Week Four
8/26/2019 0 Comments
Over the past two weeks I have been continuing to consolidate the chords I already knew and working to expand my repertoire of chords, including Bb, A7, E7, and C7. I find bar chords absolutely impossible to play and have a lot of trouble putting enough pressure across all the necessary strings, so I have been looking for alternative fingerings for chords like Bb, F (which I am having a bit of trouble with) and Gm. Luckily, www.fender.com has some awesome solutions and alternative fingerings and inversions for a series of chords.
Macy, D. (2019). How to Play the B Chord on Guitar. Retrieved from https://www.fender.com/artices/how-to/learn-to-play-the-b-chord-on-guitar.
I decided the second option provided was probably the best for me, as it lets me use most of the strings without resorting to the use of a bar chord. Also, in an emergency I could probably just use the three stringed option as well. I ended up using this same chord shape for my G minor chord, as both options provided on the website required barring. Most of the 7th chords have been pretty easy to learn, as they usually only require a single change, whether it is taking away one finger (E7 and A7) or adding one (C7). However, I found the positioning of the G7 really difficult - my hand just doesn't bend that way!! Its quite hard to shift to from pretty much every chord (including G major), but I haven't found any alternative fingerings that are easier, so I am going to have to learn to work with it. Unfortunately, a lot of my chords are coming out quite muted and fuzzy because my fingertips are still SO SORE, but hopefully this will improve with time. To assist in my learning of 7th chords, I enlisted in the help of Billie Holiday and Eva Cassidy with their versions of Stormy Weather and Danny Boy​.
Stormy Weather - Billie Holiday Seljer. (2019). Stormy Weather chords by Billie Holiday. Retrieved from https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/billie_holiday/stormy_weather_chords_737196
Danny Boy - Eva Cassidy Philhf45. (2019). Danny Boy chords by Eva Cassidy. Retrieved from https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/eva-cassidy/danny-boy-chords-2604696
Danny Boy Recording
https://josephinebreretonmusiceducation.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/9/7/129796048/danny_boy.m4a
Stormy Weather was great for practicing the shift to G7 (which will hopefully get easier over time), however I did have to simplify some of the chords in my own version (such as the Em7b5, which became Em7). Danny Boy was a lot easier for me, as the shift from C to C7 is pretty easy (one extra finger). Because these two songs are in different styles (Jazz and Folk) I also got to try out some different strumming patterns which was awesome, as I've been practicing them as well. I still find it really difficult to maintain my strumming pattern and sing along, but I think this will get easier as I practice it more.
Macy, D. (2019). How to Play F Chord on Guitar. Retrieved from https://www.fender.com/articles/how-to/learn-how-to-play-f-chord-on-guitar Wallace, D. (2019). How to Play G Minor Chord on Guitar. Retrieved from https://www.fender.com/articles/how-to/learn-how-to-play-g-minor-guitar-chord