Dire Straits took a different tack in Sultans Of Swing, following the VI-V-IV with a dominant chord on the III. You can continue the sequence in 4ths through F, Bdim and so on.īob Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower cycles through VI-V-IV-V chords. Use dominant 7ths (E7, A7, etc) for a blues or rock ’n’ roll vibe.Īs heard in jazz standard Autumn Leaves, this progression moves in 4th intervals (D to G is a 4th G to C is too) often using 7th and 9th chord voicings. E (E-A-B) and A (A-D-E) are common key signatures. The I-IV-V (one four five) is the undisputed champ of jam night chord progressions. We’ll start with a look at the main chords found in C major. Try playing the progressions as written in C, then see if you can work out the same sequences in another key, say G or A major. We’ll run through some basics in the key of C major here. Learn these commonplace chord progressions and jam night will be easy!Ī little knowledge of chord progressions will help you jam a long with songs you barely know. This will help prevent your hand angling diagonally in order to reach the bigger stretches. You need to have a good hand position here, so aim to be in parallel with the fretboard with a good arch in your wrist. This exercise will help develop your fret-hand stretching and fingertip accuracy. Try our tab exercises and focus on delivering a fluid, even performance. For most rock and pop it’s more a matter of getting better at the basics (simple rhythms, strumming, and so on) rather than aiming at higher levels of virtuosity. Great rhythm playing makes the difference between a good and a great performance – and with gigs looming, it’s a skill you must hone. It’s just a matter of time before you start to link it all together. Use that to your advantage and practice super-short lines. Most of the time you’ll at least be able to play short phrases from the tough songs you want to learn. Gradually reintroduce these notes one by one. It may sound counter-intuitive but, now, ditch the most challenging parts and play a rough version of your song (or section). Most likely, it’ll be a rake, an arpeggio or a skip to a non-adjacent string that’ll need practice.
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Mute the strings then, starting slowly, pick the notes in order and home in on tricky points. Now, pick the strings without fretting any notes.
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Identify where you make mistakes and practice those parts slowly. Starting with your fret hand, play a short section of your track without worrying about speed, timing or how you pick. Practicing one hand at a time lets you focus on specific areas. It may sound obvious, but get those easy lines down first – they’ll form a framework for the harder parts. Start by dedicating time to the easier parts. Whether it’s a solo or a whole song, some pieces of music feel just too damn hard to master. Our four-point plan will help you tackle the toughest tracks in your repertoire