Our first Lesson was to get us used to playing along with a simple 4 count beat.  This week, we add a new element to it.

Four simple chords; Em, G, D, C

The song included with this lesson will start with a 4 count intro and then start the chord progression.  Play along with the drums and the bass guitar.  Feel free to play any strumming pattern you like, but play along with the other instruments and try to change chords at the same time that the bass guitar does.

Here’s the track to play along with:

Lesson 3 – playing with a band

This week we introduce two new chord shapes.  They are very similar, so once you learn one, the other is very easy to learn as well.

Starting with the E Major chord, sometimes written simply as “E”, you can form this chord with your middle and ring fingers on the the second fret of the A and D strings just as you might with an E Minor chord.  But now add the first finger to the first fret of the G string.  That’s E Major.

A Minor, or Am, is the same basic shape, but your fingers are on the D, G, and B strings.

Playing from E Major to A Minor is a good way to get a feel for the chords without sounding too repetitive.  The two chords work together to give a sort of “Spanish” style sound.

If you want a beat to play along to, you can use the ones from Guitar Lesson 1.

The music tracks used for this lesson:

Lesson 1 Beats with Counting

Lesson 1 Beats

In this lesson, the beat increases every 30 seconds or so, starting at 70 beats per minute (BPM) and working up faster and faster.  Play some simple chords like Em, G, D, C.  Play them in whatever order you want.  Play each chord for 1 bar and then change.  The focus here is still transitioning between chords smoothly and rhythmically.