And the other four just don’t exist.

So today I’ll be going over how to absolutely ace the hammer on and pull off technique for guitar, along with exercises and licks to put it into practice too.

Let’s roll.

The Hammer On Technique

A hammer on is basically a way of playing a note without having to pluck it.

So to visualize this, imagine a Blacksmith away in some isolated, soot-covered, Viking workshop in northern Scandinavia…

He’s been given orders by Erik to make him a sick-ass new sword that’ll get his wife back from Bjørn. So he heats the metal up, raises his hammer, curses in some Nordic gibberish as touches it and burns his pinkie, and then brings it down to hit the metal.

The result? A high pitch in the form of a chink. And a hammer on functions in the same way on guitar. We’ll want to think of our fingers as the hammers in this guy’s workshop, and the string as the metal we are hitting.

So to actually do this on guitar:

1. Find a note that feels comfortable to you, and put your 1st finger there. For me, that’ll be the 7th fret of the G string.

2. Play this note, and without plucking it again, slam down your 3rd finger on the 9th fret of the same string. Just like a Blacksmith’s hammer.

3. Hear a noise? Congratulations! You’ve just done a hammer on.

So do this a few more times to get used to the action, and aim to get a clear sounding hammered note.

The trick is to not be too rigid or tense, and try to hit the area of the string closest to the metal fret. This’ll make hammer ons way easier down the line, and prevent any note buzz.

Then after that, you’re ready for the other one!

The Pull Off Technique

The concept of the pull off technique for guitar is similar to the hammer on technique. You’re making two notes out of only plucking a string once.

But because I’ve run out of completely unrelated amazing analogies, I’ll just get straight to the technique on this one:

1. Find a note that you feel comfortable playing with your 3rd finger. This’ll be the 9th fret of the G string for me.

2. Place your index finger two frets behind it, on the 7th fret.

3. Play the string, and flick your 3rd finger downwards towards the floor. Make sure you keep a relatively firm pressure down as you do this.

4. Now the lower note that you index finger is fretting should be ringing out. At that point, you’ve just done a pull off!

The tips for this one are pretty similar to the hammer on tips. Basically, just aim to have your index finger next to the fret – and be forceful, but not tense. You’re gonna be doing these pretty regularly, and tension = not good señor.

Combining Hammer On and Pull Offs

Here’s for the fun part… Yup, you guessed it, combining them together! I mean, it literally says it right in big black bold writing above, so it’s kinda obvious, but still, well done!

One of the common ways you’ll see hammer on and pull off techniques combined, is like this:

Or occasionally notated like this, with each loopy arch broken up separately.

And the loopy arch indicates that every note connected to/within an arch, is a hammer on or pull off note. You play the string once at the beginning, then make the other notes by hammering on or pulling off.

It’s also worth noting that hammer ons and pull offs basically have the same tab symbol. The thing that matters is whether that loopy arch goes towards a higher or a lower fret. Loopy arch towards higher fret = hammer on, towards lower fret = pull off.

Anyway, to combine the hammer on and pull off guitar technique:

1. Pluck the string, and do a hammer on with your ring finger like you did before. E.g. From the 7th fret of the G string to the 9th fret.

2. Without playing the string again, flick off from this new note like you would when doing a pull off. E.g. From the 9th fret to the 7th fret.

3. Try to do this a bit faster, making it more of a quick flurry.

And it’s also really easy to reverse this by starting with a pull off, and then hammering on again straight after.

And then you’ve got it! Easy, right? You can even push yourself by repeating multiple cycles of hammering on and pulling off without plucking the string again. After a minute or so, it’ll begin to burrrrnnnn! But that’s all part of the fun.

Hammer On and Pull Off Exercises

The hammer on and pull off guitar technique is pretty easy to get to grips with initially. Especially if you’ve got a spare hammer lying around.

But the bit that needs more practice is using different fingers on different strings and parts of the neck.

So here’s a few of my favourite exercises to help with that:

• Favourite Exercise No.1

Now that’ll get your other digits working! The trick is to make each hammer on/pull off sounds as clear as the last when having a go at this one.

• Favourite Exercise No.2

Do you know what? I hate chromatic exercises. I think they sound terrible so the thought of doing them every day to get better gives me makes my brain melt. Sometimes they can be very useful, but meh…

That’s why I much prefer doing an exercise like this which goes up a scale, and you can use in music too. So have fun with that.

• Favourite Exercise 3:

And finally, a nicely symmetrical lick for y’all there to get you shifting about the strings.

And if you can do all that and make it sound good, then it’s fair to say that you’ve got this technique nailed.

Some Mini Licks to Practice

Fancy putting those new skills you just learnt to use? Well, here’s some of the freshest new hammer on and pull of licks, coming right at ya!

Fresh new hammer on and pull of lick 1:

Now that, is seriously cool. It’s a descending lick that goes up the fretboard, so you can break music AND sound epic whilst you’re at it. Neat, right?

Fresh new hammer on and pull of lick 2:

The Pentatonic Scale and pull offs are just a match made in heaven. And that E string flurry at the end – with a non-pentatonic note – adds a pinch of zesty flavour to this lick.

Fresh new hammer on and pull of lick 3:

And that’s just a nice bluesy lick to show you how hammer ons and pull offs can create some groovy phrasing.

So have fun tinkering about with those, and customize them to your will!

Wrapping It Up

See? Hammer ons and pull offs are actually kinda nice. And that’s good because you’re gonna use them literally trillions of times in your shift as a guitar player.

The only thing that isn’t so nice is that they’ll wear out your fingertips a little quicker than playing notes normally. Darn those pesky wretches!

Anyway, I’ve been Sam Olverson.

Have fun hammering and stuff!

P.S. If you want to learn how to fingerpick on guitar so that you can play more varied lead lines, chord progressions, and riffs, click here to view my post on that.

The post The Best Hammer On & Pull Off Technique for Guitar appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

How hard would it be? Would it require much time to get good? Why does the French national anthem only consist of the word “Baguette”?

*Just a little joke for the Frenchies out there.

Today I’ll be addressing all of these questions, and whether learning electric or acoustic guitar is super hard or just plain easy.

So let’s roll.

A Short and Simple Answer

Alright, prepare yourself for a life-changing moment. I have never shared this answer with anyone, so here goes…

Yes, guitar is slightly hard to begin with, but then isn’t hard, and then is hard again.

Phew, there I said it. But loads of you are probably scratching your head in puzzlement trying to figure out what that actually means.

Basically, learning electric and acoustic guitar has a certain skill curve.

It’ll feel quite slow progress for the first month or so as you gradually get used to the instrument and get control of your fingers.

