April 17, 2025 • 21 mins
Guitar learning doesn't have to be the frustrating experience most beginners endure. The secret lies in breaking down what seems like one impossible task into three manageable components that you can master separately before bringing them together.
Welcome to the Triangle Method - a revolutionary approach to learning guitar that focuses on the relationship between chord knowledge, strumming technique, and song structure comprehension. Using Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" as our example, we explore why most beginners struggle (hint: they're trying to do everything simultaneously) and provide a clear pathway to actually making progress.
Your hands aren't natural friends - they're doing completely different tasks that require different types of thinking. Your fretting hand performs precise, analytical movements while your strumming hand expresses rhythm and emotion. By practicing these elements separately, you create proper neural pathways that allow for smooth integration later. We introduce techniques like chord "bouncing" to develop muscle memory and "ocean strumming" that breaks free from rigid strumming patterns to help you find your unique musical voice.
The magic of this approach is that it creates automation, freeing your mind to actually enjoy playing rather than constantly struggling with basics. And as these foundations become solid, adding singing or more complex techniques becomes possible without overwhelming your brain.
Whether you're a complete beginner or someone who's been struggling to make progress, this triangle approach will transform how you practice and dramatically accelerate your guitar journey. Ready to stop getting overwhelmed and start making music? This is your roadmap to guitar success.
Links:
Check out the GuitarZoom Academy:
https://academy.guitarzoom.com/
- Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus...
- GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0...
- Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steve (00:00):
All right, something that I think is really important for
people that are just startingto learn how to play guitar,
starting to put their chordstogether, strumming, and they
want to learn how to play somesongs.
Okay, one thing I call it'swhat I call the triangle or
trifecta of learning how to playsongs and proper practice.
So what we're going to do iswe're going to take just the
(00:21):
generic idea of a song okay, andunderstand what are the
essential components that weneed to be able to play a song.
Well, we need chords, we needstrumming and we need
understanding and memorizing tothe best of our ability the
song's structure.
So if we took something reallysimple like Knock it On Heaven's
(00:44):
Door by Bob Dylan, okay, now,this song would require us to
play G D A, minor G D C.
Now, at first you know, listen,you're not going to know that,
you're just listening to thesong and whatever.
So what you're doing is, in thefirst stages, you're just
(01:05):
listening and trying to kind ofget used to what's going on here
.
So the song starts, there'sstrumming going on, there's
these oohs happening, and thenit goes into the verse, okay,
and then it goes into the chorusand then it goes into a verse
and again, you don't have tooveranalyze it, but you're just
generically kind of listening tothe song, getting an
overarching bird's eye view ofwhat you're hearing with this
(01:27):
song.
Okay, so nothing's reallystanding out as being weird.
It's just the same thing, kindof over and over and over.
So this might be a good song tolearn how to play.
And, of course, asking foradvice is always a good thing.
If you have a guitar playerhandy that you could ask hey,
I'm learning these chords.
What would be a good song tolearn how to play?
So we're listening to the song,we're kind of getting used to
this.
Now we zoom in a little bit andstart thinking okay, so are
(01:52):
there any changes happening here?
We know where there's a verse,we know there's a chorus, that
sort of thing.
Let's start looking at thetools that we need to be able to
play this song and if there'sanything different that's
happening.
So we start listening to it andwe recognize, okay, so what it
actually is is G D A, minor, g D, c, over and over and over.
(02:13):
So in the intro it's G D, a,minor, g D, c.
In the verse, in the chorus, itnever changes.
There's no interlude orsomething which often happens in
a song.
There might be an interlude ora weird bridge or something that
happens where the chords changeor the key changes or something
like that.
In this song it doesn't.
It's a perfect song to learnhow to play if you have the
(02:36):
tools.
Okay, so structurally, we'reunderstanding now.
Okay.
So, instead of having to stareat a chart and all that sort of
thing, if we just get used tothinking G D, a minor, g D, c,
more specifically, g D, a minor,a minor, g D, c, c.
So I'm thinking of it as agroup of four, four measures,
(03:00):
whatever you want to think of.
Again, not getting too caughtup in that, just real.
Simply, there's eight thingshappening here G D, a minor,
minor, g D, c, c.
So if I break it into two, it'stwo groups of four, very easy
for me to memorize.
The other thing I'm identifyingis oh, it's G D and then A
minor and then G D, again C.
So the only thing that's reallychanging is the A, minor and
(03:21):
the C.
So, structurally, again, I'msimplifying in my brain what
this looks like.
So now we get to the tools.
Well, obviously, the chordtools would be G D, a minor and
C.
Those are the chords that weneed to be able to play.
So that's down here of thistriangle.
That's down here, and thenwe've got strumming, trying to
(03:43):
figure out what we're going todo for a strum.
So let's focus on the chordsfirst.
So if I don't know these chords, this is probably not the right
song for me right now.
This might be a perfect songonce I've developed chords a
little bit more, but becausethere are four chords, maybe
what I need to do is find a songthat only uses one or two
(04:04):
chords to begin with to try anddevelop those, learning how to
play four chords.
Maybe what I need to do is finda song that only uses one or
two chords to begin with to tryand develop those, learning how
to play those chords right,getting comfortable with making
the shapes of G, for instance,and D, and then doing what I
call bouncing, where youpractice making the shape over
and over and over, so your handsget used to making these.
Through muscle memory, you getmore accurate, you get quicker
(04:26):
right.
All those kinds of things starthappening.
So you practice bouncing right,bouncing the G chord over and
over and over, bouncing the Dchord over and over and over and
all the things I always talkabout.
Things like focused practicing,like if you're kind of
practicing but you're watchingTV, you're not really practicing
, like it's.
The best thing you could do isset aside some real quality time
(04:47):
to really focus and reallythink about what you're trying
to accomplish, whether it's 15minutes of practice or two hours
of practice.
Have a plan of attack.
Don't just do a little of thisand a little of this and a
little of this.
It's okay sometimes, but if youdo that all the time, it's
really hard to make any progress.
So you look and you think okay,I really need to learn how to
(05:07):
play the G chord.
Why?
Because I'm going to play thisstupid chord for the rest of my
life, right, whether I like itor not, it's not going anywhere.
It's a super common chord thatguitar players play.
So I need to learn.
What does it look like in myhead?
What does it look like on thefretboard?
Do I have any question in mymind?
Do I have to keep looking at achart going?
Oh, where do my fingers go?
(05:28):
Okay, that's where I need tostart.
Right, I shouldn't have to dothat anymore.
Gee, I should see it in mybrain.
I got to study it in my head.
I got to think about it.
Then I got to look at my guitarand think about Think about
what it looks like.
Where do my fingers go?
They go right there.
I'm making a four finger cheatright now, but that's where they
go.
Now I can start practicingrepetition, developing accuracy,
(05:52):
developing speed to be able tomake that chord.
So I'm not going, because if Ihave to do this, I'm not ready
to play along with any song.
I need to learn to play thatchord as one motion with my
hands.
If I'm sitting here and I wantG, I think about what it looks
like.
Think about what it looks likeon my guitar.
I can see it right there.
(06:13):
So as soon as my hand starts toraise, it makes the shape I
want.
I don't wait till I get to theguitar and then try and build it
, because it's going to be toolate.
The song is going to be one ortwo measures ahead of me.
So I need to be able to lift,create the shape I want, and
that's what I want to practiceis bouncing, making that shape
(06:34):
over and over and over, not ashow you know how fast can I
possibly do this?
It's not that it's relaxing andpracticing over and over and
over.
Develop that chord.
So when you want it, your handautomatically makes it and sets
it down.
If you want to develop D, youdo the same thing.
That's the basic idea ofpracticing the chords, which are
(06:55):
part of the tools that we need.
So now, if I go back to thesong G, d, a, minor and C, those
are what I need.
Do I know those chords?
Let's say my answer is yes, Ireally do know those chords.
Now I know what order they goin G, d, a, minor, g D, c.
And again, you might play yourC this way, or C, again, that's
fine, whatever, g, d, a, minor,g D, c.
(07:19):
So now I start bouncing andpracticing the fundamentals, the
rudimentary elements of thissong.
Can I move from G, d, a, minor,g D C?
Can I do that If my D isgetting stuck or my A minor is
getting stuck, or whatever itmight be?
That's what I need to try andfocus on.
(07:39):
See, the problem is is, whathappens is people, instead of
breaking down these threecomponents, they just try and
play.
They're trying to look at thechart and trying to figure out
how the chords go.
And then they're trying tostrum and it doesn't work, and
then they go.
I hate this.
It sucks.
I'm not good at this.
I can't do this.
Well, that's not true at all.
But you've got to break downthe components.
What does the song want fromyou?
Do you understand what the songis actually doing for you?
(08:01):
Right, g, d, a, minor, g, d, c,g, knock, knock, d.
Don Heavens A minor.
2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, g, knock,knock, d, C.
Right, so I'm getting all thatin my head.
I don't need my guitar for that.
I need to think about it.
I need to listen, I need toanalyze.
(08:21):
Then I need to think about it.
I need to listen, I need toanalyze.
Then I go to my guitar and Istart working on the tools.
Can I do this?
So now, as I'm listening to thesong and I've been working on
my chords, now I don't even needthis hand.
I can just start thinking G,knock, knock, d, two, three,
four, a.
Am I able to move my hand?
G, knock, knock, d on heaven'sdoorstep.
(08:43):
Can I do that?
If I can't, I need to go backand start working on where the
problem is.
The beautiful thing about whatwe're doing right now is,
oftentimes the problems thatyou're having will bubble to the
surface because you canidentify do I know what I'm
trying to do?
Am I capable of doing what isexpected of me?
(09:04):
Do I know these things or am Itrying to do something that's
way outside my abilities at thispoint in my playing Right?
So, again, it's okay, if youtry and do things, you can do
whatever you want.
I'm just saying if you don'thave a logical path from point A
to point B, it's really hard toget from point A to point B if
(09:25):
you're all over the place.
So that's why we start withsomething like two chords or
three chords or four chords thatare commonly used together, so
we can learn how to play not onesong but two or three or five
or 10 or 20 songs that use thesechords, because we're
developing the ability ofmemorizing right, thinking about
(09:46):
how the song goes, and thenwe're developing the ability of
being able to move these chordsback and forth.
Well, we're not learning thesechords for knocking on heaven's
door.
We're learning these chords forevery other song that would
ever use these chords.
That's the beauty of learningthese and getting good with this
.
So notice how I started withthinking about the song, the
tools that I need.
I come down here, I practicethose tools.
(10:07):
I haven't even started usingthis drum yet, I'm just seeing.
Can I move these chords in timewith the song?
As I'm listening to the song,it starts one, two, three, four,
g, mama, take this badge fromme, right?
So can I actually make thosechanges?
I can't use it anymore, right?
Am I making a connectionbetween these two parts of the
(10:32):
triangle?
Yeah, okay, so it's working.
Or, oh, I gotta work on D alittle bit more.
Okay, go back and work on Dsome more.
Do some bouncing, realconcentration, all that kind of
stuff.
So now let's bring in theguitar pick.
Now, from a chord standpoint ofpractice, the guitar pick is
great because we can make sureall the notes are actually
working.
Are we getting the sounds thatwe want?
(10:55):
Right, D bottom, four strings.
You know, again, once we get tostrumming, we'll talk a little
bit about that, because nothingis absolutely perfect.
Yes, the D wants four strings,but when we actually start
strumming, sometimes we hit five, sometimes we hit three.
Welcome to the real world ofbeing a human being.
That's what happens.
Okay, so that's what I need todo is work on are the notes
(11:18):
working, you know?
Am I getting a bunch of thisand do I need to work on that
some more?
Yeah, that D is kind ofstruggling.
I'm having a problem with thatstring.
Okay, well, that's fine, keepworking on it.
You got the rest of your lifeto learn how to do this, you
know.
Keep trying to develop it, butin the meantime, don't get
caught in absolute perfection,like because the D chord is fast
(11:41):
enough but it's not quite asclean as you want it to be.
Doesn't mean you shouldn't betrying to play this song.
You should still be trying toplay it.
Just think about it as beingdirty or muddy.
Right, it's not completelyclean yet, it's not exactly what
you want, but you don't want towait until the D is absolutely
perfect before you start tryingto play.
Get in there and start tryingto get messy, it's okay.
(12:05):
And in the meantime, keepworking on it, keep trying to
develop it, but in the meantime,try and play the music right.
Try and start playing along.
Get used to how this thing works, because a lot of times, a lot
of the problems that you've gotwith some of these chords and
the perfection element of tryingto make it as good as you can,
which we want to do.
(12:26):
Some of those things will workthemselves out as you just keep
playing, and once you startplaying songs, it's more
motivating and it feels good andyou'll just start playing more
and as a result of that,oftentimes these things will
work themselves out, these kinksthat you have will work
themselves out, and if it's not,you keep working on it.
It's okay, it's nothing wrongwith that.
(12:46):
You just this is an isolatedthing that you need to work on.
So we're working on the notes.
Are they all working?
All that kind of stuff, okay,so again, two parts of our
triangle here.
Now let's get to the third part,which is this.
It's what I call scratching,which is what strumming really
is.
Instead of always thinkingabout playing as a strumming
(13:07):
pattern down, down, down, up,down, that kind of thing you
learn how to just think aboutstrumming as a rhythm instrument
, like a maraca.
You're just gonna move themaraca back and forth to the
speed of the song, to the tempoof the song.
So if Knockin' on Heaven's Doorwas G, ooh, d, a minor, g, u, d
(13:32):
, a, minor G U.
So what I'm doing now is, I'mthinking about the song, I'm
thinking about the chords, butI'm focusing on the rhythm, and
what I'm doing is what I callorganic strumming or ocean
strumming.
I call it ocean strumming justbecause the waves of the ocean
are very unpredictable, so youcan't predict exactly where you
(13:54):
know the wave's going to bebigger or smaller or louder or
that sort of thing.
And the beauty of thinkingabout it that way is, once you
get the maraca moving, you'rethe one that's in control of
hitting softer or louder orhitting the strings.
More or less the maraca justkeeps going.
Like right now I'm strumming,I'm just not hitting the strings
.
So at any time I can just comein and hit those strings and
(14:15):
move away, Move in, move away.
