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As you can see, this is a great opportunity for you to learn how to play some popular songs, learn guitar licks, get more strumming tips, and improve your overall guitar technique- all for FREE!
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Till next time...
Keep Practicing!
K.Unruh
abclearnguitar
Friday
B Chord Cheats - Mastering the B Chord
Do you find the B chord difficult to play? Most people seem to pick up B minor okay, but mastering the B major chord is a different story.
There are some ways to get around this difficulty, call them chord cheats if you like, but they are legitmate chord fingers that will make things much easier, especially if you are a beginner.
First of all, you need to realize that the B chord can be played in a variety of ways using different shapes and fingerings along the fretboard. Let's look at a few examples...
Example 1:
This diagram shows a B major barre chord played at the 2nd fret. Granted, this shape is hard for a beginning guitarist to play because you need to apply a lot of pressure to the strings in order to get a decent sound. So here is a "chord cheat" shape that you can use to get around this problem.
Example 2:
This B chord Triad shape uses the same exact fingerings as an A major chord on the 2nd fret, except that you play it at the 4th fret.
All you have to do is...
1. Form an A major chord at the 2nd fret
2. Hold the shape while you slide up to the 4th fret
3. Strum across the 4th, 3rd & 2nd strings
Notice the x over the 6th, 5th, & 1st strings. Do not strum these strings when you play this triad chord shape.
Now, you could add the first string to the triad by changing your fingering to...
Example 3:
The numbers underneath the diagram represent your fingers.
Power chords are probably one of the most popular chord cheats being used nowadays. This is because they are easy to play, sound cool, and allow the guitarist to play chords up and down the fretboard without having to change their fingerings very much.
The following Power Chord shape get's it's name from the 6th string (notice that the first finger plays the 6th string)...
Example 4:
Keep In Mind...
- When your first finger is on the FIRST fret of the 6th string you have an F power chord.
- When your first finger is on the THIRD fret of the 6th string you have a G power chord.
- When your first finger is on the SEVENTH fret.... you have a B power chord.
The name of this power chord shape is always found in the 6th string.
Get it?
If you don't, then I would guess that you probably need to learn how to identify the tones as they occur on each fret up and down the 6th string.
There are more chord "cheat" shapes I could show you, but I think that is probably enough for now.
But let me just say this... if you really want to master the B chord along with others like it... it's important to learn how to identify every tone on every fret of every string.
Sound impossible?
It's not. All you have to do is make a decision that you want to do it, and then just do it!
The ABC Learn Guitar eBook includes videos, chord charts, guitar tab and other resources that will help you reap results and see an improvement in your playing quickly and easily. Best of all, you can get started today...
Till next time...
Keep practicing!
K.Unruh
There are some ways to get around this difficulty, call them chord cheats if you like, but they are legitmate chord fingers that will make things much easier, especially if you are a beginner.
First of all, you need to realize that the B chord can be played in a variety of ways using different shapes and fingerings along the fretboard. Let's look at a few examples...
Example 1:
This diagram shows a B major barre chord played at the 2nd fret. Granted, this shape is hard for a beginning guitarist to play because you need to apply a lot of pressure to the strings in order to get a decent sound. So here is a "chord cheat" shape that you can use to get around this problem.
Example 2:
This B chord Triad shape uses the same exact fingerings as an A major chord on the 2nd fret, except that you play it at the 4th fret.
All you have to do is...
1. Form an A major chord at the 2nd fret
2. Hold the shape while you slide up to the 4th fret
3. Strum across the 4th, 3rd & 2nd strings
Notice the x over the 6th, 5th, & 1st strings. Do not strum these strings when you play this triad chord shape.
Now, you could add the first string to the triad by changing your fingering to...
Example 3:
The numbers underneath the diagram represent your fingers.
Power chords are probably one of the most popular chord cheats being used nowadays. This is because they are easy to play, sound cool, and allow the guitarist to play chords up and down the fretboard without having to change their fingerings very much.
The following Power Chord shape get's it's name from the 6th string (notice that the first finger plays the 6th string)...
Example 4:
Keep In Mind...
- When your first finger is on the FIRST fret of the 6th string you have an F power chord.
- When your first finger is on the THIRD fret of the 6th string you have a G power chord.
