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    Guitar Chord Genius
    Guitar Chord Genius
    Guitar Chord Genius
    Ebook112 pages1 hour

    Guitar Chord Genius

    By Bruce Dean

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Understand how to design any chord, and throw all your other chord books away.

    Guitar Chord Genius was designed for every level of student, whether a beginner, or an advanced amateur. As easily and painlessly as possible, Guitar Chord Genius walks you through trouble spot, fixing problems with technique while you learn chords from A to G#m13b5. This study provides the discussion and technical demonstration that you would receive from an experience instructor in private lessons.

    Most guitar players start with the help of a friend or by studying online. The issue with this is there is rarely any instruction as to how to approach a chord. "Just do this," is not adequate instruction. Almost inevitably, problems with technique hobble the budding musician and keep them from attaining speed and accuracy in their chord execution.

    No assumptions are made. There is no need for you to have an understanding of music theory, or for you to be able to read notes. You are moved through Open chords, to Barre chords and Power chords. Following that there is a short study on triads (3 note chords) and then you're methodically taken though Advanced chord forms, Altered chords, and methods of construction. If you can count, you can learn to make any chord you want. Even better, if you have made up your own chord and have searched endlessly through those two inch chord books for your chord and can't find it, you'll learn how easy it is to determine the name of your 'designer' chord.

    This book is perfect for anyone who has never picked up a guitar to songwriters who are trying to broaden their tonal palette.

    Buy the book. Understand how to design any chord, and throw all your other chord books away.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBruce Dean
    Release dateFeb 9, 2015
    ISBN9781310686313
    Guitar Chord Genius
    Author

    Bruce Dean

    A life learner, I've been teaching guitar for well over 10 years now. My 'Chord Genius' books are available at northernmusician.com, and will soon all be available for electronic download. They are written for the non-note reader who has no music theory background and take you from A to G#m13b5. It's all as easy as learning to run a scale and being able to count.The chord genius books are available for Guitar, Mandola, Mandolin, Octove Mandolin, Mandocello, Tenor Guitar, Tenor Banjo, Ukulele, Baritone Ukulele, Bouzouki, and soon for Cavaquinho on NorthernMusician.com. They are all being converted for epublication at the moment. Books for various popular tunings, CGDA, GDAE, GDAD, DGBE, DGBD, and CGBD, also available for the traditional instruments. Ukulele tunings DGBE, GCEA, and ADF#B are also available.I love teaching. It allows me a different perspective on how people learn and how they perceive things, making me the perfect person to help you with your musical education.I live in Northern BC Canada with my wife and my new pup, Tika. It's a wonderful, quiet place to live. My kids are all grown and making their way. I'm proud of all of them.

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      Book preview

      Guitar Chord Genius - Bruce Dean

      Guitar Chord Genius

      © 2004 Bruce Dean

      Smashwords Edition

      Paper edition printed in Canada NorthernMusician.com

      Currently in revision for epublication:

      Tenor Guitar Chord Genius: Tunings available, CGDA, GDAE, DGBE & CGBD*** Guitar Chord Genius – Standard or Left Hand versions

      Mandolin Chord Genius

      Octave Mandolin Chord Genius: Tunings available, GDAE, GDAD

      Mandola Chord Genius: Tunings available, CGDA, GDAE, GDAD

      Mandocello Chord Genius: Tunings available, CGDA, GDAE, GDAD

      Baritone Ukulele Chord Genius: DGBE

      Ukulele Chord Genius: Tunings Available GCEA and ADF#B

      Tenor Banjo Chord Genius: Tunings available, CGDA, GDAE, DGBE & CGBD

      Bouzouki Chord Genius: Tunings available, CFAD, DGBE, GDAD, GDAE

      Caviquinho Chord Genius

      Acknowledgements:

      I would like to thank the following people and bands for their contribution to my musical education.

      Maryann—My wonderful wife.

