Lesson 9 & 10 - Playing the Chords

[ScottMFL]

Before I ask my question, some background. I'm new to guitar (about 5 weeks) and I'm really enjoying the lessons, and the hints on the forum.

In between building the calluses and pushing my hands and fingers into positions they've never before been in I'm parallel tracking GTMU and BBG.

In lesson 9 and 10 of GTMU I ran into a roadblock. Griff suggests near the end of lesson 10 that playing the chords that were defined during the exercises is a great way to learn the sounds. I agree, but don't know where to begin.

Did I miss something? I know only few chords (E7, A7, B7, D7, and last night I started in on G7 - I'm learning the new chords while I get down the chord changes in Example 11 of BBG ). So in what lesson or course would I learn how to form a D# Minor chord, for example? Did I run into a spot in the lesson that might be a bit advanced for my present experience level? If so, I can file this for the future. If not I need to go back and review something.

 

[dvs]

What is your musical background, aside from 5 weeks with your guitar? If that's it, and you're asking "what are the notes that make up a D#min chord, then this is the course for that and you may be in a little over your head. If you've got some musical background and you know what notes make up the chord (root, minor third, fifth = D#, F#, A#), and you're wondering how to play that on a guitar then you need to learn some moveable chord shapes (E & A shaped bar chords, major & minor, at a minimum). You'll eventually get there with BBG and BGU.

 

[ScottMFL]

What is your musical background, aside from 5 weeks with your guitar? If that's it, and you're asking "what are the notes that make up a D#min chord, then this is the course for that and you may be in a little over your head. If you've got some musical background and you know what notes make up the chord (root, minor third, fifth = D#, F#, A#), and you're wondering how to play that on a guitar then you need to learn some moveable chord shapes (E & A shaped bar chords, major & minor, at a minimum). You'll eventually get there with BBG and BGU.

Thanks - this helps a lot.. The notes that make up the D# Min chord (or any chord for that matter) are a part of the lesson and I did real well on the exercise that both constructs the chord and finds the key.

"Movable Chord Shapes" - that is, where to play it on the guitar, is exactly what I was looking for. I'll file this part of the GTMU lesson until I receive the education. I now know what to look for. I've not yet reached the barre chord lesson but I understand what it is - executing the technique should be an interesting adventure.

I appreciate the response and the insights as I'm the type that will bang my head against the wall until I figure it out. Better to press on now and wait for the knowledge backfill. It will all come together when it's supposed to. Moving ahead is a better use of my time.

As to your question on my background - when I was young I played trumpet, and I took a course in music theory in college. Some of what Griff is teaching in GTMU is either familiar or rusty knowledge. For me this course is a perfect complement to what I am learning in BBG and I'm glad that I chose to parallel track the courses.

 

[Paleo]

From the GTMU course intro on page 5:

"One last thing before we begin... I'm probably going to talk about chords and scales that you don't already know how to play. As much as I would love to include every possible chord voicing and scale pattern, it just doesn't make sense to try and do that here."

"There are so many places to find scale fingerings and chord voicings, that if you need to find one I'm sure you'll have no trouble."



For Lessons 9 & 10 any voicing (open position or barre) of each chord will be fine for "hearing the sound".

A "basic", introductory chord encyclopedia would help while you're waiting to learn more from Griff's courses.

I would also suggest concentrating on the more "common" chords that you are more likely to run into.

I don't think Griff will be asking you to play a D#m chord very often.

(But pages 42 & 46 in BBG will be helpful when he does.)

 

[ScottMFL]

From the GTMU course intro on page 5:

"One last thing before we begin... I'm probably going to talk about chords and scales that you don't already know how to play. As much as I would love to include every possible chord voicing and scale pattern, it just doesn't make sense to try and do that here."

"There are so many places to find scale fingerings and chord voicings, that if you need to find one I'm sure you'll have no trouble."



For Lessons 9 & 10 any voicing (open position or barre) of each chord will be fine for "hearing the sound".

A "basic", introductory chord encyclopedia would help while you're waiting to learn more from Griff's courses.

I would also suggest concentrating on the more "common" chords that you are more likely to run into.

I don't think Griff will be asking you to play a D#m chord very often.

(But pages 42 & 46 in BBG will be helpful when he does.)

Thanks Paleo. I'm sure this will make more sense once I get through the barre chord lesson in BBG. D#m was just an example. It happened to be the chord at the top of the page I was on when I wrote the question.

Its something that I can work on over time - add in a chord here, a chord there. Instead of looking them up online I may go old school and buy a book.

My education is at the point where I can read the chord diagram and find the right spot on the guitar. Maybe not playing the chord without buzzing (started practicing G7 last night) but the fingers are in the correct zip code. Translating a chord progression of I, vi, ii, V in the key of A from the GTMU manual through my memory to the guitar will take a bit of time. I actually started to write out the chord diagrams for this progression but figured out that I was in over my head.

It will get there. All things in due time. Appreciate the comments and suggestions.

 

[david moon]

Well there are "open" chords that you play down at the nut: E A B7 G C D F. Some people call these the "cowboy chords" because they are used so often in country and folk music.

When you get into barre chords, most are based on the E shape (and its variants E7, Em) or the A shape (and its variants A7,Am). In the E shapes the root is on the 6th string. In the A shapes the root is on the 5th string

If you're looking for a D#minor, start with Am at the nut. Then use the moveable barre form at the 2nd fret- Bm
Then at the 3rd fret- Cm
5th fret- Dm
6th fret- D#m Voila!

 

[ScottMFL]

Thanks David. Appreciate yours and all the responses. They have provided a learning path, and prevented me from going down a rabbit hole.