It's not down, down, down, up,down, or one, two, e and like
you, don't think about it thatway, learn to think about it
musically, learn to feel it.
So as soon as you start hearingthe song, you're like okay,
that's where the beat is.
So here I go.
Because I guarantee, if youwere sitting with Bob Dylan and
(14:37):
you said, hey, bob, how did youstrum?
Knockin' at Heaven's Door, he'snot going to look at you and go
well, you know, I did down,down, down, up, down, up, down,
down, down, up, up, up, down,down.
Like he's not going to say thatto you, he's going to look at
you like you're crazy and thenhe's going to say I have no idea
, like I just play and that'sthe truth.
Right, it's just moving.
Now, if you hear that there'ssomething specific, like a
(15:00):
specific strumming pattern whichsome songs do, that's okay, you
can play something morespecific.
I'm just saying, if you alwaysstart with a strumming pattern
and you think about it as astrumming pattern, everything
begins to sound the same, verymathematical, and that's not how
you want to approach playingguitar and, plus, the way I'm
doing it.
It doesn't require me to thinkabout all these things Because,
(15:24):
ultimately, what I'm trying todo with this triangle is
automate these.
I want to automate them so Ican sit back and let these
things happen and kind ofoversee everything, make sure
nothing goes wrong.
Right, I'm not falling off thestage or breaking a string or
whatever might happen.
Right, cable comes out of myguitar, all of those kinds of
things.
(15:44):
That's the reality of playing.
Okay, but I don't have to go sodeep with my brain, with the
resources that I have in mybrain at the moment to think
about well, how does the G chordgo?
Where do my fingers go?
Well, if that's what I'mthinking about, there's no way I
can think about this.
And there's no way I can thinkabout the song, because I've
used all my resources.
I don't even know what the Gchord is.
(16:05):
I don't even really know how itgoes.
You see, if I automate thesethree pieces, the whole thing
becomes easier.
People will say well, how doyou play and sing at the same
time?
Well, that's exactly how youplay and sing at the same time.
This triangle becomes a squareand the other corner is now
you're singing.
But you've got to automate allthese things.
You can't just expect that it'sall going to come together
(16:27):
because you bought a really niceguitar or you practice.
It all depends on what you'repracticing and how you're
practicing.
That makes all the difference,you see.
So the more you automate eachpiece, the easier this whole
thing becomes.
I know how the song goes.
I've thought about it.
I can hear the changes right.
My teacher showed me, or Ilearned on a chart or whatever,
(16:48):
how Knockin' on Heaven's Doorgoes, and I can see the chords
in my mind as the song's playing.
I can see them.
I can see them on my guitar.
Now I've actually practicedmoving my hands and I can move
them fast enough.
I've been learning to strumalong or scratch along to the
song, and this is the big thingagain, that people get wrong
(17:09):
because they just assume thatthe strum is supposed to happen
because we learn the chords.
That's not true.
They're two very differentthings.
Chords, to me, are very blackand white.
You either know them or youdon't, because you've either
spent enough time with them, butthere's nothing creative
happening there.
Your G isn't any more creativethan anybody else's G.
It's a G chord.
That's what it is.
You either can do it or youcan't.
(17:31):
But strumming is very different,because strumming, as soon as
your guitar pick hits thosestrings, you're doing something
that people can hear.
If I'm not strumming, you'redoing something that people can
hear.
If I'm not strumming, you'renot hearing anything.
But as soon as I startstrumming, it's either going to
sound like.
It's either going to sound likethat or it's going to sound
(17:52):
like whatever you want.
But there's more music in thesecond one than there is in the
(18:13):
first one.
So, learning to break thesethree pieces down and practice
each one independently.
Don't just expect that it's allgoing to work.
I usually tell people, too,that these two hands really
aren't friends with each other.
They're doing somethingcompletely different.
The both sides of your brainare focusing on something
completely different.
This is very analytical, blackand white.
(18:36):
This is not so.
If you have to sit andconcentrate on all these things,
this is where this is going tofail.
Okay, so that's what I want youto think about is, whenever you
go into a song, think aboutthese three different components
and developing themindependently.
When you practice on a dailybasis, part of your practice
routine should be working onchords, bouncing, you know,
(18:59):
cleaning up all these sorts ofthings.
Don't try and do 50 chords ifyou can't do one.
That's just overwhelming.
And learn chords in a logicalorder.
Learn them in a key.
If you're learning G, c wouldbe a great chord.
To learn D would be anothergreat chord to learn.
Why?
Because songs use those threechords together.
In a family, we call it key allthe time and again, you can
(19:21):
always ask for help if you'renot sure.
That's exactly why you want totalk to somebody about that.
But learning chords in alogical order where they're used
together makes sense becauseyou can play way more songs in
the long run.
Okay, and then learning how toscratch, not with chords, not
with all this other stuff.
