.
Yesterday I was watching an amazing movie called Inception with Leonardo Di Caprio and I really loved the movie soundtrack so I decided to record one and show you the process.
There are three things that I follow when I want to write and emotional, epic and inspiring soundtrack.
Use a simple chord progression. Busy progression don’t suit this type of style at all.
Play the melody withing the chords. Most of the time I am simple arpeggiating the chord and playing one note at a time.
Use delay and reverb so that each chord sound fuller.
You can get the tab as well as the tab on screen on my Patreon page.
Hey guys, I just opened the new Technique Lab Vol.2 Travis Picking Technique.
In this volume we will work on the Travis picking technique and learn how to use it on different style of music.
The Travis picking approach is one of the most popular fingerstyle technique. It was popularized by the country star Merle Travis. In this technique the thumb plays two bass strings while the fingers take care of the treble strings.
By learning this awesome fingerstyle approach you will be able to improve your rhythmic skills, musicality and groove.
Today I am going to release the first module where I show you the thumb movement over a chord progression in C major.
You can access the first module on my Patreon page.
Hey guys welcome back to another fingerstyle lesson. Today I want to show you few simple tricks to make guitar chords awesome both melodically and rhythmically (and also harmonically).
This guitar lesson is perfect for any guitar player who want to know more about chords and melody and how to create simple awesome guitar parts.
I will explain everything step by step but remember that you can have additional info in the article below as well as access the tab and video with tab on screen on my Patreon page.
First things first, let’s learn the simple chord progression in A minor that we are going to use in this guitar lesson.
The chord progression goes as follows: Am – Em – F | Am – Em – F.
I highly recommend you learn the simple chord progression explained at the beginning of the video and also learn how the chords fit withing each bar.
How difficult it will be to develop chords that you don’t know? Almost impossible. So if you really want to make guitar chords awesome, learn the basic chords explained in step one correctly and try to visualize the progression within the bar.
How to Make Guitar Chords Awesome
Chords are extremely versatile.
When you start playing guitar, you don’t really realize how much music can be created around chords. I am not specifically talking about creating a song, but about musical variations.
A simple chord progression such as Am – Em – F can generate hundreds of melodic and rhythmic variations as well as hundred of songs, plucking patterns and musical ideas.
The process can be really simple once you know how chords work together and how to add a simple melody around it. Rhythm is also another key musical elements that make guitar chords awesome.
Today we will be working of different melodic and rhythmic examples:
Step 1: Lear the chord progression and note value for each chord.
Step 3: Develop rhythmically by playing more complex melodies.
Step 4: Use different guitar techniques such as percussive approach and thumb slap rhythmic technique.
In this lesson we are talking a lot about chords but what is a chord and how can we develop melodically and rhythmically.
What is a Chord?
A chord is a bunch on notes from the scale played together. The majority of the basic chords you play come from the Major scale. This scale has seven note therefore it generates seven chords.
Let’s take the C major as an example. The C major scale has the following seven notes: C D E F G A B. Each note represent a degree on the scale indicated with the Roman Numeral I II III IV V VI VII VIII.
The distance between each degree of scale is called interval. In the major scale there are two intervals: The tone and semitone. The tone is the distance between two frets while the semitone is only one fret (There isn’t an interval smaller than the semitone).
In order to build chords using the scale you should select the 1st, 3rd and 5th note starting on each degree of the scale. This process generates seven chords
C major: C E G
D minor: D F A
E minor: E G B
F major: F A C
G major: G B D
A minor: A C E
B diminished: B D F
How to Make Chords Interesting
Once you grasp the basic chords you can then learn how to make guitar chords awesome.
In this lesson I am going to show you few simple tricks that will make your chords sound more interesting in a both melodic or rhythmic way. The secret is to create simple variations around each chord.
In a chord progression such as Am – Em – F there is really not point in keep playing the same chord over and over.
Let’s see how to do that.
Melodic Variations on Chords
One of the first thing we are going to learn today is how to add notes around the chords so that we can develop the chords melodically. This is a powerful tool that any guitar player should use to embellish simple basic chords.
Even though a chord is just made up of three notes it is still possible to add additional notes from the scale. In the first example we are adding one additional note for each chord. This is really the first step to make guitar chords awesome.
Then as you add more notes around the chords (Step 2) you should be able to create more complex chords.
Develop Rhythmically
In this lesson we will be working on a very cool rhythmic pattern which also contains a percussive approach called thumb slap. This is one of the most common fingerpicking pattern you’ll learn on acoustic guitar so I recommend you really learn it perfectly.
Rhythm is one of the most challenging aspects of playing guitar so make sure you take it step by step and implement the percussive pattern slowly as explained in the video lesson.
A detailed guitar tab is available on my Patreon page.
Hey guys, I hope you are having a fantastic Sunday. Today I am going to show you how to combine fingerstyle and strumming together in one guitar part.
One of the awesome thing about this lesson is that you are also going to learn a really beautiful chord progression in E minor which can be literally played in any style of music.
You can check the video below and learn more about the difference between fingerstyle and strumming in the article below.
Before we start talking about the difference between fingerstyle and strumming it is probably a good idea to start learning the chord progression which should be learned perfectly before everything else.
The chords I am using in this fingerstyle lesson are very popular on guitar and have been used in many songs. I am sure you will recognize some of them however if this is the first time you encounter these chord shapes I recommend practicing slowly to give your fingers time to adjust to the stretchy ones.
The chord progression goes as follows: Em7(9) | Dsus4 | Am7 | C.
Strumming and fingerstyle are two completely different guitar techniques. The first is the most popular among beginners due to its simplicity and “easy to understand” implementation.
Fingerpicking technique, also called plucking technique, is more challenging as each string will be plucked with the fingers.
Both are extremely important approached that should be learned and improved.
Let’s check in details what is the difference between strumming and plucking technique.
Strumming
When you strum a chord on guitar, you will basically play all the strings that the chord requires. If you have to play a G major chord you will have to brush all the strings from the low E to the high E to make the chord sound good.
You can decide to strum the strings with your right hand thumb or with a pick (a plastic tool that you hold between thumb and index).
To get a good strumming sound you should run your fingertip or a guitar puck over the strings. The best position should be somewhere between the last fret of the neck and the bridge.
I recommend trying different spot to learn the different sounds your instrument can produce.
There are two types of strumming: Downstroke and upstroke.
Should you use a Pick?
A pick is plastic tool that you hold between thumb and index used to strum the strings.
At the beginning you should spend a little bit of time trying to strum the open strings only. Once you feel you grasped the basic technique, you should then position you very first chord.
The pick will give a very sharp and loud sound to the chords. Don’t worry, with time you will learn how to control the volume and tone of your strumming.
Alternatively, you could also strum with either the thumb or index finger however it can be painful on your strumming fingers to strum without using a pick. The pain will go after few sessions and once you build up calluses.
The Strumming Pattern in This Lesson
The good thing about this lesson is that the strumming patterns are very simple as they are mainly downwards.
I don’t use a pick. When I switch between fingerstyle and strumming I position the index finger on the strings before strumming. Switching between plucking and strumming will be way more challenging if you had to hold the pick between your fingers.
Fingerpicking Technique
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing guitar by plucking the strings with the the fingers.
I consider the plucking technique one of the most creative way of playing guitar because the music arranged in this style often includes chords and melody together.
This way of playing guitar can be quite intimidating and it explains why a lot of beginners prefer strumming over plucking.
There are three rules you should always follow if you want to achieve a balanced fingerpicking technique:
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