What are chord extensions?
Extensions are simply Major, minor, or Dominant 7th chords with one or more scale steps added to the formulas.Read More »What are chord extensions?
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“Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce
Difficulty: Intermediate
Read More »“Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce
Add That “Swing” With The Common Shuffle Rhythm
Triplets are used in many styles of music including blues, rock and country. The basic shuffle rhythm is created by leaving out (resting) the middle note of each three-note triplet group. This “triplet” idea allows performers to include triplets in the melody without clashing with any rhythm patterns.
Many shuffle rhythm songs are in 12/8 time (sometimes called “swing time”) which is just like 4/4 time except with a “swing”. Here we’ll take a look at a common blues shuffle rhythm in the key of A using power chord shapes.
Common Variations of 12 Bar Blues Chord Progressions
The 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in chord structure and duration. It is, at its most basic, based on the I-IV-V chords of a key.
The 12 bar blues progression is the foundation of the blues. The whole blues genre is very minimalistic. Basically all you need to get started is to learn the 12 bar blues progression and The Most Commonly Used Lead Pattern.Read More »Common Variations of 12 Bar Blues Chord Progressions
Creating Licks With The “C” Scale Pattern
There are 5 basic “shapes” of the pentatonic major scale on the guitar. They are C, A, G, E, and D. The shapes appear in… Read More »Creating Licks With The “C” Scale Pattern
Slash Chords
Let’s pretend that you’ve got an audition coming up in a couple of days for a hip new band looking for a guitar player. The band gives you some sheet music with the band’s songs on it so you can get a little practice in before the big day.
Time comes for practice and you’re all set. With guitar in hand you set out to learn the songs only to find, to your horror, weird chords with slashes. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It must be some of that music theory stuff you keep hearing about. You curse yourself for not paying closer attention in music class…Read More »Slash Chords
Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent
Difficulty: Easy
Learn to play Ted Nugent’s signature riff! The main riff from the song Cat Scratch Fever is tabbed out below. In Ted’s original recording of the song the riff is played by two guitars, so there are slight variations throughout. It’s a great riff to experiment with come up with your own modifications. Give it a try!Read More »Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent
“She Talks To Angels” by The Black Crowes
Difficulty: Easy – Intermediate
To play this song correctly you’ll have to tune your guitar to open E. This means we’ll tune our guitar so that it sounds like an E chord when all 6 strings are played open.Read More »“She Talks To Angels” by The Black Crowes
“Blowin’ In The Wind” by Bob Dylan
Learn how to play this classic 1960’s anthem.
Difficulty: Intermediate
This riff will be using a capo on the seventh fret, so all notes are relative. The riff is set to 160 bpm ( beats per minute). It uses basic chords, but it alternates between the bass note and the rest of the chord form. Read More »“Blowin’ In The Wind” by Bob Dylan
Chord Progressions
A chord progression (or harmonic progression) is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that “aims for a definite goal” of establishing (or contradicting) a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. Chords and chord theory are generally known as harmony.Read More »Chord Progressions