New guitar students usually learn and master the basic open chords fairly quickly. In particular, the CAGED chords.
But it's not long before basking in the glow of new accomplishments slowly begins to fade into that same old, same old, well...boredom.
Let's face it, how many times can you strum a regular old G chord, or C, A, E or D, for that matter, until it becomes as bland as a bowl of cold oatmeal.
That's why we guitar players inevitably look for other ways to play things, ways to mix it up a bit, movements we can do around standard chords, and variations that will transport us from the bland - back to the freshness of new discovery.
Today we will look at something you can do with a "G" chord to spice things up a bit.
We will start with a basic open G chord, then do an easy movement based out of that same formation, and back again to the G chord.
It looks like this:
E-------3-----3-----3-----
B-------0-----1-----0-----
G-------0-----0-----0-----
D-------0-----2-----0-----
A-------2-----X-----2-----
E-------3-----3-----3-----
1. Start by playing a standard, open G chord.
2. Then the variation - which is played by placing the 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string, and the 2nd finger in the 2nd fret of the 4th string.
Do this while maintaining the G chord formation with the 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 6th string, and the 4th (pinky) finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string.
It's important to note that, during the variation, the 5th string (A) should not be played. You can easily mute the 5th string by using your 3rd finger (which is on the 3rd fret of the 6th string). Simply "roll" it over slightly so that the upper part of the finger gently rests on the 5th string causing it to be muted.
3. Then finish the movement by strumming an open G chord again.
One good way to visualize this movement is to picture an open C chord. The fingering for the variation is the same finger placement you would use with the 1st and 2nd fingers on a C chord.
In fact, without getting into a music theory discussion, the variation of the G chord in this example, is actually a variation of a C chord.
You could play this G chord variation while strumming the chords, or you could also do some nice things with it while finger picking.
It may look a little complicated to begin with, but you will quickly find that this is a very simple movement that you can play right now, and incorporate into your playing for years to come.
Enjoy!
