Lesson 1: Flatpicking
Rhythm
“Playing Open Chords, Strumming and Keeping
Rhythm.”
Prelude
Playing “Rhythm Guitar” is an art form.
The rhythm guitar keeps the timing, drive and mood of each song. I don’t think that there is a more important
role in a band than a great rhythm guitarist.
Listen to Jean-Baptiste "Django"
Reinhardt’s back up rhythm
guitarists, The
Flat picks (Plectrum)
Dunlap,
as well as other manufacturers of fine guitar picks can be purchased at your
local music store. I strongly suggest
that you use a Dunlap ULTEX 1.0 or something similar size and thickness for
playing the acoustic guitar.
Introduction
In the first lesson, you will learn how to play the open chords properly. We
will be working with the following chords: A, B7, C, D, E, F and G. You can get
a quick visual picture of how to play these chords by clicking here: Chord Chart Diagrams.
Open chords are chords that are not barred (use Google if you do not understand
what a barre chord is and how it is played on the
guitar). You may have been playing the guitar for a long time never realizing
that some chords are fingered different ways. Please play them the way that I
suggest so that you can follow my instructions in the future.
Tablature
I have created tablature files for each chord. These tablature files will show
you how to play each chord. If you have not had any experience working with
tablature files, there are many resources on the web that can help you. Go to
Google and enter "how to read guitar tablature". One very basic site
explaining tablature can be found here.
Exercises:
I have created individual files for each chord that I want you to learn. I want
you to spend time with each individual chord and learn how to play patterns
that are unique to each chord. Work with each of the chords until you are
comfortable playing each chord’s bass and rhythm. Don't rush. It's critical
that you spend as much time as you need getting comfortable with the patterns
for playing each chord.
As you begin keep in mind the following things:
1. Each and every exercise begins with the bass notes for each chord. These
base notes are played using your pick (plectrum) and all of the notes and
strums are on the down stroke except for
the C chord after the 7th bar.
The one note is played with an upstroke to make it a little more interesting
for you. These 2 notes are “Eighth notes”
so they are played twice as fast as the quarter notes.
2. Your fingers will be in the chord position while playing these exercises.
Now it's time to have some fun and start practicing! Go through each chord, and
spend as much time as you need to get comfortable playing the patterns. This is
not a race! For some players, learning the patterns might take 10 minutes, and
for others this might take weeks. Just
take your time, learn the patterns, and have fun.
The C Chord
The D
Chord
The E Chord
The F Chord
Note: *** To play the F chord, T is thumb. This is a difficult chord to play
and it will take awhile for you to master it. Please Be Patient!
The G Chord
Note: *** To play the G chord, please play it exactly the way it is listed on
the “Chord Chart” diagram…very important!
The A Chord
The B7
Chord