A Minor Progression (Guitar Lesson)

Chapter 1: (07:54) Introduction

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.

Ready?

Combining quantitative and qualitative changes can be one of the keys to becoming a great rhythm guitar player. There are literally endless possibilities when it comes to synthesizing changes in strum volume, strum speed, chord structures and fingerings, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc. This week's lesson covers a progression that is similar to an exercise we did weeks ago and utilizes qualitative and quantitative changes.

We will use the following Am chords played at the fifth fret:

Am
E_5_
B_5_
G_5_
D_7_
A_7_
E_5_

Am(maj7)
E_5_
B_5_
G_5_
D_6_
A_7_
E_5_

Am7
E_5_
B_5_
G_5_
D_5_
A_7_
E_5_

D9
E_5_
B_5_
G_5_
D_4_
A_5_
E_x_

If you are having trouble getting a clean sound with barre chords, keep practicing! Focus your attention on the muscles in the index finger. The more you can strengthen the muscles that control your first finger, the better your barre chords will sound. We'll use this progression to practice both qualitative and quantitative changes in addition to barre chords. Chapter 2: (03:50) Exercise 1 Exercise 1
Master each of the four chords explained above individually before trying to put them together. To play the initial Am chord, barre all six strings at the fifth fret. Place your third finger on the A string, 7th fret and your pinky on the D string, 7th fret. This is a chord that we covered many lessons ago and I’m hoping that all of you have been practicing it as part of the review section. Play the second chord, Am(maj7), by barring all six strings as before with your first finger. Place your ring finger on the A string, 7th fret and your second finger on the D string, 6th fret. Notice that you’ve moved your pinky from the D string on the 7th fret to the 6th fret. You’ve merely dropped one fret and exchanged fingers. Play the third chord, Am7 chord by barring all six strings with your first finger and simply removing your second finger from the D string. Keep your third finger in its place on the A string, 7th fret. The last chord in the series, D9, is by far the most difficult and requires a different hand configuration. Take a close look at the chord. Notice how one of your fingers will need to be on the D string on the fourth fret. This basically implies that you will not be able to simply barre all six strings across the neck of the guitar. Remember the slanting “A” technique that I’ve been talking about and have kept in the review section for weeks? This could come in handy here! Use your third finger and instead of placing it on the second fret in the A position, use it to bar the G, B, and high E strings on the fifth fret.

Watch me in the video for more on this. Press down hard to make good contact with the strings and produce a nice clean sound. Once you feel comfortable with that portion of the chord, place your first finger on the D string, 4th fret and your middle finger on the A string, 5th fret. Are you able to keep your third finger in place across the G, B, and E strings after you’ve placed your first and second fingers? Chapter 3: (01:40) Exercise 2 Exercise 2
Practice going from the third to the fourth chord in the series or from Am7 to D9. This is the most difficult change in this progression and will likely require some practice to master. Play the two chords over and over again while getting a feel for how your chord hand will need to change positions. As you’ll notice, the Am7 chord can be formed by keeping your hand in relatively the same position as the two previous chords (Am and Am(maj7)). Your thumb should be positioned behind the first finger on the back of the neck of the guitar. But when you switch to the D9 chord, you’ll notice that your chord hand needs to turn clockwise and your thumb ends up perpendicular to the neck and possibly comes over the top of the neck. You should follow any inclination that your hand is taking as a natural shift. I’ve touched upon this aspect of flexibility in hand structure in past lessons. Your hand will need to change positions at times, especially when playing more difficult chords, and you should avoid fighting this inclination. The hand will tell you what to do! Get a feel for the changes that your hand is making and practice strumming the two chords lightly.

*Please note that you may need to allow yourself some extra time at the beginning and even during some of these exercises to stretch out your hands and wrists. Some of the chords may be fairly challenging to some of you, and stretching will help you get a better feel for how to form the chords properly. Chapter 4: (03:27) Exercise 3 Exercise 3
Once you’ve established a good feel for the changes, play the four chords using the strum or "down, down, down-down." Strike the tonic (usually the lowest note in the chord) first before each strum. Watch me in the video for a demonstration of this strum pattern. Play each chord four times to get comfortable with it. Then, play one strum pattern on each chord. The last two are tricky, so play the progression slowly at first until you get a better feel for it.

Eyes Wide Shut
As if this progression wasn’t tricky enough! Once you feel comfortable with this progression, close your eyes and play the four chords again. Pay close attention to how the chords feel and how your hand needs to change position to accommodate the chord changes. Use the concept of finger glue to get a clear mental and physical picture of what the chords should “look” like in your head as well as on your hand. Once you’ve done this for a few minutes, open your eyes and try the exercises listed above again. Do you notice any differences? Are you able to hit the chords any better now or was the exercise a complete waste of time? Chapter 5: (02:13) Exercise 4 Exercise 4
Now that you’ve got a better handle on the chords at hand, let’s make some modifications! Play the four chords again. This time however, use the palm muting technique that we discussed some weeks ago. It might be a good time to go back and review if you are unclear as to how this technique is performed. Play the four chords through using the same strum pattern listed above. Pay attention to how different this progression sounds with the palm muting technique. Play through the chords slowly at first and then a little faster as you get a feel for it. Keep in mind that we’ve just made a qualitative change in this progression as we’ve changed the overall quality of the sound. Chapter 6: (00:54) Exercise 5 Exercise 5
Play the four chords again. Now, make a quantitative change in the rhythm. This time through, play or "down, down, down." The third downstroke is skipped. You will need to keep your time straight in this exercise and focus on counting the beat that you are not playing. I realize that this sounds confusing, and I’ll explain. Since you are removing one of your strums, you will need to find a way to count the beat out so you don’t lose time in your rhythm. You can count it in your head, by tapping your foot, or by tapping gently on the guitar strings. The latter of these techniques is usually the preferred technique by most professionals that I know. This is not to say that it is the only way by any stretch. You will need to find your own way. I am simply your humble guide.

There is no doubt that these exercises are becoming more and more difficult and I’m hoping that some of you are not getting too frustrated. As always, feel free to go back and review previous lessons to get tips and insight into technique and information that we’ve covered. Most of all, please go through the review section and warm up your hands, wrists, and most of all, your mind! There is such a strong mental component to playing any instrument, Consequently, it is of the utmost importance that you prepare your mind for learning in order to get the most out of the lessons. Keep jammin’ everybody!

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