Learn Guitar - Bass - Drums

Rhythm Guitar Lessons

Step #1

Learn The Finger Positions of These Open Chords: "A D E"

• Begin With The "A" Chord, Using 3 Fingers

  • 1st Finger Will Be The Pivot On The "G" String, 2nd Fret

  • 2nd Finger On The "D" String, 2nd Fret

  • 3rd Finger On The "B" String, 2nd Fret

• Play A Down Down Down-Up-Down Strum Pattern

  • Tap Your Foot Slowly & Strum Down on Each Tap

  • Between The 3rd & 4th Tap, Foot Is Up, Strum Up

  • That's Four Beats & Makes 1 Bar of The "A" Chord

  • Vocalised It Is: Dah Dah Dah dit Dah

  • Get Comfortable Holding The Guitar & Strumming Slowly

  • Give Time For The Tips of Your Fingers To Harden Up

• Now, Count 1 And 2 And 3 And 4 And - Keep Repeating

  • Keep Time Still, By Tapping Your Foot or, Use A Metronome

  • Keep The Tempo Slow Say, 80 bpm

  • Use The Same Strumming Pattern

• Slowly Increase Tempo To 108 bpm

• Sing The Name of The Chord As You Strum

  • Why Sing? It's Important To Learn To Strum & Sing Together

• Keep Repeating This Exercise

• When Ready, Add An Additional Up Strum

  • On The "And" After Beat 4, Do An Up Strum

  • This Leads Nicely Into The Next Bar

  • Down Down Down-Up-Down-Up

  • I Represent This As, V V V u V u

• Stream The Following Example As A Guide

• When Ready, Stream The Hi Hat Track & Strum, Maintaining Tempo

Step #2

Move To The "D" Chord & Say Its Name As You Position The Fingers

• • 1st Finger Remains On The "G" String 2nd Fret

  • 2nd Finger Now Pivots Around To The High "E" String 2nd Fret

  • 3rd Finger Moves To The "B" String 3rd Fret

• Practice Moving The Fingers From The "A" Chord To The "D" Chord

  • Don't Strum, Just Practice Going From "A - D" Chords & Back Again

  • When You Are Confident, Begin Strumming

• Play Several Bars of Each Chord Then Change

• Sing The Name of The Chord As You Strum

• Stream The Following Example As A Guide

• Practice To The Hi Hat Track

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

Step #3

Move To The "E" Chord & Say Its Name As You Position The Fingers

• 1st Finger Remains On The "G" String But Slides To 1st Fret

• 2nd Finger Now Pivots Around To The "A" String 2nd Fret

• 3rd Finger Moves To The "D" String 2nd Fret

• Practice Moving The Fingers From The "A" Chord To The "E" Chord

  • Don't Strum, Just Practice Going From "A - E" Chords & Back Again

  • When You Are Confident, Begin Strumming

• Play Several Bars of Each Chord Then Change

• Sing The Name of The Chord As You Strum

• Stream The Following Example As A Guide

• Practice To The Hi Hat Track

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

Step #4

Practice Playing Each Chord

• Play The "A" Chord For Several Bars

• Change To The "D" Chord For Several Bars

• Now Change To The "E" Chord For Several Bars

• Now Change Back To The "D" Chord For Several Bars

• Now Back To The "A" Chord For Several Bars

• You Have Now Completed A Chord Circuit of "A D E"

• Practice To The Hi Hat Track

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

Step #5

Practice Playing This Chord Progression:

• Play 4 Bars Of The "A" Chord - Start

• Play 2 Bars of The "D" Chord

• Play 2 Bars of The "A" Chord Again

• Play 1 Bar of The "E" Chord

• Play 1 Bar of The "D" Chord

• Play 1 Bar of The "A" Chord

• Play 1 Bar of The "E" Chord - End

Written Another Way

• "A" x 4, "D" x 2, "A" x 2, "E" x 1, "D" x 1, "A" x1, "E" x 1

Congratulate Yourself For Playing A 12 Bar Blues, In The Key of "A"!

• It's In The Key of "A" Because:

  • It Starts & Finishes With The "A" Chord

  • Uses Notes From The "A" Major Scale

• Keep Repeating This Progression

• Stream The Following Example As A Guide

• Practice To The Hi Hat Track

• Repeat This Exercise Regularly

Step #6

Now, Stream The Following Track And Play The Same Progression

• Hi Hat Beat Remains The Same

• Kick Drum Added To Beats 1 & 3

• Snare Added To Beats 2 & 4

Step #10

It's Now Time To Practice Other Chord Progressions

• Learn The "E A B7" Chord Progression Following All The Above Steps

• The "B7" Chord Has The Following Finger Positions

  • Hold The Fingers As If Making An "A" Chord But, In These Positions

  • 1st Finger On The "D" String, 1st Fret

  • 2nd Finger On The "A" String, 2nd Fret

  • 3rd Finger On The "G" String, 2nd Fret

• You Will Already Be Able To Play The "E & A" Chords, As Above

• Practice Moving To The "B7" Chord

• When Moving From "E" To "B7", Keep 2nd Finger In Position

• When Comfortable, Try Playing The 12 Bar Blues Progression

• This Time, It Is In The Key of "E"

• Stream This Next Track & Play Along With Me

  • It Has A Swing Groove

  • Start With A Down Up-Down Strum Pattern

    • V u V V u V

    • Vocalised It Is: Dah di Da Dah di Da

  • Remember, Delay The Up Strum Slightly

  • Try This Strumming Pattern

    • V u V u V uV

• Try Other Strumming Patterns

  • Down - Down - Muted Down*

    • V v v* V v v*

    • Use The Fretting Fingers To Mute The Note

      • Release The Pressure On The Strings To Mute

    • Vocalised It Is: Da Da dit Da Da dit

    • We're Really Playing Triplets

      • Muting The Last One In Each Beat

• A Swing Groove Is In Fact Using Triplets

• • • • It's Just That We Don't Play The 2nd Triplet, In Each Beat

      • Hence The V v v V v v Becomes

      • Swing Groove V v V v V v V

      • Played With Up Strum, It Is V u V u V u V

      • The Amount of Delay We Use Determines

        • Whether It is A Heavy Swing, More Delay

        • Light Swing, Less Delay

Additional Exercises

• Other Chord Progressions To Learn Are, "G C D" & "C G F" As Well As The Minor Chords of Each

• Also Try Other Strumming Patterns Like, Down - Muted Down - Down-Up-Down

• Mute Using The Fleshy Part of The Palm On Your Strumming Hand

• Also Learn To Mute By Releasing The Pressure, Slightly, On Your Fretting Hand