Basic Guitar Chords And How To Play Them

One of the challenges for the novice guitarist is learning the basic chords. You will not only need to know where to put your fingers, but also how to change from one chord to another. The technique of smooth transition between chords is a learning process we are never really finished with. Every time we learn something new on the guitar, that's another sequence of small movements our body learns, and these sets of movements must be executed smoothly through relaxed, calm practice.

Holding chords with your left hand is a new skill. It uses groups of muscles we do not normally use, so it takes time to learn the chord shapes without experiencing discomfort. There is light at the end of the tunnel, although sometimes the tunnel seems very, very long.

Another physical adaptation that has to be made when you learn your basic guitar chords is the left-hand fingers need to be toughened up. Callouses form on the tips of the fingers after a few weeks playing, but until they do you need to put up with the pain.

Fortunately learning the notes on the guitar is a job that does come to an end. As you learn more songs, chords and scales you will feel your ease with musical theory and notation growing even if you didn't directly learn much theoretical stuff. If you learn in your own way the knowledge gets into you by way of constant practice and the enjoyment you bring to your guitar playing.

So the task at hand is to learn a basic group of chords. This is your toolbox you begin your guitar playing with.
Each chord is identified by a letter. If the letter is followed by the word, minor, it's a minor chord. If it is just the letter alone, it's a major chord.

Major chords contain the Root note, a major third above the Root plus a fifth above the Root.
Minor chords, which have a more "sad" sound, are the same except that they contain a minor third instead of a major third.

A basic rule of thumb for understanding major and minor chords is for a
major chord play the (1) (3) and (5) of the major scale, and for a minor chord play the (1) (3) and (5) of the minor scale.

A handy thing to know once you start playing barre chords is that if you learn the major chord shape, you only need to lift one left-hand finger to play the minor chord.

The basic chords come from the keys of A G C and D. The chords themselves can be played at all positions on the fret board, but beginners start with open chords at the first position. This means that at least one note is played on an open string.

We group the basic keys into families:
The A family contains the chords A, D and E.
The D family contains the chords D, E minor, G and A.
The G family contains the chords G, A minor, C, D and E minor.
The C family contains the chords C, D minor, E minor, F and G.

Ricky Sharples has many more tips for guitar players of all levels at his blog Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free, a continuously updated directory of free guitar lessons, videos, chord charts and lots of useful guitar stuff.

Related Information of Interest:

Travel Jokes
Traveling can be a humbling experience, particularly when you travel to a foreign country. Such experiences, of course, give rise to travel jokes.

Travel Jokes

1. Three brothers are sitting at the bar in a Moscow establishment. An older man is sitting at a table behind them and has obviously had too much vodka. He stands, walks up to the first brother and says,

“Your mother is a vicious, greedy woman!”

The brother tells him to shut up and go sit down.

After about 5 minutes, the old man stands and walks up to the second brother,

“I sleep with your mother whenever I want!”

Disgusted, the brother tells the old man to bugger off.

A few minutes later, the old man stands and starts walking towards the third brother. All three brothers turn around and yell,

“Dad, go home!”

2. You’re at a bad hotel when the bed mint moves.

3. “Visi, Vermini, Vomnui” – I visited, I freaked, I threw up.

4. The President’s Vacation

George and Laura Bush take a vacation to Crawford and decide to go the grocery store. In the checkout line, Laura recognizes the man working at the register as an old high school boyfriend. After chatting, they leave the store and George says,

“Wow, imagine if you had married him. You’d be married to a grocery store clerk now instead of the President of the United States.”

Laura rolls her eyes and says, “No. I’d be married to the President of the United States.”

5. “Veni, Veneri, Vamoosi” – I came, I caught a disease, I ran away.”

Typically, just the act of traveling produces more than a few funny moments. Get out there and go.

Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of travel accessories. Visit us to read more about Internet travel articles.

The Best Way To Save Money On Advertising - Target Locally
Over the years I have discovered exactly what derails an ad. More often than not, when an ad fails to produce results, the problem isn't with the ad. The problem is with WHO the ad reaches.

Before you start blaming lack of response on your ad, stop a moment to consider who it is TARGETED to.

Let's take a moment to look at Internet advertising. First off, let me say I dearly love advertising on the Net. The advertising rates for search engines and ezines are far, far lower than advertising your business on traditional media like TV or newspapers. For what one TV commercial would cost, I can advertise a business extensively for weeks, even months.

But, as I'm sure you've realized by now, the Internet is no magic advertising medium. Just as often as with anywhere else, your ad can pull less than expected response. The problem is with lack of targeting.

If most or all of your customers live in the geographical area of your store, using a search engine to reach people all over the world doesn't make much sense. You can consider your money wasted when somebody who will NEVER walk into your store reads your ad.