(19:41):
You could turn on the radio,you could turn on a playlist,
you could put on one of yourfavorite CDs, whatever and just
start learning to scratch along,find a groove and play.
Now you want to identify what'sharder or easier to try and
strum along with.
I mean, if you're trying toplay along with a Slayer song on
(20:02):
an acoustic guitar and youdon't know how to do anything
yet, that might not be the bestplace to start.
I'm a Slayer fan as well, butthat's probably not the best
place to start.
Start with something that makessense with what you're trying to
learn how to do and then buildinto it right.
So find songs that are kind ofmid-tempo, that you can actually
hear a guitar strumming, andyou can.
(20:22):
You know there's a drum therethat you can hear there's a beat
, and you can start trying tofigure out, kind of where this
exists.
And then from there you can goin all kinds of crazy places
with your guitar playing, and Iencourage you to do so.
But start by learning how tobreak down this, this triangle,
all right.
All right, something that I think is really important for
people that are just startingto learn how to play guitar,
starting to put their chordstogether, strumming, and they
want to learn how to play somesongs.
Okay, one thing I call it'swhat I call the triangle or
trifecta of learning how to playsongs and proper practice.
So what we're going to do iswe're going to take just the
(00:21):
generic idea of a song okay, andunderstand what are the
essential components that weneed to be able to play a song.
Well, we need chords, we needstrumming and we need
understanding and memorizing tothe best of our ability the
song's structure.
So if we took something reallysimple like Knock it On Heaven's
(00:44):
Door by Bob Dylan, okay, now,this song would require us to
play G D A, minor G D C.
Now, at first you know, listen,you're not going to know that,
you're just listening to thesong and whatever.
So what you're doing is, in thefirst stages, you're just
(01:05):
listening and trying to kind ofget used to what's going on here
.
So the song starts, there'sstrumming going on, there's
these oohs happening, and thenit goes into the verse, okay,
and then it goes into the chorusand then it goes into a verse
and again, you don't have tooveranalyze it, but you're just
generically kind of listening tothe song, getting an
overarching bird's eye view ofwhat you're hearing with this
(01:27):
song.
Okay, so nothing's reallystanding out as being weird.
It's just the same thing, kindof over and over and over.
So this might be a good song tolearn how to play.
And, of course, asking foradvice is always a good thing.
If you have a guitar playerhandy that you could ask hey,
I'm learning these chords.
What would be a good song tolearn how to play?
So we're listening to the song,we're kind of getting used to
this.
Now we zoom in a little bit andstart thinking okay, so are
(01:52):
there any changes happening here?
We know where there's a verse,we know there's a chorus, that
sort of thing.
Let's start looking at thetools that we need to be able to
play this song and if there'sanything different that's
happening.
So we start listening to it andwe recognize, okay, so what it
actually is is G D A, minor, g D, c, over and over and over.
(02:13):
So in the intro it's G D, a,minor, g D, c.
In the verse, in the chorus, itnever changes.
There's no interlude orsomething which often happens in
a song.
There might be an interlude ora weird bridge or something that
happens where the chords changeor the key changes or something
like that.
In this song it doesn't.
It's a perfect song to learnhow to play if you have the
(02:36):
tools.
Okay, so structurally, we'reunderstanding now.
Okay.
So, instead of having to stareat a chart and all that sort of
thing, if we just get used tothinking G D, a minor, g D, c,
more specifically, g D, a minor,a minor, g D, c, c.
So I'm thinking of it as agroup of four, four measures,
(03:00):
whatever you want to think of.
Again, not getting too caughtup in that, just real.
Simply, there's eight thingshappening here G D, a minor,
minor, g D, c, c.
So if I break it into two, it'stwo groups of four, very easy
for me to memorize.
The other thing I'm identifyingis oh, it's G D and then A
minor and then G D, again C.
So the only thing that's reallychanging is the A, minor and
(03:21):
the C.
So, structurally, again, I'msimplifying in my brain what
this looks like.
So now we get to the tools.
Well, obviously, the chordtools would be G D, a minor and
C.
Those are the chords that weneed to be able to play.
So that's down here of thistriangle.
That's down here, and thenwe've got strumming, trying to
(03:43):
figure out what we're going todo for a strum.
So let's focus on the chordsfirst.
So if I don't know these chords, this is probably not the right
song for me right now.
This might be a perfect songonce I've developed chords a
little bit more, but becausethere are four chords, maybe
what I need to do is find a songthat only uses one or two
(04:04):
chords to begin with to try anddevelop those, learning how to
play four chords.
Maybe what I need to do is finda song that only uses one or
two chords to begin with to tryand develop those, learning how
to play those chords right,getting comfortable with making
the shapes of G, for instance,and D, and then doing what I
call bouncing, where youpractice making the shape over
and over and over, so your handsget used to making these.
Through muscle memory, you getmore accurate, you get quicker
(04:26):
right.
