Hi there, my name's Andy and I'm gonna show you the easiest two chords to play
on guitar
and then show you how to play them in a chord sequence so that you know how to
play along to any of the songs
that are on my web site already, and this is an example of an absolute first
lesson with me
you can use this video so that you know what guitar lessons are going to be like
or to get a head start before your first lesson with me
so let's look at our first chord which is an 'E major'
and lets get you in for a close-up
So here we are. I've moved the camera so that not only can you see my cool
Union Jack rug (which looks amazing) you can also see the guitar of from
your point of view this should be the angle that you're looking at your guitar from.
Here's a little bit on the anatomy; I'm gonna number the strings
1 through to 6; so that's from the thinnest
1 through to 6; so that's from the thinnest, to the thickest
I'm gonna number your frets 1, 2
and 3.
Open strings are considered to be 0 zero fret
I am I'm gonna get you to put your first finger
on the third-string inside that first fret
So thats string 1,2..3. String 3
and position wise you want to stay on the tips
of your fingers and you wanna be
at your side above the fret so the fret (even though the fret is
technically the metal strip that goes down)
Fret 1 is this an area here the wooden part, of your fret board,
and you want to put you first finger at
this side of this area, the side closest to you.
kinda next to, or against the metal fret
So that's where your first finger goes. Middle finger..
2nd fret on the 5th string. And 3rd finger...
directly underneath that middle finger
so that will be on the 4th string also second fret.
So, if we do those three again we have; one
two... and three
And, if you push those down with the tips of the fingers
kinda make a nice arch shape with your hand
kinda like a claw I guess (for want of a better term)
Now press those down, and strum
every string with your right hand
and that's what your first chord should sound like.
Both these want to be at your side
of the fret here, if it's over this side
it might still ring out just about
but you'll have to press down significantly harder
to get this note to ring out if you press over here
you most likely be very surprised by how much you don't have to press down
and it still rings now
and sounds great. If I play that same correct chord
but I'm over this side (of the fret) it doesn't quite ring out even when I'm pressing down the same amount
So we're over this side
And that is your first chord. Now here's that same chord from another angle
Here's our E chord, and that's what it should sound like
and the first finger goes on the first fret
third-string so 1, 2, 3 and this is also the first string
that we'd call our 'wound string'
So you've got two strings that look like cheese wire
and then he should have four bronze coloured or
silver coloured strings with on a metal wrapped around them and
that's the first string that is wound. Middle finger;
on the fifth string at the second fret and then your third finger directly
underneath
An try and have your little finger right against
your third finger.
It makes sure we know its doing, its not kinda down here
or hurting your hand at all. You wanna keep everything as close to this position
as you can to make a nice strong shape
okay a second chord is gonna be an A
We're gonna learn the second chord from your first chord which is an
E major so I want you to put that first chord down
put your fingers back where they were for this first E chord, 1
2, and 3. And now we're going to
take take the second and third fingers away and just keep that first finger
down
this first thing is going to be one with a call your 'anchor' finger
it's going to stay on this first string
and it's just going to slide across the 2nd fret. This is so that the change will
be significantly easier
and you'll be able to remember your chords better. So for the first three chords
that we're going to learn (in this course, E,
A and D) this first finger is gonna stay
on this third string it's just gonna slide across like this.
so this is where it was for the E chord, and your first finger
stays on the same string, but it slides over
slides over to just inside this second fret. Its OK
it your finger is at this side of the fret because
we need to put your middle finger directly above it
and then your third finger directly below it.
So I've not put my 3rd finger here kinda like where it was for
the
A chord. I've moved it 1 fret further down and the first finger
is holding the note down in the space. This is your
'A chord', or 'A major' and is the second chord we're doing today
and it should sound like this.
So, first finger is on the same string, middle finger is just above it
and your 3rd finger is just below it.
Now for this 'A chord'
we're not going to strum this thickest
E string. I just want you to strum
from the fifth string all the way down to the thinnest.
will get into how's and why's later but just take it from me now that it just
sounds better
in my opinion
we've got this low string that is
kinda spoiling the chord a little bit
and we want it be the 5th string,
the A string that is heard.
Just a show reason why that sounds better and why thats what I want you to do-
This is your open 'A' string which is the root note, or the base note of
your 'A major'
and that's why we have that one as your thickest string
that we want heard. So now we'll go back
to the E chord using the same method.
Keep the first finger down, scooch back with that first finger
to the first fret, and then strum.
One more time to the A chord; First finger stays down
slide it over to the second fret, middle finger above,
third finger below and strum.
sounds great!
Second chord; first finger
stays on the same fret, the other two (fingers) come away. Slide it just over the fret,
middle finger above, third finger below
and strum from that A string.
