Webneetech.com, a Website Development and Research Firm based in Mumbai, recently interviewed me by sending some questions over email.

Here is a small extract:

Q. What motivated you to start blogging?

My love for writing led me to start a blog. In early 2007, blogging was not as common a term in India as it is today. But in the World Wide Web, blogging was very much active. I followed Problogger Darren Rowse’s blog religiously and read almost all the 5k posts there. I realized that blogging can be a great medium to express our views as well as share our expertise.

The full interview can be read at Interview with blogger Abhinav Sonkar

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Webneetech.com’s Interview with Me

More Guitar Songs

• Welcome to Abhinav Sonkar dot Com Version 2 – Refurnished and Redesigned!
• IIM-Bangalore GD-PI Experience

The unplugged version of this song from the upcoming movie Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is done by the talented trio of Kailash Kher, Paresh and Naresh. Although the Atif Aslam version is equally good, guitar enthusiasts will enjoy the unplugged version more. It is a beautiful song with deep and long lyrics. Kailash Kher has sung it exceptionally well.

The song is in the key of A major. Some of the chords used here are similar to the song Kahin To, from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na which was in the scale of A#. You will need to master barre chords to be able to play this song.

Thanx to my old time friend for bringing this song to my attention and to all those who had requested this song.

The strumming pattern is simple but will require some practice. Following are the two strumming patterns:

| 1 & 2 & | 3 & 4e&a |
| D - D U | D - D-D- |

| 1 & 2 & | 3e&a4e&a |
| D - D U | DUDUD-DU |

E -----0-------0-------1---------0-----
B ---0-------0-------0----------0------
G ----2-------2-----1-1------1-1-------
D --2-------2------0--------2----------
A -0-------0---------------------------
E -------------------------0-----------
=(A)=====(A)=====(D)======(E)========== <- Chords played in the background

E -----9-7-9-----7/9-7-9-----10-9-10--12-12-7--
B ---------------------------------------------
G -7h9-------9-9---------9-9-------------------
D ---------------------------------------------
A ---------------------------------------------
E ---------------------------------------------
=====(A)=========(A)==========(D)=======(E)==== <- Chords played in the background

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Hai Junoon, New York [Movie]
• Guitar Chords: Kya Karoon, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?
• Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey
• Guitar Chords: Khuda Ke Liye, Runway

I would like to wish all my readers a very Happy and Delightful Diwali!

Photo by celinamahek

This Diwali, enlighten yourself and everyone around you, eat more (and more) sweets, don’t sleep in the afternoon, fire a few crackers, send Diwali messages to near & dear ones (including your boss!), go to your terrace at night and discover the scenic beauty of lights around you and finally, impress the next-door girl with your new dress!

HAPPY DIWALI !

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Wishing You A Colorful and Enlightening Diwali 2009!

More Guitar Songs

• Many Many Happy Returns of Diwali!

The success of a blog is usually judged by the number of feed subscribers it has. And a blog is said to be quite successful when it has at least 1000 subscribers. Yesterday, this blog surpassed that amount. So, finally after almost 2 years, I can happily say that my blog has not been a failure!

Though it has taken quite a considerable amount of time to reach this figure, I am still glad because I know I have not been as active on this blog as I should have been.

I would like to thank all you readers who have been regularly visiting my blog. Not just visits, your comments and appreciations which have been showered in a huge number inspire me to keep it going. I assure you, I will continue to post more and more songs and help anyone who wants to learn guitar in every way possible (just keep encouraging me!).

By the way, the Suggest a Song feature, which I introduced few days back has been tremendously successful and useful to me. Within 3 days of its start, I got about 50 different songs in my inbox. Thanks to this, I no longer have to worry about keeping myself updated with new songs around the block. All because of you, my beloved readers. Thank you!

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

The Blog now has 1000 Feed Subscribers!

More Guitar Songs

• Wordpress 2.3.2 Released. Urgent Security Update!

Some songs can be so beautiful and so touching that you can feel the beats vibrating your hair follicles! As I am understanding music bit by bit with every song, I realize one fact that the greatest of the songs are composed with some of the basic chords that you might have been playing since long. It is the innovativeness and the skill of the musician which makes the song sound so wonderful.

Yesterday, I watched the movie Wake Up Sid. Very cool movie, a must-watch for every youngster as it touches many aspects of life, the most important being having a soul mate to enjoy the journey of life as you accomplish your goals.

The song uses basic open chords, and the strumming pattern is also simple, though it would require some practice for beginners. There are 2 strumming patterns with slight variation:

Strumming Pattern 1
| D | D- -D | UDU- | D |

Strumming Pattern 2
| D-U- | D- -D | UDU- | D |

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
• Guitar Chords: Kya Karoon, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?
• Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey
• Guitar Chords: Khuda Ke Liye, Runway
• Guitar Chords: Hai Junoon, New York [Movie]

I had been thinking about introducing this feature for a long time, though never actually got about doing it. But finally, here it is live for you as much as it is for me!

Recently, I lost a very good friend forever (and much more)… though for the purpose of this blog, it suffices to say that I lost a good source of new songs which are perfect for the guitar. I needed help on this, so I thought why not ask it from my beloved readers?