But then once you’ve got those original chord shapes down and some power chords too, you’ll be able to play loadsss of stuff.

It’ll feel like the whole world is opening up before your very eyes…

Meh, maybe not. But it’s still an epic feeling being able to play your favourite song, especially after only starting a month or two ago.

And when I say that guitar gets hard again, it’s because that’s when most people want to learn solos.

Learning to play cool solos will feel more difficult as you learn different techniques and practice playing faster. It requires a different skill-set to playing riffs and chords, so will take a bit longer to get there.

But playing guitar solos is just sooo cool that it’s definitely worth it.

Plus, it gives you bragging rights over all your friends because you’re better than they are, and saying you can play guitar solos is an awesome pick-up line!

And if that’s not enough to convince you, then I don’t know what will.

What Specifically Makes Guitar Difficult?

Alright, so we’ve established that guitar has a certain learning curve, and you definitely want to learn to solo…

But what specifically makes learning electric and acoustic guitar hard in the first place?

Well, in the beginning you’ll have literally no control over your fingers.

They’ll feel like leaves getting hit by a leaf blower – flying all over the place and having absolutely zero urge to co-operate, no matter how many pop-tarts you promise them.

And that ain’t a nice feeling. But whilst you’re at it, you’ll also have the problem of your fingertips shredding to contend with too.

Those strings will feel pretty sharp on your feeble, un-calloused fingertips to begin with, and so you’ll find yourself taking regular breaks because your fingers hurt.

Oh, and you’ll also have to force your fingers into playing chord shapes and practice switching between them too.

What fun! But in all seriousness, all of these problems will sort themselves out without much effort within a month or two of casual playing.

You’ll gradually tame your fingers, your fingertips will thicken up, and those chord shapes will be in your muscle memory before you can say, I wish I learnt something else, god dammit!

How to Make Guitar Easier for Yourself

So by now, you know the hard parts of learning electric and acoustic guitar that you’ll have to tackle in the early stages. But what can you do to combat these teething difficulties?

The first way to get out of this starting stage fast is to practice little and often.

When you get a sudden urge to play guitar, just do it. Whether you are sat on the sofa, brushing your teeth, or even taking a dump, go pick it up and play.

This approach will help train your finger control quickly, and prevent your fingertips getting too sore. Plus, it’ll be fun because you play whenever the frick you want.

Another way to speed up the learning process is to have an easy song in mind that you want to play.

That way, you’ll have a project to work on. You can learn the chords to this song and feel like there is a point to learning them.

And you know that every time you pick up the guitar and play, you get closer and closer to being able to play this song.

It’ll motivate you to play, and that’s especially important in the beginning. Setting goals and learning your favourite songs are just key to that.

For my full guide on how to learn guitar for beginners from scratch so that you can get playing real songs quickly, then click here to get learning today.

Wrapping It Up

Guitar is kinda hard, then not hard, then hard again. That’s basically what I’m trying to say here.

And if you’re on the fence about whether to learn guitar or not, then let me make the decision for you…

Yes! You absolutely should.

But Sam, you’re a guitar teacher. Of course, you’d say that.

What? Noooo. I am the most biased unbiased person here. Just learn guitar, it’s the coolest instrument…

Strumming along with your favourite songs or chugging with your favourite riffs is an epic feeling that pianists – ha! – just don’t ever get.

I’ve been Sam Olverson,

Have fun playin’ guitar!

P.S. If you want to learn how to play guitar for beginners so that you can play real songs fast, then click here to view my post on that.

The post Is Learning Electric & Acoustic Guitar Hard? appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

Play the 5th fret of the A string.

And you look down at your guitar like…

Uhhh, they all look like they could be an A string… But only one is correct, so… I’ll go with this one!

But instead, you’ve just played the 5th fret of the B string. Then all hell breaks loose.

Your teacher begins to freak out, and starts running round in circles.

He starts chanting an ancient Aztec curse in an attempt to remove you from his presence as fast as possible, but you remain there. He cries in despair, and has to agonizingly live through the worst nightmare imaginable.

Hey, it’s a teacher thing.

So today I’ll go over 5 easy ways to remember the 6 guitar string names so that you can prevent putting a teacher through that ever again.

What Actually Are the String Names?

If we want to learn the string names, it makes sense to know what they are first, right?

So in order of thickest to thinnest, the guitar string names are: E A D G B E.

Yup, there are two E strings. Don’t question it, just embrace it and welcome it.

You’ll also hear people calling them the 6th, 5th, 3rd string, etc.

This is because people got bored with saying the same letters over and over again, they wanted another way to feel clever.

The 6th string represents the lowest string (low E), and the 1st string represents the highest string (high E).

So in order of thickest to thinnest, the guitar string numbers go: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

If we put all that together:

• Low E = 6th String
• A = 5th String
• D = 4th String
• G = 3rd String
• B = 2nd String
• High E = 1st String

BOOM! You now know the string names. So let’s take a look at some ways to stop ourselves forgetting them.

WARNING: I’ve sprinkled some random and unrequested E A D G B Es throughout this post to try and drill the letters into your head as we go. Please do not be alarmed.

Use an EADGBE Acronym

Acronyms are always epic. From remembering the order of the planets to secret intelligence services that shoot bad guys, acronyms have their place.

So here’s my favourite acronym to remember the guitar string names:

• Eat
• All
• Day
• Get
• Big
• Easy

All the words are nice and short, so it’s easy to remember. And if you forget the second half by accident, you can figure out what the next 3 letters would be. If you Eat All Day, you’re gonna Get Big Easy.

E A D G B E.

But if that one somehow doesn’t resonate with you, then yours truly has left some others down below which you may prefer:

• Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie

• Every Apple Does Go Bad Eventually

• Eat A Dog Get Big Ears

Whichever takes your fancy.

Create Your Own EADGBE Acronym

Maybe you passionately despise every example I left up above.

So in this case, feel free to make up your own acronym to remember the guitar string names by.

Maybe you could put in the name of your friends, or an artist/band you really like.

E A D G B E.

Or create something explicit if that helps. Somehow, explicit acronyms are always so easy to remember…

But you get the point. Make one that you would easily remember so that you can easily call upon it at any time.

Say the Names Each Time You Pick Up Your Guitar

A great way to test yourself is to point to each string and name it every time you pick up your guitar.

That way, you are always ingraining the strings you do know into your memory, whilst also figuring out the ones that you don’t know.

Because in reality, all you need to do is start associating each string with a particular letter.

E A D G B E.

So if you picked up your guitar once or twice a day, and spent 30 seconds memorizing the string names each time, then you could know them all by the end of the week.

