Unit 1: 4, 5 & 6 Strings

4 String Chords

It makes a lot of sense to start with 4 string chords, as we're working with 4 fingers on our picking hand (we won't be using our little finger, so don't worry about that!). Before we get into the detail of how to pick through the D chord, notice how Thomas builds up one finger at a time! The idea is to be as relaxed as possible with your picking hand, and it will take a lot of time to get used to this, so take your time.

D Major and Minor

Our aim is to start arpeggiating (playing the individual notes) of the D major and D minor chords. These two chords are the main shapes that have 4 strings in the open position, so a great place to start. Find these under Chord Boxes

So, time to start practising with a drumbeat! We will be looping the D major and D minor chords as shown in the Guitar tabs section. Make sure to practice along with a drum loop to start developing that rhythm!

You'll also notice we have a few letters on the music above, namely "p, i, m & a". These relate to the fingers you use to pick those notes within the chord. It's also crucial to know that you will be fretting the D major and D minor, as Thomas makes clear, not trying to fret the notes individually (as if you were playing a solo!).

5 String Chords

We'll now move on to 5 string chords, such as the A chords and C chords. This means we'll be working with A minor and C major. We need to slightly change our approach for the 5 string chords, as we are only working with 4 fingers. Check out this little diagram:

Let's put this into practice with the exercise moving between C major and A minor. Here are the chord shapes and the tab to follow. Remember to simply loop the tab with a drumbeat until it starts to feel more and more comfortable.

6 String Chords

We'll now move on to 6 string chords, such as the E chords and G chords. This means we'll be working with Eminor and G major. We need to slightly change our approach for the 6 string chords, as we are only working with 4 fingers. Check out this little diagram:

Just as before, the last three notes are also with the first finger and simply brush through the chord. Let's again use a simple exercise to practice these ideas. We will use the Em and G major chords and a simple drum loop!

All Together!

In this lesson we will be putting 4 of the chords together, ensuring that we use 6 string, 5 string and 4 string chords all at the same time. The chord progression is as follows:

A key thing to note here is this is just a very basic practice routine. We don't actually stick to the bars indicated above. We simply play the chord as we've practised it in the previous lessons, then move up to the next chord. Have some fun practising this section, and keep working towards getting it in time with a drum loop.

Your First Track

We'll now take the exact same chords but put them together in a more traditional way, fitting in with the 4 beats to a bar. In many ways, this might start to feel a little easier for you now, but in terms of moving the chords around and navigating the fingers of the right hand, it is a step up! So, here are chords: