It would be almost impossible to cover the wide range of effects used by electric guitars, so only the most widely used will be covered herein. One group of very popular effects is distortion-related effects. Such effects are produced by distortion pedals, which distort, or “clip” the guitar signal’s waveform. Distortion effects fall into four main subcategories: overdrive/distortion, overdrive/crunch, fuzz and hi-gain. Some of these effects are often associated with specific genre or artists. Overdrive/crunch pedals, for example, produce sounds very similar to those in the music of Carlos Santana and Eddie Van Halen. Hi-gain pedals, on the other hand, create the sounds most often connected with the genre of heavy metal.

Then there are the volume-related effects. As with distortion effects, those related to volume are also created via a pedal. The guitarist is able to use this pedal to adjust an instrument’s volume during a performance; it can also be used to make a guitar’s notes or chords fade in and out. Such attributes are useful during human vocal sections, when the percussive plucking of strings needs to be softened or eliminated altogether. There are at least three different types of volume pedals, these being auto-volume/envelope volume, tremolo and compressor. Each type boasts specific attributes useful to different situations and musical genres.

Time-based effects include delay/echo, looping, and reverberation or “reverb.” The first, delay/echo, creates a copy of an incoming sound, delays it slightly and then repeats it either once for a “slap” effect or multiple times for an “echo” effect. Looping involves recording a phrase or passage and then accompanying that passage as it replays. This technique involves the use of extremely long time delays. Finally, reverb refers to the persistence of a sound in a particular space after the original sound is gone. In essence, it is a large and extended number of echoes.

Modulation-related effects include several devices, including the rotary speaker, the rotary speaker simulator, the vibrato pedal, the phase shifter and the flanger. The rotary speaker and its simulator offer something known as a Doppler effect, which is a change in a wave’s frequency and wavelength. A vibrato pedal reproduces the sound of the rotary speaker by synchronizing a standard speaker’s volume oscillation, frequency-specific volume oscillation, vibrato, phase shifting and chorusing. A phase shifter creates a complex frequency response that results in a “whooshing” noise, similar to that of a flying jet. And finally, if an artist wishes to simulate the sound originally created by slowing a tape down by holding something against the flange and then allowing the tape to speed up again, a flanger can produce such a sound.

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For professional tuning, you MUST use electronic guitar tuners. These devices allow tuning with the use of pedals, little boxes, or rack mounted units. There are a number of manufacturers who specialize in these sophisticated gadgets

ELECTRONIC GUITAR TUNERS

• Boss, a division of the Roland Corporation (big japanese company), employs its proven technology in musical equipment and accessories to develop sophisticated tuners – known for their accuracy and superb functionality. One of its renowned inventions is the TU – Series tuners technology, which incorporates tuning accuracy in an ultra convenient tompbox design…ideal to take them into the guitar case everywhere.

• Korg. This world’s favorite tuner started introducing excellent tuners in 1999. It came out with the DT-7 GUITAR/BASS chromatic tuner, the first guitar tuner to feature the legendary Buzz Feiten Tuning System. The critically acclaimed DT-7 could be one of the most accurate tuners in the market ever, featuring an ultra – wide tuning range. Later on, Korg introduced the extremely flexible GT-12 GUITAR & BASS chromatic tuner and the OT-12 designed for Orchestra.

Other models that came out were Korg GA30 Guitar & Bass Tuner which features a pitch reference tone and quinta-flat tuning while maintaining functionality and convenient tuning functions in Ultra – Compact bodies.

The Korg CA30 Chromatic Tuner and the Korg TM40 Chromatic Tuner/Metronome; Tuner with Metronome which can function simultaneously or independently, its large LCD-type needle delivers both the accuracy of an LCD and the excellent visibility of a needle indicator. It also has LED indicators that show pitch deviation or blink to indicate the tempo, thus, making the TM-40 a highly visual tool. The superb functionality and the highest accuracy have made Korg tuners a worldwide favorite.

