Chords for Beginners When the student is ready to dive into chords, G, C, A, and E minor should be the ones you tackle first and foremost. These chords are in so many songs, at this point it can’t even be calculated. There are exercises we do that focus on some of the problems students…
Details
Blue Christmas – Elvis I’m considering transcribing ALOT of Elvis tunes. First of all, they’re great songs. Most of them are fairly easy and accessible, and finding a good transcription of them on the internet is really a tough call. Many transcriptions are off slightly, or totally wrong, this is why it’s important to find…
Details
Should I Stay or Should I go – The Clash Pt. 2 Posted below is the second page of Should I stay or Should I go from The Clash. In part 1, we talked about ways to tackle some the difficulties, namely the F chord, the rhythm, and the one A7 that pops up. Here…
Details
Should I Stay or Should I go – The Clash Pt.1 This is a classic tune that every guitar player should know! Especially after the popularity of Stranger Things! This one may be tough for a 1-2 year student, but there are ways to make it a little easier. You’ll need to know your basic…
Details
Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan We use this tune quite a bit, in different variations, so I thought I’d share our transcription here. I have it written as a chord chart, but if the student wanted to get deeper into the finger patterns of the song, it’s totally doable. Note to capo the…
Details
Chromatic Exercises for Beginners Here is one example of a chromatic exercise I use for students just starting out. There are many variations on this, but this example is very straight forward. Using only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd finger, play the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fret on each string, then continue and play the…
Details
Major 7th Chords pt. 2 More major 7th voicings! This time on string groups 2-3-4-5, but as with the first article, presented in C major 7th for all (C-E-G-B). The first example is the chord shape most guitarists use for a major 7th. It’s a very useful shape, and easy to locate, since the…
Details
Minor 7th Chords Part 2 More Minor 7th chords! In part one we looked at the 4 minor 7th chords in a string group, then flipped a note from low E to high E and made 4 more chords. Now, we’ll look at the same chords presented in a different string group. Like the first…
Details
Major 7th Arpeggios Part 2 In part 1, we looked at C Major 7th Arpeggios from the 5th position. Now for part 2, we’re looking at the 8th position. All the examples presented will be in 8th position, and each example will begin with the chord shape closest in relation to the arpeggio. Try to…
Details
Minor 7th Arpeggios Part 2 In the first Minor 7th arpeggios article, we looked at an A minor arpeggio in the 1st position. Here we’ll look at another A minor arpeggio only presented in 5th position. Each example posted will have the chord, then the lick. It’s important to link these together. It’s also important…
Details