Nice Chords, Part 1 (Guitar Lesson)
What are you waiting for? Get your membership now!
Nice Chords, Part 1
Lauren starts a mini series in "Nice Chords" that was inspired by a student of hers. She shares ten chords per lesson, breaks them down, and discusses various uses for each. If you're looking to spice up your songwriting, these lessons are for you!
Taught by Lauren Passarelli in Pop & Classic Rock with Lauren seriesLength: 11:20Difficulty: 1.5 of 5
Video Subtitles / Captions
Supplemental Learning Material
Pop & Classic Rock with Lauren
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsUsing her own songs and recordings as examples, Lauren teaches us that it's not what you know, but instead how you USE what you know. This series covers tons of great chord voicing ideas, arranging tips, and production techniques as well as general music theory applied to real music!
Lesson 1
Series Introduction
Lauren is back with her highly-anticipated Phase 2 series on the styles of Pop and Classic Rock. Using her own music as examples, Lauren explores the influences of such artists as the Beatles, Pink Floyd,...
Length: 6:15 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
My Norwegian Friend, Part 1
Lauren teaches a progression that is sure to have you thinking "Beatles." This lesson focuses on the application of some pretty basic chords, but applies them in such a way so that they sound somewhat...
Length: 13:57 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
My Norwegian Friend, Part 2
Lauren teaches the catchy lead arpeggio line in the "tip our hats to the Beatles" tune "My Norwegian Friend". She also talks about arranging ideas and adding your own flavors over the provided backing...
Length: 6:47 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Bellabye
In this lesson, Lauren examines a fingerpicking technique commonly used by the Beatles in 1968 as well as a very "Beatleish" chord progression. Play along with this beautiful ballad using the provided...
Length: 17:26 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Middle of Me
Learn a walking riff, a 60's flavored guitar solo, a cool double stop picking technique, and some more great chords. Pack all this into a rockin' Beatles-inspired track, and we're all good to go! Play...
Length: 21:12 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
How's It Gonna End?
Alternate tunings don't have to be so confusing. In this lesson, Lauren shows how changing just one string while using some basic, easy to play chord voicings can dramatically alter the vibe of a tune....
Length: 12:57 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
The Cmaj7 Chord - Drop 2 & 3 Voicings
In preparation for the lessons to follow, Lauren show us twenty different ways to play a Cmaj7 chord using Drop 2 & 3 voicings. She also explains voice leading and how to arrive at each different chord...
Length: 11:03 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Applied Drop 2 & 3 Chords
Lauren provides a tasteful chord progression that applies many of the Drop 2 & 3 shapes taught in the previous lesson.
Length: 9:28 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
I Carry On, Part 1
Continuing with the application of Drop 2 & 3 chords, Lauren teaches the chord progression and main riff of her original song "I Carry On". his progression features some quick changes over a driving beat....
Length: 13:23 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
I Carry On, Part 2
Lauren discusses and demonstrates the lead and texture elements from her original song "I Carry On" as a way of teaching us how to layer simple lines and sounds to make our compositions really shine.
Length: 10:25 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Too Sad To Know
Lauren returns to some more basic chord voicings and strumming in this Beatles-inspired tune. Once you've learned the chords, play along to the full backing track!
Length: 10:52 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Feel For Me
Lauren looks at combining riffs and chords while exploring how Drop-D tuning affects common chord shapes. She applies and demonstrates these useful tidbits in her original song "Feel For Me". A full backing...
Length: 10:51 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
New World of Adventure
Lauren teaches a simple pattern perfect for those just getting started with finger picking. She applies it over just four simple chords and provides a full backing track for your practicing fun!
Length: 11:10 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Sweetest Thing
Grab a refreshing drink, stretch out your fingers, and get to work on a soothing progression. This lesson focuses on tasteful voice leading and piano voicings that can be played on the guitar.
Length: 16:53 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Applied 7th Chord Inversions
Lauren teaches an upbeat chord progression using 7th chords. This time around, she focuses on inversions of the familiar voicings covered earlier in the series.
