About.com Beginner Guitar Lesson Seven

Part 1

In lesson one of this special feature on learning the guitar, we were introduced to the parts of the guitar, learned to tune the instrument, learned a chromatic scale, and learned Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords. Guitar lesson two taught us to play Eminor, Aminor, and Dminor chords, an E phrygian scale, a few basic strumming patterns, and the names of the open strings. In guitar lesson three, we learned how to play a blues scale, Emajor, Amajor, and Fmajor chords, and a new strumming pattern. Lesson four introduced us to power chords, basic note names on the sixth and fifth string, and new strumming patterns. In lesson five, we studied sharps and flats, were introduced to barre chords, learned to read tab, and learned a basic 12 bar blues. Then, in lesson six, we tackled 7th chords, more barre chords, a new strumming pattern, and a movable chromatic scale pattern. If you are not familiar with any of these concepts, it is advised that you revisit these lessons before proceeding.

What You'll Learn in Lesson Seven

Until now, we've been playing the guitar with a pick. Most guitarists will spend the bulk of their time playing guitar with a pick, but there are incidences when using the individual fingers of your picking hand will be necessary. We'll study these techniques in lesson seven. Additionally, we'll learn one more barre chord, hammer-on and pull-off techniques, and, as usual, many new songs to play.

Are you ready? Good, let's start guitar lesson seven.

Part 2 - Barre Chords

In the previous several lessons, we have learned three of the four essential barre chord shapes: major barre on the sixth string, minor barre on the sixth string, and minor barre on the fifth string. Let's review those shapes:

major chord root

on sixth

minor chord root on sixth

minor chord root on fifth

It is important to remember what we discussed in lesson five - the concept of using the above shapes (aka voicings) to play various chords. For example, a major sixth string barre on the third fret is a G major chord, whereas the same voicing on the eighth fret is a C major chord. To utilize these concepts well, you'll need to remember the sixth and fifth string note names.

Fifth String Major Barre Chord We've left this chord shape until last, because it is probably the trickiest of the four to play. There are two commonly used fingerings for the fifth string major barre chord. The first involves using your first finger to barre strings five through one, while the second, third, and fourth fingers play the remaining notes. This is probably the best way to accurately play the chord, so that each string rings clearly.
A very common alternate fingering for this chord is the use of the third (ring) finger to play the necessary notes on the fourth, third, and second strings. The problem many people have with this fingering is the difficulty in getting the third finger to NOT fret the note on the first string. A common solution is to omit the note on the first string, since that note already exists elsewhere in the chord. Practice playing the chord using both fingerings - it will certainly be difficult at first, but, as usual, will get easier with time. Play the chord one string at a time, to be certain all notes are ringing properly.

Using Barre Chords

You have now learned the four most essential barre chords, and with them, you can play literally thousands of songs. You should be able to replicate all open chord songs you've learned (provided they contain only major and minor chords) using barre chords. Memorizing the fretboard and getting the chord to ring clearly will take time, but if you don't practice them routinely, it'll take much longer. Try and devote a little time to playing barre chords each time you pick up the guitar.

Things to try:

* Learn all four chords well. Remember the shape, the type, and which string the root is on.

* Call out a random chord (say Eb major). Now, see how quickly you can play it on the sixth AND fifth strings.

* When playing songs, try moving to the closest voicing for the next chord. Eg. when playing G major to C major, don't slide from the third fret up to the eighth fret.

Now, let's move on to learning fingerpicking.

Part 3 - Finger Picking

Until this point, whenever we approached the guitar with our picking hand, it was with a pick. In lesson seven, we will for the first time put the pick down.