      Wilma and Dalton Dean—for paying for the lessons to get me started.

      Dusty Woodhouse—my first music teacher who will never know the impact he had on me. Rest softly, Dusty.

      Trudy Johnson—music teacher and encourager.

      Val Whitham—vocal teacher who in one lesson changed my life. I'll bet I still couldn't out-sing the little 4'10" powerhouse.

      Influences:

      Howard Roberts, Joe Pass, Lyle Lovett, Jimmy Buffett, Stevie Rae Vaughn, Bruce Cockburn, Valdy, Earl Scruggs, Robert Johnson, Papa John Creech, Alabama, Carlos Santana, Def Lepard, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, et al.

      Dusty 'n' Me 'n' Immortality

      Dusty Woodhouse was my first guitar teacher. Yes, that was his real name. He had salt & pepper hair, a limp, a cane, and a state of the art 4 track reel to reel tape recorder. With a single microphone, a fender amp, and a Gibson electric guitar, the man was a god. Dusty's thing was jazz, and man, he could play. I studied with him for 6 months, when, at the golden omniscient age of 8, I decided I knew better than he did. It happens.

      Not only is this common of musicians (and aspiring musicians) to decide that they can go it on their own and learn far better than they could learn from someone else, it's typical of all artists. While it's a shame that this is true because of the longer learning curve, it is also essential to the mindset of the artist. Music is about creation, not about doing something someone else has already done. And yet, it's a shame because in order to be creative and break the boundaries, we first need to understand what's been done and how it all has been put together in the past. Why reinvent the wheel?

      That's why this book was written, because as artists we tend to want to learn what we want to learn when we want to learn it and not to be dictated to. We just want the help when we need it.

      I still remember something Dusty would say about teaching people music – that in a way it would make him immortal. You see, he didn't just see himself as a teacher teaching a student; he saw himself as a music teacher in a tradition of thousands of years of music teachers.

      That's how I look at it too, and this book is my way of reaching far more people than I could ever teach, one on one, in my lifetime. It is my way of extending my knowledge past myself to future generations. Can anything be more exciting? I don't think so. It is my greatest desire to teach you so that you in turn can pass the knowledge and the enjoyment of music on to future generations, whether through teaching, performance, or writing. Maybe you'll come up with something that has never been thought of before because of something that I may have placed in your gourd. That's pretty cool. (Give me an acknowledgement on the release, okay?)

      If you already play, please read the text through in order to gain background as the instruction is progressive.

      So, without further preamble, let me help you make me immortal.

      Contact information: NorthernMusician@hotmail.com

      Chapter 1: The Basics and Open Chords

      Guitar Anatomy

      Definitions

      * 1st string – is the thinnest string on the guitar, the rest are referred to in sequence, the thickest being the 6th.

      * 1st finger - the finger next to your thumb, the rest numbered in sequence, baby finger being 4th.

      * 1st fret – the fret closest to the nut of the guitar.

      * Nut – the plastic or bone crosspiece that the strings pass over at the join between the fingerboard and the head of the guitar. The nut is normally used as the open string resting point setting the open pitch of the instrument. Simple clamps, called capos, can alter this.

      * Zero fret – a fret that is placed directly after the nut within a short fraction of an inch, typically within 1/8", which sets the open pitch rather than the nut. These have do not indicate the quality of the guitar.

      * 'Up' always refers to higher in pitch, in other words, moving toward the sound hole or pickups.

      * 'Down' always refers to lower in pitch, in other words, moving toward the head of the guitar.

      * Action – the height of the strings off the fingerboard.

      * Relief – the arc of the guitar neck with string pressure applied.

      Keeping the Guitar in Front of You

      As performers, we usually stand, guitar strap hung over our shoulder as we hammer out the music, with the guitar body directly in front of us. As students, or when learning new parts, we often sit, working our way through the material with the guitar on our right leg, putting the body of the guitar to our right side, the

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