If you found things a little difficult to manage don't be discouraged.? Remember, it is something completely new to you and you should not expect to become perfect at it overnight.? Practice will make you more proficient and confident.
If your progress is not as good as you expected,? spend a week or so on thorough revision.? You will be surprised at the improvement you can make in a short time by giving yourself more time to improve on any weakness you may find.?
Never rush your lessons but take time to read through them slowly and carefully.? The odd thing is that if you rush the lessons it will take you longer to learn and you will end up believing that music is more difficult than it actually is.?
Concentrate on the worthwhile instructions and advice contained in this course, practice intelligently AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN and there will be no doubt in your mind that you can eventually play well and be admired for your talent.?
Remember that learning to play is intended to be enjoyable and interesting.? It will prove to be both if you determine to study the lessons carefully and make up your mind to practice as long and as often as you can.?
Continue practicing your piece at every opportunity but not to the exclusion of furthering your knowledge of new material explained shortly.?
Be confident that reading and playing note names correctly will become second nature to you with regular practice.? As you gain confidence, think ahead to the next note.? This will avoid a scramble for it if you have thought about it in advance.?
Be content to practice slowly and patiently.? By slow I mean 'dead slow', even slower than before if you are not making progress.? Some of the bars are tricky so practice them most.
Sometimes melody notes may be tied together by a sign that looks like this:?
????? 
?THE TIE SIGN (Curved Line)
The curved line is drawn under two notes.? Any two succeeding notes of the same name may be joined together by a TIE.? Note that G in one bar could only be tied to G in the next bar.? G could not be tied to A or to any other note of a different name.?
Curved lines above notes of different names are called 'slurs' (legato) and not ties.? Please make sure you never confuse the two.?
In the preceding example you will notice that the note in the first bar is a dotted minim worth 3 counts.? The first note in the second bar is a minim, 2 counts, followed by a crotchet, 1 count.? The dotted minim in the first bar is TIED to the minim in the second bar which means that you hold the note for the number of beats indicated.? In this case 3 beats for the dotted minim and 2 beats for the minim so you keep the note sounding for the full 5 beats.? You do not sound the second note separately.? Play the first note for a count of 3, hold the note for a further count of 2 then play the 3rd note A for 1 count.?
The important thing to remember about tied notes is that the second note is not sounded separately.? It is kept sounding for the time value indicated by the note.?
The Tie sign can also be used to join notes of the same name in the same bar as well as separate bars.
This is often used in popular music and is simply a curved line drawn from one note to another note of a different name.
? 
?
A SLUR may join 2 notes as shown above in the 1st bar or it may be written over a group of notes as in the 2nd bar.? It can extend over several bars.? It is mainly used to indicate a sequence of notes that should be played in a smooth, connected fashion.? Slur signs also indicate to singers that the passage should be completed in one breath.?
The slur sign is described to you so that you will never confuse it with the tie sign.? A tie sign is only ever drawn between notes of the same name.?The slur, on the other hand, is drawn over notes of a different name and over any number of bars.??????????????
Chords are quite easy to learn really and you are going to learn them in easy stages.? In fact you have already started to learn them.?
Chords are invaluable to the modern player and are the foundation stones on which to build solos that are a delight to both you and your listeners.? Chords are played to give balance and correct harmony to your music and are used to achieve a rich fullness and variety which is impossible to achieve with just one note.?
No doubt you have listened to music and had your attention forcibly drawn to it by some beautiful effect or variation used by the musician and which may not be a part of the actual melody.? These effects and variations are mostly based on chords so you can see why a thorough understanding of them is so important.? You will not only learn chords by a modern and simple method but you will also learn how to use them in much the same way as leading recording musicians use them.? You will learn how a professional musician might rearrange chords in order to create pleasing effects and variations.
A chord, (pronounced 'cord') is formed by playing 2 or more notes simultaneously.?
As an example try playing a chord by placing finger 3 on the 4th string, 3rd fret which is F.? Now place finger 2 on the 3rd string, 2nd fret which is note A.? Now place finger 1 on the 2nd string, 1st fret which is note C.?? Now play the 3 notes F, A, C all together and you have a chord.? You are sounding more than two notes and you are playing them all together.? A chord can have 2, 3, 4 or even the full 6 notes in it but 3 and 4 notes are still chords.?
In written music the 3 notes would be written one on top of the other in a vertical line to indicate that they are all sounded together rather than one after the other.?
By taking any note and adding 2 or 3 other notes you can form a chord.? There are many different types of chord.? For instance you could take the note C (2nd string 1st fret) and add the extra notes G and E (the 3rd and 1st strings played open) to form one chord or take the note C again and add the extra notes F and A to form a completely different chord.? Try these two examples and the difference will be obvious to you.
