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Beforecommencingeachlessonor practicesession,makesurethat your guitaris in tune.
See page 4 to learnhow to tune the guitar.
THE C MAJOR CHORD
A chord is a group of three or more notes that are played together. Chords are used to
who is pldvinqthe irelodv of a sonq.The first
accompanva srnqer,or an instrumentalist
'irou
will lea-rnis the C maior chord. usuallviust tal[ed the C ch6rd. Maiorthords are
chord
m6st
the
common chords.The C maioi chord is indicatedby the letter C. Chords are
written on chord diagramsas introduied on the previouspag6.
Chord Symbol
C Major Chord
1st
Fret
To playthe C chord,placethe
first finger of your left hand
just behindthe first fret of the
3rd
Fret
second string, the second
fingerjust behindthe second
fret of the foufth string and
your third finger just behind
the third fret of the fifth string.
To play the C chord, play all six stringswith the pick at the sametime using a downward
motion.this is calleda strum. Hold the pick lightly and strum from the wrist. Keep you
wrist relaxed.lf any notesbuzzor sounddeadenedyou may haveto pressharderwith the
left handfingersand makesurethat your fingersarejust behindthe fret (nottoo far back).
2nd
Fret
STRUMMING
V
Thisis the symbolfor a
Thisis a whole note strum.
downwardstrum.
It lastsfor four beats.
Thisis a quarter note strum.
There is one whole note
It lastsfor one beat.
strumin one bar of fttime.
Count: I
There are four quarter note C o u n t : 1 2 3 4
strumsin one bar of ft time.
In the followingexamplethere are four bars of the C major chord playedin f time. The
chord symbol is written abovethe staff and a new chord symbol is placedat the beginning
of each bar. Playthe chord with four quarter note strumsin each bar.To makethe example
sound finished alwaysend with one strum of the first chord (a whole note strum V ).
7
Strum:
C
C
C
V V V V V V V V V V V V
C o u n t : 1 2 3 4 1
2 3
4
1
2 3
4
1
2 3
4
To help keeptime playthe first quaternote strumin eachbar louder.The two dots at the
end of the staff before t h e d o u b l eb a r linesare calleda repeat sign and meanthat you
playthe exampleagainfrom the start.
15
THE SEYENTHCHORD
Another type of common chord is called the dominant seventh chord. lt is usuallv
referred t6'as the "seventh" chord. The chord svmbol for the seventhchord is th6
number 7 written after the alphabeticalletter.The svmbolfor the G seventh chord is G7.
G Seventh Chord
G7
Chord Symbol
Nut
1st
Fret
To playthe G7 chord,place
the first, second and third
fingersof your left handas
shown in the diagram.
Strumall six strings.
2nd
Fret
3rd
Fret
THE HALF NOTE STRUM
This is a half note strum.
It lastsfor two beats.
Thereare two half note strumsin one bar of
Count: I
ft time.
8
In the examplebelow there are four bars of the G7 chord. Plavthe G7 chord with two
half note stiums in each bar.The bold numberstell vou to strum the chord,the smaller
numbersindicateto hold it until the next strum.
G7
G7
G7
G7
G7
V
Strum:
Count:
CHORDPROGRESSIONS
A chord progressionrefersthe the sequenceor order of chordsthroughouta certain
amountof bars.A chord progression
can containany quanityof bars or chords.The
durationof a chordcanvarythroughouta chordprogression.
1-T,
lot
\&_/
e
The followingchord progressioncontainsthe C and G7 chords.
C
G7
S t r u m : V V V V V V
C o u n t : 1 2 3 4
C
G7
V V V V V V
16
Chord Symbol
G Major Chord
Nut
G
1st
Fret
J
To playthe G chord,place
the first, secondand third
fingersof your left handas
shown in the diagram.
Strumall six strings.
2nd
Fret
3rd
Fret
/--\
kffi9ro
ek- _-/
The followingchord progression
containsall three chordsyou havelearntso far.
G
G
V V V V V V
T
C
C
V V
G
V
@r
Thefollowingchordprogression
containstwo chordsin e a c h b a r . E a c hchord receivestwo
beats.
C
G7
C G 7
C G 7
C G 7
C
V V
V
V V
RHyTHM PATTERNS
Insteadof changingthe strummingfor eachbar it is quitecommonto playthe samepattern
of strums throughout the chord progression.This
is called a rhythm pattern. lt is placed
above the staff and representswhich strummingpattern is played in each bar of music.
Rhythm Pattern
V V V V
1
2
3
4
OPEN CHORDSHAPES
The chord shapesgiven in this lessonand throughoutthe remainderof this book are
calledopen chordsbecausethey containopen strings(i.e.no finger is placedon the fret).
Anothertype of chordto learnis calleda bar chord.Theseare commonlyusedin Country
music.To learn about bar chords see ProgressiveCountry Guitar Technique.