Mixing Chords Guitar Lesson

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Mixing Chords

David demonstrates how you can mix different chord types to form rich, beautiful chord progressions.

Taught by David Anthony in Basic Guitar with David Anthony seriesLength: 20:19Difficulty: 2.5 of 5

Chapter 1: (0:58) Introduction Music David plays a simple progression that exemplifies the topic of this lesson. The following scenes provide some examples of progressions that include chords learned in David’s jazz chord series.

Chapter 2: (0:27) Welcome to the Lesson The chord progressions that you will learn in this lesson involve all of the chord types from the last four lessons. These progressions include MI7, MA7, MI9, MA9, and DOM7 chord shapes. The primary objective of this lesson is to create music. However, these progressions are also excellent studies in developing the ability to switch from one chord to the next.

Chapter 3: (11:07) First Chord Progression This basic progression is in the key of E Major. The Roman Numeral analysis for the progression is I vi IV V I. This progression is found in countless genres. David chooses to dress up the progression in order to give it a distinctly jazzy flavor. Consequently, he plays these chords with extensions rather than playing basic triads.

When learning any new piece of music, it is always important to listen to recordings of it before actually picking up your instrument. Listen to how David plays the progression several times before you begin to tackle it yourself. If you can audiate the progression, or sing it in your head, you will have a much easier time trying to play it.

As discussed in previous chord lessons, it is important to isolate each of the hands when learning a new progression. Forget about the fancy strumming patterns that David plays for now. Instead, focus all of your attention on your left-hand technique. By now you should be able to play all of these chord shapes without any difficulty. If you find that you are having any sort of problems with any of these chords, take some time to review them before moving forward. Now, drill each chord change with just the left hand. Chord changes that are particularly difficult will require more focus. Devote your practice time to your weaknesses, not your strengths!

Once you have mastered the left hand, slowly add the right. Watch the way that David strums the chords at about 3:08. Each chord will be played for four beats. The first and third beats of each measure are full strums of the chord. Beat three is played as a half note. This will give you more time to mentally prepare for the upcoming chord change. On beat two, only the bass or lowest note of the chord will be played. This creates the effect of simultaneously playing a bassline and a chord progression at the same time.

Note: David mistakenly refers to the second chord as C#MA7. It is in fact a C#MI7 chord.

This chord can be played as demonstrated by David with all four fingers. However, this chord is traditionally fingered a different way. Fret the bass note with the second finger. Then, barre the notes on the D, G, and B strings with the third finger. This fingering may seem much more difficult at first. However, this chord shape is much easier to switch to and from once you have mastered it. This is due to the fact that you are only using two fingers to fret the chord instead of all four.

The B7 chord used in this progression is a new shape that most of you have not learned yet. Click the “Supplemental Content” tab for a diagram of this movable chord shape.

Chapter 4: (7:57) Second Chord Progression The second progression demonstrated by David features only the MA7 and MI7 chord shapes. This time around, the progression is in the key of D major. The chords are as follows: DMA7 AMA7 GMA7 GMI7. It is quite common to follow a major chord with its parallel minor chord. Parallel chords are those that have the same note name, but are different in their triad type. For example, G major and G minor are parallel chords. In this particular progression, the “1, 2, 3, 4,” shape for GMI7 is the most practical because its fingering is quite similar to the fingering of GMA7.

Start with the DMA7 shape with the root on the fifth string. The rest of the chords have shapes with sixth string roots. Consequently, the first chord change, will probably be the most difficult. If so, spend some extra time drilling this chord change.

Once again, use the same strumming pattern you learned in Scene 3 to play this progression. More advanced strumming techniques will be covered in lessons to come.

Note: The tablature David uses for Scene 4 is incorrect. The second chord is written as AMI7. This chord should be played as AMA7 with the root on the sixth string.

C# Minor 7th
E Major 9th
A Major 7th
D Major 7th
G Major 7th
G Minor 7th Chord
B7

Chord Progression #1
Chord Progression #2

Supplemental Learning Material

Member Comments about this Lesson

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

chuck1971 replied on November 10th, 2011

all the videos say not found when i try to open them

free spirit replied on February 17th, 2011

Use your print preview command - and select page 2 - worked for me.

shaneo replied on January 21st, 2011

The supplement content is not showing the printable view when opened and obviously prints blank, any ideas why?

Basic Guitar with David Anthony

Found in our Beginner Lesson Sets

David Anthony is an acoustic guitar aficionado. In this series you will learn basic concepts that are essential to playing any style of guitar music.

About David Anthony View Full Biography David Anthony was born David Anthony Volckmann, on November 9th, 1982, in the small town of Mount Hope, NY. As a child he absorbed the church flavored musical environment that his parents provided. With this influence he realized at a young age that music would not simply be a passive experience for him. It was not until the age of 15 that he decided to string up his first guitar. Relying solely on his father for his foundational chord knowledge, he quickly became enamored with the possibility of endless melodic structures, and the goal of becoming a fantastic player himself.

His early shredder influences came from Kirk Hammet of Metallica. During his first few years of guitar playing, he developed a very workable knowledge of pentatonic, major and minor scales. Over the years his musical interests swayed from rock to standards, from jazz to classical, and a strong love of the art of flamenco guitar; Spanish finger style. It was not until the age of 18 that he decided to surround himself entirely with the music of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. This influential exclusivity enabled him to learn more about thinking outside of the musical box. In one year he had learned than in the prior 3 years. Picking up multiple ways to structure melodies, create chords and use different modes, his writing and improvisational abilities grew exponentially. In his senior year of high school, he was responsible for the development of the first Musical Appreciation class in the schools history, and had aided the instructor in the teaching of those classes.

After high school, his focus started to rest mainly in writing. With this he realized that he would need additional, abstract influences to develop a unique style of writing. After a couple more years of playing in a small band, and writing some decent material, he greeted 2004 with a move to Nashville, TN. There he found the exact influence that would change his opinion of the guitar forever. Attempting to weed out a strong foundation in shredding and solo techniques, he began learning finger style guitar, and quickly realized the options that his door would open for him.

As he picked up more complex chord structures and jazz scales, his style became a passion for him that continues to drive him and push him to learn more. He feels strongly about the connection between musical input and the music you write. He notes that his subconscious pool of influence, developed from the music he listens to, is almost directly responsible for the type of music that he writes. He adamantly believes that in order to create a unique, soulful style, the pool must remain unpolluted by substandard music. What's that mean? As David puts it, "If you don't want to play crap, don't listen to crap."

David currently teaches Jazz guitar in Fort Collins, Colorado, with plans to move back to Nashville in the spring to pursue a career in writing.

Acoustic Guitar Lessons

Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.

Mark Lincoln

Today, Mark takes in depth look at strumming. He explains pressure and positioning among other technical aspects.

Mixing Chords Guitar Lesson

Mixing Chords

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