Major chords are the most important as all the other chords are built up from them.? There is a major chord for each note.? In your first lesson you learned that the notes are ABCDEF and G so you are now going to learn the major chords to go with each of these notes.? Sounds daunting?? Well here is something really nice which you will be very pleased to know.? The rule for forming major chords is exactly the same for every note so you only have to learn one simple rule.???
I think it is a shame that many courses and books on how to play the guitar do not go into any detail about HOW a chord is formed and WHY it is played the way it is.? Instead you are usually given a chord chart with dots to show where to put your fingers on the strings but don't you want to know why you stick your fingers there?? It isn't just some haphazard whim of the composer/arranger.? There is a definite reason why you are required to play a particular chord.? So we are going to spend a few minutes explaining exactly what a chord is.? After all the guitar is very much an instrument for playing chords so we should try and understand them.
The first note of any major chord is always the note which bears the name of the chord.? So the first note in the chord of A major is A.? The first note in the chord of B major is B.? It's pretty easy so far isn't it.? These first notes are known as the TONIC note.? Now for the simple rule.? Simply remember the numbers 1, 5, 8.? say the numbers 1, 5 and 8 over and over to yourself until it's really sunk in.?
Now here is the simple secret of how to form any major chord.? Print out your fret board chart if you haven't already done so and grab a piece of paper and a pen.??
Play the first (TONIC) note.? You can pick any note but for this example let's pick C which is the 3rd fret position on the 5th string.? Have you found that on your fret board chart?? This counts as 1 then count the fret positions up from the tonic note and when you count include the sharps or flats as well,
Count 2, 3, 4, 5.? When you count? 3 you will have moved to the 4th string which is D then count 4 and 5 to bring you to the E, 2nd fret. This is the second note in your major chord. Now count 6, 7, 8. and this brings you to the G which is the 3rd string open.? This is the third note in your major chord.?
This works with any major chord.?
Play the note C (5th string, 3rd fret) and include this in your count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.?
We know note 1 is C and we have now discovered that count 5 brings us to E and count 8 brings us to G.? Remember when counting to include the sharps and flats.? C E and G are the notes making up the chord of C major.? Try the same exercise with the other tonic notes and listen to the different sounds thus created.???
Now why are we counting 1 to 8 to find the correct notes to play in any chord?? It is all to do with the key a piece is written in and the scale of that key.? Seeing as we are dealing with the C major chord let us remind ourselves of the scale of C which consists of the notes C D E F G A B C.? You will see by looking at the scale that the notes making up the chord of C major, C E and G are in fact the 1st 3rd and 5th natural notes (no sharps or flats) of the scale.? All major chords are the 1st 3rd and 5th notes of the scale.? We use our simple counting device of 1 to 8 because we need to take into account all the sharps and flats on our fret board.
We are going to concentrate on three important chords, C major, G major, and F major.? Once you know these chords and learn to play them? you will hear a vast improvement in your playing.? You will use these chords frequently in many different pieces of music so take the time to learn them properly.? These are not the easiest chords for you to learn but it is important to be able to play these chords because they are used a great deal in popular music.? Once you have mastered these you will find it very easy to play many other chords.
The notes making up the chord of C major are C, E, G.
?
C?
Tab for C major:
(032010)
---0---
---1---
---0---
---2---
---3---
---0---
When you see a 0 on a chord chart it indicates that the string is to be played open.? When you see a X it indicates that the string is not to be played at all.
Referring back to your fret board chart in lesson 1 you can see that the 6th string open is E.? The 5th string, 3rd fret is C.? The 4th string, 2nd fret is E.? The 3rd string open is G.? The 2nd string, 1st fret is C.? The 1st string open is E.? So we have a string of notes being ECEGCE.? You can therefore play all 6 strings in your chord.? However you do not have to play them all.? You may choose to play 5 or 4 strings depending on the piece you are playing.? Play around with this chord.? Try it with the 6th string omitted then try it with the 1st string omitted then try with both the 6th and 1st omitted.? Try strumming the whole chord, all notes at once, and try playing the notes individually in quick succession.
Play note C, 5th string with finger 3 and E, string 4 with finger 2.? Finger 1 plays note C on string 2. ?
Try and commit these notes to memory.? Remember the first note is called the Tonic note and is the note with the same name as the chord, in this case C.?
As you are playing 6 notes remember that the major chord only has 3 notes which is why it is called a triad but as the guitar is very much a chord playing instrument you use what is known as Repeat Notes.? You are not adding additional notes but simply repeating the notes of the chord.? Look again at your string of notes ECEGCE.? there is nothing there other than the 3 notes which make up the chord of C being CEG.
C Major as it appears in written music.?
