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Mr Crowley Guitar Lesson

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In order to really understand guitar chords it will be a great help for you to...

1. ...know the names of the notes on the guitar fretboard.

2. ...understand how a major scale is constructed and played on the guitar.

3. ...understand which notes in a scale you need to construct a chord.

Let us take a closer look at the previous points.

We will start by learning the notes in the C-major scale in the first position on your guitar. We will begin with the note C on the fifth string. It can be notated in the following manner:

35

The two numbers tell you which fret to press down and which string to play. 35 means: Press down the third fret on the fifth string. This is the note C and we will now play the scale until we come to the next C note:

35 04 24 34 03 23 02 12

04 means that you should play the open fourth string, that is, playing the string without pressing down a fret. I will now show you the same scale with the note names in brackets before the notes:

(C)35 (D)04 (E)24 (F)34 (G)03 (A)23 (B)02 (C)12

A major chord is constructed by using the first, third and fifth note in the major scale with the same name. This means that a C-major chord consists of the notes C, E and G.

In our C-major scale example above this will result in a chord with the notes:

(C)35 (E)24 (G)03

This is a C-major triad. Acually, a C-major chord can be constructed in many ways. You can combine the notes C, E and G in various ways and it will still be a C-major chord.

Let us go back to the C-major scale and play all the notes you will find in the first position. We will start with the low E-string and go up to the note G on the third fret of the first string:

(E)06 (F)16 (G)36 (A)05 (B)25 (C)35 (D)04 (E)24 (F)34 (G)03 (A)23 (B)02 (C)12 (D)32 (E)01 (F)11 (G)31

In this sequence of the C-major scale we can pick some more notes to add to the triad we made previously. For example we can add the note E or G on the sixth string and the C on the second string and the E or G on the first string.

Here is one example of a C-major chord using the notes in the previous scale:

C: 36 35 24 03 12 01

To make this chord playable you can use your left hand ring finger for the note 36 and your pinkie to play the note 35.

If you knew all the names of the notes on the fretboard you could construct your own C-major chords by just spotting the notes C, E and G and then combining them.

Another way of looking at major chords is to feel how the notes relate to the root of the scale. In the C-major scale we constructed with all the six strings involved you can indicate all C notes with the number 1 as it is the root of the C-major scale.

The same way you can assign the number 3 to all E notes as E is the third note of the C-major scale and the number 5 to all G notes. This way of thinking will help you understand the function of the notes in a chord.

If we use this method on the C-major chord I showed you previously you will have the following sequence of numbers from the sixth to the first string:

C: 5 1 3 5 1 3

This way of thinking about guitar chords will help you understand the numbers attached to chords like C6 and C7 and gradually you will be more aware of how the scale notes in a chord sound and how to spice chords with additional notes. You will also be more and more skilled in the art of putting chords together by ear.

Mr Crowley Guitar Lesson

As a father and a guitarist I have some advice. The story on how a mother can continue playing guitar has to be written by an expert on that subject.

I guess the problem is that many guitarists think that if they can't practice the way they are used to they might as well quit.

What happens with you as a guitar player when you become a father with small children?

1. You will still have time to play guitar but not when you expect it.

I have many times wondered why people that practice a lot on their guitars as they become parents suddenly stops completely to play guitar and become desillusioned with this part of their lives.

It's like a person who wants to train on a gym two hours a day. If this doesn't work he quits completely. Why?

To make ten push ups a day is better than doing nothing. I takes maybe ten seconds to make this exercise and it will have positive results. The most important thing is that you are still trying to work with your body and the time will probably come when you can increase the amount of training.

Of course the same principle applies to guitar playing. Change the way you play but don't quit. I'm sure your children don't want that.

2. Time to play guitar will come in small portions.

As you don't always know when you have time to play on your guitar you have to have your guitar or guitars extremely accessible. Have the guitar on your bed or somewhere else very close at hand. Maybe you have to buy a cheaper guitar in order to feel comfortable with this arrangement.

Personally I have an very expensive classical guitar but I mostly play on my less expensive guitars as I have them nearby all the time.

3. You might be interrupted in the middle of your guitar playing at any time.

I suggest that you give yourself a reasonable amount of homework to practice on your guitar. Try to learn this homework by heart as soon as possible so you don't need pieces of paper around as you practice. I guess you know that small children like the taste of paper..

If you give yourself just one task to perform as your guitar lesson homework you will even with small amounts of time to practice spread all over the day see yourself progressing. The important thing is to focus on this task long enough to see results and long enough for the skills to become part of your playing.

4. You will have to concentrate on more things than your guitar playing.

If you have a long term goal with your playing you will always be able to look back on what you are doing as a guitar player and can see yourself progressing. I suggest that you put your long term guitar playing goals on a place out of reach for your children but within reach of your eyes.

5. You must feel that your guitar playing is of benefit for your wife and your children.

Is it selfish to play guitar when you have children? Let me give you an example from my own childhood:

My dad was a musician playing violin, cello and guitar in our home. He was working as a guitar teacher and I heard him play classical guitar pieces, cello pieces and violin pieces everyday.

I can still remember some of those melodies and they invoke a feeling of peace and memories of childhood in my heart. I have a special relation to those pieces of music and they have certainly enriched my life.

In other words, you will need to have a repertoire of nice melodies to play for your children. Focus on learning melodies to play and try to find opportunities to play them for your wife and children.

Having a family has certainly enriched my life and made me a better musician and guitar player.

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Peter Edvinsson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Guide Guitar, Programming and Guide Guitar. Peter Edvinsson is a guitarist, composer and music teacher. He invites you to download your at. Peter Edvinsson's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.

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