Now, how awesome is that?

Use a Tuner App When You Forget the Names

You’re jamming with your mates.

Your friend asks you to play the 5th fret on the A string.

Shoot! You don’t know which one the A string is…

And if you ask him which one the A string is, everyone’s gonna think he’s better than you. And since you have an impenetrable ego, you really don’t want that.

So what can you do?

Aha! You whip out your guitar tuner app, look at which string is the A string, and Bob’s your uncle.

E A D G B E.

Apps like GuitarTuna are great because they literally show you the letters of the strings on the app.

Make sure you’ve got one of these on your phone, and it’ll be a good get-out-of-jail-free-card.

Put the String Names on Your Wall

If you want to learn and remember the guitar string names, then being able to look at them all the time is always a good idea.

Luckily for you, I’ve spent decades meticulously crafting a state-of-the-art, first class, luxury PDF file that you can print out and stick on your wall for free.

You’re welcome.

Some may question why I spent so long on something for no monetary reward…

Some may look at my PDF and doubt that I actually spent decades crafting it…

Some may wonder why people believe in a flat earth, but not a hexagonal one…

E A D G B E.

But feel free to use that PDF of the guitar string names and abuse it in whatever way you see fit.

Wrapping It Up

Learning to remember the guitar string names and notes is a skill that will help you beyond belief.

You’ll just be able to understand and communicate with other musicians and guitarists so much better.

At the end of the day, all you really need to remember is E A D G B E.

So after that, you’re ready to rock.

I’ve been Sam Olverson,

See you soon!

P.S. If you want to learn all the notes on the fretboard quickly and easily so that you can understand other musicians better & improve your soloing, then click here to view my post on that.

The post 5 Easy Ways to Remember the 6 Guitar String Names appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

Here’s why…

Wow! I’m finally in a band, and I’m super excited for this gig!

I know all the songs off by heart, so what on earth could go wrong?

*Audience cheering, 1. 2. 1, 2, 3…

Wait what? Good lord, I can’t play the song anymore!

My fingers just don’t seem able to play anythi-...

Crap! I just tripped and fell into the drum kit!

Stop hitting me with the sticks! I’m not a drum!

That was my favourite pick! Nooooooo…

Those are the scenes that tens of people every year experience when they try playing standing up for the first time.

But luckily for you, by the end of today you’ll know exactly how to play guitar standing up like a pro, so that you can turn up to band practice and ace the set.

So let’s roll.

Why Does Playing Stood Up Feel So Difficult?

As soon as you try to play standing up, it feels like you are playing a new instrument.

Everything somehow becomes 50x harder to play. But why is this?

The first thing you’ll notice is that your guitar is now angled upwards a bit.

This means that suddenly you have to:

• Bend your wrist round more to stretch and reach lower notes
• Curl your picking wrist round more to get the pick parallel to the strings
• Support the guitar whilst you’re doing all that other stuff.

Yowzers. That’s a lot to suddenly get accustomed to.

But it shouldn’t really be as difficult as that. So today I’ll show you how to tackle each one individually.

How to Stop Your Fretting Wrist From Curling

This was my least favourite part of playing guitar stood up in the early days.

After a couple of minutes, my wrist just burned like a spicy curry on the exit out.

The quick and obvious way to combat this is to raise your guitar higher.

And if you’re okay having your guitar on your chest or lower chest, then that’s an easy solution for you.

But for me, I wanted to play metal and look cool!

James Hetfield from Metallica had his guitar practically on his knees. So I figured the lower, the cooler, right?

And for that reason, I could never bring myself to raise my strap, and had to find other ways to combat that bothersome wrist curl…

Stop Wrist Curl Tip #1

My first epic tip is to have your wrist in a bluesy, thumb round the neck position as much as possible.

It should look something like this:

You’ll find that as soon as you do this, all wrist curl pain from having your thumb flat on the underside of the neck ceases like magic.

So practice playing most notes and chords from now on with your thumb in the kind of position shown above.

Everything should feel much easier that way.

But if you’re a classical shred geyser who likes to superglue their thumb to the back of the neck at all times…

Your best option for fighting wrist curl is to just have your guitar a bit higher.

Low-ish guitar + classical grip = nope, never gonna happen.

Stop Wrist Curl Tip #2

My second epic tip is to hold the neck upwards at a 45° angle.

Although having your thumb round the neck all the time is a nice idea, when it comes to bar chords, power chords and larger stretches, it just isn’t possible.

So for those moments, tilting the neck upwards helps to negate a lot of that troublesome wrist curl.

The only problem is that if you tilt your guitar too far, your picking wrist will have to curl a lot.

And while this isn’t a problem for strumming bar chords, it can be annoying when wanting to palm mute some chugga chugga power chords.

Which brings me onto my next tip…

Stop Wrist Curl Tip #3

My third epic tip is to play power chords with your index and pinkie fingers instead of your index and ring fingers.

Yup, you heard me right, people.

We are officially breaking the one finger per fret rule here…

Do not call the cops, I beg! I have a wife and family!

Jk not really, I’m just a loner who spends his days writing terrible sick content for you guys out there.

Anyway, if you try to use your ring finger instead of the pinkie, you’ve got to bend your wrist a lot more to accommodate that stretch.

Bending wrist → pain → never want to play guitar again.

But if it’s not much of a stretch to begin with, then you don’t even have to tilt your guitar as much, so picking becomes easier too.

If you want to have your guitar middle to low, playing power chords like this is just way more comfortable in every respect.

Especially if you’re playing them often in metal or rock.

How to Combat Picking Hand Curl

The guitar isn’t nice and horizontal any more like we’re used to, so we have to bend our wrist more to get our pick inline with the strings.

And that’s not nice.

So to take as much strain off the wrist as possible, we want to curl our entire arm round more like this:

And by the way, that image above is exactly how I play guitar standing up on a regular basis. Practising, jamming, gigging, that’s how I stand.

Trust me, crook your elbow and your picking wrist will be in love with you forever more.

And who doesn’t want that?

Getting Used to Playing Standing Up

The fact is, playing standing up is just something you’re gonna have to get used to.

I know, I know, no one wants to hear that… But it’s true.

Stuff like supporting the guitar neck and playing with less stability will feel more comfortable with practice.

SIDE NOTE: To help standing a guitar feel more comfortable for long periods of time, I recommend using a padded strap. I’ve personally used this Levy’s strap since time began and would highly recommend it.

But there are certain ways that you can make the transition from sitting to standing much easier…

The first one is to start with your guitar strap relatively high to begin with, and work your way down.

