Learn the?importance of revision, how to use chord notes to advantage, Chord inversions, Adding chord notes to melody notes close and spaced harmony, Improving your strumming pattern. and more..
Please check up on any points on which you are in doubt.?
If you don't know your C, F and G, chords properly determine now to give them some special practice.? No chord is hard to play or memorize, it just takes a bit of practice.? Careful revision at this point will save you much frustration in the future so don't regard it as a bore and a chore but as an important stepping stone towards greater accomplishments.? Your first 5 lessons have laid the very foundation of your musical education and need to be thoroughly understood.? Upon careful revision, many points which may have seemed strange at the time will become perfectly clear.?
Your new piece may not sound pleasing when you first attempt it but after you have given it a fair go, with careful, slow and regular practice you will soon be delighted.? Keep to the rules for learning anything new that has been explained previously and you will make good progress.
You can see how helpful chords can be to you so get to know them thoroughly and they will help you in every piece you play from now on.?
They enable you to add correct harmony notes to the melody
They enable you to play the correct accompaniment?
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They enable you to use appealing 'fill ins' that many players know nothing about.?
They simplify the learning process and make you sound more professional.
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SO,? bearing all that in mind be very thorough in following the additional information on chords, harmonies, etc.,? which follow.?
You have been involved, in the main, with playing single notes and no doubt you are pleased with the results but you are now going to learn something which will add substantially to your playing enjoyment and impress anybody who has the good fortune of listening to you.?
You are going to learn how to add extra treble notes.? Extra notes which are not always included in printed music.?
The important point is that these additional notes are selected from the notes contained in the chords applying to the particular bar you are playing.?
It is really that simple and straight forward.? You simply pick additional notes from the notes indicated by the chord symbol.
Chord notes may be played in a different order.?
As you know, C chord notes are C, E, G.? The combination of these notes in any order such as E, G, C or G, C, E also make the chord of C.? The change in the order of notes is called "INVERSION"?
??????????????????????? C Major:??????? can be?????????????? C, E, G.????????? Root Position.
??????????????????????????????????????????????? or???????????????????? E, G, C.????????? First Inversion.
??????????????????????????????????????????????? or???????????????????? G, C, E.????????? Second Inversion??
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Again looking at your fret board chart you can see where these note names occur on you fret board.? You have already played the chord in it's root position but now try out various combinations.? Listen to the subtle changes in sound.
Here is a tab for the possible positions
e |----0---------x---------x------ -x-------0-------------
b |----1---------x--------1--------1-------1-------------
g |----0---------0--------0--------0-------0-------------
d |----2---------2--------2--------2-------2-------------
a |----3---------3--------3--------x-------x--------------
E|----0---------3---------x-------x--------x-------------
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You can play these as a strum to sound one cord but also play each note separately in quick succession (A slow strum).
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Now write out a tab for yourself on the variations for the chords G and F.
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??????????????????????? G Major:??????? can be?????????????? G, B, D.
??????????????????????????????????????????????? or???????????????????? B, D, G.
??????????????????????????????????????????????? or???????????????????? D, G, B.
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??????????????????????? F Major:???????? can be?????????????? F, A, C.
??????????????????????????????????????????????? or???????????????????? A, C, F.
??????????????????????????????????????????????? or???????????????????? C, F, A.
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These chords, consisting of three notes, are called TRIADS and when played as illustrated in your previous lesson are said to be in the root position.? For example: C E G is the chord of C Major in it's root position.??????????
Any chord, no matter what it's name, may be handled in this manner.?
This information allows you to form your chord accompaniment in a way that you might find easier and help to reduce hand movement from chord to chord.
Let's start with the C chord which as you know is C, E, G.? Play this chord and check it against your chart..? These will act as your 'guide notes'.?
Now let's say that you wish to play a C melody note.? The extra notes E and G can be added below it to improve the sound.? You might learn to do that in the following manner.
First play the melody note C
Seeing as you have now used the C note in the chord This leaves G and E so add G below your C.