Length: 12:43 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Applied Major 6th Chords
Lauren explains various uses for the Major 6th chord and teaches a simple progression comprised entirely of these tasty chords.
Length: 8:44 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Don't Look Down
Lauren demonstrates how to adapt songs that are in alternate tunings to standard tuning using her original song "Don't Look Down". She also teaches some lines and textures from the song to demonstrate...
Length: 20:18 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Nice Chords, Part 1
Lauren starts a mini series in "Nice Chords" that was inspired by a student of hers. She shares ten chords per lesson, breaks them down, and discusses various uses for each. If you're looking to spice...
Length: 11:20 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Nice Chords, Part 2
Lauren continues her mini series with ten more "nice chords" and briefly discusses how having many choices in chord forms can keep your creativity flowing.
Length: 10:25 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Nice Chords, Part 3
In this third installment of "Nice Chords," Lauren shares another ten voicings that are sure to work their way into your songwriting. She also discusses the unique nature of the diminished chord and shares...
Length: 10:04 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Nice Chords, Part 4
Lauren concludes her mini series on "nice chords" and ends with a call to all guitarists to see every aspect of guitar playing as a chance to create!
Length: 10:57 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Applying Some "Nice Chords"
Lauren takes a few of the voicings she shared in the previous mini series on "nice chords" and applies them with a nice anticipated rhythm and a tasteful, jazzy melody. Play the rhythm and the melody...
Length: 12:33 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Style of James Taylor
Lauren discusses and demonstrates a key trait of James Taylor's rhythm style. Learn how to take just a few simple voicings, change a few notes and come up with a very simple, yet interesting progression!
Length: 9:35 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Blast of Love
Lauren takes a few more of the nice chords learned in her 4 part mini series and gives your picking hand a little workout with a funky rhythm and lots of movement. Play along to the provided backing track!
Length: 10:01 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
About Lauren Passarelli
View Full Biography
Lauren Passarelli is an award winning teacher & distinguished alumni from Berklee College of Music where she has been a guitar Professor since 1984.
Originally from Paramus, NJ, Lauren received a fantastic guitar foundation using the Alfred’s, Mel Bay, Harry Shearer & William G. Leavitt guitar books from her first guitar teacher, Lou Sabini.
Graduating in 1982 as the first woman to finish the guitar performance program, Lauren also became the first woman to join Berklee’s guitar faculty & first to be promoted to full Professor.
She’s a multi instrumentalist, vocalist, arranger, recording engineer & record producer & has worked with Cindy Brown, Sarah Burrill, Thaddeus Hogarth, Kate Chadbourne, Danny Morris, Pat Metheny, Elizabeth Lorrey, Nancy Beaudette, Melissa Etheridge, Jane Miller, Louis Arnold & many others.
Her students include Derek Sivers, founder of cdbaby, Panos Panay, founder of sonic bids; Will Knox; Kyle Patrick, of Click 5; Jesse Ruben & Rob Harkness, founder of Barn Productions.
Lauren specializes in creativity, composing, sight reading, the ability to groove, the music of The Beatles, alternate guitar tunings, song writing, recording, producing, arranging & Artist survival skills. She writes in standard & alternate tunings, plays slide & fretless guitar, and approaches the guitar as a mini orchestra. She has the ability to play funky riffs and sing counter melodies at the same time.
She endorses, Line 6, Wechter, Guild, Fender, Taylor, Godin, Washburn, Yamaha, Martin, Rane, Electro Voice, Crowley & Tripp, AKG, Audio Technica, Groove Tubes, Bose, DR Handmade Strings, D’Addario, Planet Waves, IK Multimedia, East West, Apple, Studiomaster, ADA Amplification, Marshall, Vox, ART & more.
There are hundreds of performances, clinics & interview videos on youtube featuring Lauren & her original music as well as Beatle covers while she was touring as the sound-a-like George Harrison.
She is the co-founder of Feather Records, Cotton Moon Music, Wizard & Feather Brown Productions & PassaBrown Studios.
Lauren’s music is available world wide on cdbaby, iTunes, Rhapsody, Pandora & many other sites. Her CDs include: “Among The Ruins” & “Shadow Language” under her band name Two Tru, “Back to the Bone”, New CDs coming soon ~ “Playing With the Pieces” & “Blast of Love.”