Try to position your guitar initially so that it rests on the same part of your torso as it would when sat down.

That way, the experience of playing sat down and standing up are as similar as possible.

Then lower it gradually each/every other week until you reach a height you are happy with.

And BAM! Just like that, you can play guitar standing up, and it’ll feel easy as 123.

I’ve even created a challenge for you to put this into action…

Wrapping It Up + My 30-Day Challenge To You

If you want to quickly be able to play stood up like a pro, you’re gonna need to start practising it.

How much? I hear you cry.

Well, that brings us unto your challenge…

Your challenge is to practice playing guitar stood up for 15 minutes every single day for a month.

Just for 15 minutes each day, do everything that you would normally do but stood up for a change.

Then after you’ve done the 15 minutes you can sit down again or hover – like me.

By the end of the month, you’ll be laughing back on your previous self who struggled to play guitar standing up like a misshapen carrot.

You’ll then reach the point where playing stood up feels as easy as it does when sat down, even with a relatively low strap.

So accept the challenge or suffer the consequences…

Once I’ve thought of them.

I’ve been Sam Olverson,

Have fun standing up!

P.S. If you want to learn how to write good riffs on guitar from scratch, so you can start riffing with a band, then click here to view my post on that.

The post How to Play Electric & Acoustic Guitar Standing Up appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

You wanna play melodies, riffs and solos rather than causing your neighbour to seek support therapy by playing Wonderwall again…

Hey, we’ve all been there before.

So today I’m going to show you how to play actual notes on electric guitar, so you can start tearing up the dance floor.

Why would you have a guitar on the dance floor?

You’re asking the wrong person. Anyway let’s begin!

Using an Anchor Point To Increase Accuracy

Having an anchor point is the best way to increase your picking accuracy when playing single notes.

It also helps your muscle memory get tuned in to the distance between each string faster.

To do this, rest your picking wrist on the bridge of your guitar, but make sure it doesn’t mute any of the strings.

You want it to rest just so, like this:

The pick I’m using here is a Jim Dunlop .88 Max Grip. It’s a fantastic guitar pick for both chords and single-notes, and I can only recommend it.

It’ll still be difficult to hit the string you want every time in the beginning, however it will make a huge difference.

Just think of it like the anchors you use in chord changes.

You don’t have to move your index finger between an Am and C chord, so you can use it as an anchor point between chord changes.

As a result, they’re much easier to play and faster to learn.

It’s the exact same idea here.

If you don’t know all the basic chords on guitar, then you can view my post on that by clicking here.

Implement this wrist anchor into your playing, and you’ll be en route to single note success.

Developing an Efficient Pick Grip

My first guitar teacher wanted me to put all 15 of my fingers onto the pick at once – apparently it stops the pick from slipping when playing chords.

And as great an idea as that may be, it’s frickin annoying when you want to play single notes as it just feels really cumbersome.

No me gusta.

After lots of experimentation I found that the best way to hold a pick for me was like this:

You want it to feel like an extension of your index finger so that you can be as accurate as possible.

But you also want to keep a good grip of the pick so that it doesn’t fling out your hand mid-gig and knock someone unconscious.

You may have found something that works for you already, if that’s the case then great, you can skip this part.

But if you haven’t, then you can be confident that this pick grip won’t let you down.

Setting Up the Fretting Hand For Success

If the fretting hand doesn’t feel comfortable, then nothing will.

Your fingers will either fly around like spaghetti in a blender or stay as rigid as The Rock’s left nipple if you don’t get this part right.

Thankfully, that’s not too hard.

There are two main grips you should be aware of….

The blues grip and the classical grip.

The blues grip is pretty similar to how you would play chords… your thumb over the top of the neck a bit, fingers at a slight angle, overall a very natural and solid feeling position:

But the classical grip is a lot more based on precision and efficiency, rather than comfort and strength.

You keep your thumb flat on the underside of the neck and your fingers parallel to the frets even as you go up onto the higher strings.

It’s typically described as a very “fast” position and looks like this:

You’ll see both positions a lot, but the bluesy one is the most common.

Bending and electric guitar notes just feel a bit more comfortable to play.

But in my opinion, a mix of both is the best way.

I tend to have to have my thumb flat on the underside of the neck when playing two thickest strings because they’re easier to reach that way.

But as I go up higher across the strings, I’ll gradually slide my thumb upwards into the bluesy position.

This works a treat for me and is actually the way most guitarists do it – thumb flat for the strings that are hard to reach, thumb round for everything else.

How to Do Alternate Picking

Nice one, you’ve got the technique down.

But if you want to play licks and solos, you’re gonna want to learn how to alternate pick.

It’s let you play at twice the speed that you could pick at normally and will make life as a guitarist 50.3x easier.

Take the low E string (the thickest/lowest string) and play it by picking downwards, ideally to some kind of slow metronome pulse.

Now try picking the string back upwards in between each of these down strokes.

Boom! Just like that you can now do alternate picking.

But as you navigate across more strings it’ll get a bit more difficult.

That’s why I’ve created a couple of exercises down below to help you with that.

You can thank me later

Alternate Picking Exercises & Synchronizing Your Hands

Great! You now know what both hands need to do.

But the most important part is getting them to do these moves in sync together.

Otherwise, everything’s gonna sounds as messy as a cat in a hair-dryer.

So when having a go at these exercises, try to keep everything as clean and buzz-less as possible. No beehives today please.

Remember to implement everything I’ve gone through today as you play these, wrist anchored, pick feeling comfortable, fretting grip nailed and alternate picking ready to fire.

Here’s the first one:

Just a simple rising A minor Pentatonic scale.

It’s a handy one because you’ll be using this scale more times than you’ve had hot (or lukewarm) dinners, in the years to come.

Make sure the first note on each string a downstroke and the second note on each string is an upstroke.

That way you’re getting your alternate picking into shape.

And you there’s also the descending version:

If you don’t know how to read guitar tablature, then you can view my post on that by clicking here, it’s an essential skill for guitar players.

Here’s the second exercise, with every note doubled to help you become even more comfortable with alternate picking:

And the descending version:

It looks kinda crazy, but its actually pretty simple.

Make sure you are happy with those two before you have a crack at the last exercise which is slightly more complex.

This is the ultimate hand sync + alternate picking practice lick:

Woah woah woah… Sam, you cannot expect me to play that, it looks insane!

Ok, fine. It looks insane but in reality, it’s not that bad.

By the time you’ve played that the whole way through, all electric guitar notes are gonna feel way easier to play, and you’ll feel epic.

Especially if you can play it descending too:

Wrapping It Up

There we have it!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you learn to play notes on electric guitar.

