Hey Your Guitar Tutor students,

Today you will be learning about two of the chords that are used time and time again in popular songwriting and are not chords from the ‘Ten Chords To Beginner Guitar Mastery’. These two chords are the Csus2/ B and the Am7.

First lets learn the two chords before understanding where to use them.

Csus2/ B

Csus2/ B Chord

• Place your first finger on the 1st fret B string
• Place your second finger on the 2nd fret A string
• Ensure the D, G and high E strings are open so can ring clearly when picked/ strummed.
• Mute the Low E string with your third finger or alternatively (not shown in picture) with your thumb. Pick each string from the A string to high E string to make sure each note is fretted properly.

Am7

With just one finger difference when compared to the A minor chord that you have learnt in previous lessons, it should come very easily to you. What I want you to do though is not just be able to play it, but to get a feel for the sound of the chord so you can imagine when you would use it in your own songwriting. Understanding the sound will also make it easier for you to hear it in songs when you begin to try working songs out by ear, compare your A minor chord with the A minor 7 chord.

A minor 7 (Am7) Chord

• Place your first finger on the 1st fret B string
• Place your second finger finger on the 2nd fret D string
• Ensure the A, G and high E strings are open so they can ring clearly when picked or strummed.
• Mute the low E string with your thumb or alternatively (not shown in the picture) your third finger if you find this easier.
• Pick each note individually from the  A string to high E to make sure each note is fretted properly.

C Major

Hey YGT students,

Todays lesson is a focus on one of the chords that you will find in songs time after time. It is not one of the CAGED chords that we have covered but as you progress through your lessons into the higher level of beginner guitar you will understand how it fits in with the CAGED system.

F major Chord

Simplified F Major Chord- Perfect for Easy Use

Simplified F Major Chord

To play the F major chord follow the steps below:

• First take your third finger and place it on the 3rd fret A string
• Now take your fourth finger and place it on the 3rd fret D string
• Second finger 2nd fret G string
• First finger 1st fret B string
• Ensure fingers three, four and two are on their tips to avoid muting the string below each of those fingers.
• Take the ‘lazy’ approach with your first finger to mute the high E string with the underside of the first finger. If you let the high E ring out it can sound great in some songs and not quite right in others.
• If you are wishing to do strumming you may want to bring your thumb over the top of the neck so the soft underside of the thumb rests on the low E string, muting it as we are not wishing to play any notes on that string.

Adele ‘Rolling In the Deep’ is a great example of the F major chord in use, you will see it is used in the song along with C major chord, A minor chord, E minor chord and G major chord. These are all chord that we have covered in our Beginner Guitar Lesson series.

You will also see guitar players playing the F major chord as shown below. This is known as the Barre chord technique and is covered in great detail in my eBook ‘Be The Guitarist’ .

F major chord in its barred form (see 'Be The Guitarist' for step by step guide on barre chords)

Even more helpful information for you beginner guitarists is on the way - ‘Complete Beginner Guitarist’my soon to be released eBook will be available August 20th 2011 and will take a complete beginner to the next level. This eBook is being written after receiving a high demand for a product that focuses purely on the complete beginner guitarist and that is exactly what this eBook will do.

Currently writing the eBook and very excited to release it to you all, so please come back, follow the blog lessons and visit the home page August 20th for your own copy of Complete Beginner Guitarist.

Available from August 20th 2011

Stay tuned for Beginner Guitar Lesson 9 where we will start to look at the Csus2/ B chord and the Am7 chord. By learning these two extra chords you will open up a very popular songwriters’ trick- the ‘Walkdown’. Our aim is to start moving between the CAGED chords and you are almost ready!

Keep Practising.

Tom@YourGuitarTutor