Lesson 4: Playing 1st Song

[HOME]
[PART 1-THE BAISCS] L1: Terms & Supplies * L2: The Strum * L3: The 5 Basic Chords * L4: Playing 1st Song
[PART 2: DIGGIN’ IN] Guitar Tuning * Music Theory * Transpose * More Chords
[PART 3-PLAYING BASS] Playing Bass.
[PART 4-SONGS] Songs

PLAYING YOUR 1st SONG

You are ready to work on your first song. I have chosen Step by Step (print the Songsheet) because it is a slower song that uses the five chords you have been working on. You know all the chords to play this song. Start with your fingers in the G chord position and strum once. Watch the VIDEO OF ME (below) singing the song with the strum and slowing moving through the chords that you have already learned. You can watch the video below as well.)

As soon as you strum down one time making the first G chord, move your fingers to the D position and get ready to strum down once at the second "God". After you strum the D, quickly move to the C and strum the C chord at "I will". Then to complete the chorus, we move back to the G position and are prepared to strum the G chord at the phrase "You". (This song is in 4/4 time. The downbeat of 1 is indicated by the bold words and is the time in the song when the chords should be changed) Note: you must have already switched chords by the time the bold word is ready to be sung. 

My guitar is out of tune, and I made lots of mistakes. That's okay. I want to illustrate that you don't have to be awesome to enjoy playing guitar. I am not a good guitarist, but I enjoy playing and you can too. If you practice, you could pass me up in a couple of months. Work hard.

G                   D        C                          G
O God, You are my God and I will ever praise You.

       G                      D         C                         G
O God, You are my God and I will ever praise You.

         Em                   D
I will seek You in the morning,

                 C                              Am 
And I will learn to walk in Your ways,

          G                         D
And step by step You’ll lead me, 

                  C              D            G (G - D - C - G)
And I will follow You all of my days.

(Download and print the song)

Practicing More and More

Keep practicing that over and over until you can move more quickly. 

  • Strum a G, then a D, then a C, and back to the G. Repeat that over and over.

  • Then, try adding the Em - D - C - Am of the verse. Again, a single strum of the Em, then the D, and the C, and finally the Am, which should be an easier switch.

  • After you have mastered switching chords with one down strum, try two DOWN strums. Once you accomplish that, place your fingers at the G chord and use the DOWN, DOWN, UP, UP, DOWN, UP pattern, keeping the motion as smooth as a pendulum.

You can let the song play and focus on only two of the chords, skip one if you have to so you can get your figures shaped to make the next chord.

Practice C - Em - C - Am

  • Start with C (245). Slide to Em (lift your pointer and slide your middle and ring fingers both into the 2nd fret, strings 4 and 5. Don’t lift them just slide them. Go back and forth with a single strum: C to Em to C. Add the DDUUDU strum pattern and switch from C to Em to C to Em to C, etc.

  • Start with C (245) and move to the Am position (bring your ring finger under the middle finger to the 243 position. Practice, like above, going from C to Am to C to Am to C, etc.

  • Then put it all together. Go from C to Em to C to Am to C to Em to C to Am.

Practice On Off On with each Chords

  • Make the D chord. Strum the D chord, then lift your fingers and strum with no fingers on the fretboard. Then without looking make the D chord again. Keep doing that over and over until you can form the D chord without looking at your fingers on the fretboard.

  • Do the same with the G, with the C, with the Em, with the Am.

  • Be sure to play the DDUUDU strum pattern with the above practices once in a while. Start with a single strum but then later add in the pattern.

Practice Consistent Strumming Using the CHEATER Chords

  • Here is another way to get your brain trained to feel comfortable strumming consistently and switching between chords. Use the Cheater Chords of G - C - D - C - G

  • Here are the chord shapes

  • Here is a video explaining how to play these chords

Don’t get discouraged. It will take time to get your fingers to learn how to make the shapes of each chord. You have to train them. The tips of your fingers will hurt. You must keep going. Take a day or two to rest your fingers but get back to it. You can always practice the shapes of the chords without pressing all the way down to make the proper sound. Just move your fingers to the correct spots on the fretboard for each chord without strumming.

Congratulations!

You have taken the first steps to becoming a great guitarist, a musical enthusiast, and maybe even a worship leader. It takes a lot of practice to build up the calluses on your fingers. Watch out for that cheese cutter (that bottom, thin string—the E. I’m telling you, it hurts really badly. BUT DON’T QUIT! Keep practicing. Change up your practicing the 3 practice skills and playing Step by Step. If your fingers hurt, rest and practice the strum.

Once you get past this point, you will be ready to try other songs. Go ahead and see if you can play some of the other songs in the key of G. Check out this webpage that has 8 worship songs in the key of G. The video tutorials are using different versions of the chords we have learned, but for now, you can use the basic forms of G, C, Em, D, and Am. You can also check out some of the songs in Part 4: Songs.

The most important part of all of this is… HAVE FUN!

Playing with a Band

One of the greatest experiences you can have is to play with other instruments to form a band (e.g., drums, keyboard, bass, piano, etc.). It is important that you practice your guitar a lot to the point that you can keep a good rhythm, and you know the basics about chords and are able to learn new ones. It is important, even at the beginning stages, to learn how to play in sync with someone else. Find someone who plays an instrument, either piano or guitar, and use one of the songs on this or other sites, and learn how to stay together. You must learn to listen to each other. Timing is vital in a band. You can't just play your own thing. It has to be along with everyone else in the band, and the chords and notes have to be the same (except for harmony or bass line playing, which is more advanced). 

If you don’t have anyone to play with, use a metronome so that you can learn to keep good timing. You can’t slow down hunting for the next chord; you have to get there. A metronome will help push you and your fingers to get there. You can download a free metronome app from one of the app stores.

After you learn the basic in chords, you can begin playing in a band. And playing with someone else will only make you better because you have to keep up with them. Remember, if you play solo, you are 100% responsible for all the music being played, the rhythm, the sound, and the volume. But in a band, if you have 5 instruments, you will only need to be responsible for about 20% of what goes on. You will complement each other. Not everyone will have to play at the same time. It will sound better when the instruments, although they are playing in the same family of sounds, play at different octaves of the sound spectrum, with different techniques, and at various times in a song. A guitarist may only do a single strum on a slow song, while the piano player carries the main sound, and the drummer handles the beat. At other times, the piano may only play the high notes at different times, while the guitarist has the lead strum, leading the song. Be practicing with this in mind. Who knows what you will be doing for the glory of God!

PLAY GUITAR: [HOME] Guitar Tuning