Subject: The Biggest Problem New Guitar Players Have...
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, When you signed up for this newsletter, you had the opportunity to tell me what your biggest problems, goals and questions are about playing guitar. Care to guess what topic comes up more than any other?Is it learning how to play songs? No, that doesn't even make up 5 percent of the requests. What about playing lead? Nope, that comes in second, and not even a close second to the number one topic I get questions for. The biggest problem I get asked most about is learning chords. Without any way to know for sure, I'd guess that this is a top question for most guitar teachers and instructional websites. It doesn't seem to matter what playing level folks are at when they come to Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com. The challenge of learning and playing chords is something we all struggle with from time to time. Case in point: here's an example of a challenge I encountered just last week. I wanted to teach one of my students some advanced chord voicings, and I knew Joe Satriani has some nice sounding chords in his song "Always With You, Always With Me." They don't sound like chords because he is playing each note from the chord individually (an arpeggio pattern), but they are chords nonetheless. The killer here is that the fingering to pull off the first chord in the song requires this weird stretch between your index finger and your middle finger. And no, your other two fingers don't get a break - they're rounding out the rest of the chord (a Badd11(no5), if you must know). So not only am I trying to stretch across five strings with my first two fingers, I'm also negotiating a four fret reach between my index and pinky fingers. Needless to say, I'm still getting my fingers used to the positioning and making a smooth transition to and from this chord. That leads me to another chord challenge I see a lot of - changing chords. As you can see, it's not only about learning how to play the chords. You can learn how to play a G major or a D minor chord pretty easily, but you also have to learn how to switch from one chord to the next. This is where many beginner guitar players get tripped up. They learn a few chords and then find some tabs to play a song, but they can't seem to play the chord changes smoothly enough to make it sound like the song. That's frustrating! And since playing chords is probably the most identifiable skill with associated with guitar, that frustration can lead to GQS... Guitar Quitter Syndrome This tragic disease steals the dreams of countless guitar beginners. They discover the wonders of guitar and get excited to learn. It looks like so much fun and so easy to play - just press your fingers on the strings and start strumming, right? Except we know it's not that easy. There's a lot going on between the fingers, hands and arms (not to mention the brain). When the reality sinks in that guitar takes some work to make even the simplest chord sound good, the dream starts to die a little. It doesn't take long for doubt to set in, and there you have it... Another sad and lonely guitar in a closet or corner, or under a bed. Anywhere out of sight so it isn't a constant reminder that you suffer from GQS. That's why I'm trying to do my part to battle this debilitating disease. Moving forward, I will be focusing this newsletter on a weekly lesson to help you not only learn rock guitar, but also get past the common roadblocks we all face as we build our guitar playing skills. The First Lesson - Learn The Shapes To start you off, let's talk about muscle memory. As uninspiring as it sounds, to get a solid foundation in guitar (and music for that matter) you have to commit some things to memory. I'm not just talking about remembering how to finger a chord or how it is supposed to sound. I'm also talking about the muscles in your hands. When you learn various chord shapes, the muscles in your hand and fingers begin to memorize the way they're placed on the fingerboard. The more you practice holding each shape, the easier it will be to play the chord. There are five basic shapes you need to learn. Here they are: Sure, there are many more shapes to learn, but these build a solid foundation. With these chord shapes you can play major chords all the way up the neck. Work on learning each chord by itself before trying to move on to the next one. Now a couple of warnings. First, when you play each shape, make sure you are using the correct fingers for the chord shape. You want to get this habit set early on because when you use the correct fingering, you are setting yourself up to make easier chord changes. Second, when you play each shape, practice it until each note is clear. You need to be able to play the chord cleanly. Thirdly, pay attention to your thumb positioning. In order to play some chords, you may need to adjust where your thumb is on the neck. The guitar neck is not a baseball bat. Your thumb is a critical pivot point and anchor for playing both chords and leads. Don't be afraid to move your thumb into a position that makes it easier to play a chord. When you pay attention to these little warnings, you are accomplishing a number of things... You're building the muscle memory in your fingers - this is critical so that your fingers know exactly where to go in a split second with relation to your hand position. You don't need to think about it - it's automatic, like breathing. You're also strengthening the muscles in your hand, not to mention new dexterity and flexibility. Your aural skills will improve as well. Your ears will gradually learn to recognize the notes in each chord and the overtones that the notes create. You'll instantly recognize when a chord doesn't sound right, or a melody note isn't the right fit with a particular chord. A Good Start Get these chord shapes down and you'll be well on your way to playing many of your favorite songs. Next week I will give you a specific lesson to help you change each chord shape to the next most common chord type you'll see: the minor chord. Until then, rock on! Peace~ Dave P.S. - if anything I said today is confusing or you have a question, just reply to this email. I read every one and will get back to you. Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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