You see, dozens and dozens of hit songs over the years have used these four chords, and although the key may change, the basic sound is always there. Look up “Four Chords by Axis of Awesome” on Youtube and you’ll see what I mean.

So I thought it might be useful for some people if I did a quick guitar lesson on exactly what those four chords are, in five different keys. Because this is one of the most popular chord progressions you’re likely to come across, it is well worth becoming familiar with it in all of it’s variations.

So learn the chords, recognize the interval similarities between each key (you can learn way more about the number system and guitar theory at my Unlocking I IV V website) and above all, have fun!

The Most Popular Chord Progression of All Time

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I mention this in the video, but in case you want a handy reference, the four chords in the five keys (key is the first chord in brackets) are as follows:

• (C) G Am F
• (A) E F#m D
• (G) D Em C
• (E) B C#m A
• (D) A Bm G

If you’re still unsure as to why these chords belong together, or how we go from one key to another, or finding which ones are sharp, and which ones are natural in the chord progression, then I highly recommend checking out my Unlocking I IV V guitar lesson as it reveals the answers to all these questions and more.

Source: The Most Popular Chord Progression of All Time Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

Watch how he uses his index and middle fingers for those amazing runs. Also notice his fingernails… a lot of players serious about using their fingers like cutting their nails in that long pointed fashion, while others use the fleshy part of their fingers instead.

If you can, try and take a single lick that he played and see if you can do it… even if it is only at a glacial speed!

Oh, and checkout those insane arpeggios around 2:30!

Source: Lawson Rollins – Persian Night Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

As with all the guitar riffs you learn, I recommend watching closely to how I play it, make sure you understand the riff and what scale patterns it is related to, and then work it over a whole bunch to make it your own.

No doubt you have different tastes in music than I do, and so I will naturally play a riff differently than you would, even if we’re playing the same notes. I might emphasize something different than you would, and that’s cool, because that’s how we get our great diversity in music.

Anyways, grab your guitar, and let’s learn some guitar riffs!

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Source: More Guitar Riffs in G Major Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

In these guitar lessons I try to bring out elements of that, but to really understand it you’re going to have to dig into this on your own too. I’ve posted videos on thirds in the G major scale, and inverted thirds in G, and today’s guitar lesson looks at some thirds off the second and third strings in D major.

If you can’t see my hand very well, the only two patterns I’m using are the minor third (0-0-0-4-3-0) and the major third (0-0-0-5-5-0). Take those two patterns, and move them up the fretboard, and you’ll find what I’m working with.

If that’s all completely Greek to you, I highly recommend checking out my course on Guitar Scale Patterns, which will really open up the fretboard for you.

The big takeaway from this lesson is recognizing the two different thirds patterns, major and minor, and then recognizing how those relate to the various scale patterns up and down the fretboard. Once you tie them all together in your mind, the whole fretboard is your oyster…

Thirds in D

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Source: Thirds in D – Advanced Guitar Lesson Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

In this lesson, Colin teaches the chords and the picking pattern, and although we’ll save the riffs for another lesson, if you watch close you can pick up a few ideas for those too.

The basic guitar chords are D, C and G, with an F major in there as well.

Have fun with this one!

Sweet Home Alabama Chords for Guitar

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Source: Sweet Home Alabama Chords for Guitar Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

It’s great to see how comfortable Tommy is onstage and playing that guitar, cracking jokes the whole time.

Guitar Boogie is basically a 12 bar E blues… with a few frills.

I think if you watch closely enough, you’ll probably see the kitchen sink in there somewhere.

Unfortunately the video isn’t terribly big on closeups, but if nothing else, I hope you’re motivated watching Tommy Emmanual rip through this version of Guitar Boogie.

Source: Tommy Emmanuel – Guitar Boogie Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

If you do want to get fancier with the root notes, think about what the bass player would do in that situation, and try playing around with those ideas. If you know what guitar scales you have to work with, then you can play around in there. In this video you’ll see I do a bit of that with the riff / progression towards the end of the video. There are many other guitar riffs that you could use this with, you just have to be creative.

Pick ‘n’ Pluck – Fingerpicking Technique

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Source: Pick ‘n’ Pluck – Fingerpicking Technique Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

Today I thought we’d explore that analogy a bit…

Language is a powerful thing, it can convey all kinds of stories and emotions to others remarkably effortlessly.

And yet our language (English), is made up of just 26 letters.

Consider that music is even more basic, with just 12 chromatic notes at our disposal. These are like letters.

To make words, we arrange letters together in chunks, or sequences.

Well, a “chunk” could relate to a chord. A chord is simply a collection of notes that work together.