"Lauren Passarelli is a great guitar player" Pat Metheny.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Eve Goldberg
Eve talks about the boom-chuck strum pattern. This strum pattern will completely change the sound of your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Don Ross
New fingerstyle instructor Don Ross introduces himself, his background, and what you should expect in this series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Jim Deeming
Jim discusses the importance of setting goals. He provides some tips that will help steer your practicing in the right direction.
Free LessonSeries Details
Alan Skowron
Alan shares his background in teaching and sets the direction for his beginning bass series with simple ideas and musical...
Free LessonSeries Details
Tyler Grant
Tyler Grant is back with an introduction to his new series "Classic Country Chops." In this series, Tyler goes in-depth...
Free LessonSeries Details
Peter Einhorn
JamPlay is proud to introduce jazz guitarist Peter Einhorn. In this lesson series, Peter will discuss and demonstrate a way...
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Amodeo
Nick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Lincoln
Lesson 40 takes a deeper look at slash chords. Mark discusses why they're called slash chords, and how they are formed.
Free LessonSeries Details
Marcelo Berestovoy
Marcelo teaches the eight basic right hand moves for the Rumba Flamenca strum pattern. He then shows you how to apply it...
Free LessonSeries Details
Pamela Goldsmith
Pamela brings a cap to her first 13 JamPlay lessons with another original etude inspired by the great Leo Brouwer. This is...
Free LessonSeries DetailsElectric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Steve Smyth
JamPlay sits down with veteran fret grinder Steve Smyth of Forbidden and The EssenEss Project. He talks about how he got...
Free LessonSeries Details
Jane Miller
Jane Miller talks about chord solos in part one of this fascinating mini-series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Bryan Beller
Bryan Beller of the Aristocrats, Dethklok, and Steve Vai takes you inside his six step method to learning any song by ear....
Free LessonSeries Details
Tosin Abasi
Tosin explains some of the intricacies of the 8 string guitar such as his personal setup and approach to playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Brendan Burns
Brendan demonstrates the tiny triad shapes derived from the form 1 barre chord.
Free LessonSeries Details
Kenny Ray
Albert Collins brought a lot of style to the blues scene. In this lesson, Kenny breaks down Albert's style for you to learn.
Free LessonSeries Details
James Malone
James explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
Free LessonSeries Details
Eric Madis
In this lesson Eric talks about playing basic lead in the Memphis Blues style.
Free LessonSeries Details
Paul Musso
JamPlay is proud to welcome senior professor and Coordinator of Guitar Studies at the University of Colorado at Denver,...
Free LessonSeries Details
Bumblefoot
Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal pulls out all the stops in his blistering artist series. Dive into the intense,...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin over 518009 guitarists who have learned how to play in weeks... not years!
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.Take a minute to compare JamPlay to other traditional and new methods of learning guitar. Our estimates for "In-Person" lessons below are based on a weekly face-to-face lesson for $40 per hour.
 |
||||
| Price Per Lesson | < $0.01 | $4 - $5 | $30 - $50 | Free |
| Money Back Guarantee | Sometimes | n/a | ||
| Number of Instructors | 89 | 1 – 3 | 1 | Zillions |
| Interaction with Instructors | Daily Webcam Sessions | Weekly | ||
| Professional Instructors | Luck of the Draw | Luck of the Draw | ||
| New Lessons | Daily | Weekly | Minutely | |
| Structured Lessons | ||||
| Learn Any Style | Sorta | |||
| Track Progress | ||||
| HD Video | - | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple Camera Angles | Sometimes | - | Sometimes | |
| Accurate Tabs | Maybe | Maybe | ||
| Scale/Chord Libraries | ||||
| Custom JamTracks | ||||
| Interactive Games | ||||
| Community | ||||
| Learn in Sweatpants | Socially Unacceptable | |||
| Gasoline Needed | $0.00 | $0.00 | ~$4 / gallon! | $0.00 |
Mike H.
"I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J.
"With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill
"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.very cool lesson!