• String Master, is another respected manufacturer. String Master produced the world’s first motorized guitar tuner featured in the Guitar One and Guitar Player Magazines. This guitar tuner is very innovative, convenient and could be the friendliest tuner ever invented

• The Qwik Tune QT-11 is the next generation’s automatic guitar tuner. Featuring an electronic pitch pipe with an internal speaker it plays E, A, D, G, B, and E tones for tuning reference. It also includes an Off-Meter tuning mode, which detects the string which the user is trying to tune (even if the guitar is severely out of tune). This portable battery operated Guitar or Bass tuner features an ‘electric pitch pipe’ that plays the note for the user. The user can tune each individual string while the display tells her/him which string is being tuning and whether the note is sharp or flat. The highly sensitive built-in microphone & spèed metering allow easy tuning.

________________________________________

TUNING WITH COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Tuning via use of software abounds. Free or for a fee you can find various guitar tuners in the internet. These softwares eliminate the need to tune a guitar with an instrument or the conventional tuning by ear. All you have to do is to listen to the sound from the software, play it on your guitar and adjust the tuning machines tension until your guitar produces the same note as the tuner software.Keep in mind that the basic requirement in tuning is to get the same note as the tuner, not the sound because the difference in thickness of strings may cause varying frequencies and sound…just listen to the pitch.

Listen to the tuner and tune your guitar until you hear almost the same sound, though, it might be deeper. This is specially true when you get new strings and tune your guitar immediately after putting them on. Your stings have to adjust to the pressure applied to them so initially your guitar will not make the right tuning, it will sound detuned. But after exposure to a certain limit of stretch, they will hold on to a certain tone. Tip: Tune your guitar and leave it alone for a few hours then tune again and…that’s it. After each playing session the strings tend to mantain the pitch with better accuracy and stability.

One of the common (and free) tuners available in the internet is the DGT or digital guitar tuner. DGT is windows software, which allows you to accurately tune your guitar using direct input or microphone. Another free software is AP Tuner3 which supports an improved detection algorithm for low notes for bass and piano. It has a helpful Harmonics Graph window to see the harmonic content of any note. PitchPerfect can also be downloaded for free. It also provides a highly accurate professional tuner with a very simple to use interface. There is more flexibility in the PitchPerfect software because it automatically detects the note you’re playing and therefore, you’re not limited by standard tunings.

Apart from free downloads on your personal computer,you can also download tuners on your pocket PC or on your ipod. An example of this is the 4Pockets Guitar Tuner. Because it can be downloaded on your pocket PC, you can take the 4Pockets Guitar Tuner with you on your gigs . A high precision real – time guitar tuner,this Guitar Tuner can accurately determine the frequency,musical note and octave for each of your strings. The ability to estimate the note and octave makes this a very useful tool in musical notation and musical learning.

The iRocker is another convenient set of tools for guitarists which you can load on your iPod. iRocker is produced by Talking Panda,the makers of iBar.A great help for beginners, the iRocker includes not only a virtual book with 200 chords and fingerings but likewise a guide to scales. It also provides 5 different chord progressions/riffs that you can play along. Moreover, it contains a set of guitar tuning recordings with a variety of tunings and a basic 10 – speed metronome.

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WICH TUNER IS RIGHT FOR ME?

Your choice of tuner would depend on your needs – amateur or professional use. You might use a tuner for practicing at home or gigs with friends or you might need the tuner for a larger audience – like performing in a big concert. Regardless of your need, convenience and accuracy, tuners are of foremost importance…you can avail of a wide range of guitar tuners, free or for a fee.

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The guitar and the flute have been musical companions for a long time and in many parts of the world. They make excellent sounding duets that can be played in numerous styles.

* Celtic Music for Flute and Guitar, Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh, ADG Productions

This is a collection of twenty folk pieces originating mainly from Scotland and Ireland. The songs span 400 years of folk music as well as five original pieces written by Allan and Jessica. The learning process is eased by an accompanying CD showing how the pieces should be played.

