Learn Guitar Online – Amazing Blues Chord Progressions

Progressive LearningMusic can be divided into two schools of thinking: classical and jazz; if we look closely at the type of harmonic progressions used in jazz we will discover that they are largely blues based progressions, most guitar players are familiar with the basic blues progressions however not many progress too deeply into the more sophisticated blues generally because they don’t know where to start.

I’ll concentrate on the standard twelve bar format for today’s article but don’t forget to do some research into the eight, sixteen and twenty-four bar forms of the blues.

All progressions will be presented in the key of C.

Let’s start with a simple twelve bar blues so we can us it as a reference template for more complex progressions.

Progression #1

C /// | C /// | C /// | C /// |

F /// | F /// | C /// | C /// |

G7 ///| G7/// | C /// | G7/// || C (last time)

In our first progression notice the ‘F’ chord in bar five; the ‘C’ chord in bar seven and the ‘G7; chord in bar ten. Read the rest of this entry »

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Learn Guitar Lesson: The Quickest Way To Learn Songs – So Simple It Will Seem Like Cheating

Progressive LearningDo you spend hours trying to learn songs only to be frustrated yet again when you next pick up the guitar to find that you have forgotten the song(s) you have spent countless hours trying to memorise? Well, you are not on your own, 95% of newbie guitarists feel exactly the same way.

But what if there was another way to learn and instantly recall songs and information you have already practised? The great news is there is… the trick is to learn via connected learning, whereby new information is related to information you already know.

Here’s how to apply connected learning to your guitar playing:

Step 1: Study popular chord progressions – instead of learning random chords study which chords work together e.g., the G – Em – C – D chord progression has been a popular chord sequence for many years, hundreds of hit songs have been based on this progression

Step 2: Learn via chord templates – once you find a chord progression you like keep your eyes and ears peeled for this chord progression in the music you are listening to. Check out how different songwriters use variations of this progression.

Here are some common chord templates for the G – Em – C – D sequence.

(a) G /// | Em /// | C /// | D /// ||

(b) G /// | G /// | Em /// | Em /// | C /// | C /// | D /// |D /// ||

(c) G /// | G /// | Em /// | Em /// | C /// | D /// | G /// |G /// ||

Step 3: Apply these templates to Songs: As you play songs look for the similarities in the chord progressions, you will be amazed how many songs have the exact same sequence. Read the rest of this entry »

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Why Would Anyone Want to Learn Chords Or Chord Progressions?

Progressive LearningThe short answer is “understanding”. By learning chords and how they are formed and used, we are getting inside of music to see what it is made of. It’s like having an x-ray machine that looks deep inside of an object, to see what makes that object tick. And by learning chord progressions, we see how composers link chords together into meaningful segments called “phrases” and “sections”.

The long answer is that chords and progressions contribute to making a musician complete. It’s great to be able to read music, and we certainly should pursue that goal. But if we are lost without music, then we need some music theory understanding to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and understanding.

There’s a famous story about a world-class concert pianist who when asked to play “Happy Birthday” at a friends’ home couldn’t do it because there was no sheet music available for it in that home. That’s an extreme and pathetic example, but many lesser embarrassments happen every day around the world because piano players don’t know theory and don’t understand how chords tie everything together.

So how can a person learn about chords and chord progressions in a reasonably short period of time? It’s great if you have a teacher who can teach you music theory and is willing to do so, but even if you don’t, there are great resources online so any reasonably intelligent adult can get up to speed quickly. Just type in “lessons on chords” or “chord progressions” or “music theory” into any search engine, and you will find a plethora of sites available on the subject. Read the rest of this entry »

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