Progress Better By Practicing Guitar Progressions

What we have covered up until now are the basics of playing the guitar. It's very important that you master first the basics before jumping in to advanced guitar lessons and techniques because you simply won't go anywhere if your skill set isn't complete. It's like going to a war without enough ammunition or proper training. The chance of survival is very slim.

Baby soldier crying. Photo Credits

You don't want something like that to happen, don't you?

Easy A: Playing Minor, Dominant 7th, Minor 7th, and Major 7th Barre Chords Based on A

Would you agree with me if I'll say that playing the barre-A chord form is EASY?

A scene from the movie Easy A starring Emma Stone. Photo Credits

In this post, I'd like to talk about the rest of the A-based barre chord forms. I guess, by now, you don't need those technical explanations anymore. Anyway, if you find something hard to understand, feel free to skim through my previous posts.

So, I'll just go ahead and give you the chord fingerings, alright?

And of course, I've provided some progressions too. Practice it before proceeding to the succeeding chord forms.

Okay, here they are...

Playing All 12 Major Chords Using The B-chord Form

A display of acoustic guitars. Photo Credits

Knowing how to play B-chord as a barre chord allows you to play every major chord by simply moving up the neck. You simply need to know the name of the note that you are playing on its root string, the 5th string, to determine the name of the chord that you are playing.

For your quick reference about the notes of the 5th string on specific frets, see the table below:

Playing Major Barre Chords Based on A

In the subsequent posts, I will be introducing to you another major group of barre chords, the A-based barre chords. The A-based major barre chord looks like an open A chord but with different fingering. This group of barre chords takes its letter name from the fret on the 5th string (A-String) at which you place your barre.

How to finger the A-based major barre chord

1. Finger an open A chord, but instead of using the normal fingering of 1-2-3, use 2-3-4.

Playing E-based Minor 7th Barre Chords

Photo Credits

Minor 7th chords have a softer, jazzier, and more complex sound than its chord siblings do. You can form a minor 7th E-based barre chord by simply combining the actions you take to change major to minor and major to dominant 7th. In short, you only need to lift two fingers off a major barre chord and get a minor 7th chord.

Follow these steps:

Playing E-based Dominant 7th Barre Chords

In contrast to major chords, dominant 7th chords or plain 7th chords have a sharper and a more complex sound. Also, switching to a barre dominant 7th chord from a major barre chord is a no-brainer - you just need to lift a single finger.

Playing dominant 7th barre chords is EASY! Photo Credits

Simply follow these steps to play an F7 chord:

Playing E-based Minor Barre Chords

Now it's time to add other chord qualities into your repertoire. Playing a minor, a dominant 7th, or a minor 7th in its barre form is very easy just like playing a major barre. Soon enough, as you continue to practice, you'll notice that everything gets a lot easier.

Minor chords

The following simple steps describe how to play the Fm (F-minor) barre chord:

1. Play an F major barre chord. See my previous about playing major barre chords based on E and learn how to play an F Major chord.

How To Build Confidence In Playing Barre Chords

Confident Guitar Boy. Photo Credits

A good way to build your comfort and confidence in playing barre chords is by practicing a progression, which is a series of chords. The image below shows the exercise. Take note of the correct first-finger fret placement for each chord.

For this exercise, you must only use barre chords. It can be very tiring at first to get all the strings to ring out clearly. Try to release the pressure on your left-hand fingers when sliding from one chord to another. You may sometimes feel that your left-hand is starting to cramp. If you do, try to keep at it and feel the burn in order to develop the stamina and strength you need to play barre chords.

How To Play Major Barre Chords Based on E

1. Play an open E chord, but instead of using the normal 2-3-1 left-hand fingering, use fingers 3-4-2.

2. Lay your first finger down across all six strings on the other side of the nut (toward the tuning pegs).

How To Raise The BARRE Of Excellence

Raising the bar of excellence. Photo Credits

After spending a great deal of time learning the basic open position chords, we move on to the world of barre chords. It is already an achievement to be able to play the open position chords since almost all kinds of songs use them. However, open chords have limitations because you are only confined in playing chords up to the third fret. But there will be instances that you need to play chords which do not include open strings. In these situations, guitarists will often resort to playing "barre chords" or simply "bar".

What makes the blues "Bluesy" and jazz "Jazzy"?

An example of a jazz music sheet. Photo Credits

MINOR 7TH CHORDS

In contrast to the dominant 7th chords, the minor 7th chords are characterized as a little bit softer and jazzier.

Fingering minor 7th chords

Dm7 Chord diagram and left-hand fingering

 

7th Chords: What's Hidden In The Number 7

7up Signage. Photo Credits

In this section, we're going to continue our exploration to the basic(open position) 7th (seventh) chords. Just like the simple chords presented in my previous posts, seventh chords are also easy to play. 7th chords are made up four different notes instead of three, and that's what gives the 7th chords its distinct sound. The different 7th chords (dominant 7th, major 7th, and minor 7th) can make the blues sound “bluesy” and jazz sound “jazzy.”

Let's start with the Dominant 7th chords.

