Hi I'm Jim Deeming. Instructor for JamPlay.com.
Welcome to the next lesson in phase one.
Today we are going to review what we just talked about and then we're going to add a couple more chords
and talk about what a key is which is how chords relate together and get a little bit closer to being able to play a song.
First let's review what you did with the C chord in the last lesson.
Remember we talked about getting a picture of the chord in your mind.
The C chord is the one that looks like this.
Your fingers are curled up, spread out.
First finger in the first fret, second in the second fret, third in the third fret and the strings are: two, four and five.
C chord looks like that. Sounds like this.
We don't play the sixth string at this point on this chord and then we refer to this as the C chord.
The chord shape is going to become important later on when we start playing bar chords
because this shape is one that will slide up the neck as a shape behind the bar chords. We'll get to that later.
For right now fingers one, two and three.
Check to make sure that everybody's ringing clearly with no buzzing, that we're not killing any of our open strings underneath and if you need to
go back and review some of the trouble shooting tips that we talked about in terms of keeping those open and clear.
If your hand is starting to hurt when you're doing this back off a little bit, make sure that you're not squeezing too hard
or trying to hold it too long without moving your hands.
That can certainly cause cramping and discomfort and there is no need for that.
Let's go ahead and review that C chord together, strum it a few times.
We're going to count it out, hope you're tapping your foot.
One, two, three, four. ( x 5)
Regardless of what kind of pick you are using or if you're not using one at all.
Right now we are focusing on strumming all five strings and getting them clear.
We're going to talk more about right hand technique in a little while.
We are more worried right now about left hand chord shapes and left hand technique.
That's your C chord. It's one of your best friends.
We're going to add another one though. Next is the G chord.
It is called that because the root note is the G and that comes from this note right here on the bottom and actually this one on the top.
So the G chord has lots of G notes in it. Here's another one in the middle.
So there's three occurrences of the root note in this chord.
Here is what the rest of it looks like.
That might look a little tough and it's going to feel a little strange when you do it but to review and point it out in detail here is what we are doing.
Third finger in the third fret like you would expect, on the sixth string. Second finger in the second fret, on the fifth string
and then the pinky is curled up pretty tight and hitting the third fret on the first string.
This is a chord that uses all six strings. It makes a very big bluegrass ringing sound.
It's a powerful sounding chord and in fact you almost, later on, you will be working to control how much that chord is ringing.
For right now, same as with the C chord review what you need to do to keep these from buzzing
and let the open strings ring through like they should.
Remember to fret your notes slightly close to the fret in front of where you are at.
For example: in the third fret this third finger is not in the middle it's a little bit forward closer to the fret.
Same with the second a little bit forward and then the pinky which you may not see underneath what I'm doing under here.
It's in the front half of the third fret and pressing that one down.
Again, don't go too hard on this if it's uncomfortable relax a little bit.
Focus on getting your fingers in the right position first and then apply the pressure.
Don't wear your fingers out and try to create one day calluses it doesn't work.
Here is your G chord. All six strings.
Strum it through. There's a nice ringing sound to it.
If you're having trouble let's break it down.
Some of the things that might be going on: this is a tight curl on your pinky, that may feel awkward for you
or you might feel like with that kind of a curl you might not feel like you have enough pushing power to fret that note.
That will just come with time.
One of the things you might try though to get into this chord. Try wrapping that pinky first and roll up from here.
Opposite of what I showed you when I was demonstrating the chord.
Lay your pinky down and now start to stretch your hand over and get those other two.
It may be that the way you approach a chord might help you stretch into position until your hand gets used to it
and you get some more strength and more calluses.
Or try it the other way. One, two and three.
I think most people will find that's a harder way to go into this chord.
If you anchor that pinky first that's the finger that least wants to do what you are asking it to do.
This is a really tight one hundred and eighty degree turn right here and that can give you a little bit of trouble.
Then of course as we talked about before
you are not pushing too hard, you haven't flattened out your fingers, this one is not killing the one underneath it, make it nice and clear don't lay
down on it and kill the one underneath it and then this guy needs to leave an open underneath it without killing it.
Get your finger perpendicular as much as possible to the fret board and then all you can do from here is just practice it and keep trying.
Again, do not do it until it hurts.
Take a break once and a while, stretch your hand out and then come into it again.
Now we are going to cover quite a bit and what seems like a lot in this lesson.
Feel free at anytime to stop the tape, back up and go over this again.
That's one of the great things about the way JamPlay works is that you can stop when you need to and take a break or review something
and I encourage you to do that.