Photo Credit: Amma. Stephie Val

There are lots of wonderful guitar songs, old and new. With wonderful artists like A R Rahman, SEL etc. delivering songs with everlasting melody, new songs based on guitar will keep coming up. I consider it my duty and passion to deliver new songs at the earliest to all you guitar enthusiasts who want to play those songs! But what with hectic office schedule, coupled with my aversion to television (my close friends can vouch for that!), I find it difficult to keep track of new songs. Hence this form.

It would not be possible for me to cover each and every one of them but with your suggestions and based on the song popularity, I will be able to decide which songs to go for and which to be left behind.

So I request you to use the Song Suggestion Form (link available in the sidebar), instead of pinging me on GTalk or scrapping me on Orkut (my scrapbook is flooded with requests! No complains there!!) or mailing me. I welcome guitar-related doubts on those medium of communication and would try to resolve it at the earliest, but if you want chords of any song or want to suggest one, use the form.

Visit the Song Suggestion Form

And yes, I almost forgot! Please suggest / request Bollywood songs only (Hindi). I have already got many requests for Marathi / Bengali songs… I am sorry I can’t help you out there! Google is your best friend (after me of course!)

Take Care! Happy Guitarin’ !!

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Introducing the “Suggest a Song” Feature!

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Title Track, Rock On!!
• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
• Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Kya Karoon, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?
• Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey

This is a very beautiful and joyous song good enough to set you high on ecstasy. Upon hearing the song, it reminded me of the old and famous Papa Kehte Hai… the strumming pattern and the chords are very similar. All of you who are just beginning to learn the guitar, celebrate! Coz this song is just right for you.

The strumming pattern, as I said before, is the one used for the song Papa Kehte Hai. It goes like this: | D-DU | -UDU |

E-----------0------------3------------0------1--3---
B-----1-------1------------3------------1----1--3---
G---------------0------------0------2-----2--2--0---
D---2---2--------------0----------2----------3------
A-3-------3----------2----------0------------3------
E------------------3-------------------------1------

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Guitar Chords: Kya Karoon, Wake Up Sid [2009]

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
• Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?
• Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey
• Guitar Chords: Splitsvilla Theme Song By Agnee
• Guitar Chords: Ab Na Jaa, Euphoria

This is a good song for beginners to learn and practice barre chords. I am not at all in awe of this song. I don’t like it much but since it is based on acoustic guitar completely, I thought to post it here.

The song uses barre chords and is in the key of Gm. If you know barre chords, this song it would be very easy to play. If you don’t know barre chords, you will have to use a capo on the 3rd fret to turn the chords into simple basic open chords.

The strumming pattern of this song is not at all difficult. Here it is: | D- D- | UUUD |
When the song catches speed the strumming pattern doesn’t change, just the tempo increases.

E ------------------------------------------
B ----------------------3-2-----------------
G ------0------2------2-----2-0---------0---
D --0-3----0-3----0-3---------------0-3-----
A --------------------------------3---------
E ------------------------------------------

Using a capo on the 3rd fret, the chords change as below:

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey
• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
• Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Khuda Ke Liye, Runway
• Guitar Chords: Hai Junoon, New York [Movie]
• PianoSheetMusic.info – Excellent Resource for Guitar Sheet Music

One of the most beautiful songs from a wonderful movie Kaminey! It is a very easy song to play on the guitar with simple basic open chords.

The song is in the key of C major. So the chords used in the song are C, Dm, Em, F, G and Am.

At the start of the song, play the C chord and then alternately the first and second strings holding the chord. Try to do alternate picking to make it sound better.

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?
• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
• Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Khuda Ke Liye, Runway
• Guitar Chords: Hai Junoon, New York [Movie]
• PianoSheetMusic.info – Excellent Resource for Guitar Sheet Music

The next shape in the CAGED System is another common and useful shape which you have been playing since a long time.

Recognizing the Shape

Let’s take out the relevant notations from the fretboard on the left to deduce the shape.

Note that we are still using the F, A and C notes which are forming a very useful shape. Also the root note is still on the 5th fret as it was for the previous shape (C shape) but now the notes are higher (further up) on the guitar neck.

Here Comes the Barre!

Let’s add the barre once again. Imagine the black strip as the nut… do you recognize the shape now?

It’s an open A chord! Simple!

Remember again, it is still the F chord, but the parent shape of the chord from which it is formed is the common open A chord shape.

This is one of the most common chord shapes after the E shape

You can play this chord either by using your first three fingers on each string or by barring the three strings using your first finger – which ever suits you.

Let’s move on to the last note of the CAGED shape – G Shape.

You can read the chords in correct formatting on the website. Click the link below to view the post on the blog.

The CAGED System of Guitar – A Shape – Part 5

More Guitar Songs

• Guitar Chords/Tabs: Tu Jaane Na, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
• Guitar Chords: Iktara, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Kya Karoon, Wake Up Sid [2009]
• Guitar Chords: Jao Naa, What’s Your Raashee?
• Guitar Chords: Pehli Baar Mohabbat Ki Hai, Kaminey
• Guitar Chords: Splitsvilla Theme Song By Agnee