More To See With The Chords In The C Family

Of course everyone knows the happy birthday song, right?

Birthday Party Celebration. Photo Credits

When I was a kid, I was taught by my father to play the happy birthday song in the key of C. Basically, you can play it in any key you like provided that you already know how to transpose the chords. When I grew up, I learned to play the song starting from different keys like D or G.

The last chord family that we will be learning is the C. In musical theory, everything starts with C or the "Do" in "Do-Re-Mi". The key of C is basically the center of the tonal universe and most musicians would agree that it is the easiest key to play in. Maybe, that was the reason why my father taught me to play common nursery rhymes in the key of C including the happy birthday song.

I chose to tackle the C family of chords last because it's so easy to play and it also has lots of chords in its family. But don't worry, you already learned most of the chords when we explored previous chord families (A, D, and G).

Guitar Secrets Revealed - How to become a guitar master

Eric Clapton performing in his concert. Photo Credits

Do you think Eric Clapton woke up an amazing guitarist? NO!
He practiced, and practiced, and practiced. Guitar masters probably practiced hours and hours every day. To become good at guitars, you must pay your dues.

It's very obvious to say that the more you practice the better you’ll get - but it’s the simple TRUTH. And the more time you spend practicing your guitar, the faster you'll get good at it.

Do The Guitar Grooves With The G Family Chords

Original members of the Rivermaya Band

The G family of chords is my favorite. As a young boy, I grew up listening to the nostalgic songs of Eraserheads, Riyermaya, and Siakol. These OPM bands used the G family of chords a lot in their compositions and I've spent a great deal of time learning to play these great songs on my guitar.

Original members of the Eraserheads Band

So far, we have already tackled two chord families, A and D. Some chords in these families also belong to the G family. The basic chords that make up the G family are G, Am, C, D, and Em. If you have been following along with my previous posts, for sure, you already how to play the chords G, D, and Em. That means you only need to learn two more chords, Am and C, to complete your repertoire.

What Makes A Music Piece Unique: Chord Qualities

Babies born with identical physical characteristics. Photo Credits

Can you imagine a world where people, instead of being born with unique characteristics, are born having the same physical appearance, personality and interests?

Herd of Zebras. Photo Credits

How about a world where all of the living things such as animals, plants, trees, and flowers are exactly the same? All trees, plants, and flowers have the same size, color, and shape and even the striping pattern on a zebra is the same for all the zebras in the world.

Rolling in the "D - Family Chords"

The basic chords that make up the D - family are D, Em, G, and A. The D family introduces two new chords: Em (pronounced as "E minor") and G. Just like the previous chords presented, Em and G are also called open chords and are easy to play. We already learned the two other chords, D and A, from my previous post about the A family.

A minor chord has a distinct sound from that of a major chord that can be characterized as soft and sad. Always remember that a chord that's named by a capital letter followed by a small "m" is a minor chord.

The following figures shows the fingering the chords in the D-family:

Em Chord diagram and left-hand fingering

  

Guitar Calluses: Obtain Your Badge Of Honor

I have been a guitar player for over 15 years and I am often asked by new guitar players if the tip of my fingers still hurt whenever I play my guitar. I've always had sensitive fingertips and yes, they still do hurt sometimes, especially when my hands are cold.

Playing the guitar can be somewhat painful at first. We are all born with soft fingertips and no matter how tough you look like or how big your muscles are, your fingertips will still hurt when you start playing the guitar. The pain is caused when we press down the strings with our fingertips and this situation is very normal especially for those who are just starting out.

Guitar Calluses. Photo Credits

In order for you to become comfortable playing the guitar, you must first develop nice CALLUSES on your fingertips. Calluses are toughened areas of the skin which has become relatively thick and hard in response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. It may take weeks or even months for you to build up those protective layers of dead skin, depending on how much and how often you play.

Your First 3 Chords: A - Family Chords

The chords that belong to the A-family are very popular because they are very easy to play. Also, the A-family of chords contain open strings - the strings that you play without pressing anything. Chords that contain open strings are called open chords or open-position chords.

The A-family of chords consists of the basic chords A, D, and E. These chords are known as major chords. When you see a chord that's named by a letter alone such as A, D, and E, you call it a major chord.

The following figures show the fingering of the chords in the A-family:

A Chord diagram and left-hand fingering:

The Easiest Way To Play Basic Guitar Chords

I really like it when someone asks me to play my guitar while he or she sings. It feels great! And being able to provide an accompaniment to someone is no small feat. Sometimes, even though my voice doesn't sound that good, I try to sing my favorite songs and play my guitar at the same time. And what I found out is that, one of the best ways to pickup basic guitar chords is to play while someone sings.

A girl singing accompanied by a guitar. Photo Credits

The very first chords that I learned to play were the major chords D, A, and G.
Do you know any song that uses the chords?
Are you familiar with The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars?
Or Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles?
Both of these songs use the D-A-G chord pattern.
Actually, there are a lot of songs that use this chord pattern including the song by Alison Krauss, "When you say nothing at all",  and I bet most of you know this song.