After this I recommend going and learning a few of your favourite riffs to put this all into practice and have some fun whilst you’re at it.

It’ll probably feel really awkward to begin with but stick with it, you’ll have good habits for the rest of eternity.

Whilst the rest of your mates are struggling to play a scale, there you are ripping the world to shreds and getting all the chicks.

Have fun!

P.S. If you want to learn more on the best technique for picking and strumming, then click here to view my post on that.

The post How to Play Electric Guitar Notes for Beginners appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

Alright guys and girls, it’s time for us to look at the G Chord.

It’s genuinely one of the most common chords in almost all genres of music. Nirvana, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, you name it – the G chord is used. But annoyingly, every seems to have their own version of a G, so it’s really hard to tell which one is actually the best.

Today, I’ll go over the various G chord shapes that you can play on guitar, and the best one’s that you should use.

Prepare yourself, because you’re gonna be so fed up of Gs by the end of this that you’ll want to erase it from the alphabet.

We’ve all been there before…

Anyway, if you want to play more than 50% of chord progressions ever invented, you’re gonna want to know how to play a G.

So let’s get started…

The most popular way to play a G

Big, fat and ballsy, this version of a G chord has been used by almost every rock band under the sun since the beginning of time.

This is the version that I personally use because just sounds so goddam crisp:

As a beginner, this one may feel a wee bit fiddly initially because you’re gonna need all four fingers on deck.

G and D are a common chord pairing, which is great because in this shape your ring finger doesn’t have to move between the two chords.

You can use it as an anchor/pivot point when switching between chords to make life easier.

As great as this shape is however, it’s a bit of a faff to change to as it’s completely different from other chord shapes.

That’s why some people out there prefer this one…

The 2nd most popular way to play a G

Alright, so you’ve probably made your mind up about whether you love that G or passionately despise that G by now.

If you fall into that latter, then today is your lucky day because there’s another!

So here is the almost as common and equally correct way to play a G chord on guitar:

Many people prefer this way because it makes switching to other chords like E, Am and C dead easy since all your fingers are on the right frets.

It’s also a lot more similar to the G7 and Gmaj7 shapes – which I’ll show you later – meaning that they become super easy to switch to.

I have been using this shape for years, but recently switched to the first one because I just thought it sounded nicer.

But you choose whichever floats ya boat.

Variations of G – 7th and Major 7th

Now that you’ve got the core G down, it’s time to start showing you the spicy stuff…

And what better way to colour a G chord than adding a 7th?

Errr… A 9th or a 6th?

That was a rhetorical question, I didn’t want you to answer that.

Oh, ok…

G7 and Gmaj7 are the two most common variations that you will see in a song.

No one ever uses G minor so you don’t need to worry about that one really. Besides, it’s practically impossible to play in open position anyway.

Get G, G7 and Gmaj7 down and you’ll be good to go.

If you wanna play a G7, then this is the way:

Pinkie off fret 3, index on fret 1 and BAM! You’ve got yourself a a jazzy G7 chord.

You can thank me later

And – as promised – if you want to turn the G into an ultra chill sounding major 7th chord…

You’re gonna want to play it like this:

Just kidding, no one really wants to play it like this.

It’s massively uncomfortable and disgusting, but you don’t really have a choice.

It sounds good anyway, so who cares?

Uhhh… me?

Shush.

How to play a G bar chord

You may or may not have seen bar chords before.

If you haven’t then you can view my post on how to play bar chords on guitar by clicking here – they are beyond useful.

They’re a little it more advanced than open chords however, so feel free to skip this for now if you want and come back in the future when you’re ready.

But today, I’ll just be giving you a quick overview of how to play the G bar chord on guitar.

It should look a little something like this:

To play this G bar chord, you’re gonna need to learn how to “barre” multiple strings down at once.

Barring is basically a way of using the underside edge of your index finger to press down a bunch of strings at once.

You’ll want to put your middle, ring and pinkie fingers in position first, and then try to squash down the remaining strings using your index finger.

It may be difficult in the beginning – but you’ll soon get used to it.

Put all together, this version of a G chord should look like this:

Summary

Congratulations!

You’ve just learnt how to play a G chord on guitar.

You’re only bound to use it a couple of a hundred trillion times though, so it’s no biggy.

Anyway, I hope this post has been helpful, and that you can now go back and learn that song that you wanted to play from earlier.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you want to learn how to play the infamous F chord on guitar quickly and easily, then you can view my post on that by clicking here.

The post How to Play a G Chord on Guitar appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

The chord that everyone has to learn but no one really wants to.

But do ya know what?

It’s useful as heck.

It’s used in loads of chord progressions and it’s the final core major chord that you’ll need to learn.

In this post, I’ll explain the various ways to play an F chord on guitar, with some tips on getting good at them quickly too.

How to play a standard F chord

Alright, so you may be wondering…

What is an F chord, and why does everyone hate it as much as finding the start of a Sellotape?

Well, that’s a great question.

To put it shortly, here is why:

Yuck. Just yuck.

To play this chord, you’re gonna need to learn how to “barre” multiple strings down at once.

Barring is basically a way of using the underside edge of your index finger to press down a bunch of strings at once.

You’ll want to put your middle, ring and pinkie fingers in position first, and then try to squash down the remaining strings using your index finger.

It should look a little like this:

It takes a bit of practice to get each string ringing out cleanly, but soon enough, your pincer muscle will strengthen up and it’ll feel much easier.

Besides, I’ve got a tip on how to build up that muscle later to speed up that process.

Because this shape feels a bit odd, you will notice that it becomes exceptionally annoying when you’re playing a chord progression in a song.

It’s just so different from the other shapes!

But that’s why someone invented this bad boy…

An easier way to play an F chord

Alright, so by now you’ve attempted the F chord and are screaming…

SAM!? WHY IS THIS SO FRICKING HARD? IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY!?

Well, it’s your lucky day, because there is. Sort of. It’s not exactly the same but sounds similar enough to the first one.

I still think it’s important that beginners spend some time learning to play the proper F chord on guitar because it’s better in the long run.

But if you need a quick fix, or have some really quick chord changes in a song, then this is the way bro:

But Sam, you’re missing out a note from the chord, isn’t that cheating?

Yes, it absolutely is!

But hey, it works.

And no one will give a dam whether you use this version or the other version in a song.

Some people will say that you should always use the proper bar chord version.

And to that I’d say…

Yes, it’s super important that beginners learn the proper bar chord version because it’s one of the fundamental chords in guitar and it just sounds the best…

And if you only know the fake F then you are officially a noob…

But in reality, when switching with chords like C and Am quickly, this version is so much more practical.

