Beginning Guitarists Guide to Transposing

Here is a simple technique you can use to transpose common song progressions easily. You transpose a song - change it from one key to another - to play it more easily, using chord forms that you know.

For example, let's say that you know the open A, D and E chords. You find a song you would like to play but it uses the G, C and D chords. At first glance it looks like you can't play it.

But using the simple technique described below you can transform the G, C and D chords into the A, D and E chords that you know how to play.

You can also change the key of a song to adapt it to your voice or the voice of another singer. If you find it difficult to sing a song in the key of G, you can change it to another key where you are more comfortable.

Many rock, folk, pop and blues songs use chords known as the I, IV and V chords. If you have a song with two or three major chords then these are almost certainly I, IV, V chords. You can easily transpose these chords to any of the common keys of C, D, E, G and A.

I learned this technique from a Kenny Sultan book on acoustic blues guitar. His books are well worth your time if you are interested in that style.

Here is how you work out the I, IV and V chords in the keys of C, D, E, G or A.

Step 1 - Assign the letter of the key you want to play in to the thumb of your right hand. This is the I chord of the key you want to play in, in the key of C the I chord is C major.

Step 2 - Now follow the letters of the alphabet along each finger. Taking our example in C above, you'll have D on the index, E on the middle finger and so on.

Step 3 - When you have assigned letters to all five fingers take the letter on the ring finger. This is the IV chord. The letter that falls on the little finger, or pinkie, is the V chord. In the example key of C the I, IV, V chords are C, F, G.

That's all there is to it. You can now transpose any I, IV, V song into one of the five keys C, D, E, G or A. Try it for yourself now and identify the I, IV, V chords in all of these keys. Then play the examples from last week's post in all those keys using the transposed chords you've figured out for yourself.

Got any chord playing questions? Leave a comment and I'll answer them in future posts.

How Much Electric Power Do Guitarists Use?

I recently came across this recent post on igblog reporting that there are an estimated 30 million guitarists in the USA, roughly 10% of the population.

I was working on some articles about guitar and the environment - they'll be appearing here later - and I got to wondering how much energy all those guitarists consume. So, I took out an old scrap of paper and made some back of the envelope calculations on it. Here are the results.

Firstly, I decided to assume that half of these guitarists are playing electric guitar; this is the USA, the home of rock 'n' roll and stratocasters, after all. That makes for 15 million electric guitarists.

My next guess is that on any given day a third of these guitarists are playing or practicing. Let's say they play for an hour on average. These assumptions give us 5 million hours of electric guitar playing per day.

To calculate the electricity consumed, let's say these guitarists are using a 30W amplifier. Interestingly, I found few manufacturers publish their amps input power on web sites. I did find figures for some amplifiers at Musicians Friend:

• Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue 40W tube - 180W max consumption.
• Line 6 Spider III 15W solid state - 75W max consumption.
• Roland Cube 30X 30W solid state - 34W max consumption.

I chose to use a maximum power consumption of 60W for an average amplifier. This could be a little low given the figures above, but let's go with it for this estimate. I further assume that the amp is played at 30% of its maximum volume, and that its power consumption is linear. This gives an instantaneous consumption of 60W x 30% = 18W.

With a little bit of electrical maths the energy used works out at 0.018 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per guitarist each day. Multiply this by our 5 million guitarists and we get the total electricity used of 90000 kWh per day.

For comparison the average US household used 29.2 kWh per day in 2001 (Dept. of Energy via Michael Bluejay). This estimate for guitarists is the equivalent of just over 3000 households.

This is only a very rough estimate. I had to make a number of guesses that could be wrong. Of course, this is pretty minor compared to bigger energy consumers like heating, air-conditioning and transport. But I think it shows that we can all think about our daily habits and ask ourselves what their impact on the environment might be.

What do you think of the guesses used to make this energy estimate? What kind of amplifier do you use? Do you know how much power it consumes? Leave your answers in the comments.

Meanwhile, I'm off to practice my acoustic guitar... ;-)

Not Playing Guitar

Dear Fellow Guitarist,

This post announces the new domain of this blog at www.notplayingguitar.com.

The name is a gentle reminder that when you are reading this blog, and when I'm writing it, neither of us is playing the guitar :-)

Now, as you and I both know playing and practicing the guitar is the most important way to get better at it. I hope that the new name will remind us both of that fact. In the meantime I aim to provide you with ideas and motivation to pick up your guitar and do it.

I enjoy playing guitar as a hobby, and chose this topic when I started blogging a little over 6 months ago. My goals then were to learn about blogging and to increase my guitar knowledge. I've made great progress on both of those, thanks to great advice from very helpful people and inspirational examples.

The new name is a step towards a new goal of growing the blog, reaching out to meet other guitar enthusiasts and make more friends. With a new name and identity I think that the blog will be in a better position to do that.

So, if you enjoy reading the articles in this blog, please remember to update your bookmarks and RSS subscriptions, and don't forget to tell your friends about it.

Thanks for reading the blog and I look forward to hearing your comments.