??????????????????????????????? Treble
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Bass
I have indicated the Bass notes here not so that you can play them but so that you will recognize the chord when you see it in printed music.? When you see this you will know it is the chord of C major and your friends will be most impressed.? You could play this simply by moving the bottom C one octave up
Obviously the above examples do not include Repeat Notes which you can include but simply indicates the triad that makes up the basic chord.
The notes making up the chord of G Major are ... what??
This is worked out in exactly the same way as C but this time you build your chord from the tonic note G.? See if you can work it out using the simple 1, 5, 8 rule.?
The tonic note G is the first G up from middle C and you count this note as 1.? The fifth note up from G is B and the eighth note up is D.? Are you getting the hang of it??? The notes making up the G Major chord are GBD
?
G
Tab for G major:
(320001)
---1---
---0---
---0---
---0---
---2---
---3---
?
Using your chord chart again you can see that the notes starting from the 6th string are GBDGBG.? Again you can strum the whole 6 strings but this chord is not as easy as it first appears because, unless you have big hands, you will have trouble spanning the fret board.? I sometimes play this with finger 2 on 6th string, 1 on 5th string and 4 on 1st string.? Some players bend their thumb round onto the 6th string.? It can be tricky because it often comes after the C chord and involves considerable adjustment to the hands.? The correct fingering is 3 on the 6th string, 2 on the 5th string and 4 on the 1st string.? This makes progression to the C chord easier.?? But as this is supposed to be fun let's cheat a bit.? You can play the 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st stings or you could play the 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd.? Or if you really want it easy you could just play the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings open.? All three of these variations are legitimate G Major chords because they have the notes GBD included.?? Just remember to leave out any notes not included in the chord.? Play around comparing the various options and find something you like.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????? Treble
???
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????? Bass
The F Major chord is made up of the notes? F, A, C.?
F
Tab for F major:
(x03211)
---1---
---1---
---2---
---3---
---0---
---x---
The correct way to play any particular chord has been the subject of considerable debate for many years and will continue to be so for ever.
I mention this here because somebody is going to say that the above is not a proper F chord.? Again referring to your fret board chart you can see that you could attempt to play an F on the 6th string, 1st fret and you could attempt to play another C on the 5th string, 3rd fret.? Some players would barre the 1st fret which is to place a finger across all 6 strings thus including the F note on the 6th string and would then play C on the 5th string, 3rd fret.? For a beginner it is necessary only to know that the notes of the F major chord are FAC and nothing else and as long as you play these notes you have an F chord.? You could in fact ignore the F note played on the 1st string? and just play AFAC.? Have a play around and see what interesting combinations you can come up with.? Just remember not to include any notes which are not included in the chord.? You could not play E because E is not part of the F major chord which is why there is a cross on the diagram above to indicate that the 6th string is not played
?
??????????????????????????????? Treble
?
??????????????????????????????? Bass
?
By now you will understand just how easy working out major chords is.? You can work out any major chord in the same manner simply by remembering that the first note is the tonic note and is the note with the same name as the chord.?
All you have to do now is learn to play these notes all together instead of separately.?
You will notice as you proceed that guitar chords do not follow exactly the order of notes selected using your 1,5,8 rule.? The rule helps you to find what notes are in the chord but very often? you will not be able to play them in that order with the tonic note being the first note of the chord.? Changing the note positions round is called inversion and you will use inversions to make chord playing easier but more on that later.
Playing Chords.?
Chords can be very interesting things to learn and you are going to learn them in easy stages and improve the sound of your playing as you go along.?
*? While playing a chord you may find at times that it doesn't harmonize perfectly with every melody note played.? It was never intended that it should.? You will notice this most when practicing very slowly.? At normal tempo any clash of sound will go unnoticed.
*? When you move from one chord to another try not to lift your hand too high off the fret board but keep close to the strings so that your hand does not have to travel an unnecessary distance.
*? There are no hard and fast rules for which fingers to use when forming chords.? Much depends on what chord follows next and what makes the change over easiest.?
*? Move your fingers in concert, as a group, from one chord to the next.? Avoid moving only one finger at a time.
*? You must work at keeping your fingers away from other strings otherwise you will create a dull, clunky sound.? Once you have formed the chord play each note separately aiming for a clear ringing note.? If there is a clunk correct the error and try again.? Only practice will make you good at playing crisp, clear chords but you will derive a great deal of pleasure out of being able to play a series of chords smoothly and without error.??
*? You can practice your chords without even playing a note.? Simply concentrate on moving your fingers from chord to chord.
*? If you cannot get all your fingers to move from one position to the next all together you should at least make sure that the finger fretting the first string struck is in place first.? This gives you a split second to position the other fingers.? With the G chord, for example, get you finger onto the 3rd fret, 6th string first.? You have a split second to get finger 4 into position before the 1st string is struck.