And because it’s easier to switch to, it’s also easier to get a cleaner sounding chord, making the entire chord progression sound better.

But if you’re playing a chord progression using other bar chords anyway, then the standard F shape is actually the easier option.

Anyway, now I’ll show you the last F shape that you can also use if you wish to.

A third way to play an F chord

I’ll be honest, I never ever use this shape.

I just want to show you it so that you aren’t confused when you see other people playing it.

You only need play the top 4 strings and use 3 fingers, but I still find the previous shape the easiest.

This one just sounds a bit thinner and feels a bit fiddlier but hey, some people might like it:

It just feels like more of an awkward way to place your fingers and you have to mute two strings this time instead of one.

But whatever, it’s still an F and it’ll work fine if you wanna use it.

Common F chord variations…

There are two widely used variations of an F chord on guitar and they shouldn’t take you long to learn to play at all.

The first one is an F major 7th chord.

In some cases, this one is actually even more common than the standard F chord.

And – even better – it’s actually the easiest version to play.

Woohoo!

It looks a little something like this:

This chord is used extensively throughout Half a World Away by Oasis, helping to make it sound sparkly and nostalgic.

The other variation of an F chord that you will see, is F minor:

But in the beginning it’ll be really hard to get all four barred notes sounding cleanly.

And you hereby have permission by decree of Sam Olverson at Beast Mode Guitar to just play this one if that one is too tricky at the moment:

And I’ll tell you a little secret…

Come closer…

I actually use this version of F minor more than the full one.

There we go, I’ve said it.

It’s just easier to get that minor 3rd ringing out nice and clearly without needing Hulk-like pincer muscle strength.

I know, I know, it’s not really allowed, but I know how to play the full shape anyway so I’m not a noob.

It’s just that if you have some fast chord changes or are really struggling to get all the notes ringing out in the first one, then this is the one to use.

How to get good at F chords quickly

Ok, so by this point you may have decided to throw your guitar out the window in rage – or worse, become a bassist.

But I’ve got a couple of quick tips for you to help you out and make sure that you absolutely do not become a bassist.

Trust me, guitarists get the girls.

I mean, have you seen the crowd at a John Mayer concert?

The first one is a tip to help you build up that pincer muscle for playing all the barre notes required in F chords…

I find that getting a cheap bouncy ball and doing reps of squishing it between your index finger and thumb like this is a great way to grow that muscle:

Do reps of this regularly and these barred notes will feel 10x easier. Stuff like the full F and F minor shapes just won’t pose a challenge for you anymore.

The second tip is to help with getting better at changing to and from the F chord shapes.

At first, I recommend practicing taking your fingers off the fretboard and placing them on again in the F chord shapes you’re trying to learn repeatedly.

Even just practicing this for a few minutes a day will yield great results.

After this, practice switching between all the different F shapes you’re trying to learn for a couple of minutes E.g. Full F Chord to F minor to F maj7.

Then try playing these in a random chord progression with other major and minor chords.

This helps to make sure that you can use them in a proper song situation.

Summary

Although the F chord can prove a challenge in the beginning, learning it will set you up for life.

And once you’ve got good at the full F chord shape, then learning bar chords will be a walk in the park.

We call it the F chord because it makes you want to scream F%$&!

And I’m sure for you it will be no different

Have Fun!

P.S. If you want to learn more about how to play bar/barre chords – like F – and how you can use them to play any chord ever made quickly and easily, then you can check out my post on how to play bar chords by clicking here.

The post How to play an F chord on guitar appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

That’s why us guitarists invented a way to avoid it entirely.

Tab is short for tablature and is a form of writing music down that’s super easy for guitarists and bassists to read.

Everyone uses it, and in this post I’ll go over how to read guitar tab and the symbols on them so that you can use it too.

Understanding basic tab

If you wanna be able to read guitar tab and it’s symbols, you’re gonna need to know what all the parts of a tab diagram mean.

Thankfully, it’s about as straightforward and logical as quantum physics, so it shouldn’t be too hard.

Here’s an example of a basic tab diagram with no notes on it:

What the lines mean: The six lines correspond to the six strings on your guitar, the bottom line indicating the lowest string, and the top line indicating the highest string.

If you are unsure, then lay your guitar with the strings facing upwards on your lap.

The six lines on the tab are in the same order as strings are when viewed from top down.

What the letters mean: The six letters EADGBe are the names of each of the six strings that they’re placed next to.

The low E string (E) is the lowest, and the high E string (e) is the highest.

What 4/4 means: 4/4 is the name of the time signature of the music. Most songs use 4/4 so you don’t need to worry about that.

What the “= 90” means: This indicates the speed of a song in beats per minute. It’s a short way of writing, beats per minute = 90. The higher the beats per minute, the faster the song.

What the small numbers mean: The small numbers above each vertical line indicate the bar numbers, marking the start of each new bar.

This may seem like a lot to remember, but as long as you understand that 6 lines = 6 strings, you’re good to go.

Notes & Chords

The numbers on the lines of tab indicate the fret numbers that you should place your fingers on to play the notes.

If the numbers are all stacked on top of each other then you strum all of them at once as a chord.

If not, then you pluck those fellas individually.

Here’s an example from the start of The Pretender by Foo Fighters with both notes and chords:

Hopefully you’ll be able to see now how everything links together.

(I actually have a recording of this exact tab later in the post to help you see how this sounds.)

Note: The dotted line with let ring means to leave each note ringing out whilst you play the other notes. This suggests that the guitarist is still playing a chord, but playing each string individually at first.

Alright, so you understand how to read guitar tab now, let’s take a look at the funky symbols…

Hammer on & pull offs

A hammer on/pull off is indicated with an arc towards the note that you’re pulling off to.

Arc towards a higher note = hammer on, arc towards lower note = pull off.

A hammer on and pull off is notated with an all-encompassing arc over all the notes of the hammer on/pull off phrase.

Slides

A slippery slide is notated with a diagonal line going from the beginning note to the end note.

There is no distinction between a slide up, or a slide down in tab. A slide is a slide, you get me?

Vibrato

Vibrato is notated using an eye-assaulting zig zag line.

Kinda indicating the vibration of the string as you wiggle it to make it sound nice.

Oh yeah, by the way, the swooping arc from underneath the “17” means to sustain the note out for a few beats.

The moral of the story is if you see the zig zag, just wiggle…

The string, obviously.

Bends

Bends are often presented using an upwards swooping arrow towards the heavens.

This example says full at the point of the arrow, however sometimes they will say 1/2 or 1 1/2 instead.

