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Guitar From Scratch (© 2001; ISBN 0-9665029-4-9) 84 Pages |
Guitar From Scratch?
“Scratch,” as in something being “from scratch,” is a funny kind of expression, don’t you think? It turns out that it means: “proceeding from the starting line, or a scratch in the dirt, as in a race.” This leads to a more general definition: “to come from nothing, to be without advantage.” If this describes your current relationship with the guitar, then, boy, have I got a book for you.
But why would this tired old world need yet another beginning guitar book? Well, I think the world is probably tired of authors who teach beginning guitar as if they are teaching organic chemistry. In Latin. But I am willing and able to make your first dabblings with the guitar, in a word, fun. Or at least not so mind-numbingly boring.
I’ve been teaching guitar lessons full-time since 1986. In 1997, I decided to make my teaching methods available to a wider audience, and over the next three years I wrote three books about guitar theory under the title Music Principles for the Skeptical Guitarist, described elsewhere on this web site. Since these theory books have done much better than I expected they would, I’m encouraged to keep writing. Actually, it may now be difficult to shut me up.
Guitar From Scratch is my attempt to go back to the beginning, back to that scratch in the dirt. You know, I have come to believe, truly, that Star War’s George Lucas and I are kindred spirits, and I’m sure he feels the same way. After George Lucas created his trilogy, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, he returned to his own scratch in the dirt with The Phantom Menace. I had originally planned to name this book The Phantom Menace, but settled on Guitar From Scratch in deference to Mr. Lucas.
But I digress. This book is all about CHORDS. For now, forget about reading music. Forget about playing single-note leads. And forget about music theory. Focus on the mechanics of PLAYING CHORDS, which is the single most important function of the guitar from “Happy Birthday” to the Beatles, from Nirvana to the Bossa Nova. May the chords be with you.
Table of Contents
| Preliminaries Choice of guitar Picks, capos and the neck Fretting and tuning Relative tuning Chords and chords E Minor chord Some principles E Major chord A Minor chord Switching from Em to Am C Major chord Switching from Em to Am to C G Major chord Switching between G and C Teamwork Sympathy and more G chords Song Examples D Major Chord The G Chord Family - song examples The Rhythm Changes F Major chord D Minor chord The C Chord Family - song examples Strumming Away Down-Up motion Notation Rock Strum Pattern Folk Strum Pattern Country Strum Pattern Hip Hop Strum Pattern The D Chord Family - song examples A Major chord B Minor and B Minor-seventh chords Seventh chords - D7, G7 and A7 |
1 - 4 - 5 substitutions The A Chord Family - song examples Switching from A to D to E to E7 The E Chord Family - song examples B7 chord The Circle of Fifths Progressions in C, G and D Strumming, Part Two Escape hatch Jazz chords Major-seventh chords Minor-seventh chords Suspended chords Anchor chords Chord Review Fingerpicking Notation and the Tier System Arpeggios and Tablature ¾ Time Arpeggios in the wild Travis-Style fingerpicking 5/4 and 6/4 bass patterns Inside-Out picking patterns Outside-In picking patterns Pinch patterns Strumming, Part Three (variations) Power chords: E-shape and A-shape Barre chords: E-shape and A-shape 1 - 4 - 5 and Rhythm Changes Epilogue Appendix A: Bunches of Useful Chords Appendix B: Using the capo to make key changes |
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