A sequence of notes is a riff. Again, just a collection of notes that work together.

Just like in English, there are some notes/letters that work great together, and some that don’t.

A scale defines all the notes we have available to use in a given key, and thus is directly related to the chords and riffs that we use.

If you want to say something in English, you choose words and phrases (chord progressions – groups of chords) that are appropriate, right?

Well, the same holds true for music.

In music, there are many different genres, (dialects, anyone?) but they all use the same principles of theory (spelling & grammar).

I could go on with this all day…

In fact, I recently got an email that contained this:

“The biggest thing I got out of your lessons is the need for me to learn the language of music. Sure I may know most of the alphabet and I can even put some words together and maybe a sentence or two but until I understand the language and composition I am basically playing pigeon music if you will.”

~ Tom Sherbert

I couldn’t have put it better myself!

If you’re struggling to get the hang of music in general, I recommend breaking it down to the smallest parts before you try to to tackle the whole thing. Don’t try

Learn how & why the letters (notes) work together, and start building from there.

That’s why my course Unlocking I IV V does, in detail. Check it out here.

If you’re a bass player, my course Decoding the Bass Guitar covers the same concepts, but applied to the bass. Check it out here.

Source: Music Is A Language – Do You Speak It? Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

Although Colin did this particular lesson on an acoustic guitar, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from using these same blues riffs on an electric if that’s what you prefer.

This riff sounds great played over an E7 chord, and is based on E pentatonic minor. If you change chords, you’ll have to change the scale pattern you’re playing out of. Notice in the video that when he goes to the A7, he moves to the A pentatonic minor position as well.

If you’re on top of it, this and other blues riffs can be moved into any key you want to play in. Just identify which key and guitar scale you need to be using, and go from there.

Cool Country & Blues Riffs

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Source: Cool Country & Blues Riffs Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!

Firstly – what in the world is a SPIDER capo? We all know what a capo is, right? It’s a cool little device that allows you to bar a particular fret all the way across. In its standard form, this means barring the whole fret, say the 3rd fret, so that you essentially shift everything up and can play open chords but in a different key. If you’re tricky like me, maybe you use a normal capo as a partial capo, leaving the low E open or something.

Pretty cool stuff.

Well, the Spider Capo does the same thing, with a very unique twist… it lets you pick which strings to fret, and which ones to leave open. There are six individual levers (called fingers), one for each string, which you set individually. Use all six if you want, or just one, it’s your call.

The Spider Capo Fits All Guitar Necks

I tried the Spider Capo on a couple different guitars, and because you can actually shift each “finger” or lever sideways, it is adjustable to fit pretty much any six string guitar. I’ve got a 3/4 size acoustic guitar with a narrower neck, and although the fingers are really close together, it works on there just as well as on my full size acoustic or electric. Apparently, they’ll also work on a banjo or mandolin, though I’ve not tried that myself. To do this though, you’d just unscrew the end and remove fingers as necessary.

Additionally, because the entire mechanism is different than the standard clamp style capo, you can actually adjust the tension placed on each string individually, which is an added bonus that can help you tweak out any buzzing that might occur.

Change Tunings On The Fly

Because the fingers are easy enough to adjust individually, if you can think of a way to use the Spider Capo in this fashion, you could technically change tunings mid song, without too much difficulty. One example might be moving from a major tuning to a minor tuning mid stream. Alternate guitar tunings can be so much fun, but they’re often a bit clunky to work with on the fly. This can change that quite easily.

The Bottom Line

Overall, I think the Spider Capo is a brilliant step forward for guitar capos. You get far more versatility than a standard capo, and if you’re the type of player that loves to sit and tinker with your guitar, then this may well be squarely up your alley. This will get your brain thinking much harder about your guitar and why and how it is tuned the way it is, which is a great exercise that will help you even playing in standard tuning.

In addition, I like the fact that the “fingertip” of each lever is a slightly concave plastic end, rather than the typical rubber you find on most capos. This means that when you do a string stretch, your string doesn’t move to a different position and then stick there; it has the freedom to slide back to its original position.

The Spider Capo will run you about 30 bucks on Amazon or elsewhere (click here for current prices), which is a bit more than a normal capo; however I view them as two totally different gadgets. Use a normal capo for the things you’ve always used it for, and use a Spider Capo to add something truly unique that you’ve never been able to explore before using a traditional capo.

Checkout the video below to see the Spider Capo in action.

The Spider Capo Review

Source: The Spider Capo Reviewed Guitar Tips Weekly - You want guitar tips? You got 'em!