You now have only one note left in your group which is E so that must be the one to use to complete your chord.
In printed music, the chord you have just formed looks like this.?
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You could of course add the bottom C and even the E depending on how much depth you wish to create but if you are simply adding a bit of flair to a melody you might find that simple 3 note chords are more effective
Adding C Chord Notes To a G Melody note.?
Working again from you C chord guide notes C, E, G.?
As the melody note is G, you can add E and C as harmony notes , so just add E below the melody note G, then add the C below the E.
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Adding C Chord Notes To an E Melody note.?
Working again from your guide notes C, E, G.? The notes to add are C and G.
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This same principle applies to all chords, such as F and G so why not try and work these out in the same manner as we have done with the C chord.? If you can't yet remember the notes for these chords go back to the previous pages to check up on them.?
You do not have to add chord notes to every melody note,? (you don't have to add them at all) but when used with discretion it can improve your playing out of sight.?
You might try playing one section as single notes and in another section use 2 note chords and for further variation use 3 note chords in another section.? In this regard you have scope to develop your own 'arrangement' for the piece and have a lot of fun in the process.? As you become more experienced you will be able to quickly decide where it is best to use single notes and where it is best to use 2 and 3 note chords.
Depending on the piece, a slow strum of the 3 or 4 note chord, each note played in rapid succession, within the timing of the piece and ending with the melody note can sound very professional and suggests a level of ability far in excess of the actual skill required.? (But don't tell anybody).
Harmony notes are always controlled by the chord symbol, not by the name of the melody note.
Let us now have a look at a C melody note but this time with the F Major chord.????
??????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????
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The first thing to decide is what chord notes could be added to this melody note to obtain correct harmony.? This is controlled by the chord symbol.? As it is F, you must only use notes from the F chord and no other.?
As you realize, you might sometimes find a C melody note with the C chord, and in that case you would choose harmony notes from that chord but in this case, whilst the melody note is C, the chord symbol is F, so harmony notes must come from the F chord, (F, A, C).?
You could choose the A for close harmony or the F for spaced harmony or both.
Remember to always add harmony notes below the melody note never above it.
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Adding G Chord notes to a D harmony.
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Your guide notes, should you wish to use them, are G, B, D.?Play the melody note D and chose the other two from the G chord, B for close harmony and G for spaced harmony.
How are you going with the chords for Home Sweet Home.? If you have reached the stage where you can play the chords in sequence, one strum per bar, within the correct timing you are ready to try some variation on the way you strum the chords.
Firstly, as this piece is written with 3 beats to the bar, you should try strumming one downward stroke for each beat, three to a bar.
Once you are satisfied with that try introducing an upstroke to the beat.? To do this break the 3 beats into 6 half beat. Instead of counting 123 start counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 1 and 2 and 3 and while keeping the same tempo.
Try a down stroke strum for the 1st beat then a down and up stroke for beats 2 and 3
| 1 | and | 2 | and | 3 | and |
| down | ? | down | up | down | up |
Then move straight into the next bar and new chord on the 1 down stroke again.
This should sound like a? - DUM Dum de Dum de - rhythm with more emphasis on the first beat.
You can move your fingers to change chords, revealing the open strings, on the last up stroke which makes for a smooth chord change and actually sounds quite nice.? You do not have to play all strings on the up stroke but certainly pick up strings 1, 2 and 3.? If you are omitting the 1st string, such as with the F chord,? make sure you mute it by brushing another finger against it.? Likewise you are not playing the 6th string with this chord so you can mute that with the thumb.? This techniques helps you to really go for it without sounding bad notes.??
You have covered a lot of ground in the last two lessons and it is important that you pause now for careful revision.? You will find future lessons far easier if you clearly understand the information contained in lesson 1 to 6 so in order to progress more quickly in the future, spend time now on careful revision.???
Revise regularly and make sure you know the three basic chords and their inversions.? Make sure you can play all three chords easily
Be sure to revise your four four time as it is used in the many of the pieces which you will? want to play in the future.