A promise to @s3rg3

At the steem meeting in Rotterdam last Sunday I talked about music with @s3rg3 , he told me that he wanted to play the guitar and that in fact he has one at home a Takamine (for the people who don’t know Takamine guitars, check them out…they are awesome instruments.). @s3rg3 told me that he was disappointed not being able playing the instrument while some people that visit him could play it. And to be honest, I feel for him to have a Rolls Royce at home and not being able to drive it. So I made a promise to him to learn him to play the guitar in a way that it is fun.

One thing, I think and @s3rg3 pointed that out, is that making music has to be fun. So learning music has to be fun too. For one person they get fun out of learning scales and the other (to the category I belong and I think @s3rg3 too) play a song without to much hassle. Getting a quick and nice result works like a motivator and makes you eager to play (and thus learn) more.

So where do we start?

The first thing, and one of the most difficult, is to play some chords. We’ll start with the three Majors the G, C and D Major. These three chords, which are in a open strumming very close to each other, are the base of many of famous songs and tunes.

The tone’s of a guitar are in a standard tuning: E (the biggest string) – A – D – G – B – E (the smallest string). A good reminder in Dutch is Een Aap Die Graag Bananen Eet (E/A/D/G/B/E).

First an explanation of the image above. You see the neck of the guitar from above and the lines going down/up are the strings. The dot’s on the strings are the positions of your fingers. On top you see the 0’s and the X’s. This means that for that chord you don’t play the X’s while strumming. That is just some practicing.

See the image above for the corresponding numbers for the fingers. So If you want to play the G Major chord you put your index finger (1) on the second string (the A) in the second box, your middle finger (2) on the lowest string (the E) in the third box and your ring finger (3) on the third box on the highest string (also named the high E). Try to put those fingers in the right manner because it will advantage you in the future when you are going to play more difficult cords.

Now you will see some images with the finger setting for the three chords.

How to set your fingers on the neck of the guitar for the G Major

How to set your fingers on the neck of the guitar for the G Major

How to set your fingers on the neck of the guitar for the G Major

How to practice?

At first it looks awkward to set your fingers in the right position and I’ll bet you think you will never learn it….trust me, I’ve been there. But the clue is really repeating….repeating….repeating…..

First try one chord at a time , strum the strings just one time down and listen to the sounds, when there are no sounds beside the sound of the strings you’ve strummed then you got that chord right.

When the first chord goes right, try the second one (but only the second one) , when you think you got that one right try to combine those two. From D to C and back. Take all the time you need just make sure the fingers are put right on the strings. The moment your fingers are beginning to hurt, stop playing (otherwise you’re losing fun). While your fingers still like it, continue practicing. From one to the other chord and back.

When playing two chords aren’t any problem no more , try to fit in the third chord, again with ease and take the time to put your fingers on the right spot. You will hear when you didn’t put the fingers right.

It is all, again, an matter of repeating these steps until you play the chords fluently. And don’t give up, keep practicing…

And now your ready to play your first song

This video shows a simple but o’so famous song which you can practice and play now with just those three chords. So rock on and let me know your progress !!!!

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Have fun with song, and @s3rg3 , please let me know your progress :) And if I have to, I cross towards Rotterdam to teach you some in person :)

Have a great musical day

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Proud member of SMG

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I fully support @s3rg3 and @exyle, who are witness with their developer group @blockbrothers for the Steem blockchain. If you want to support them, they would appreciate your vote here.


They are the creators of Steemify, THE notification app for your Steemit account for IOS.

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