All those kinds of things starthappening.
So you practice bouncing right,bouncing the G chord over and
over and over, bouncing the Dchord over and over and over and
all the things I always talkabout.
Things like focused practicing,like if you're kind of
practicing but you're watchingTV, you're not really practicing
, like it's.
The best thing you could do isset aside some real quality time
(04:47):
to really focus and reallythink about what you're trying
to accomplish, whether it's 15minutes of practice or two hours
of practice.
Have a plan of attack.
Don't just do a little of thisand a little of this and a
little of this.
It's okay sometimes, but if youdo that all the time, it's
really hard to make any progress.
So you look and you think okay,I really need to learn how to
(05:07):
play the G chord.
Why?
Because I'm going to play thisstupid chord for the rest of my
life, right, whether I like itor not, it's not going anywhere.
It's a super common chord thatguitar players play.
So I need to learn.
What does it look like in myhead?
What does it look like on thefretboard?
Do I have any question in mymind?
Do I have to keep looking at achart going?
Oh, where do my fingers go?
(05:28):
Okay, that's where I need tostart.
Right, I shouldn't have to dothat anymore.
Gee, I should see it in mybrain.
I got to study it in my head.
I got to think about it.
Then I got to look at my guitarand think about Think about
what it looks like.
Where do my fingers go?
They go right there.
I'm making a four finger cheatright now, but that's where they
go.
Now I can start practicingrepetition, developing accuracy,
(05:52):
developing speed to be able tomake that chord.
So I'm not going, because if Ihave to do this, I'm not ready
to play along with any song.
I need to learn to play thatchord as one motion with my
hands.
If I'm sitting here and I wantG, I think about what it looks
like.
Think about what it looks likeon my guitar.
I can see it right there.
(06:13):
So as soon as my hand starts toraise, it makes the shape I
want.
I don't wait till I get to theguitar and then try and build it
, because it's going to be toolate.
The song is going to be one ortwo measures ahead of me.
So I need to be able to lift,create the shape I want, and
that's what I want to practiceis bouncing, making that shape
(06:34):
over and over and over, not ashow you know how fast can I
possibly do this?
It's not that it's relaxing andpracticing over and over and
over.
Develop that chord.
So when you want it, your handautomatically makes it and sets
it down.
If you want to develop D, youdo the same thing.
That's the basic idea ofpracticing the chords, which are
(06:55):
part of the tools that we need.
So now, if I go back to thesong G, d, a, minor and C, those
are what I need.
Do I know those chords?
Let's say my answer is yes, Ireally do know those chords.
Now I know what order they goin G, d, a, minor, g D, c.
And again, you might play yourC this way, or C, again, that's
fine, whatever, g, d, a, minor,g D, c.
(07:19):
So now I start bouncing andpracticing the fundamentals, the
rudimentary elements of thissong.
Can I move from G, d, a, minor,g D C?
Can I do that If my D isgetting stuck or my A minor is
getting stuck, or whatever itmight be?
That's what I need to try andfocus on.
(07:39):
See, the problem is is, whathappens is people, instead of
breaking down these threecomponents, they just try and
play.
They're trying to look at thechart and trying to figure out
how the chords go.
And then they're trying tostrum and it doesn't work, and
then they go.
I hate this.
It sucks.
I'm not good at this.
I can't do this.
Well, that's not true at all.
But you've got to break downthe components.
What does the song want fromyou?
Do you understand what the songis actually doing for you?
(08:01):
Right, g, d, a, minor, g, d, c,g, knock, knock, d.
Don Heavens A minor.
2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, g, knock,knock, d, C.
Right, so I'm getting all thatin my head.
I don't need my guitar for that.
I need to think about it.
I need to listen, I need toanalyze.
(08:21):
Then I need to think about it.
I need to listen, I need toanalyze.
Then I go to my guitar and Istart working on the tools.
Can I do this?
So now, as I'm listening to thesong and I've been working on
my chords, now I don't even needthis hand.
I can just start thinking G,knock, knock, d, two, three,
four, a.
Am I able to move my hand?
G, knock, knock, d on heaven'sdoorstep.
(08:43):
Can I do that?
If I can't, I need to go backand start working on where the
problem is.
The beautiful thing about whatwe're doing right now is,
oftentimes the problems thatyou're having will bubble to the
surface because you canidentify do I know what I'm
trying to do?
Am I capable of doing what isexpected of me?
(09:04):
Do I know these things or am Itrying to do something that's
way outside my abilities at thispoint in my playing Right?
So, again, it's okay, if youtry and do things, you can do
whatever you want.
I'm just saying if you don'thave a logical path from point A
to point B, it's really hard toget from point A to point B if
(09:25):
you're all over the place.