These indicate how far you should bend the string, 1/2 = half a step ( 1 semitone), full = a whole step (2 semitones), 1 1/2 = 1 and a half steps (3 semitones).

But as a beginner, you don’t have to worry about what that means yet.

And most of the time, bends will also have the notations for vibrato above them.

This is because bends work really well with some wiggle, and so they are often combined.

Palm Muting

Palm muted notes are often notated by a P.M. (meaning Palmus Mutus nowus)

The dotted line stretching out to other notes is an easy way of extending this command.

You will also see these dotted lines in the Foo Fighters tab I put up at the start.

In that case it says let ring, with dotted lines stretching across the entire bar.

The principle is the exact same, with the dotted line acting as an extension of this command to the other notes.

Dead Notes

Dead notes, AKA completely muted notes, are represented with a big fat X.

Why?

Because X marks the spot, right?

Uhh…

Wrong!

There is no fret X on the guitar…

But it does indicate the strings that you should play completely muted.

You will want to dampen all the strings so that just a little “clink” comes out when you play it.

Like this:

Using these concepts to read tab

So, now that you know what all the different lines, numbers and symbols mean on a diagram, let’s actually read some guitar tab.

Here’s the full example from the start of The Pretender by Foo Fighters:

Alright, so now this hopefully shouldn’t look so foreign to you.

You can see the let ring notation, the notes vs the chords, the bend and… ugh… why’s there a 10 in brackets?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that part.

It basically just indicates that the note on the 10th fret should still be ringing out from previous bar, nothing too important.

So if you put all this knowledge together, the guitar part should sound like this:

If you read the tab at the same time, everything should begin to make sense.

You’ll begin to see how these symbols relate to actual music and you’ll understand how to translate them onto the guitar.

How to find tab for the songs you want to learn

Thankfully, you can find just about any tab for anything nowadays.

The two best apps/websites for finding the tab of songs you want to learn are Songsterr and Ultimate Guitar.

Although, some YouTube tutorials will also have tabs on screen.

Songsterr is my personal favourite but both apps have different pros and cons.

I go more into depth on Songsterr and Ultimate Guitar in my post on The Top 10 Best Apps to Learn Guitar, which you can view by clicking here.

All you gotta do to find the tab of the song you want to learn, is:

1. Go onto Songsterr or Ultimate Guitar
2. Type into the search bar the name of the song you want to learn
3. Click on the result that comes up (Ultimate Guitar will give you multiple options, some of which require the Pro version, so just click on the one with the most amount of decent reviews)
4. BOOM! You’ve got yourself a tab to learn from.

Summary

You’ve got the tools for the job, it’s time for you to go and find one of your favourite songs and learn it!

It may take a bit of time but MAN it’ll be worth it.

Ohh, that feeling when I played the Enter Sandman intro riff for the first time all those centuries ago…

The joy! The glee! The way I played it and played it until all my friends left me!

Haha, good times…

Anyway, if you still feel confused by anything or have seen a different symbol that I haven’t mentioned, then feel free to ask in the comments below 🙂

Now, go get learning dude!

P.S. If you want to learn more about how you can learn to play guitar by yourself so that you never need a teacher, then click here to view my post on that.

The post How to Read Guitar Tab and Symbols appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

Well, the chances are that you’re out of tune.

Tuning your guitar means adjusting each string to the right pitch so that when you play a chord, a melody or with a band, everything is perfectly aligned together.

And woahhh, how am I supposed to do that?

That’s funny you should ask… Because in this post I’ll go over the various ways to tune a guitar for beginners, with some extra tips at the end too.

Vamos!

Use an online tuner or app

If you’re a beginner practising at home, then this is the way.

Why is this the way? Because it’s cheap, easy and mobile.

You can download an app or click on a link and BAM, you’ve got yourself a tuner.

Then once you have it loaded up, just play a string and the app will tell you whether you are lower or higher than the right pitch.

You can then raise or lower the pitch by turning the tuning pegs until it gives you a friendly green tick. Easy, right?

Just remember to turn clockwise to lower the pitch, and anticlockwise to raise it.

Favourites among guitarists include GuitarTuna (Ha. ha.. ha…) and Fender Tune – they’re both free and have proven track records.

So yeah, you’re in safe hands.

The advantage of an app is that you can use it offline, anywhere.

If you pick a guitar off the wall in the guitar store and it’s hideously out of tune, BAM you can whip out your tuner and make it playable.

And if that ain’t magic, I don’t know what is.

The only disadvantage is that in band situations, it’s impossible for tuning apps to hear your guitar.

Unless you somehow manage to shut the rest of the band up.

Trust me, that will never work… pff, drummers…

Use a tuning device

Before the days of guitar apps, almost everyone had a tuning device.

They’re reliable, affordable, and don’t require any phone storage to use. Yippee!

But the best thing is that you can clip them onto your headstock.

This means you no longer have to precariously balance it on your knees like you’re playing Jenga, or find some dark, maggot-infested corner to put it so no one stands on it when tuning stood up.

And those are two pain-in-the-buttocks problems with a phone tuner.

But as great as a Snark Clip-on Tuner like this is, it’ll also suffer from the same problem as apps and websites.

Band situation = no no no no no…

But that’s why some genius – no, not me this time – invented the tuning pedal.

Use a tuning pedal

Behold… The answer to all your problems…

Now, your guitar is directly attached by a cable to your tuner.

This makes it super accurate and – best of all – when your drummer just won’t shut up, you can still tune!

Woohoo!

You probably never thought that day would come.

Tuning pedals are great because when they are turned on, they mute all sound from your amp.

This means you can tune silently and avoid cracking any mirrors or annoying any audience/band members with loud, irritating tuning noise between songs (and let’s be honest, no one wants to hear that).

As well as this, they’re built like an armoured Jeep so they’re perfect for gigging.

(Other car brands are available)

The only problem is that they’re the more expensive option, you’ll need to plug them in to use them, and they aren’t quite as carriable as an app or clip-on tuner.

But there just isn’t really any alternative for band situations.

That’s why I recommend having an app or clip-on tuner for home use, and a tuning pedal for band/gigging use.

Tune your guitar by ear

Most beginners completely avoid this way to tune a guitar like the plague, but it’s definitely one you should try at home.

If you’re always using a tuner then you’re never training your musical ear, which could come back to bite in the long run.

Besides, how frickin’ badass is it to be able to pick up a guitar and tune it completely by yourself?

And there are a couple of great tricks that beginners can use to tune a guitar on their own.

One of those is the harmonics trick:

1. Rest your index finger lightly on the low E string, directly above the 5th fret itself. If you play this string now, it should ring out like this:

We call this a harmonic note.