* World Music for Flute and Guitar, Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh, ADG Productions

This musical journey takes you to the four corners of the globe. There is standard notation and tab for guitar and a separate pull-out performance part for the flute melodies. You can listen to examples of the pieces on the CD that accompanies the book.

* Flute and Guitar Duets for Any Occasion, Mark Hanson, Accent On Music

This is a varied collection of duets in classical, folk, Celtic and jazz styles. The music ranges from easy to challenging playing levels in standard and tab notation. The accompanying CD provides stereo recording with flute and guitar on separate channels so you can practice even when your partner isn’t around.

The fiddle is another instrument that works well with the guitar. It has been widely used in many styles of folk music. The song books below give you several styles to try.

* The Latin American Fiddler, Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

The exotic blend of Latin-American music with its Spanish, African and indigenous influences is great fun to play. This intermediate level collection of violin songs includes chords that can be played by guitar or piano.

* Jazz, Blues and Ragtime (Violin Edition), Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

This collection of favourite jazz and blues songs is suitable for all playing levels. It includes easy violin parts and guitar chords, as well as more sophisticated string arrangements for more advanced players. Songs include ever popular hits such as The Entertainer, Take Five, Makin’ Whoopee, House Of The Rising Sun.

* The Christmas Fiddler, Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

It’s always a good idea to have a few Christmas songs to play. This collection includes seven hundred years of songs from the medieval Song of the Ass, through traditional carols such as Away In A Manger and O Little Town Of Bethlehem through to the modern Sleigh Ride.

The harmonica is an ever popular instrument that has often been associated with the guitar in folk, rock and blues. Give your rock guitar skills a workout with these titles.

* Pop Rock Favourites For Harmonica, Bobby Joe Holman, Hal Leonard

Seventeen pop rock hits arranged for harmonica with guitar chords and tab. Pretty Woman, Blueberry Hill, Yakety Yak and Runaway are among the titles in this collection.

* Beatles Greatest Hits Harmonica Songbook, Hal Leonard

27 Beatles songs arranged with melody line, harmonica notation, guitar chords and lyrics. Performance notes are given for each song. Favourite hits include Eleanor Rigby, Get Back, Help, Let It Be, Michelle.

* Blues Harmonica Collection, Hal Leonard

Practice the classic sound of blues guitar and harmonica with forty classic blues tunes from the likes of Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf.

Instrumentalists with melody instruments will be delighted to have an accompaniment to play to. If you want to make yourself a useful and popular guitarist who’s always in demand spend some time to learn an accompaniment repertoire. You’ll have far more people wanting to play with you than the guy playing flashy guitar leads.

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Music has always been in Carlos Santana’s blood, as he was born in 1947, in Mexico, to a Mariachi violinist father. Santana took advantage of his musical roots and by as early as age five, began perfecting his craft, as a member of his father’s Mariachi orchestra. By the 1960’s, a young and inspired Carlos Santana formed a band in San Francisco and in 1969, the band got their big break, performing live at the infamous “Woodstock” music festival. Santana’s performance at “Woodstock” shot the young group and its lead guitarist to superstardum. This early success allowed Santana to release their debut album in 1969, titled Santana. The self-titled debut went two times platinum and helped to further put Santana on the mainstream musical map. In 1970, the group released their second album, Abraxas. Abraxas was an instant classic, eventually becoming five times platinum, selling over four million units and reaching number one on the music charts.

To date, Santana, as a band, have released over fifteen hit albums and garnered the attention of millions of fans around the world. Carlos Santana has also achieved success as a solo artist. He has released a total of over thirty albums (both solo and group work), was named the fifteenth greatest artist in Rock and Roll by Rolling Stone Magazine and in 1998, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After releasing a greatest hits album in 2007, this year marks the return of Carlos Santana to the live stage in a big way. The guitarist’s massive “Live your Light” concert tour is set to hit various venues around the world, July through October. “Live your Light” will see Santana performing his numerous classic hits and fan favorites, in front of stadiums packed with diehard fans. The concert will make stops in Europe, Canada and the United States over its five month touring period.

