The A Chord
A
To play the A chord, use the three fingers of your left hand as shown in the diagram, and strum all six strings.
Pivot Fingers
The following two exercises make use of pivot fingers.
In Exercise 1, keep your first finger in position on the second fret of the third string (A note) when changing from the A chord to the D chord.
Rhythm Pattern
In this exercise keep your first finger in position on the first fret of the second string (C note) when changing from the C chord to the D7 chord.
Rhythm Pattern
Practice playing these chord progressions slowly, with a steady beat. Smooth chord changes are more important than speed at this stage. Speed will come with practice.
Rhythm Pattern
The song Cockles and Mussels is written in the key of G. On the recording there are five beats to introduce this song.
When changing between the G and D7 chords, slide your third finger along the first string from the third fret (G note) to the second fret (F# note). Do not lift your third finger off the string.
You can now play the song on page 5 of Supplementary Songbook B.