2. Leaving that finger there, rest your ring finger lightly on the A string, directly above the 7th fret this time.

When you play this note, it should be the exact same pitch as the harmonic you just played.

3. Play those two harmonics at the same time and raise or lower the pitch of the A string until the pitches of the 2 harmonics are exactly the same.

4. Repeat this exact same process 1 string higher, this time using the A string 5th fret harmonic as the note that you are tuning the 7th fret D string harmonic to match.

5. Keep repeating this, one string at a time, until you reach the B string, which is the weird string.

For this string, we play the normal note on the 4th fret of the G string and play the B string completely open.

6. Return to the 5th fret B string harmonic and 7th fret E string harmonic to tune the high E string.

Wow! You’ve just tuned your guitar completely by yourself.

All together, it should sound like this:

The only problem with this method is that if your low E string is out of tune before you use it to tune the other strings, then the rest of your guitar be tuned to fit that out-of-tune-ness.

It’ll sound good at home, but when you start playing with others, you’re gonna sound as good as car alarm.

However, you could always try tuning the low E string with a tuner first, and then tune the rest with your ear and pretend like you’ve got perfect pitch or something.

Works for me.

In reality though, you’re more likely to use a pedal tuner when playing with other people anyway so sounding out of tune isn’t too bad a problem.

Tuning tips and tricks

Here’s couple of great tuning tricks to make your life easier, gathered by yours truly.

Whether you’re at home or with a band, these bad boys will come in handy…

1. Tune to Drop D tuning, FAST.

Got a song you want to play that’s in drop D tuning?

Don’t want to have to fumble around for your tuner?

Great!

All you gotta do is pluck your D string and low E string at the same time.

Then tune your E string downwards until you hear it match the pitch of the D string.

BOOM!

Within two seconds, you’re in DADGBE tuning.

2. Tune back up to E standard, FAST.

Alright, so you’ve dilly dallied in drop D tuning for a bit.

But now you want to go back up to E standard and you only have 0.49 seconds to do it, so what can you do?

Well, you pluck the high E string and lowest string on your guitar – now a D – and tune up the lowest string until the pitch matches that of your high E string.

BOOM!

You’re back in EADGBE tuning.

Wrapping It Up

At the end of the day, all of these methods of tuning are great.

For you beginners out there looking to tune your guitar quickly, downloading an app will do the job.

Bear in mind however, that as soon as you’re in the vicinity of a drummer, you’re gonna want a tuning pedal if you wanna keep your sanity…

Now go tune up and play!

P.S. If this has proved helpful then you can check out my post on how to play guitar for beginners by clicking here.

The post How to Tune a Guitar for Beginners appeared first on Beast Mode Guitar.

Whether it’s Metal, Rock, Grunge, Pop, Indie – you name it – power chords are used literally all the time.

They’re used in the main riffs from Smells Like Teen Spirit, Iron Man, Master of Puppets, Welcome to the Jungle, Killing in the Name, Song 2 and many more that I can’t be bothered to write.

In this post I’ll go over how to play power chords on guitar so that you can start riffing.

What is a Power Chord?

A power chord is – in short – a mini chord.

They are 2 note chords consisting of a root note and a 5th, often played using only 2 or 3 strings.

Due to the lack of a minor or major 3rd, a power chord is completely neutral.

This makes them easy to use in any key.

Their main use, however, is to beef out the sound of riffs that would otherwise consist of single notes.

How to Play Open Power Chords

Alright, it’s time to get you riffing.

Luckily for you these are the easiest chords on God’s green earth.

Do you have a single finger?

Congratualtions! You can play this chord:

Find me anything easier and I’ll buy tickets to a Nickelback concert.

All we’ve done is taken an E note and added the note 1 string and 2 frets higher to it to make it an E5.

Try to make sure that you’re muting the other strings with the underside of your index finger whilst you’re at it to reduce excess noise.

You may also see this power chord being played like this:

The extra note on the D string is also an E, but an octave higher than the low E string.

Therefore, it’s still an E5 chord.

Neither version is wrong and you’ll see both all the time in song tabs.

These rules also apply to A5 power chords:

And – like with E5 – you can also play this with the extra A note on the 2nd fret of the G string:

And here’s the final open power chord, D5:

And because the B string is weird and makes all notes 1 fret higher than they should be, the other version would look like this:

There you have it. That’s all the open position power chords for ya.

Now, although these are really great, you’re still limited to the same goddam chords.

And you’ll soon realise that you wanna play other power chords on guitar like F#5 and B5 in combination with these.

But never fear, they’re literally right here…

How to Play Closed Power Chords

Alrighty.

If you want to become super flexible with playing power chords on guitar then you gotta get good at these.

If you were to play the A5 in a closed position, then there are again two variants:

And:

Most of us guitarists decide to use our pinkie instead of our ring finger in the first version. It’s a matter of preference, but I find that it feels like less of a stretch for your hand to use your pinkie, especially when standing up.

The fundamental rule is, to make a power chord, take the note you want to beef up, and add the note 1 string and 2 frets higher to it.

And this works with any note on any of the lowest three strings.

For example, there is a D on the 5th fret of the A string so a D5 would be:

Boom!

Just like that, you’re a power chord pro.

The reason I say that this + 1 string and 2 frets rule only works on the lowest 3 strings is because of that darn B string again.

You gotta shift what note would normally be there up a fret, like with the D5 from earlier.

So, if you used the C note on the 5th fret of the G string as your bass note, and wanted to turn it into a power chord, then it would have to look like this:

But literally no one ever uses power chords this high up so don’t worry if you don’t quite understand that.

As long as you get comfortable playing power chords on the lower strings, then you’re good to go.

How to play Power Chord Variations

Although the power chords above will cover most bases, there are a couple of variations you should still be made aware of…

Some power chords consist of a root note and a 4th, instead of a 5th:

It just gives a slightly different sound from the standard power chord.

And sometimes if a band is playing in drop D tuning (with the low E string tuned a whole step lower), you will see power chords played like this:

The lower tuning on the E string shifts the A note a whole step further up from the 5th fret to the 7th fret.

This is still an A5, but the tuning changes the shape a bit.

Hopefully that’ll save your brain from being frazzled when you come across it in the future.

Wrapping It Up

The fact is, power chords are pretty easy and it won’t take you long to get used to them. Unless you’re missing a hand or something, but then I’d start to question why you are playing guitar at all.

Anyway, when you’ve got them down you’ll have every riff under the sun at your fingertips.

Now go get riffing!

P.S. If you want to learn how to write great guitar riffs using these chords and become a riffing beast, then click here

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