Santana Tour Dates:

European Tour: June 20, 2008- July 20, 2008

Canadian Tour: September 7, 2008-September 10, 2008

United States Tour: September 6, 2008; September 13-October 12, 2008

Santana tickets available at:

ShowTime Tickets

604-688-5000

1-800-480-SHOW(7469)

www.showtimetickets.com

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After many moons of life without the rhythm of a guitar strumming, it was about 3 years ago when I decided to take guitar lessons again with a critically acclaimed guitarist and teacher, Richard Mac. He truly is a world class player and excellent teacher for playing any genre of music although I am studying the blues. Presently, I’m playing the electric guitar and in the whole scheme of things, I probably not as good as some people say or even my teach Richard Mac, has said I am. I enjoy hearing nice things about my playing like everyone else, but widespread approval is hard to come by in this day and age.

The story about how I came upon my first Stratocaster began when my guitar teacher Richard came across a Black Eric Clapton Artist Series Strat at a pawn shop for a really good price, and for some strange reason, he appeared unusually interested about this particular guitar. Actually I have never seen Richard move that fast again (except for his fingers), I knew what was going to happen. He bought the guitar. Surprise!

So that is how I came across this great Fender Stratocaster guitar.

My resistance was low and I had to buy a new Fender Eric Clapton Custom Artist Series Stratocaster for myself. I immediately got on the internet and went to the website and bought it from Musicians Friend, which was a great experience. That was my first online guitar purchase and I’ll never waste gas and time again fighting traffic to buy a guitar from a music store.

Most local music stores are small and they rarely have what you want anyway! I took advantage of the Musician’s Friend free shipping, the no interest for one year M.F. credit card and the 45 day satisfaction guarantee. It doesn’t get any easier or better than that when you are looking to buy a guitar.

I’ll start with the first thing that struck me, when choosing this beautiful axe. It has the perfect soft V shaped solid maple neck that feels like someone made it especially for me, and the V shape is a narrow neck and a bit deeper than the stock neck which makes it a dream to play. It has 22 Vintage Style Frets and a perfect 9.5″ Radius (241mm). I can play my weird Jimi Hendrix chords much easier and better on this guitar and by the way I use really light weight DR brand Pure Blues Strings. These strings last a really long time, have pure tone and are easy to bend.

Fender has several different neck shapes and that is particularly cool of Fender to try to make a guitar neck size that will fit for every shape of hand. For example, Stevie Ray Vaughn (who had huge hands) had a special shaped neck called a Boat Neck while rocker, Eddie Van Halen, used the Wolfgang shaped neck. Without a doubt, there is a Strat neck available that can fit your hand. Jimi Hendrix used anything he had at the time, but he was a VoodooChild and had outer space guitar playing ability with perfect freaky and big, long fingers . He was left handed player and he played a right handed guitar upside down.

The guitars body is Alder-wood and that is a relatively light weight wood and has great tonal qualities. It is a mystery to me, but this guitar has a great feeling of balance to it as well. It is Fender color is Olympic White and it’s a polyurethane paint which means it is durable and will last a long time. In fact I have played this guitar every day for a few hours a day or more and in over two and a half years, there is not a single wear mark on the fret side of the neck.

Personally, I like white guitars although I recommend getting the color you like. The head of the guitar or top of the neck where you would tune your guitar has genuine Fender/Gotoh Vintage Style Tuning Machines.

There are 3 knobs as most Strats do. However these are not the regular strat controls. That’s right, the top one is the same as all Strats and that is a volume control. Although the 2 other tone controls are different, one is a special active 25dB midrange boost tone control to give this guitar the extra meat which by the way, is something you might expect from a Humbucker pickup. In addition, the second tone knob functions as a unique to Fender TBX master tone control, which can smoothly go from bright and glossy to dark and smoky by rolling off the highs! The name of the TBX tone control comes from the first two letters of Treble and Bass. X is the same as the word Cut in Fender-speak).