It can be quite hard to get the middle one ringing out so can you
say right on the tips of your fingers to get everything ringing out.
Keep all your fingers inside the second fret here so
0, 1, 2 *strum*
Strum your A chord. First finger stays down
slide it back and strum your E chord.
First finger down but switches over to the second fret,
middle finger above, third finger below,
and strum.
You may also see this chord written down, or you may
have learned it as kinda three (fingers) in a row, like this
This way of learning a is absolutely fine it's something you've done before.
But if you struggle changing between
the E and the A, or an A to a D
or if you struggle with any of the chord changes when you try and play this
in a song, then I recommend that you go for this A
that I've taught you today because
the idea of using this fingering is this finger stays down
on the E, the A and on the next chord that we'd do in this beginners course which is a D
And it give you that anchor point
and saves you playing an E, taking all your fingers away and then thinking
'hang on where do these go? I've lost my reference point!
Right, so now you know your two chords, how do we play songs with them?
Well we need to know about bars and beats.
of Holtby's in Obama and
A 'beat' is a pulse throughout any kind of music.
So if you're tapping your foot to a song
or you've seen and you've clapped along to bands
as thy're playing, kinda in a chanting motion you're clapping along to the beat!
Or you're nodding your head to beat! So if I play this
pulse now
is the beat, and we play that beat
to a count of 4, for example *strums 4 times*
Notice that I'm playing them all totally even
with an even spacing between each of the strums.
If I play some (strums) slower,
or some quicker, it's impossible to nod your head to it or tap your foot to it
because there is no rhythm. So you need to keep everything
Totally even. So get your guitar and strum along to me now.
So, 3, 4... 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4
Keep that going
A 'chord sequence' is
playing a certain chord for a certain amount of time then playing another chord
for a certain amount of time. For example this is what a bar of E looks like.
And this is what one bar of E
and then one bar of A looks like when written
on a sheet paper and this is what that should sound like
For example you could just two one strum at the start to the start of each bar, so on the first beat
1, 2, 3, then..
A, 2, 3, 4
3 then A 2, 3, 4
That would be for the chord sequence above. And there are plenty of songs that happen like that.
The song example I like to give my students
to get them playing along to a record as soon as we can is
'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield
which was Neil Young's first band
(So there's a bit of Rock History for you!)
So if we play this chord sequence along to me
you'll be able to do it along to the record as well
and it's one song under your belt that you can play along to a song with.
So get ready with your first chord, the that E major
Give it a strum; 1, 2
3, then A 2
3 4. 1, 2, 3, 4
4, A, 2, 3, 4
So that's just strumming 1 strum per bar
Which when you've got a new chord sequence
is very handy, it just allows you to get all your chord changes
and for you to know what's gonna happen later on .
it does sound... Rather learning harder chords
it sounds much better certainly early on if we can get more strumming in there.
So when you learn a new song just play one strum per bar
An once you've got the chord changes under your fingers
and your more comfortable
default to playing on the beat. If you can play on that pulse
that you tap your feet to, that you would clap your hands to if it was being played live,
by a band
you will be able to play along to the record
which is such an important skill to be able to do
many people who get a such a high level on guitar still can't join in to their
favorite records.
or play along to the rock riffs that they know
along to the record. So there is a skill there that needs to be learned
and I want you to be able to do it straight away even in this first lesson
So I'm going to count you in, I want you this time
(so long as the other one went OK) I want you to strum
along to that beat. Raady? 2...
3, 4...
then A
2, 3
Keep that going
And finish on E
4..
Beautiful. if you can do that then you can put that record on
or YouTube that song at Buffalo Springfield is the name of the band
'for what it's worth' is the name of the song and it will sound great
if you so wish we can have a little jam now
I'll sing a little bit for you and we can
we can play together. OK, from your E chord, from that first chord that we did earlier
1, 2, 3, 4..
E, 2, 3, and..
Keep that going..
*sings song*
one more time
and end on E...E.
And stop there. Beautiful!
I'm sure that sounded great. If that wasn't at a level
that you can get to, if you couldn't join into me then...go back
and change between just E and A
and make sure your changes are absolutely solid
and you can also just play along to the record with just an E chord
E chord, just to get used to playing along to the beat.
For some people, it's more straight forward than for others.
So if you play that first E chord
you can stay on that first E chord, and just strum along to the beat.
Try and count along in your head '1, 2, 3, 4'
1, 2, 3, 4...
in the mind, or you can count out loud if you want
And you can even try not counting
try and just feel where the beat is, or just count the 1.
but at the end to the day the acid test
is can you do this al record; Put the song on
and strum along to it. Count yourself in and strum
1, 2, 3, 4 and start playing. If it sounds good along to the record you know your
doing it right.
So have fun with that and I hope to see you for a later lesson!