When folks sign-up for music lessons with Resound, I like to start with an assessment of their skills, goals, personality, etc. before I assign a teacher to them. As part of the assessment process I ask the future student about their goals for learning the instrument. And I often hear something like “I want to get better at the guitar.” Now, I can relate to that sentiment because I also want to get better at the guitar, but the problem with such a goal is that it gives us nothing solid to aim at. It’s impossible to quantify and therefore completely unmotivating for most people. As such, it’s not goal that’s worthy of your potential because it will never help you realize the fullness of it.
So I try to help the future student identify some smaller goals that can be achieved in a short period of time. I call these “quick wins.” Quick wins give us a sense of accomplishment; like we are good at something. And when we are good at something we want to do more of it, which gives us the energy and motivation to pursue new goals.
So if you are a new guitar player (or perhaps a discouraged guitar player) why don’t we start with some “quick wins” that will help you gain some quick proficiency on the guitar. (Now, I want to caution that when I say “quick win” I don’t mean that it’s easy; only that you will be able to reach the goal within a short period of time if you devote some energy to it.)
Our first “quick win”, and the focus of this post, is for us to learn to play what I call the 7 “G-whiz Chords” (coined by Rob Hampton of Heartwood Guitar) as in “Gee Whiz, I can actually play this!”
HERE’S WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO:
- Print out this chart with the 7 G-Whiz Chords on it. Play each chord through a couple of times while saying the “simple name” of the chord (the one highlighted in yellow).
- Print off one of the chord charts below and read through it while you listen to the song once through.
- Play through it youself using the 7 G-Whiz Chords that you have learned.
– If you don’t know how to strum your guitar yet, just play each chord once starting with the thickest string and down through the thinnest string.
– If you’d like to sing along, but the song is too high or too low for your voice try using a capo and experiment with it by placing it on different frets. - Rinse and Repeat.
G-WHIZ FRIENDLY CHORD CHARTS
EASIEST
U2 – All I Want is You
Chantal Kreviazuk – Leaving on a Jet Plane
The White Stripes – We’re Going to be Friends
Ben E. King – Stand By Me
SLIGHTLY HARDER
REM – The One I Love
James Blunt – You’re Beautiful
The Fray – How to Save a Life
The Steve Miller Band – The Joker
MOST DIFFICULT
Counting Crows – Accidentally in Love
Coldplay – Viva la Vida
thanks to hagwall for the picture
