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When you say barre chords musicians everywhere shudder. In the previous lesson I explained that a barre chord is a chord that has more than one string fretted by the same finger and we played an F chord. The F chord I showed you is a perfectly acceptable chord but as I said before it sounds unfinished. That is because it is a short chord. It has no bass root. The most widely accepted way of playing an F chord is as follows
F
e-------1------
B ------1------
G-------2-----
D-------3-----
A-------3-----
E-------1-----
Go ahead and try this one. Lay your index finger across all six strings at the first fret. Remember to keep your thumb behind the neck of your guitar this is where you will get the strength to do this correctly. Move you index finger as far as you can to the next fret without touching the line. Now roll your finger slightly back toward the headstock and fret the 3 rd string with your middle finger. Now strings four and five. Do NOT try and barre these two with the same finger. It may seem easier but will come back to haunt you. This is a habit I picked up early and still struggle with from time to time. Use your ring and index finger to fret these two. All right, push on the strings hard and play the chord. If it sounds bad, that's ok. It is probably strings buzzing so pluck every string individually to hear the problem and adjust your fingers. This is difficult I know. Once you get your fingers situated hold it and strum it several times. I know it is uncomfortable but play it for a minute or two just this chord. Your hand is probably cramping up and your forearm getting sore. Are you cussing at me yet? Its okay! The payoff at the end is huge! What you have done is probably one of the most difficult things to do on a guitar. It is hard and you're probably thinking that you already have a perfectly fine F chord and why should I put myself through all this? Well, this F chord is movable. That's right I said movable! That's all right you can hold your applause while I explain what that means.
A movable chord is a chord shape that you can move anywhere on the neck of the guitar and make another chord. A chord is named for its root note. That is a fancy way of saying that a chord is named for the lowest note in the group of notes that make up a chord. You know the names of the strings by what note they sound when played open. Every fret moves the note played higher one half step. If you visualize a piano every key is a half step up from the one before it (this is including the black keys) If you play the D string open you get a D. If you fret that string on the fist fret you get a D sharp. That is the same as playing a D on a piano then playing the black key directly to the right of it. If you move one more fret (or to the next white key) you are playing an E.
Here's where it gets just a little tricky, but don't worry I have a way to help you get through. If you look at the keyboard of a piano where you are at the E you will notice that there is no black key between these two white keys. That is because the next step up in this musical scale is the F. It is the same on a guitar. If you fret the D string at the 3 rd fret you get an F not an E sharp. The reasons are a little complicated and boring to most. It involves different scales and more music theory than we will discuss in this lesson. Here's my help in this matter. If you can visualize a piano you will notice that the spaces that have no black keys are before a set of either two or three black keys. I think that the set of two back keys look like a pair of chopsticks. That's great because the white key directly before the chopsticks' is a C. That means that the next note down is a B. I think that the set of three back keys look like a fork. That's great because the white key directly before the fork' is an F. That means that the next note down is an E. I hope that makes sense. I tell you all this because you need to know the names of the notes where ever you're playing on the guitar to know the chord.
Now that we are through the boring stuff I'll make it a little more exciting and fun again. Now that you can identify what note you're playing on the guitar, I want you to make that F barre chord. Did I just hear a groan? Don't be discouraged. Have you got it? Okay now strum the F. Okay, now for a little fun. Take that F chord and move the whole thing to the 5 th fret. Strum it again. That is an A chord. Now move it back down to the 3 rd fret. That is a G chord. You can do this all the way up the neck and get every note in the musical scale (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and the sharps) at the thirteenth fret the scale starts over with another F just an octave higher. Something that allot of guitarist do is try and stay in position which means they try and keep their hands in the same place on the neck. You can play the chords on the E and A string and keep your hands close to the other chords you are playing. Now that you have a full range of chords you are ready to compose your first masterpiece.
Here's your homework. I want you to play an F barre chord ten times then move it to the 5 th fret and play an A barre chord ten times. Now move to the 5 th string and play the 1 st fret, an A sharp barre chord ten times. Finally move to the 5 th fret of the 5 th string and play a D barre chord ten times. Every time, make sure you're fingering the chords correctly check for buzzing and adjust your fingers as needed. I want you to pay attention to your elbow. Keep it tucked into your side as this will help you with the strength for these chords. Do this every time you pick up your guitar for the next few weeks. It is hard. Great musicians all over will attest to that. Don't give up, and don't let it discourage you. I promise it will get easier.
Now for power chords! Power chords are abbreviated chords sometimes called fifth chords. They are used predominantly on the electric guitar when being played with distortion. When distortion is used on a note it amplifies and creates harmonics(notes close to the original note) and amplifies them to get a certain tone or sound. when you put too many notes through this process the sound gets muddled and the harmonics sound horrible so we shorten the chord to a power chord. Each note up a scale from a root note is numbered one is the root, say an A. B would be two. C would be three. All the way up to the next root, in this case A. Chords, by definition consist of a root, a 3 rd , and a 5 th . That isn't always the case but it is all we need right now. Power chords consist of a root, a 5 th , and usually another root.
Here is an A power chord.
e----------X-------
B---------X-------
G---------X-------
D---------7--------
A---------7--------
E---------5--------
Now that you know your notes on the guitar, you can find any chord you may need. So this week practice, practice, practice. Take breaks when needed but don't give up. So till next time, plug it in turn it up, and keep on rockin!
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