A conventional tone control only cuts the high end of your guitar’s signal. However, the TBX can either cut the high end like a regular tone control or it can cut the bass to bring out more brightness in your tone.

It also has a 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup Position 3. Middle Pickup Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup Position 5. Neck Pickup

Claptons personal choice for pickups were Vintage Noiseless Pickups (Neck, Middle, Bridge) and I like them too! Fender delivers single coil tone without the hum! You get cutting edge technology without sacrificing that great Fender sound. Special beveled edge Alnico 5 magnets and enamel-coated magnet wire produce the brilliant clarity, definition and harmonic attributes of a vintage Strat with a Noiseless package. Each Vintage Noiseless Strat pickup comes with 3 pots (potentiometers), a capacitor and resistor to enhance your Noiseless experience. (also sold separately as a set of 3, or as each.)

It has a blocked original vintage synchronized tremolo bridge, so you can’t use a whammy bar, and thats really kinda cool because using a whammy bar always throws the guitar out of tune. Clapton did not use a whammy bar, and by blocking it’s action one gets more stable and accurate sound.

Going from gig to gig is a safe bet, is has a luxurious tweed guitar case that has a secret compartment built into it for whatever you may need to stash away for a rainy day. I generally use a Fender Ultra Electric Guitar Gig Bag

When it comes to playability nothing comes close to a Fender Strat in terms of being able to play any type of music and sound absolutely great. Eric Clapton is a bonified living Guitar God and when he designed this guitar he took his time and used his favorite components which turned out to be a real score for himself .

Once this guitar was manufactured through Fender it became one of the standards that virtually all electric guitars are measured by. It seems that every time I get near it I am compelled to play it. Or else I’m passionately waiting to get home and play it.

The sweet sounds this guitar makes are unreal. It doesn’t matter if you play clean or with distortion every note is right on the money and every tone is pure and clean. The neck is super slick so you can shred if that is your groove or you can play high energy string bending blues or even do some Travis Picking as well, if that rocks your boat. This is a highly versatile guitar capable of making your sound, genuinely and truly, your unique sound!

I know love is blind, and I look forward playing this guitar all the time. I am definitely an enthusiast for all things Strat. On an emotional note, this one is my baby and it’s the prettiest axe in the world. This guitar is not what I d would call a cheap guitar, although if you compare it to what a top notch Gibson costs, this guitar is a fantastic deal. Strats sound and play better than a Gibson, which of course is my personal opinion. Fender made electric guitars what they are today.

Note: Don’t make a mistake. Buy a primo guitar stand. I had a cheap one break on me once.

Try the Hercules Single Guitar Stand with Folding Yoke.

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Guitar strings must be changed when they start to look or feel rusty, start breaking, lose their tone and sound, or look dull. It is tough to know how long strings will be good as many factors such as climate, how often (or not) you use your instrument, whether you are playing in a band or just playing at home, will all effect the life of your strings. By and lare, when playing a full night with a band, strings will usually only last 3 – 6 gigs. After that, you risk the embarrassment of breaking a string during one of your amazing solos.

When replacing strings leave enough slack to ensure that there is going to be 3 – 5 turns of string around the tuning head. Don’t use several turns or wraps as this leads to wavering and constant string stretching. Make sure you kindly but firmly stretch the strings when they are new. While connected to your tuner keep pulling and stretching the string and re-tune as necessary. Remember that nylon strings will always take a great deal of stretching to remain in tune.

There are many interesting products which can assist in tuning stability and make changing strings easy. Two good ones are the Spertzel or Grover locking machine heads. They need no turns or wraps at all as they lock the string into the machine head.

A good idea on electric guitars with tremelo bridges such Floyd Rose types and also on Gibson style ‘tune o matic’ bridges is to change the strings one at a time. This stops the tremolo going completely out of adjustment and, in the case of the tune o matic, from falling off the guitar and losing the whole set up.

