Experiment With Playing Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (06:54) Introduction and Review

Review
- Warm up the hands.
- 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-barre chords.
- Review and practice quantitative and qualitative techniques.
- Review last week's exercises.
- Practice "wrist warming."
- Enjoy!

Ready?

We've been working on the process of liquefying chords and adding notes to make chord changes in subtle but really cool ways, right? In addition, we've been exploring pathways one can use to transition between two chords. Last week, I explained how to change one note within a barre chord to create fresh sounds. Please review last week's lesson as we're going to continue to build upon some of the fundamental skills behind those exercises. Ready?

Many of us are attached to the concept of playing a chord one certain way, which is often dictated by our teachers. I've been telling you all from the beginning of this series that you should always be flexible and play chords in every way conceivable. This concept becomes more and more and important as we progress further into the lesson series. Don't be afraid to open your mind to some new and different ways of playing and liquefying chords .

Think about this chord:

E_0_
B_0_
G_0_
D_0_
A_0_
E_0_

Okay, so you might be saying "what chord, Mark? Have you gone completely out of your mind? You're not holding down any strings." True, all of the strings are open in this example but you might remember me saying in the beginning of this series that any three strings played simultaneously create a chord. Although the chord diagramed above does not sound pretty, it is still technically a chord (Em11).

For example, if you played the three lowest strings on the guitar (open as in the above example) together or E, A, and D you would be playing the equivalent of a Dsus2/E chord.

Dsus2
E_0_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_x_

If you played the A, D and G strings together you would be playing the equivalent of a Dsus4/A or

Dsus4
E_3_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_x_
E_X_

and so on. Chapter 2: (03:44) Experiment Exercise 1
Play all four groups of three strings (EAD, ADG, DGB, and GBE) and see what other chords they sound like. Also, do as I did above and compare the first two groups of E, A and D and A, D and G to the two chords that I've given you - Dsus2 and Dsus4. Do you hear the similarities when you compare the two groupings of three notes? Watch me in the video for more insight into this phenomenon.


*Note - The reason why I'm bringing this issue to your attention at this point is to show you that you can use the strings of the guitar in unconventional ways or ways that you may not have thought of. In this case, I'm suggesting that you can strum the strings of the guitar open if you like the chord that you are playing. Also, you may opt to use open strings as a transition chord, if you so desire.

Now, let's look at a simple C major chord:

C major
E_0_
B_1_
G_0_
D_2_
A_3_
E_X_

You’re all quite familiar with this chord by now, but have you ever played a C chord like this?

Cmaj9
E_0_
B_0_
G_0_
D_0_
A_3_
E_X_

This is in fact a C chord as well, and although it has a different sound than the previous C chord, it is in fact a C chord. Why use this skimpy little C chord you might be asking? Variation, flexibility, and also liquification! Watch this next move!

Here are the three chords that I want you to use for the next exercises:

Cmaj9
E_0_
B_0_
G_0_
D_0_
A_3_
E_X__

Em
E_0_
B_0_
G_0_
D_2_
A_X_
E_X_

C/D
E_0_
B_1_
G_0_
D_0_
A_X_
E_X_

Notice that each chord is in fact one note from each of the three notes in the C major chord.

Exercise 2
Using the "down, down-up-down" strumming pattern, play each of the above chords in succession. Play the strum pattern twice on the last C chord. While playing each of the chords, focus on relaxing your wrist and allowing the pick to flow freely over the strings of the guitar. Chapter 3: (06:43) Strum Hand Positioning Hand Positioning
Where you position your strum hand in the above exercise dictates the strings you are striking and will subsequently dictate the chord you are playing (especially when only holding down one string at a time). In the first chord, for example, if your strum hand is positioned near the high E-string, then chances are you are not strumming the only note in the chord you’re holding down. Consequently, this could possibly change the name of the chord that you're playing. Be aware of where your strum hand is perched and which strings you’re strumming.

Exercise 3
Using the strum "down, down-up, down-up," play the three chords again. In this exercise, we're basically changing the dynamic of the progression by adding a little pepper to the strum pattern. Once again, play the pattern twice over the last chord to maintain the integrity of the phrase.

Exercise 4
Play Exercise 3 with your eyes closed.

Okay, so you are seeing that simple is not necessarily a bad thing, right? It is acceptable to play pieces of chords, especially if you happen to like the sound of them. Pieces of other chords become, well, other chords right? So you see, the rules are fairly flexible especially if you look at them from a performance perspective. Whatever you want to play is fair game as long as you like what you hear. Your audience may not like it as much as you do, but that always remains to be seen, and musical tastes are subjective.

Exercise 5
Go through the same process as we've discussed in this lesson but with another open chord. How about A major?

Member Comments about this Lesson

Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.