So that's why we start withsomething like two chords or
three chords or four chords thatare commonly used together, so
we can learn how to play not onesong but two or three or five
or 10 or 20 songs that use thesechords, because we're
developing the ability ofmemorizing right, thinking about
(09:46):
how the song goes, and thenwe're developing the ability of
being able to move these chordsback and forth.
Well, we're not learning thesechords for knocking on heaven's
door.
We're learning these chords forevery other song that would
ever use these chords.
That's the beauty of learningthese and getting good with this
.
So notice how I started withthinking about the song, the
tools that I need.
I come down here, I practicethose tools.
(10:07):
I haven't even started usingthis drum yet, I'm just seeing.
Can I move these chords in timewith the song?
As I'm listening to the song,it starts one, two, three, four,
g, mama, take this badge fromme, right?
So can I actually make thosechanges?
I can't use it anymore, right?
Am I making a connectionbetween these two parts of the
(10:32):
triangle?
Yeah, okay, so it's working.
Or, oh, I gotta work on D alittle bit more.
Okay, go back and work on Dsome more.
Do some bouncing, realconcentration, all that kind of
stuff.
So now let's bring in theguitar pick.
Now, from a chord standpoint ofpractice, the guitar pick is
great because we can make sureall the notes are actually
working.
Are we getting the sounds thatwe want?
(10:55):
Right, D bottom, four strings.
You know, again, once we get tostrumming, we'll talk a little
bit about that, because nothingis absolutely perfect.
Yes, the D wants four strings,but when we actually start
strumming, sometimes we hit five, sometimes we hit three.
Welcome to the real world ofbeing a human being.
That's what happens.
Okay, so that's what I need todo is work on are the notes
(11:18):
working, you know?
Am I getting a bunch of thisand do I need to work on that
some more?
Yeah, that D is kind ofstruggling.
I'm having a problem with thatstring.
Okay, well, that's fine, keepworking on it.
You got the rest of your lifeto learn how to do this, you
know.
Keep trying to develop it, butin the meantime, don't get
caught in absolute perfection,like because the D chord is fast
(11:41):
enough but it's not quite asclean as you want it to be.
Doesn't mean you shouldn't betrying to play this song.
You should still be trying toplay it.
Just think about it as beingdirty or muddy.
Right, it's not completelyclean yet, it's not exactly what
you want, but you don't want towait until the D is absolutely
perfect before you start tryingto play.
Get in there and start tryingto get messy, it's okay.
(12:05):
And in the meantime, keepworking on it, keep trying to
develop it, but in the meantime,try and play the music right.
Try and start playing along.
Get used to how this thing works, because a lot of times, a lot
of the problems that you've gotwith some of these chords and
the perfection element of tryingto make it as good as you can,
which we want to do.
(12:26):
Some of those things will workthemselves out as you just keep
playing, and once you startplaying songs, it's more
motivating and it feels good andyou'll just start playing more
and as a result of that,oftentimes these things will
work themselves out, these kinksthat you have will work
themselves out, and if it's not,you keep working on it.
It's okay, it's nothing wrongwith that.
(12:46):
You just this is an isolatedthing that you need to work on.
So we're working on the notes.
Are they all working?
All that kind of stuff, okay,so again, two parts of our
triangle here.
Now let's get to the third part,which is this.
It's what I call scratching,which is what strumming really
is.
Instead of always thinkingabout playing as a strumming
(13:07):
pattern down, down, down, up,down, that kind of thing you
learn how to just think aboutstrumming as a rhythm instrument
, like a maraca.
You're just gonna move themaraca back and forth to the
speed of the song, to the tempoof the song.
So if Knockin' on Heaven's Doorwas G, ooh, d, a minor, g, u, d
(13:32):
, a, minor G U.
So what I'm doing now is, I'mthinking about the song, I'm
thinking about the chords, butI'm focusing on the rhythm, and
what I'm doing is what I callorganic strumming or ocean
strumming.
I call it ocean strumming justbecause the waves of the ocean
are very unpredictable, so youcan't predict exactly where you
(13:54):
know the wave's going to bebigger or smaller or louder or
that sort of thing.
And the beauty of thinkingabout it that way is, once you
get the maraca moving, you'rethe one that's in control of
hitting softer or louder orhitting the strings.
More or less the maraca justkeeps going.
Like right now I'm strumming,I'm just not hitting the strings
.
So at any time I can just comein and hit those strings and
(14:15):
move away, Move in, move away.
It's not down, down, down, up,down, or one, two, e and like
you, don't think about it thatway, learn to think about it
musically, learn to feel it.
So as soon as you start hearingthe song, you're like okay,
that's where the beat is.
So here I go.
Because I guarantee, if youwere sitting with Bob Dylan and
(14:37):
you said, hey, bob, how did youstrum?
Knockin' at Heaven's Door, he'snot going to look at you and go
well, you know, I did down,down, down, up, down, up, down,
down, down, up, up, up, down,down.