Most beginners will strum a chord a few times then move on to the next? chord then try and put them all together in a chord progression.? This is fine and all part of learning and having fun but after you have done that and feel totally dissatisfied with the result start again and practice the chord in the following manner.
Determine to practice only one chord until you have got it right.
Have you clipped your nails?
Place each finger in position individually and pluck that string alone to make sure it is sounding OK
Once the complete chord is formed play the chord one string at a time to make sure that all notes sound OK
You may have to adjust your finger position between the fret bars until you get it sounding clear with no buzzy or clunky sounds.
When you have got the chord sounding right take a good hard look at your hand and say to yourself "THIS is correct."? As you say that try pressing down hard with your fingers as you repeat to yourself that this is the correct way to play the chord.? Don't just glance quickly at your fingers but really look at them and burn the image clearly into your brain.?
After you have repeated that several times take your hand away and relax it.? Then place your fingers back into the correct position.? Did you hit it right first time?? If not repeat the procedure.? Then repeat it again until you can place your fingers in the correct position first time.
Only after you are satisfied that you can hit this one chord right first time should you move on to the next chord.? Repeat this entire procedure for the new chord.
Once you have got 2 or 3 chords perfected in this manner try putting them together in a progression.? Use the metronome provided to ensure that you can keep in time.
When you have finished for the day and put your guitar away you should carry with you in your mind a very clear picture of your finger formation for each chord.? You can recall this image at any time during the day and mentally practice the chord progressions saying to yourself that this is the correct way to play that chord.? (The fact that there may be a little pain and discomfort involved in learning to play the chord is good as it helps ingrain in you mind what is necessary to play the chord correctly.)? When you next pick up your guitar can you form the chords correctly first time?? If not repeat this procedure and keep on repeating it.? Eventually you will find that your fingers automatically play the chord for you without much thought and what seemed very difficult at first becomes very easy and you will wonder why it was so difficult to begin with.
Learning to play a chord progression smoothly and without fault will seem a bit strange and difficult at first.? So was walking or riding a bike or driving a car.? Eventually you do it without even thinking or - believe it or not - while thinking about something else!!
To begin with just strum in a straight downwards motion.? You can use your pick and also try by just using your thumb.? The action is a relaxed wrist action.? Do not hold your wrist firm while just moving the thumb but allow your hand to rock up and down at the wrist in a relaxed manner.
You can also strum with the back of your fingers but in it's most basic form a strum is a single stroke with the thumb.? You can vary the angle of your thumb to find the best sound.? Using more of the tip and less of the side with give you a louder, clearer sound.? Make sure your nails are clipped so that you do not accidentally pluck a string with your nail which will produce a louder sound than intended.
Spend 5 minutes or so playing the F, C and G Major chords, in that order, until you feel you have memorized each chord.? You might want to consider your fingering to make the progression from one chord to another easier.? For F use finger 1 on the 2nd string, 2 on the 3rd and 3 on the 4th.? Now to change to C all that you have to do is move fingers 2 and 3 up to the 4th and 5th strings.? The easiest progression to G is to simply move fingers 2 and 3 up to the 5th and 6th strings, release the 2nd string and place finger 4 on the 1st string, 3rd fret.? If the G is tricky just leave out the 1st string altogether and lift your finger of string 2.? In fact it is OK to leave the 1st string out of it for all 3 chords.? If you accidentally hit it just mute it by allowing the 1st finger of your left hand to gently touch it.? Try each chord for 4 beats in the following progression.
F/// C/// G/// C///
You are aiming for even counting - 1234/1234/1234/1234 - Take it slow and concentrate on smooth even counting.
It is permissible to use the 4th beat to move your fingers from one chord to the other.? In this case the 4th strum would play the open strings giving you time to get your fingers in position for the 1st beat of the new chord
Repeat until you are happy with the result.
?I am sure that, if you have given sufficient practice to each individual chord, after a few minutes you will be able to progress from one chord to the other without difficulty.
It certainly isn't easy for an inexperienced player to read both bass and treble stave notes together.? It gets harder when those bass notes become multiple notes as in a chord.? You have been given a bit of practice in learning bass notes so that you understand what they are and this knowledge will be useful in the future for picking out variations and bass effects but the really good news is that you need only read the one stave - the treble -? and use your knowledge of chords to produce a most satisfying sound.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
CONCLUSION OF LESSON 4.?
Please pause now for quiet revision and make sure you understand the meaning of sharps, flats and naturals.? Don't be concerned if you are slow at learning new concepts as they are presented, this is natural.?
PLEASE REMEMBER TO COUNT AND PLAY SLOWLY at first.? Make sure your you do not speed up your counts as you go from bar to bar.? You must be on your guard and always finish at the same tempo as you start.? Speeding up is a common fault which will slow down your progress.? After careful practice you will find that you are able to speed up without difficulty