Replies

  • Please forgive me I'm new and wanting to learn. Why is there no D7th cord?

    • Depends on how many strings and which tuning you want it in...
      • I have a four string tuning GDGB.

        • This one has the 5 on the bass306427094?profile=RESIZE_180x180

          This one plays the tonic D on the 7th fret on the bass string306427967?profile=RESIZE_180x180

          • Thank you!

  • Thanks Mark,

    Ive done the scanning and the text method, tedious. I used to use a rubber stamp on my hand made tabs, but then I need one for 3 strings, 4 strings, 6 strings, then scan and save them etc. It works, but I am thinking theres got to be a better way to share.

    I am thinking of learning the vector art thing on sketch-up, anyone mess with that for similar purposes?

  • The other way I do diagrams for posting is simply to draw them by hand on a piece of paper and then scan them - and if I'm not at home where I have a scanner I sometimes use the camera in my phone to take a close-up pic of the page.

     

    Another traditional way to do chord diagrams and tab has been to do them as text files (using a fixed width font, such as Courier) - it's a cheap and cheerful method but it can be a bit fiddly.

  • Ok guys, help an old guy out.....

    How do you make those chord chart presentations? I meant what program, software, I bet Im missing something simple here....... Ok, I read further into it and see its Photoshop. Got any simple advise for someone who doesnt want to learn such a complex program to do something so simple? (In theory)

    I want to be able to do that..........

  • Hello Mark,

    Yes, I hear what you are saying, and agree highly with the idea of having fun and that music doesn't need to be highly technical. I tried for many years to learn how to play like other players. It wasn't until I took a backward step and relearned a lot of my basics that I started to make progress. It is definitely about how well you want to play and how much time and effort you have to put into your practice.

    I strongly encourage unguided exploration. There is no need to use conventional methods. As a teacher, I offer this information for those who are looking for more ideas and a method that is systematic to higher learning and skill development. If players feel like they reached a deadend, I think my lessons offer some good suggestions. I think of my CDs as a guide for exploring the fingerboard and looking at how basic music theory can help a student understand how music works. Figuring out songs and creating your own arrangements, is what it is all about 

    Thank you for your response. Enjoy.   

     

  • Some good suggestions there Keni Lee.

    I hope I didn't come across as overly negative when I remarked about chords shapes that span 4 or 5 frets. I just think there are other approaches to playing which don't require so much concern with technical detail.

    I spent a lot of the last 20 years trying to learn the types of techniques that guitar teachers teach or which you find in books. Some I got the hang of and some I didn't. I spent a lot of time practising but ultimately it was frustrating. But more recently I've come to realise that the most important thing to me is having fun and I don't need a huge arsenal of chords and skills to do that. I haven't stopped trying to learn new stuff but I'm less bothered about it - I feel it's a lot more important to have fun with what I can do already. If I can't play something in the original key then that's OK, I'll play it in whatever key will work with the guitar I've got. I enjoy life a lot more this way.

    I feel quite strongly that many people are put off playing musical instruments because they're told they have to learn a lot of stuff before they can play properly. In contrast, many of the players who've had a big impact on me started with little or no technical skill but instead had confidence, conviction or just a determination to have fun. I honestly believe there is a great deal wisdom in the punk motto that goes along the lines: "Here's a chord, here's another, here's a third one...now form a band".

    I got the impression that Cris was looking for something fairly basic when he started this thread. So the chord diagrams I posted originally were intentionally simple (also I created them in about ten minutes in Photoshop so I didn't have time for much more).

    I think there's room for all approaches on here. I guess people are probably best starting simple and then, once they get the hang of a basic set of chords and riffs, they'll probably want more variations and more complex stuff so they can play in a greater range of keys.

    I figure I might well try tuning one of my guitars to ADf# and see where it takes me.

     

     

     

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