Topic: Question about chords

So I just started playing, and I really do not get how the chords go. Like everything about them. I get what chords are and i know how to play them and everything. but when the chord is just above a certain word in the song. how does that work?

Re: Question about chords

It is good to listen to the Artist’s version of the song you are playing the chords to. this will give you an idea on the tempo and exactly where the chord changes are in the song. That is why there chords over the words. This is telling you to play that chord at that time in the song. The only thing you need to do is listen to how it is played and hear how it is picked/strummed and how fast/slow the song is. 3CF

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke

Re: Question about chords

okay so youre saying there is a certain way to strum the chords over each of the words?

Re: Question about chords

Exactly Rachael ... you'll have to listen to the song you're playing ... alot of the current acoustic songs I play are based on a strumming  pattern while some are "one strum" and a pause until the next chord is played

Some songs you can do your own pattern to it ... you can play a single chord that is strummed once, pause, wait for the next chord, strum it up-down-up-down, wait for the next chord ... it's all based on strumming patterns ... you'll be able to hear the patterns the more you play ... it's not something picked up right away ...

www.justinguitar.com  is a great site to learn strum patterns, that's where I learned mine from and it only took me a few weeks to learn the patterns but they came in very handy ... the more songs I played (especially country songs) the more the strumming patterns became natural to me

Electric:  Gibson Les Paul Studio, Schecter Omen 6, PRS SE Custom
Acoustic:  Fender Talman, Yamaha
Amp:  Fender Super Champ XD/Line6 Spider III 75

Re: Question about chords

thank you! i really appreciate it. =]. ill go check out that site now =].

Re: Question about chords

Good call 3CF. If you listen to the artist singing the song you can usually hear the strumming pattern. If it's not obvious then it is usually very very close to the rythm being thumped out by the drummer.

Imagine you are sitting listening to the song, imaginary drumming away with your imaginary drumsticks. Now tie one hand behind your back (preferrably not the one you strum with) and try to bash out the same rythm one handed. You can then usually pick up un down beats and up beats. This may sound crazy but trust me it helps get a feeling for the rythm of the song. And once you have the rythm of the song, then the strum pattern is staring you in the face.

Chords above words is just an easy way of showing where the chord changes are. And they almost always fit in with the rythm of the song.

You've probably heard this a million times before, but the more practice you put in and more experienced you get, the strumming patterns and stuff becomes easier to pick out.

So practice. Go on.

Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??

Re: Question about chords

http://www.cyberfret.com/index.php
This is a good site as well. 3CF

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke

Re: Question about chords

After a while the transitions for most three and four chord ditties will become natural.  You'll know when to transition even if you've never heard the song before.

Someday we'll win this thing...

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