The solution is to advertise on sites or ezines that reach YOUR customers at a very high rate. This could be a local site that provides sports scores for dozens of local sports teams. Or a site that lists a great many local building contractors. Very specific information needed by people in YOUR area will draw just the kind of local crowd you can capitalize on.

We're seeing a sudden rise of local pay-per-click search engines. These use the same popular technology as Google and Overture, but limit their reach to businesses in a particular city, state, or region.

Often these local pay-per-click sites have very low rates, a little as one cent per click. Many offer as many as 1,000 free clicks to any business that signs up.

Be sure to check if the pay-per-click site has plenty of businesses listed in their database. An empty site won't attract many visitors and you may not reach enough audience to have any effect on your sales. Also watch for a pay-per-click that is promoting in your area. If they are visible to you, they are probably getting the attention of lots of your customers.

Linda Stevens is CEO of MyCalgaryClicks.com, the local Pay-Per-Click city search directory for Calgary, AB Canada. Linda believes in following her own advice and is offering $10 in free bidding cash to any site that signs up to advertise. Reach Linda at support@mycalgaryclicks.com

Job Interview Mistakes - Part 1
For many, the interview is the single most stressful part of the job search process. Any number of things can go wrong, and a big part of being successful is avoiding simple mistakes. The following is a list some of the most common mistakes during an Interview.

1. Failure to research the company: An interviewer will expect candidates to spend time researching and reading about their company. Do your homework before the interview; really know what the company does and who their competitors are. If you have not taken the time to review the employer website and understand what they are recruiting for, then you are reducing your chances of continuing successfully through the interview process.

2. Not clear on what youï¿½re interviewing for: Be familiar with the job description so you can draw on your experiences, talents, strengths and abilities to connect with company needs. Highlight how you're suited to that particular job.

3. Not marketing yourself correctly: Define yourself. What makes you different from others? Know your major strengths and accomplishments as they relate to the job you are applying for and the company.

4. Not asking meaningful questions: Have at least 3-4 intelligent questions to ask the recruiter. It's OK (it actually leaves a positive impression with the recruiter) to have them written down in advance and to reference them at the appropriate time. Interviews are an exchange of information, and not coming in with questions shows that you did not prepare for the whole interview.

5. Under-dressing for the interview: Professional attire and attention to detail still count. You can never be too professional. Remember that everything - your appearance, your tone of voice, your conduct -contributes to the impression (positive or negative) that you make. Be presentable - wear a pressed suit and shirt and polished shoes.

About the Author: Hans Hasselfors is the founder of SubmitYourNewArticle.com. Visit our article directory for varied articles about job search.

Easy Egg Salad
Thereï¿½s nothing more enjoyable for lunch on a warm summer day than a cold egg salad sandwich. As long as you keep your egg salad mixture refrigerated prior to use, you can safely make and eat egg salad sandwiches regardless of the weather. Egg salad can also be enjoyed as a topper on green leafy salads, or is especially nice as a side to a tomato salad, complete with buttered whole-wheat toast.

There are many excellent egg salad recipes to be found in cookbooks and on the Internet. However, the key to a tasty egg salad starts well before starting the recipe. To produce an excellent result you need to pay attention to how you boil your eggs. An egg that has been cooked correctly has a soft, tender texture. An over-boiled egg is rubbery and has a harder texture, and is more difficult to mash. If you boil your eggs with the following technique, you will enjoy an egg salad that has a smooth, even texture and taste.

First: you shouldnï¿½t use the very best-dated eggs you can find at the grocery store for any recipe calling for boiled eggs you must peel. If you use new eggs, you may have already noticed that they are much harder to peel than those that are about a week or two old. Researchers are not exactly sure why older eggs are easier to peel, but most believe it is due to a gas building up between the shell and the thin white membrane of the egg. This build-up pushes the shell of the egg away from the inner membrane and makes the shell peel off easier after the egg has cooled.

Second: have you ever boiled your eggs and found after you peeled them that there was a green-brownish layer around the egg yolk? This occurs because of a natural chemical reaction between iron in the egg yolk with sulphur in the egg white. You can minimize this green layer by rapidly cooling your eggs after initial boiling. Here is a brief outline of the cooking technique: place your eggs in a pot large enough to comfortably make one layer of eggs and fill with water to one inch over the top of the eggs. Bring the pot to a boil then take the pot off of the hot burner and let the pot sit with the eggs for 20 minutes to finish cooking the eggs. Then, immediately take the eggs out of the hot water and place in a bowl of ice water to cool off. This rapid cooling will prevent little (if any) greenish icky stuff to form, resulting in a nicer colour and flavour for your egg salad filling!

If you are interested in a step-by-step guide for making some delicious and unique egg salad recipes, visit Irene's Egg Salad website. At this site, you can see the whole process a step at a time and download our free recipe booklet. You will become an egg salad expert in no time at all!