Essentials Part 1

Barre Chords

A barre chord is a chord where you play multiple notes using just one finger. This can range from two notes all the way up to six notes at a time with the same finger. This means for us as guitar players, that we don’t need to rely on open strings and open string chord shapes. This opens up a new world of chord possibilities that were unavailable before. An intermediate player should be familiar with four main barre chord shapes! The four shapes you need can be found in the fretboard diagrams.

The Notes On The Neck

It is important to have a good understanding of the notes on the neck, as this knowledge becomes more and more important as you progress. Take a look at the fretboard diagrams to review the notes on the E and A strings if you need a reminder. Remember, the sharp symbol looks like this: "#" and the flat symbol looks like this: "b". Try to memorise the notes on the E and A strings.

Moving The Barre Chords

With our knowledge of the notes on the neck, we can easily move these barre chord shapes around. For example, if we wanted to play D major, we simply find the 'D' note on the E or A string and then play the correct barre chord shape. We have learnt two major and two minor barre chord shapes, so simply pick the correct one. The fretboard diagrams should help you understand this concept.

The Universal Strumming Pattern

What we call the "universal strumming pattern" is a pattern that just seems to work with almost any song! It's also the perfect tool when learning how to read strumming patterns. It looks like this:

Changing Chords Whilst Strumming

Let's try to add chord changes to the pattern right away. Start by strumming the G major and when you feel comfortable, try the chord chart below. This is a very hard exercise at first, so take your time with it. When you feel a little more comfortable with doing these two things at once, move on to the next lesson.

"Was It Worth It?" To ensure you are confident with both the barre chord shapes and the new strumming pattern, let's learn a cool song that incorporates the two techniques. When faced with a whole song using barre chords, you need to develop strength in your fretting hand and wrist, otherwise, you'll get tired before the end! Have a listen to the full song here; we'll go through it in the next lesson.

Chords

Let's start with the chords used in the song. Be sure to use the specific chord positions that we are using. The chords can be found in the fretboard diagrams.

The song structure is nice and simple, as shown in the chord chart below. The rhythm follows the universal strumming pattern, which we learnt in the previous lesson.