Chord Fingering Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (00:26) Welcome Back Welcome back to another amazing basic guitar lesson with Mark Lincoln! Get your guitar out and tuned up. It's time to play! Chapter 2: (00:37) Lesson Introduction In this lesson, Mark Lincoln continues his discussion of liquid chords. This time around, he specifically talks about the D chord. He also throws in some hammer-ons and pull-offs. Make sure you are familiar with the basic D chord and have a grasp of what a hammer-on and pull-off is. Chapter 3: (01:48) Review Section Before moving on with the lesson, please review and practice the following:

- Stretch the wrists.
- Play the major and minor open chords.
- Warm up your strumming muscles by relaxing the wrists and letting the pick flow over the strings.
- Play the E major chord in the 'new' way and play the type 1 barre chords.
- Play the A major chord in the 'new' way and play the type 2 barre chords.
- Practice the "slanting A'" technique.
- Practice the type 1 minor barre chords.
- Practice the type 2 minor barre chords.
- Play all of the type 1 mini-barre chords.
- Play all of the type 2 mini-bar chords.
- Review and Practice New Techniques.

Now that you are warmed up and refreshed, it's time to move on with the lesson. Chapter 4: (04:20) D Chord Exercise One of the most important aspects of being able to play your chords in a more flexible and liquid fashion is the ability to position your hands in different ways. Up to this point, we have primarily discussed chord positions as a relatively stable facet of guitar. However, I'm hoping that you will remember that from the beginning of this lesson series I have told you that it's important to be able to play your chords in every way possible. Today I'll show you why.

You may remember from last week's lesson that we were talking about liquid chords. At the end of the lesson, we focused specifically on the D chord. The open D is arguably the most easily manipulated of the open chords and can be played in a number of different positions. Here is the open D.

D Major
E_2_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

This is the original fingering that we learned for this chord, right? Simple! But what if we decide to play D like this:

Dsus2
E_0_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

Make this Dsus2 chord by placing your first finger on the G-string second fret, and your middle finger on the B-string third fret. Playing this D chord frees up your third finger and pinky to "liquify'" your chord, add or subtract notes, hammer-on or pull off notes, etc. Watch!

Now we can play with the pinky finger and form some new chords.

Play these new D chords using the alternate fingering listed above.

D5
E_5_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

This chord should be played using the first finger on the G-string second fret, the second finger on the B-string third fret, and your pinky on the high E-string on the fifth fret (stretch it out). The next chord in the series should look like this (as we saw in last week's lesson):

D sus4
E_3_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

This chord should be played using your first finger on the G-string second fret, middle finger on the B-string third fret and your third finger on the high E-string third fret.

Then, the open D chord should be played traditionally or as we originally learned it.

D Major
E_2_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

Here's the last chord in the series, at least for our present purposes:

D sus2
E_0_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

Play these four chords using the strum or "down down up down down down up down" and watch me carefully in the video for more insight into this exercise. Play each chord four times using the new strum and then change the positioning of your hand to the "new" position. Do you notice how the only thing we're actually changing is the position on the high E-string? We're just changing our fingering and walking down the E to make new chords. Chapter 5: Lesson Exercises Exercise 1
Try the liquified D chords, but this time, use the strum pattern of your choice. Get accustomed to forming the D chords with your fingers as perpendicular to the neck as possible. Try this exercise again, but try to change your fingering after one strum pattern of each chord. I know this may take a little bit of work, so relax and give yourself plenty of time to get the first part of the exercise down.

Exercise 2
Repeat the exercises listed above. This time however, change to a C chord after the last D chord (Dsus2).

Again, focus on creating a beautiful sound! Pay close attention to your fingering on the neck. Make sure you are keeping your strumming muscles relaxed.

Exercise 3
Play the exercises explained above, but try changing to different chords after playing the D chords. Some of the changes will likely be easier than others, so start with the ones that you have a better grasp of to warm-up. Then, work on the more difficult changes. Try to focus on the more difficult changes until they become easier for you. Be patient! Some of these changes may be longer term types of projects for you. Be patient and relax!

Hammer-ons and Pull-offs
Using hammers and pulls with the walking D exercise can create even more beauty and complexity. Watch me in the video as I play this exercise. Keep in mind that this will put your fingers to the test! Remember to relax and do all of the warm-ups and stretches before diving into this stuff. Most of all, relax and allow yourself plenty of time to master this stuff. It really does come with time and practice.

You'll hear me say over and over again to take your time with some of this stuff, especially as we advance into the more difficult techniques. Guitar, like any instrument, takes time and diligent practice to learn and master. I would hate to see any of you burn yourself out because you're not giving yourself the credit for accomplishing the things you already have and the time to learn the new lessons. Remember that learning an instrument is really a lifelong process and you can always come back and look at the previous lessons to refresh yourself and gain a new perspective. Breathe!!!

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