Archive for the ‘Rhythm Guitar’ Category

Drop D Tuning is likely the most popular alternate tuning for guitar. It is often associated with modern hard rock bands and easy one-finger 'power chords'. However, in the following guitar lesson you will see that this tuning has been used by well known band for decades and has more to offer than just rock chords. To tune to Drop D is very easy. ... View Lesson

Most of the first guitar chords we learn incorporate notes from our open strings. These open string chords are some of the easier chords to play yet possess a beautiful, full-bodied sound that bring even advanced guitarists back to them time and again. The following chart should be review by beginning and intermediate guitarists. It includes the typical "cowboy chords" along with some less expected ... View Lesson

Note: A PDF document for the Major Scale Chord Chart in this lesson can be found here. In a previous post, I presented a Guitar Harmony Chart for twelve major keys. In teaching guitar I find that there are five keys that are far and away the most common. In fact, any one of these five might be used more than the remaining ones ... View Lesson

Note: A PDF document for the Harmony Chart in this lesson can be found here. There is quite a lot of information given by the phrase "in the key of ...". A key describes the notes used in the melody and, importantly, the chords that you can expect to play for the harmony. The following harmony chart will hopefully help you learn this information. Now this ... View Lesson

A new subscriber to my 'Ask the Teacher' service asked for a rhythm guitar lesson. This is what I came up with. It works out three-string 'triad' shapes to breath new life in to a well-worn A-G-D-A rock progression. Check it out. I hope this is along the lines of what you had in mind, ... View Lesson

Creating guitar parts that compliment those of other musicians you are playing with will make you a very popular guitarist! Following are some of the options I think of when creating rhythm guitar parts onstage or in the studio. Rhythm Guitar Options High to Low Fast to Slow Active to Sparse Groove vs. Fills Clean to Dirty Chords to Notes Sustain to Staccato Simple Harmony to Complex Play 'with' vs playing 'against Creating parts that are ... View Lesson

I believe arpeggios to be some of the most beautiful sounds we can produce on the guitar. The word 'arpeggio' simply means broken chord. On the guitar, the notes of a chord can be played in a melodic fashion (think of the beginning melody to 'The Star-Spangled Banner') or in a chordal fashion where the notes overlap and ring together. The latter is common in ... View Lesson