- When your first finger is on the SEVENTH fret.... you have a B power chord.
The name of this power chord shape is always found in the 6th string.
Get it?
If you don't, then I would guess that you probably need to learn how to identify the tones as they occur on each fret up and down the 6th string.
There are more chord "cheat" shapes I could show you, but I think that is probably enough for now.
But let me just say this... if you really want to master the B chord along with others like it... it's important to learn how to identify every tone on every fret of every string.
Sound impossible?
It's not. All you have to do is make a decision that you want to do it, and then just do it!
The ABC Learn Guitar eBook includes videos, chord charts, guitar tab and other resources that will help you reap results and see an improvement in your playing quickly and easily. Best of all, you can get started today...
Till next time...
Keep practicing!
K.Unruh
Thursday
GUITAR STRINGS - Understanding Their Differences
To begin with, there are many different brands to choose from... Martin, Ernie Ball, LaBella, Augustine, Fender, D'Addario, Elixir, GHS, Guild... and the list goes on.
In addition to this, there are various designs, types, gauges and materials used in the manufacture of guitar strings.
So, where do you begin?
The first thing you need to know is what type of guitar you have.
When you walk into a music shop you'll typically see a wide selection of guitar strings displayed along the wall. They are usually divided into two distinct groups, or types...
Types:
1. Nylon Strings - designed for Classical and "Flamenco" guitars.
2. Steel Strings - designed for Acoustic and Electric guitars.
Materials:
The materials used in the making of guitar strings are selected on the basis of their intended use...
Classical and Flamenco guitars are plucked with the fingers and originally used "cat gut" for strings. Now they have 3 treble strings which are made of clear mono-filament nylon, and 3 bass strings which have a nylon multi-filament core. The bass strings are commonly wrapped with a silver-plated copper, bronze, or some similar alloy.
Acoustic and Electric guitar strings have a steel core because they are commonly (but not exclusively) strummed or played with a pick.
- Acoustic Guitars - have strings that are commonly wrapped with bronze, or brass.
- Electric Guitars - have strings that are usually wrapped with a nickel-plated steel, nickel/iron, stainless steel, or other alloy (copper,bronze, zinc).
Bronze and brass strings have a bright, bell like tone. Phosphor bronze are very bright and have a quick response. However, I have noticed that they tend to loose their bright tone rather quickly.
Gauges:
When you pick up a box of steel strings at the music store you'll see that they are identified as either...
Light
Medium Heavy
This designation refers to how thick the strings are in diameter. The specific inches for each string is usually provided on the back of the box.
When deciding on the gauge of strings to buy you will want to consider three basic things...
1. Volume
2. Tone
3. Playability
Light - are easy to play, but the tonal quality may suffer, resulting in poor volume and/or string buzz.
Heavy - produce more volume, but the string tension makes playability difficult, especially if you are a beginner.
Medium - fall somewhere in-between, so they often provide a "happy medium" for a lot of people. =)
My suggestion is to steer clear of extra-light gauge strings. They are weird to play and don't produce a good sound- at least, that has been my experience.
Nylon strings have two main designations...
Normal Tension - easy to play, decent volume and tone.
Hard Tension - harder to play, better tone and volume overall.
The regular Light-Gauge steel strings and Normal Tension nylon are a good choice for beginners in my opinion, but I recommend sticking with a "name brand" you recognize to insure better quality, sound performance and to guard against breaking, unraveling, etc.
The strings I am currently using right now are...
Elixir - on my steel string acoustic guitars.
D'Addario - on my nylon string classical guitars
Fender - on my electric guitars.
When it come to strings the saying is true that... you generally do get what you pay for.
Design:
There are 3 basic designs for steel strings...
1. Round-wound - these produce a broad tonal response and sustain. They are bright sounding with rich harmonies.
2. Flat-wound - are designed to reduce finger noise. They have a very smooth feel, but have a duller "mid-range" sound and less sustain.
3. Ground-wound - These strings are the "middle of the road" and attempt to incorporate the features of both the Round-wound and Flat-wound designs.
Keep these things in mind the next time you are preparing to get new strings for your guitar and perhaps it will help make your decision a little easier!
Till next time...
Keep practicing!
K. Unruh
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