Overview
Playing music is very much a “what you do with what you got” kind of endeavour. Successful musicians (meaning those who experience joy when playing music), don’t know “how to play everything”. They just know how to make what they do know “work”.
This course is about learning to participate by not letting what you can’t do get in the way of what you can do.
Embrace exploring and developing your musicianship as an evolutionary experience – success only being defined by how much joy you feel at any given moment. There is no end game. It is only about the experience.
This course is organized into Songs and Reference Articles. The Reference Articles are NOT individual lessons designed to be completed in any particular order. As you explore the songs, the articles are there for you to reference as needed.
Where to start? Your path is going to be unique, and it should be so. First, start somewhere. Trust that your path is the only right one for you. Allow yourself to enter a loop, crisscross, revisit, forget, and rediscover. Just don’t stop exploring.
The “Fret Hand Awareness & Fretboard Knowledge” and “Listening” articles are very much reference articles and you will quickly realize how to use them as such. The “Rhythmic Articulation & Notation” articles are much more cumulative and you can sort this list into a suggested order of exploration. The “Song Play Along Road Maps” can also be sorted according to a suggested order, based primarily on a progressive development of fret hand technique..
Reference Articles
Fret Hand Awareness & Fretboard Knowledge
Fret Hand Awareness & Fretboard Knowledge articles are about understanding how to organize combinations of notes on the fretboard and how to teach your fret hand to physically execute these note combinations.
| FRET HAND AWARENESS & FRETBOARD KNOWLEDGE ARTICLES |
|---|
| Open Position Major, Minor & 7th Chords / Introduction to Finger Weight & Movement Awareness |
| Open Position Suspended 4th Chord/Embellishment |
| Root/5th Chords |
| Barre Chords (E-Shape) |
Listening
Listening articles are about becoming aware of how the elements of music make you feel. This results in being able to play “by ear”.
| LISTENING ARTICLES |
|---|
| 20 Songs To Get Started |
| Take It Home (Part 1) |
| Take It Home (Part 2) |
Rhythmic Articulation & Notation
Rhythmic Articulation & Notation are about understanding rhythm – both how to create it (strumming), and how it is written.
| RHYTHMIC ARTICULATION & NOTATION ARTICLES | SUGGESTED |
|---|---|
| Feeling The Pulse | 1 |
| Quarter-Note Feel | 2 |
| Rests, Half-Notes & Whole-Notes | 3 |
| Eighth-Note Feel | 4 |
Songs
Song Play Along Road Maps
Song Play Along Road Maps are basic structural outlines (song form, fundamental rhythmic figures, and chord changes), of songs. These are meant to help you to participate with the recording using what you know. They do not contain detailed information about exactly what the guitarist(s) on the recording is actually playing.
| SONG PLAY ALONG ROAD MAPS | SUGGESTED |
|---|---|
| Satisfied Mind Open Position Chords / IV-V-I / V-IV-I / 3/4 Time | |
| Save The Last Dance For Me Open Position Chords / I-V-I / I-IV-I | |
| Ballad Of John & Yoko Open Position Chords / Eighth-Note Feel | |
| My Boyfriend’s Back Open Position Chords / I-IV-V | |
| Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys Open Position Chords / I-IV-V-I / Key Change / 3/4 Time | |
| Me And Bobby McGee Open Position Chords / I-V-I / I-IV-I / Key Change | |
| Good Riddance Open Position Chords / I-IV-V / VI-V-IV-I | |
| Act Naturally Open Position Chords / Down/Up Strumming / Alternating Bass Notes | |
| Don’t Be Cruel Open Position Chords / II-V-I | |
| Coat Of Many Colors Open Position Chords / I-IV-I / I-V-I / Key Change (Up MA2) | |
| A Good Hearted Woman Open Position Chords / Quarter-Note Feel / Alternating Bass Notes | |
| Mull Of Kintyre Open Position Chords / I-IV / 3/4 Time | |
| That’ll Be The Day Open Position and/or Root5th Chords and/or Root/5th With 6th Embellishment / Shuffle Feel | |
| The Rose Open Position and F Barre (E-Shape) Chords | |
| Kansas City Open Position C Chord and E-Shape Barre (7th) / Twelve Bar Blues Form / Shuffle / Muted Strum | |
| Angel Of The Morning Open Position and A-Shape Barre (Minor) Chords / Triplet Strum | |
| Teach Your Children Open Position and Bmi Barre (A-Shape) Chords / I-IV-I / I-V-I / I-VI-IV-V | |
| A Teenager In Love Open Position and E-Shape Barre Chords / I-VI-IV-V Progression | |
| Lyin’ Eyes Open Position, Bmi Barre (A-Shape), and Slash Chords | |
| On The Road Again Open Position and F Barre (E-Shape) Chords / III7 / Quarter-Note Feel | |
| Can’t Help Falling in Love Open Position and E-Shape Barre Chords / 12/8 Time Signature | |
| California Dreamin' Open Position and E-Shape Barre Chords | |
| Be My Baby E-Shape Barre Chords / Multi-Direction Strumming / I-II-V-I / I-VI-II-V / III-VI-II-V | |
| Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song Open Position and E-Shape Barre Chords / Descending Cliche | |
| Love Me Tender - Open D, D/A, E7, E7/B, A7, A7/E, G, B7 | Barre F#7/C#, Bmi, Gmi | |
| Coward Of The County Open Position, A-Shape, and E-Shape Barre Chords / Key Change | |
| Night Moves Open Position, Slash, F Barre (E-Shape), and Bmi Barre (A-Shape) Chords / Muted Strum |