lesson 1 - sitting to play the guitar lesson 2 - have fun learning e minor and d minor chords lesson 3 - a basic overview of a 3rd chord in g lesson 4 - different fun rhythms and basic picking lesson 5 - playing in a major lesson 6 - scales - introduction to the scale of a major lesson 7 - which ones are a must and what they are lesson 8 - Answers to common guitar learning problems lesson 9 - a song with 3 chords - margaritaville lesson 10 - folk/60's tune - love the one you're with lesson 11 - Fingering Patterns - All Major Chords lesson 12 - Fingering Patterns - Minor Chords lesson 13 - Fingering Patterns - Major Scales lesson 14 - Fingering Patterns - Minor Scales lesson 15 - Song Structure - Verses,Choruses,and Bridges lesson 16 - Fingering Patterns - Major Bar Chords lesson 17 - Fingering Patterns - Minor Bar Chords lesson 18 - Exotic Sounding Chords - Augmented and Diminished lesson 19 - Classic Guitar Songs - Stairway to Heaven lesson 20 - Basic Melodic Playing - Basic Lead Guitar

A SONG WITH 3 CHORDS - MARGARITAVILLE

 

 

Now that you have the strumming and chords down, you can start some great songs. This is a great way to quickly improve your guitar playing and still have some fun while doing it. It can be boring to only do chords and scales all the time.

 

A song or two is a nice change and a great reward for all the work you have done and time you have put in. This will even be easy for the beginner and will help to improve your playing. It is about approaching the song with a bit of thought and theory. Let’s give Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” a try. This is not very hard at all and only requires 3 chords, the D, A, and G chords. The most work will be a variation in the A chord to A7 once in a while through out the song.

 

Knowing when to change chords is one of the most important parts of playing any song. It can be tricky at first but you will get the hang of it very quickly if you have been practicing your scales regularly. This song is a classic, easy, and a lot of fun to play. Here is the first verse and chorus with the chord changes represented above the lyrics for a quick reference.

D
Nibbling on sponge cake, watching the sun bake

D                                           A
All them tourists covered with oil

A
Strumming my six string, on my front porch swing

A7                                                         D
Smell those shrimp they’re beginning to boil

G            A                               D
Wasting away again in Margaritaville

G                A                        D
Looking for my lost shaker of salt

G                 A                          D     A        G
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame

           A7                          D
But I think it could be my fault

There are the chords and lyrics all we need now is an easy rhythm pattern. This song is bluesy, tropical and a lot of fun. What can be used is an airy, light moderate tempo and strumming pattern. The 1st and 3rd beats are accented with the 8th notes being played in a simple up and down stroke on the 2nd and 4th beats.

 

BEAT:  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +

 

STROKE:

 

Many new guitar players tend to worry only about one aspect while playing. This can be a good thing at some points in time, but branching out a bit is good too. A guitar is a polyphonic instrument and is capable of playing more than one note at a time. it can take while to get really good at this more than one note playing concept.

 

As a beginner you will want to develop a bass line as a regular part of your strumming pattern. You will want to ad it to the 1st beat of every measure. You can also add it to the 3rd beat as well. The 1st and 3rd beat have been replaced with a bass note instead of a full chord on the down stroke. This note is simply the root note for the chord being played.

 

BEAT:  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +

 

STROKE: B

B

B

B

 

Once you have mastered this pattern it is time to spice things up a bit. Now it you can create an alternating bass line. You will alternate the root note with a different note in the bass. This is usually accomplished with the 5th note. With the song “Margaritaville”, the easiest thing to do is play the root on the 1st beat, chord on the 2nd beat, the 5th on the 3rd beat, chord on the 4th beat. Here is the diagram again where R = root and F = 5th:

 

BEAT:  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +

 

STROKE:

R

F

R

F

Since there are only 3 chords we can take a look at the roots and the fifths of each. This will be easy after all you have learned.

CHORD	ROOT	FIFTH
D	D	A
A (and A7)	A	E
G	G	D

The D and A chords are very easy since most of the roots and fifths are open strings. The G chord is just as easy once practiced. Play the root note in the lowest tone. With some minimal effort we can make this simple rhythm and great tune into something fun to play.

 

Make sure to have fun and not get discouraged as you play and try new ideas and strumming techniques. With practice and effort you can master any song liken this and have a great time. With all the scales and chords most guitarists practice it is nice to be able to put it together in a familiar tune.