The Moody Blues - Question...

Last week we had some friends over to watch a video of the Moody Blues performing at the Isle of Wright concert back in 1970.  According to the Guinness Book of Records, the number of people attending this concert is estimated to have been between 600,000 - 700,000. That statistic even exceeds the approximate 500,000 people who were reported to have attended the Woodstock Festival!

The Moody Blues have lots of great songs, but my very favorite one is Question.  I just love the words and the way Justin Hayward directs the mood by using such dramatic tempo changes. I've read that he took two separate unfinished songs that were in the same key and joined them together to make one great song.

Watch the original version of Question being performed for the 1st time by the Moody Blues...

The Moody Blues Collection By The Moody Blues. Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook. Softcover. 98 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.307123)

The strumming pattern for Question is very fast and some of the chord changes are pretty fast too. Apparently, Justin Hayward recorded this song on a 12 string guitar using an open C tuning, which makes it much easier to play...

Open C Tuning:

 6 5 4 3 2 1 <- strings
C G C G C E <- tones

Watch this video to get a close-up view of the chord shapes and strumming pattern...



Learn How to Play More Moody Blues Songs With Video Guitar Lessons...

I hope this song helps to stimulate your creative juices and give you more passion for playing guitar!

Till next time...

Keep practicing!
K.Unruh

Learn Guitar Lesson: The Quickest Way To Learn Songs - So Simple It Will Seem Like Cheating

Do you spend hours trying to learn songs only to be frustrated yet again when you next pick up the guitar to find that you have forgotten the song(s) you have spent countless hours trying to memorize?

Well, you are not on your own, 95% of newbie guitarists feel exactly the same way.

But what if there was another way to learn and instantly recall songs and information you have already practiced? The great news is there is... the trick is to learn via connected learning, whereby new information is related to information you already know.

       Free eCourse          Here's how to apply connected learning to your guitar playing:

Step 1: Study popular chord progressions - instead of learning random chords study which chords work together e.g., the G - Em - C - D chord progression has been a popular chord sequence for many years, hundreds of hit songs have been based on this progression

Step 2: Learn via chord templates - once you find a chord progression you like keep your eyes and ears peeled for this chord progression in the music you are listening to. Check out how different songwriters use variations of this progression.

Here are some common chord templates for the G - Em - C - D sequence.

(a) G /// | Em /// | C /// | D /// ||

(b) G /// | G /// | Em /// | Em /// | C /// | C /// | D /// |D /// ||

(c) G /// | G /// | Em /// | Em /// | C /// | D /// | G /// |G /// ||

Step 3: Apply these templates to Songs - As you play songs look for the similarities in the chord progressions, you will be amazed how many songs have the exact same sequence.

Songs like... Every Day (Buddy Holly); Teardrops on My Guitar (Taylor Swift); and This Kiss (Faith Hill) and many more are all based on the G - Em - C - D progression.

And now I'd like to invite you to get free access to my "How To Remember 1,000 Songs" eCourse.

You can download the course for free at: www.guitarcoaching.com

Today's blog post is from Mike Hayes - The Guitar Coaching Guy & the Express Guitar System.

Thanks for the great tips Mike!

Till next time...
Keep practicing!

K.Unruh

Chord Progressions, Guitar, & The Circle of 5ths

How would you like to have an easy method for practicing chord progressions on your guitar? The Circle of 5ths is a simple tool that many musicians overlook, but once you understand how to use it you will be able to play through all 12 keys of music very quickly.

 Diagram of the Circle of 5ths

The letters around the outside of The Circle of 5ths represent the 12 Major keys of music.   Flat keys (b) are located on the left side of the circle and sharp (#) keys are on the right. At the bottom are the Enharmonic keys (E).

Here's how to play a I IV V chord progression in the Key of C using use The Circle of 5ths...

1.  Start at the top of the circle and strum a C major chord
2.  Now go to the left side of the wheel and play the F major chord
3.  Next, go to the right side of the wheel and play the G major chord
4.  Return to the C major chord and strum to complete the chord progression.
                                
The chord sequence is:  C  F  G  C

look inside

Chord Progression Encyclopedia - Guitar (Includes Hundreds of Chords and Chord Progressions in All Styles in All Twelve Keys). For guitar. Guitar Method or Supplement. National Guitar Workshop. Chords. Instructional book. Introductory text, instructional text, strum patterns, chord names, guitar chord diagrams and fingerboard chart. 94 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing (AP.17868) (2) ...more info

Follow this same pattern to play a simple I IV V chord progression in the Key of G...

1. Strum a G major chord
2. Strum the C major chord
3. Strum the D major chord
4. Return to the G major chord and strum to complete the chord progression.

The chord sequence is: G C D G

The key is determined by the first and last chord played in each sequence.

look inside

The Chord Wheel (The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians). Instructional. 12 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.695579) (3)...more info

Continue moving to the right and playing I IV V chord progressions with The Circle of 5ths in this manner. When you finish the chord progression for C# you will have completed playing through all the sharp keys.

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After that I suggest returning to the top of the wheel and, starting with F major, use the same sequence to play through all the flat keys.

The I IV V chord progression for the first flat key is:  F Bb C F

There is a lot more you can do, but this should give you a good idea of how you can use The Circle of 5ths to practice playing chord progressions on your guitar!

Free Video: Circle of 5ths Guitar Lesson...

Till Next time...

Keep practicing!

K.Unruh