Easy Chord Substitution
When you see an unfamiliar chord, consult the following table to find an easier chord to play. This chord will still sound correct. For example, when you see a Cmaj7 symbol, play a C chord instead. For a Cm6, you can substitute a Cm chord, etc.
If the song contains chords that you are not familiar with you can:
- Learn how to play this new chord. Refer to the chord chart in Appendix Two, or other LTP LearnToPlay books e.g., Progressive Guitar Method: Rhythm and Progressive Beginner Guitar Chords.
- Substitute an easier chord. Use the easy chord table which lists the type of chord you may see in the sheet music (on the left of the table) and the simpler chord you can substitute (on the right of the table). If you know how to transpose and substitute chords you can play almost every song ever written using only a few basic chord shapes. It is recommended that you do further chord study and at least learn how to play bar chords. Other important chord types to learn are major seventh (maj7), sixth (6), minor seventh (m7), suspended (sus), diminished (dim) and augmented (+) chords. All these chords can be found in Progressive Guitar Method: Rhythm.
- Change the key of the song. Transposing (or Transposition) is the process of changing a song or piece of music from one key to another.
There are two reasons for transposing into another key:
- If the song is too high or too low to sing, the song can be changed into a lower or higher key. Changing the key of a song does not change the sound, pattern or timing of the melody but simply changes how high or how low it is sung.
- If the song is hard to play or contains difficult chords you can transpose it to a key with easier chords. For example, if a song is written in the key of Bb (which many songs are) it would contain chords like Bb, Eb and Cm which may be difficult for a beginning guitarist. If the song is transposed into the key of G major the chords would then be G, C and Am, which are easier for a guitarist to play.
Class Sessions
1- Chord Charts
2- Notes on the 1st String
3- Eighth Note Rhythms
4- Notes on the 2nd String
5- Notes on the 4th String
6- INTRODUCTION
7- Notes on the 5th string
8- LESSON ONE
9- The Major Scale
10- Sharp Signs
11- Silent Strums and Continuous Rhythms
12- Key of A Minor
13- The Open Position
14- Tuning Methods
15- The F Sharp Note (F<span class="symbolA">#</span>)
16- The Octave
17- Strumming Chords From the Root Note
18- Notes on the 6th String
19- Sharps and Flats
20- The 12 Bar Blues Progression
21- How to Read Sheet Music
22- Minor Chords
23- Alternate Picking
24- The Pivot
25- Approach to Practice
26- The Major Chord
27- Rests
28- Easy Chord Substitution
29- Acoustic Guitars
30- The Chromatic Scale
31- Root Note Chords
32- The G Major Scale
33- The Key of C Major
34- Turnaround Progressions
35- The Lead-In
36- The Seventh Chord
37- How to Transpose
38- Slide Finger
39- Key Signatures
40- Electric Guitars
41- Notes on the Guitar Fretboard
42- Notes on the 3rd String
43- Bass Note Rhythm Patterns
44- Where to from here…
45- Amplifiers
46- Styles of Playing Guitar
47- Strings
48- Tuning Your Instrument
49- How to Hold the Guitar
50- How to Read Music
51- Chord Diagrams
52- Fingering
53- Using a Metronome