Chord of the Week

Students often tell me they want to learn a song exactly as it is on the album but it’s not always a good idea. As teachers, we often simplify songs to make them more accessible to beginners but that’s not the only reason to make changes. Take the song Creep by Radiohead for example. Johnny Greenwood has written a great arppegiated guitar part using a number of barre chords. The drums

Get Started Now. This open version of the Cm is a great way to play an easy version of a normally tough barre chord using open strings and only three fingers. It’s a bit tricky though because it involved muting the fourth string with your first finger. Check out the diagram below and then watch this video from our online course – Guitar for Intermediate Beginners for a detailed explana

Get Started Now. Leave the third out for a tonally ambiguous chord. These chords are often used for transitions in TV, film and theater because they leave an open feeling hanging in the air like something’s about to happen. Enjoy!

Get Started Now. This two finger chord can be great in the place of a regular C! Especially if you’re playing in the key of C and it’s the last chord of the song. You strum it very slowly on the last beat and shrug your shoulders with a pained face on, like it’s so beautiful it hurts! Try it!

Get Started Now. Need some intrigue in your life? Try the E minor major 9! “What? How can it be major and minor?” you ask. It’s rare but it’s a thing and James Bond is just that cool. Enjoy! The James Bond Chord -?E minor major9  

Get Started Now. Augmented chords are made by raising the fifth note of the chord one half step. By themselves they sound pretty terrible but in context they can be great, as long as the tension they create is resolved. Check out Oh Darling by The Beatles. The first chord is an E augmented which just kind of hangs there at war with itself until it’s beautifully resolved to the first chord of

Get Started Now. How about a nice simple chord of the week? Am7 is a two finger chord that can be played in place of a regular Am anytime you feel like adding a little James Taylor style flavor to your chord progression (see Fire and Rain). You can also use this one to start off Rocky Racoon by the Beatles. Have fun!

Get Started Now. Something reminded me of Tears for Fears and here we are. A/D is the first chord in Everybody Wants to Rule the World (the 1985 video for which I’ve embedded here for your viewing pleasure!). The second chord in the song is a G/D which is just a regular G played from the fourth string. See the whole chart from echords here. A/D

Get Started Now. If you’re playing in the key of A major, there is an excellent chance that you’re going to run into an F#m. The key of A is very common so if you’re a beginner looking at chord charts on the internet, there’s a good chance that you’ve already been shut down by this difficult barre chord. Don’t worry. Eventually, you’ll be able to play all

Get Started Now. This chord is a game changer!! Why? Because as a beginner, you can learn G, Am, C, D and Em to be able to play almost any song in the world (as long as you put it in the key of G). The only problem is Bm. It’s a common chord when you’re playing in G and it’s the only one that is normally played as a barre chord. Barre chords are hard but now you have an option! A