Getting in Position

Center the palm of your picking hand over the sound hole (acoustic) or pick-ups (electric) of the guitar. Curl your fingers and thumb at your second knuckle, and turn your hand so that your fingertips rest underneath the strings (so your second knuckles point towards the floor). Your hand should be in a loose claw-shape. Since we will start by playing a D major chord, we're only interested in the bottom four strings. Poise your thumb on the upper side of the fourth string. Your first finger will rest underneath the third string. Your second finger will rest underneath the second string. And your third finger will rest underneath the first string. Let your fingers settle in this position - try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Plucking the strings

In your fretting hand, form a D major chord. Now, using a downward motion with the inside edge of your thumb, play the open note on the fourth string. Your thumb should not move far, and after you play the note, return it to it's original position. Do this several times, until the motion feels comfortable and natural. Then, play the third string, using an upward motion with the tip of your first finger. Again, there should be minimal movement by the finger, and you should return it to it's original position after playing the note. Examine the motion closely as you do it, and repeat it until it feels natural. Then, repeat this process with your second finger on the second string, and finally with your third finger on the first string. Your fingers should always remain curled, and the motion should come primarily from the second knuckle down. Now, try playing the strings once each, in order, from fourth to first. Be sure to use the correct fingers in your picking hand, and watch to make sure your technique looks good. Listen to the audio clip (in RealAudio or in MP3 formats), and compare your playing to it.

Changing Chords

The general concept of simple fingerpicking is this - the thumb moves to play the bass strings when the chord changes, while the three remaining fingers remain stationary - always responsible for playing the same string. We will utilize this concept as we play the following example:

First of all - the fretting hand. All that changes from the D major to the C69 (pronounced "C six nine") chord is the second finger moves from the second fret of the first string, to the third fret of the fifth string. Similarly, only one thing changes in the picking hand as well - the thumb will move to play the fifth string, instead of the fourth. So, the pattern we'll play for the above example is strings 4,3,2,1 four times on Dmajor, moving to strings 5,3,2,1 four times on C69. I suggest listening to an audio clip of the above example (in RealAudio or in MP3 formats). In future lessons, we'll tackle a few harder picking patterns that will not include all strings being played in order. For now, work hard on making the above feel comfortable.

Things to know:

* Make sure your picking hand fingers are curled at the second knuckle. Never let your fingers straighten out.

* Your palm should move very little in the fingerpicking process. All movement should be done with fingers.

* Your fingers should move back into position as soon as they've picked the appropriate note.

* If strings are ringing very quietly, it means you aren't picking hard enough.

* Some guitarists choose to anchor their pinky finger on the bridge of the guitar, while using the other fingers to pick the strings. Many other do not - my suggestion: experiment with both methods.

Now, let's move on to learning hammer-ons.

Part 4 - Hammer-Ons

Until now, we've only played single notes in one way - whenever we've played a note, we've used a pick to hit that string. While this is very common, there are alternate ways to play single notes. The first differing method we'll examine is the hammer-on.
The concept of the hammer-on is fairly simple - playing a note, then, WITHOUT re-picking, playing another note on a higher fret on the same string. Let's examine further:
hammer on tutorial lesson learn how to hammer on guitar
Begin by fretting the second fret of the third string with your first finger. Got it? Now, ready your third finger - poising it above the fourth fret of the third string.
Use your pick to play the note on the second fret, then, WITHOUT re-picking the note, put the tip of your third finger down firmly on the fourth fret. If you do this with enough force, the note on the fourth fret should sound, even though you didn't re-pick it. If you didn't put your third finger on the string accurately enough, or with enough force, all that probably happened was the first note stopped ringing. Try repeating the exercise, and keep doing so, until the second note rings out clearly.

If you're having trouble understanding what a hammer-on should sound like, be sure to listen to the audio clip of the above example, played several different ways (listen in RealAudio or in MP3 formats).

Things to try:

* If you can't get the second note to ring, be sure you're putting your fingertip down directly on the string. If you're not accurate, you won't get good results.

* Try repeating this technique on different strings, and on different frets.

* Hammer two fingers onto a string. For example, start at the fifth fret, then hammer on to the sixth fret, then the seventh.

Now, let's move on to learning pull-offs.

