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need help with acoutic guitar chords


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ok, i played guitar for 2 years trying to become a "shredder". all i worked on was lead guitar.

 

i know all the basic open chords and bar chords but i still don't should like i've been playing for 2 years when i play rhythm.

 

i'd like to be able to play acoustic guitar like the guys that sing can play. it doesn't look hard i just need to know how to put progressions together.

 

i know a LOT about music theory and can come up with a progression and write i down but i just don't know how to play the voicings that these guys play. all their chords sound like they're all open.

 

it's hard to explain.

 

maybe i want to ask, how did you guys start playing chords/rhythm? maybe i want to know what are some easy songs that sound "mainstream" that i can play? some good progressions? voicings?

 

i can write voicings for piano and it sounds nice but when i play them on acoustic, mixing the open chords with the bar chords doesn't sound right.

 

what am i doing wrong?

 

thanks guys.

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Check out

 

http://cowboylyrics.com/c.html

 

Yes, it's country but there are some great songs there.

 

Great fun to play on your acoustic guitar.

 

Check out Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard for a start.

 

Get some CDs from your library from these guys or others and play along.

 

As far as fingerings for chords go, keep it simple. Use open chords and bar chords in convenient positions. If it sounds good, it is good.

 

A few weeks to several months of play-a-longs like this will do wonders for your rhythm.

 

Here's a site that has some strumming patterns to use. (Take note: the strum symbols are reversed in error).

 

http://members.aol.com/tstrahle/agrooves.html

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Yes, Virg. Yes you are.

But seriously though, his request seems pretty vague and general, I think a lot of people are confused about how to approach the answer. For example:

how did you guys start playing chords/rhythm?

This is about the only question I can attempt to answer. In order to learn to play chords/rhythm, you must play lots of chords/rhythm. I am constantly confused about where all these songs are that are not composed of chords - even power chords are chords! Even thrash metal has rhythm! What I'm saying is that you need to spend less time asking how to learn chords/rhythm, and more time playing chords/rhythm. This means learning as many songs as you can get your hands on. And not just the intros and solos! You must actually (surprise) learn the chords/rhythm! It's fortunate that you are already good with music theory - you'll be even better prepared to notice the patterns that pop up and the common progressions that are pervasive in nearly all styles of music.

We learn by copying.

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My opinion: even though you have been playing for a while, don't be afraid to go back to the basics. Learn some folk songs with two or three chords, and strum/ sing along. After you feel comfortable with the basics, move into some more complicated stuff. All the while keep in mind what you want to achieve from it, too - if you want to learn whats going on behind the scenes, then look at it from a music theorists point of view. If you want to improve your rhythm chops, then use a metronome and make sure you are playing the chords accurately.

Likely what you will find when playing rhythm and learning rhythm is that a lot of the things you have learned about leads will make more sense. The chord progression is the foundation of the music, upon which leads are built. Working on rhythm will provide a much stronger foundation, and will likely improve all your other musical skills.

Good luck!

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A great trick to learn chords is to remove one or two strings on your guitar. It forces you to find other notes that you have played on those strings and you'll find some interesting chords and variations.

It will also show you what a chord sounds like without those notes.

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A great trick to learn chords is to remove one or two strings on your guitar. It forces you to find other notes that you have played on those strings and you'll find some interesting chords and variations.


It will also show you what a chord sounds like without those notes.

 

 

That's an excellent idea.

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