Happy picking,
Gary

Beginner Guitar Chords Progression In A

In my last post you learned example chord progressions in the key of G. If you learn and practice chord progressions in different keys you will get several benefits. One of the most useful is that knowledge of chord progressions will help you to learn and memorize songs more easily.

Let me demonstrate with a song I learned recently, "All I Want Is You" by U2.

The first verse of the song is 12 bars long. But there is no need to memorize all 12 bars if you realize that a simple two chord progression is used. Each chord is played for one bar.

The I-IV Progression

The progression in this verse is called a I-IV progression. That's musician speak that means the first and fourth chords of the key are played (the I and IV are the Roman numerals for 1 and 4).

The second verse of the song is 16 bars long, but uses the same progression. Rather than memorize 12 or 16 bars for each verse, you only have to remember one two-chord progression; much easier I'm sure you'll agree.

This same technique can be applied to just about every pop or rock song. Progressions of 2, 4 or 8 bars are most commonly found. These short patterns are repeated to make verses of 16, 24 or 32 bars.

The same progression is repeated throughout the verse in all but the most sophisticated songs. With a knowledge of common progressions and a little observation you will find it a whole lot easier to learn and remember songs.

Now that you can see why knowledge of chord progressions is useful to you, let's take a look at some more examples. This post takes the same G key progressions and puts them in the key of A. Changing the key of a progression or song like this is called "transposing".

Practice each progression in a loop - strum each chord four times, at the end of the last chord return to the first and play it again.

Example progressions in A

Example I-IV-V-I
||: A | D | E | A :||

Example I-V-IV-I
||: A | E | D | A :||

Example I-IV-I-V
||: A | D | A | E :||

Example V-IV-V-I
||: E | D | E | A :||

Once you are comfortable with those you can play them alongside the examples in G you learned last time. Compare the examples to see how the progressions have a similar sound.

Song Building Blocks

Remember that chord progressions are one of the important building blocks of songs. Your knowledge of them will help you to learn and remember songs more easily.

In the next post in this series you'll learn more about transposing so that you will be able to do it for yourself. In the meantime if you have any questions on chord progressions please leave them in the comments.

Play Beginner Guitar Chords In G

Are you a beginning guitarist wanting to play rock, pop or folk songs? Learning some simple chord progressions will give you the skill you need to play hundreds of songs with only three or four easy to learn chords.

A chord progression is simply a series of chords played one after another. The progression usually repeats every three or four bars throughout a song. Most rock, pop and folk songs are made up of progressions of three or four chords like this.

If you practice commonly used progressions you will not only develop skill to play many songs, but you'll also start training your ear. Indeed, you might recognize the sound of the progressions below from songs you are familiar with.

Without further ado, let's take a look at some example chord progressions in the key of G. If you don't know what a key is, don't worry about it for now. A key simply identifies the set of chords that is used by a particular song.

In these songs you'll be using the chords G major, C major and D major. If you don't already know how to play these chords then visit the links in the last sentence to learn them.

In all the examples strum each chord four times. When you have played all four chords return to the beginning and repeat. The '||:' and ':||' symbols mean just that – they mark the beginning and end of a section to repeat.

Take your time and don't rush. If you have trouble passing from one chord to another then slow down and try again. Go as slowly as you need to make the chord changes smoothly. You will discover that your speed will increase once you have mastered the chord changes.

Example I-IV-V-I
||: G | C | D | G :||

Example I-V-IV-I
||: G | D | C | G :||

Example I-IV-I-V
||: G | C | G | D :||

Example V-IV-V-I
||: D | C | D | G :||

I recommend that you practice the examples in several short sessions. If you can fit three 10 minute sessions into your day you will make good progress. You will be surprised to find that the rest between sessions improves your playing. This is because your mind works on the problem in the background. This is far more effective than forcing yourself to play for hours, especially if you are making mistakes.

Conclusion

Knowledge of a few basic chord progressions will help you to play many hundreds of rock, pop and folk songs. Additionally, if you pay attention with your ears you will find that you are able to recognize the progressions used in songs that you hear. It is a great feeling when you recognize a song and can play it like that.


Do you have questions about chords or progressions? Please leave them in the $$comments.

Review: Beginner’s Blues Guitar, David Hamburger

This method aims to teach blues guitar to beginners or to rock players wishing to acquire knowledge of the blues. It is part of the National Guitar Workshop series and comes complete with a quality CD where the author plays all the book’s examples for you.

The book follows two main threads that cover both rhythm guitar and soloing techniques. Both are presented in a very complete and clear manner and are clearly illustrated with examples.

Rhythm Playing

After a short introduction to some blues music theory the book kicks off with some rhythm guitar basics. Building from these you’ll learn all about different blues styles such as shuffle, boogie-woogie, Chicago blues, Texas swing, minor blues and slow blues. There are great example songs to get your rhythm chops up to scratch in all of these styles.