Always keep your new strings as new as possible by wiping them down after each playing and using string life products such as Fast Fret or Finger Ease before and after each jamming session. It makes a large effect on the stings and length of a good string tone. You can greatly extend string life by also using strings brands such as Elixir strings, which add about 8 times to the life of strings. However, these strings are about 3 times pricier than regular strings.

A essential tool to have is an all in one string crank/winder/ string cutter and bridge pin remover such as those made by Planet Waves or similar.

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Flamenco Guitar The Flamenco Guitar is very similar to the classical guitar. That is no surprise however, because flamenco music and classical music are very similar. Both of the instruments are descendants from the lute. The normal flamenco guitar is made out of the Spanish woods cypress and spruce. Even though this guitar is similar to a normal classical guitar, it is also different. For example, the flamenco guitar weighs less and is smaller than a normal classical guitar. These features attribute to giving the flamenco guitar the sharp flamenco sound. Nearly all flamenco guitars come with a golpeador.

For example, there are several ways to strum the guitar for flamenco. Strumming is an easy way to scratch the body of the guitar, so a golpeador is needed. Also, besides strumming, the guitar still has many different styles of being played. For example, in flamenco, the musicians often use their hands and fingers and tap the body of their guitar to create sounds to blend in with the flamenco music. The hand and finger taps serve as another reason why a golpeador is needed.

History and Origin of Flamenco Flamenco appeared for the first time in literature in the mid 1770s. During the Golden Age of Spain, flamenco started to get more and more popular. Flamenco started becoming common in the country’s music cafes. Also, around that time, the number of music cafes in Spain began to increase. As time progressed, flamenco began to get more and more serious. Other forms of flamenco started to generate, and many of them got deeper in meaning. During the early 1900s, flamenco singing started to get attention. Soon, full flamenco dances were taking place with the guitar, the singing, and the dancing. After 1915, many people started to have shows for flamenco, and musicians would play in front of a crowd at a theatre or another public place.

Flamenco Today Today, flamenco is different than how it started. The dancers are mainly female, and they are showcased more. In the past, flamenco was more artistic, and the music and dance was the main focus. Now, flamenco usually consists of three parts. When there is multiple people dancing and the music is playing, the audience often joins in clapping. Today, the audience is also involved in flamenco.

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Different Flavors

You’ll learn guitar chords of all kinds, but ultimately there are two basic kinds of chords in music:  major and minor.  Every possible chord can be lumped into one of these two types.  Major chords are built from major scales and have a ‘happy’ sound, while minor chords come from minor scales and tend have a ’sad’ sound.  While some songs use only one kind of chord, most songs and chord progressions mix major and minor chords.  Let’s start with major chords.

Major Chords

Major chords are based on major scales and use the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale.  We’ll start by focusing on five major chords: C, A, G, E, and D.  Learning guitar chords like these will open up a whole world of music for you.  Each chord diagram below shows you where each string should be fretted, and with what finger.  We’ll start with open chords, which means that one or more open (as in not fretted) strings are included.  Open strings are shown with a ‘0′ in front of the first fret.  Let’s take a look at G major, which contains the notes G, B, and D:

G Major

0  1   2   3   4   5

E|-|—|—|-4-|—|—|

B|-|—|—|-3-|—|—|

G|0|—|—|—|—|—|

D|0|—|—|—|—|—|

A|-|—|-1-|—|—|—|

E|-|—|—|-2-|—|—|

Notice that you need to get your middle finger all the way to the third fret of the bottom string, with the first finger on the second fret of the A string.  Be sure to roll your wrist forward and curl your fingers so all the strings can ring clearly.  Try picking just the A string: if you can’t hear that B note clearly, curl the middle finger a bit more so it avoids the A string.  This will be a constant focus as you learn how to play beginner guitar chords: all the notes need to ring clearly for it to sound good.  Strum downwards with your pick, then upwards: you want all the notes to sound as closely together as possible, so strum quickly.