Part 5 - Pull Offs

The pull-off is a guitar technique that is, in a way, exactly the opposite of a hammer-on. Consider the following illustration:

pull-off tutorial lesson learn how do I play pull offs on guitar You're going to start executing the pull-off technique by putting your third AND first finger on the third string, on the frets illustrated above. Play the string with your pick, then remove your third finger from the string. As you do this, make a slight downwards tugging motion with your third finger. This should cause the note your first finger is fretting to ring out. The first few times you try it, the string may stop ringing as you remove your finger. Keep practicing the technique, and you'll get the hang of it.

If you're having trouble understanding what a pull-off should sound like, be sure to listen to the audio clip of the above example, played several different ways (listen in RealAudio or in MP3 formats).

Once you've conquered the above, it's important to challenge yourself a little more, and try playing things that combine multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs. One of the best ways to do this is to try playing scales - ascending with hammer-ons, and descending with pull-offs. Listen to an audio clip of the A blues scale being performed in this manner (in RealAudio or in MP3 formats), and try to play it in a similar fashion.

Things to try:

* Hammering onto a note, then pulling off to the original note. Repeat this as long as possible, without re-picking the string.

* Play all other scales we've learned using hammer-on and pull-off techniques.

* Try not to get frustrated. Pay attention to detail - like using your fingertips on the frets instead of the pads of your fingers.

* Try hammer-ons and pull-offs whenever you play guitar. Most songs that include single notes use these techniques.

Now, let's move on to learning songs/practice schedule.

Part 6 - Learning Songs

We've got a bit of an agenda this week, in the songs we learn. We'll learn music that utilizes fingerpicking, hammer-ons/pull-offs, barre chords, and more. If you're looking for more songs to learn, I suggest you check out the easy song tabs archive.

For Song Downloads Please Refer to About.com

In case you need a refresher, here are the pages to check open chords, power chords, and barre chords.

NOTE: A few of the following song transcriptions use tablature. If you are unfamiliar with this term, take a moment to learn how to read guitar tablature.

Everybody Hurts - performed by R.E.M.

NOTES: This is a great way to get started with some basic fingerpicking. There are a couple of fancy parts, but they shouldn't be too tough. There are some barre chords later in the song, but don't let those intimidate you... you can play them now!
MP3: iTunes download

Layla (acoustic) - performed by Eric Clapton

NOTES: This is a challenge - a lot of barre chords in this song. Only attempt this one when you're starting to get comfortable with all four barre chords we've learned.

Day Tripper - performed by The Beatles
NOTES: When playing this song, hammer-on between the 2nd and 3rd note of the riff (3rd fret 6th string to 4th fret 6th string). The song isn't as hard as it sounds.

Free Falling - performed by Tom Petty

NOTES: Simple, but good. Instead of the Asus chord they outline in the tab, I play A7sus (x02030). If you have a capo, put it at the third fret, but unless you're going to play along with the CD, it doesn't matter that much.

Part 7 - Practice Schedule

Hopefully you've gotten into a bit of a routine in picking up your guitar. If not, don't give up, just try to pick it up one more time than you did last week. Here are some things you'll want to focus on:

* First, make sure your guitar is in tune.

* Warm up by playing a blues scale, making sure you're using alternate picking. Then, see if you can play it with hammer-ons and pull-offs.

* Review the new barre chord, plus the other three we've learned so far.

* Review all strumming patterns we've covered. We've learned patterns in lesson two , lesson three , lesson four, and lesson six. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns.

* Spend some time playing fingerpicked songs. Practice moving from chord to chord randomly, using a steady fingerpicking pattern.

* Practice hammer-ons and pull-offs for a minute or two.

* Try to play all of the songs above, plus keep playing those from previous lessons.

I hope you're still having fun with these online lessons. Please feel free to e-mail me with suggestions, compliments, or criticisms. If you're feeling confident with everything we've learned so far, I suggest trying to find a few songs you're interested in, and learn them on your own. You can use the easy song tabs archive, or the guitar tab area of the site to hunt down the music that you'd enjoy learning the most. Try memorizing some of these songs, rather than always looking at the music to play them.

In lesson eight, we'll tackle some more advanced fingerpicking, a new bass alternating strum, string bends and slides, new songs, and much more. Best of luck, and happy picking!