Simple Tricks to Make Guitar Chords Awesome

Melodically & Rhythmically

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.

Grab your guitar and let’s get started.

Tab Available on my Patreon page.

Get the Tab here!

The Video

Chord Progression

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 2: Add single notes to the chords.
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.

Good luck with this lesson guys 🙂