You can also play G major with an open B string:

G Major

0  1   2   3   4   5

E|-|—|—|-3-|—|—|

B|0|—|—|—|—|—|

G|0|—|—|—|—|—|

D|0|—|—|—|—|—|

A|-|—|-1-|—|—|—|

E|-|—|—|-2-|—|—|

This form is more commonly used in folk and country, while the first form is more common in rock music.  This has to do with the B, which is the major third: with a distorted tone the third can cause some ugly overtones when played on the higher strings.  As you learn guitar chords, be sure to try playing them with a variety of tones and pay attention to what sounds best to you.  Also practice getting your fingers to the right places as quickly as possible.  Be patient: learning guitar chords takes time and practice.  Focus on getting a clean sound from all the notes and you will improve quickly.

Let’s take a look at another very common chord, E major (E, G#, B):

E Major

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

B |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

G |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

D |—|—|-3-|—|—|—|

A |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

The guitar e chord is pretty easy to fret, and again you’ll notice that all the strings are strummed.  Pay attention to the fingerings:  learn the wrong fingerings now and you’ll have bad habits that will hold you back later on.  Now let’s look at A major:

A Major

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

B |—|—|-3-|—|—|—|

G |—|—|-1-|—|—|—|

D |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

A |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

E |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

Notice that ‘x’ on the low E string?  That means that string isn’t supposed to be strummed.  Even though E is part of the A major chord (A, C#, E), the low E makes the chord sound too muddy and hides the A root note.  So, after you’ve twisted your left hand fingers around the chord, pay careful attention to only picking the top five strings.  Also, make sure you can hear the high E string.  This is actually one of the more difficult beginner guitar chords you’ll learn, simply because your fingers are in such a small area.  Stick with it, though, and follow the suggested fingerings.

Once you can play A major, try switching between E major and A major.  Take your time: a very slow, clean transition with all the notes sounding clearly will sound much better than a bunch of missed notes and muted strings.  Once you can move back and forth, try a simple beginner guitar rhythm:  Strum E twice, then A twice, and so on.  Start very, very slowly, then try to pick up the speed a bit.  You’ll quickly see why the suggested fingerings should be followed: notice that the first finger stays on the same string and just moves one fret up, while the other fingers sort of jump around the first finger.

Now let’s add another chord, and then we’ll try a tricker transition.  Here’s C major (C, E, G):

C major

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

B |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

G |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

D |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

A |—|—|—|-3-|—|—|

E |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

Notice that once again the low E string is not sounded.  On this chord you can let the third finger touch the E string a bit; this can help mute any unwanted noise from the string.  Be sure to keep a strong pressure on the A string, though.

Now, here’s another beginner guitar rhythm:  try strumming G twice, then C twice, and so on.  This is a trickier transition because all your fingers have to jump around pretty quickly.  Take it slow: as you’re learning guitar chords the focus needs to be on a clean, ringing tone.  Keep practicing this rhythm until you can move back and forth between G and C quickly and cleanly.

There’s one more open major chord to learn.  Here’s D major (D, F#, A):

D Major

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

B |—|—|—|-3-|—|—|

G |—|—|-1-|—|—|—|

D |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

A |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

E |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

There are a couple of variations of this chord worth learning.  You can add the open A string for a bit more depth, and you can also add an F# on the low E string:

D Major with low F#

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

B |—|—|—|-3-|—|—|

G |—|—|-1-|—|—|—|

D |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

A |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

E |—|—|-T-|—|—|—|

The ‘T’ means that you need to curl your thumb around the neck and fret the F#.  It’s almost impossible on a lot of acoustics, but if you’re playing an electric, and especially if you want to play any sort of hard rock genre, it’s a valuable  form to know.  If you can’t get it now, don’t worry: it’s not usually taught when you’re learning how to play beginner guitar chords; think of it as an optional extra challenge.