Going Solo

The soloing chapters of the book provide an equally complete presentation of electric blues guitar skills. This starts out with an introduction to the blues scales and a number of ways to use them to build licks and solos. The essential blues techniques of hammer-on and pull-off, slides, bends, and vibrato are all given a thorough treatment.

The soloing material is topped off with some signature licks from blues greats such as T-Bone Walker, BB King, Albert King, and Albert Collins as well as advice on improvisation to help you build your own solos.

A Touch Of Class

Not content with an already excellent coverage of blues rhythm and solo playing, the book adds the finishing touches with some great intros, turnarounds and endings that will give your blues playing a classy edge.

You’ll also find a final chapter with advice on planning and organizing your guitar learning, as well as recommendations for some backing tracks to accompany your practice.

Conclusion

This is an excellent method for guitarists with a little experience wanting to learn electric blues guitar. The book’s presentation is very clear and the writing style makes it easy to follow. The author’s knowledge and enthusiasm for blues guitar comes across clearly.

Complete newcomers to the guitar might find it a little hard going, but if you’re willing to work then it really does contain all you need to know for a long while.

If you’re interested in playing acoustic blues guitar then this is not the best book for you. You might, however, still enjoy it if you’re looking to understand playing blues in a band or jam with other musicians.

The very complete coverage will keep you busy learning for a long time making this method excellent value for your money. When you get through with it you’ll have all the knowledge you need to play blues songs in a variety of styles with other musicians. If that’s your goal then this book is highly recommended.

Beginner's Guitar Chords: Dm

You’ve arrived at the last of the open position minor chords in this lessons series. In the first two parts you learned to play the E minor chord and the A minor chord. This lesson will add the D minor chord to those two.

The Dm chord can be a little more difficult to play than the previous two. The fingering is a little more tricky, but with a little practice you’ll be able to play it.

Let’s take a look at the finger positions using our old friend the chord diagram. Remember, the numbers on the frets indicate the fingers to use to finger those frets. The numbering starts at one for the index and goes up to 4 for the little finger.

e  |-1-|---|---|
B  |---|---|-3-|
G  |---|-2-|---|
D 0|---|---|---|
A x|---|---|---|
E x|---|---|---|

You’ll notice that only the highest four strings – the ones towards the bottom -are played for this chord. You can in fact also hit the A string and it will still sound fine.

Here are some guitar progressions using the Dm chord that you can practice with. Strum each chord four times, the "||:" and ":||" symbols indicate that the pattern inside them is repeated.

||: Am | Em | Dm | Am :||
||: C  | Dm | E  | Am :||
||: Dm | G  | Dm | G  :||

Until the next beginners chords lesson have fun practicing and playing.

What Are Your Guitar Learning Questions?

Hi fellow guitarist,

In this blog you’ll already find lessons and tips on learning and playing guitar for beginners and intermediate players. In the coming months I’d like to grow the blog to help you play better guitar and get more enjoyment from your music.

To make the next lessons and tips as useful as I can for you I’d like to hear from you readers.

• What musical styles do you like to play?

• What level of playing are you at?

• What problems hold you back?

• What are your frustrations with learning guitar?

• What are your questions about playing, practice, music theory, equipment, tutorials?

• Do you have any suggestions on topics you’d like to read about here?

Please leave your answers and ideas in the comments to this post.

Regards,
Gary

Guitarists, Twiddling Annoys Your Audience

Could you be guilty of annoying your audience before you even begin performing guitar? Tony Hogan describes how some guitarists' annoying on stage antics spoiled things for him.

Have you ever been to watch a guitarist play and he/she spend so much time frigging around on the stage before they start playing the first song that you are already wishing you hadn’t bothered going to see them?

Tony goes on to list useful things that you can do before your own performances so that you won't be ticking off your public. Could you be guilty of any of this frigging around?

But in addition to Tony's suggestions there's one simple and very effective thing you can do to improve your performances. It's something I'm sure that you're already doing for the rest of your guitar playing, but it seems to be rarely thought of as a tool for improving performance skills.

Practice Makes Perfect

What am I getting at? Practice, of course, is the key. Just as it improves all aspects of your guitar playing, it will make your performance skills better, too.

A really simple way to include performance practice in your routine is to treat each practice session as a performance.

When you start to practice, imagine that you're stepping up in front of an audience. Take the time to "look them in the eye", say hello to them and introduce yourself, and then begin playing.

You might feel a little silly at first, but it takes only a few seconds to do. Repeating it will make it a habit that you won't forget when you're trembling with nerves in front of a real audience.

From Player To Performer

Starting your practice like this will also force you to think like a performer. You'll start to realize that you're playing for an audience of other people and not just interacting with the piece of wood with strings in your hands.

Remember that musical performance is about communication between the players and the audience. The guitar is just a tool, and not the end of the experience in itself. If you can get that idea then you'll be well on the way to creating engaging musical experiences that people will enjoy participating in.

Conclusion

If you want to avoid annoying your audiences then good performance skills are essential. This post has shown you one simple and very effective technique that will let you build your own. Now, as usual, it's up to you to practice and improve.