Get Those Fingers Dancing

Now that you know a few major chords, try moving back and forth between them.  You might notice that some of the chords sound better together than others: for example, G, C, and D sound great in a pattern together, as do E, A, and D, whereas G and E might sound a bit awkward played one after the other.  Experiment and listen carefully; you now know enough cords to start creating your own songs, so practice, practice, practice! Here’s an easy beginner guitar rhythm to make practicing more interesting:  start on any chord and strum it four times.  Switch to another chord and strum four more times.  Now switch to a third chord, strum it two times, move back to the second chord two times, and then go back to the original chord and strum it four times as well.  Using G, C, and D, it would look like this:  G, G, G, G, C, C, C, C, D, D, C, C, G, G, G, G.  See?  Even if you don’t know how to read guitar notes yet, you can still make music!

Minor Chords

The difference between major and minor chords lies in the second note of the chords (the third scale tone).  In minor chords the third is a half-step lower than in major chords.  So, for example, E major contains the notes E, G#, and B, while E minor contains E, G, and B.  Here’s the fingering for E minor:

E minor

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

B |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

G |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

D |—|—|-3-|—|—|—|

A |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

Notice what a huge difference changing that one note makes to the sound of the chord!  As you learn guitar chords, be sure to always compare the major and minor forms, paying attention to the sound of the chords and the fingerings.  Here’s A minor:

A minor

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

B |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

G |—|—|-3-|—|—|—|

D |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

A |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

E |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

Notice that your second and third fingers ‘jump’ up one string from E minor.  Try strumming back and forth between those two chords: it’s an easier transition that sounds great.  Now let’s look at D minor:

D minor

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

B |—|—|—|-3-|—|—|

G |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

D |-0-|—|—|—|—|—|

A |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

E |-x-|—|—|—|—|—|

Notice that the fingering is quite a bit different from D major.  That’s fine, because it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll move between those two chords in a song.  As always when practicing how to play beginner guitar chords, focus on clean sound and avoiding strings that shouldn’t sound.

The Barre Chord

You’ve learned all the basic open chords, and practiced until you can move between them smoothly and even begin to learn easy guitar songs.  Now it’s time to take on one of the more challenging beginner guitar chords: the barre chord.

This is a chord form that can be played on any fret of the guitar because it doesn’t use any open strings.  Instead, your index finger forms a bar across the fretboard, playing three notes at once.  To make this work you need to rotate your wrist way forward, get that finger as flat as possible, and really dig into the fretboard.  Here’s what it looks like on the first fret, which gives you the F major chord:

F major barre

0  1   2   3   4   5

E |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

B |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

G |—|—|-2-|—|—|—|

D |—|—|—|-4-|—|—|

A |—|—|—|-3-|—|—|

E |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

In terms of learning guitar chords, this is the rite of passage: master the barre chord and you’ve officially learned how to play beginner guitar chords.  It isn’t easy, but don’t give up!  Pick each string one at a time and make sure you can hear each note ring clearly.  If the notes on the first finger aren’t clear, make sure the finger is flat and pressed tigh against the strings.  This is not a natural position, so don’t be discourage if it’s not perfect at first.  This will strengthen your fingers, improve your coordination, and make it easier to learn guitar chords that are more advanced and require larger stretches.

Once you’ve mastered the major barre chord, it’s easy to play the minor chord form: just lift up your middle finger, like so:

F minor barre

0   1   2   3   4   5

E |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

B |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

G |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

D |—|—|—|-4-|—|—|

A |—|—|—|-3-|—|—|

E |—|-1-|—|—|—|—|

Now you can move either of these forms up the neck to play any chord you need; the name of the chord is simply the note your index finger is playing on the two E strings.

That’s it for this lesson: you’re a master of beginner guitar chords, have learned a beginner guitar rhythm, and know the barre chord, which opens up lots of possibilities.  The next lesson will continue with more chords, more rhythms, and a song to liven things up.  See you there!

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