Like he's not going to say thatto you, he's going to look at
you like you're crazy and thenhe's going to say I have no idea
, like I just play and that'sthe truth.
Right, it's just moving.
Now, if you hear that there'ssomething specific, like a
(15:00):
specific strumming pattern whichsome songs do, that's okay, you
can play something morespecific.
I'm just saying, if you alwaysstart with a strumming pattern
and you think about it as astrumming pattern, everything
begins to sound the same, verymathematical, and that's not how
you want to approach playingguitar and, plus, the way I'm
doing it.
It doesn't require me to thinkabout all these things Because,
(15:24):
ultimately, what I'm trying todo with this triangle is
automate these.
I want to automate them so Ican sit back and let these
things happen and kind ofoversee everything, make sure
nothing goes wrong.
Right, I'm not falling off thestage or breaking a string or
whatever might happen.
Right, cable comes out of myguitar, all of those kinds of
things.
(15:44):
That's the reality of playing.
Okay, but I don't have to go sodeep with my brain, with the
resources that I have in mybrain at the moment to think
about well, how does the G chordgo?
Where do my fingers go?
Well, if that's what I'mthinking about, there's no way I
can think about this.
And there's no way I can thinkabout the song, because I've
used all my resources.
I don't even know what the Gchord is.
(16:05):
I don't even really know how itgoes.
You see, if I automate thesethree pieces, the whole thing
becomes easier.
People will say well, how doyou play and sing at the same
time?
Well, that's exactly how youplay and sing at the same time.
This triangle becomes a squareand the other corner is now
you're singing.
But you've got to automate allthese things.
You can't just expect that it'sall going to come together
(16:27):
because you bought a really niceguitar or you practice.
It all depends on what you'repracticing and how you're
practicing.
That makes all the difference,you see.
So the more you automate eachpiece, the easier this whole
thing becomes.
I know how the song goes.
I've thought about it.
I can hear the changes right.
My teacher showed me, or Ilearned on a chart or whatever,
(16:48):
how Knockin' on Heaven's Doorgoes, and I can see the chords
in my mind as the song's playing.
I can see them.
I can see them on my guitar.
Now I've actually practicedmoving my hands and I can move
them fast enough.
I've been learning to strumalong or scratch along to the
song, and this is the big thingagain, that people get wrong
(17:09):
because they just assume thatthe strum is supposed to happen
because we learn the chords.
That's not true.
They're two very differentthings.
Chords, to me, are very blackand white.
You either know them or youdon't, because you've either
spent enough time with them, butthere's nothing creative
happening there.
Your G isn't any more creativethan anybody else's G.
It's a G chord.
That's what it is.
You either can do it or youcan't.
(17:31):
But strumming is very different,because strumming, as soon as
your guitar pick hits thosestrings, you're doing something
that people can hear.
If I'm not strumming, you'redoing something that people can
hear.
If I'm not strumming, you'renot hearing anything.
But as soon as I startstrumming, it's either going to
sound like.
It's either going to sound likethat or it's going to sound
(17:52):
like whatever you want.
But there's more music in thesecond one than there is in the
(18:13):
first one.
So, learning to break thesethree pieces down and practice
each one independently.
Don't just expect that it's allgoing to work.
I usually tell people, too,that these two hands really
aren't friends with each other.
They're doing somethingcompletely different.
The both sides of your brainare focusing on something
completely different.
This is very analytical, blackand white.
(18:36):
This is not so.
If you have to sit andconcentrate on all these things,
this is where this is going tofail.
Okay, so that's what I want youto think about is, whenever you
go into a song, think aboutthese three different components
and developing themindependently.
When you practice on a dailybasis, part of your practice
routine should be working onchords, bouncing, you know,
(18:59):
cleaning up all these sorts ofthings.
Don't try and do 50 chords ifyou can't do one.
That's just overwhelming.
And learn chords in a logicalorder.
Learn them in a key.
If you're learning G, c wouldbe a great chord.
To learn D would be anothergreat chord to learn.
Why?
Because songs use those threechords together.
In a family, we call it key allthe time and again, you can
(19:21):
always ask for help if you'renot sure.
That's exactly why you want totalk to somebody about that.
But learning chords in alogical order where they're used
together makes sense becauseyou can play way more songs in
the long run.
Okay, and then learning how toscratch, not with chords, not
with all this other stuff.
(19:41):
You could turn on the radio,you could turn on a playlist,
you could put on one of yourfavorite CDs, whatever and just
start learning to scratch along,find a groove and play.
Now you want to identify what'sharder or easier to try and
strum along with.
I mean, if you're trying toplay along with a Slayer song on
(20:02):
an acoustic guitar and youdon't know how to do anything
yet, that might not be the bestplace to start.
I'm a Slayer fan as well, butthat's probably not the best
place to start.
Start with something that makessense with what you're trying to
learn how to do and then buildinto it right.
So find songs that are kind ofmid-tempo, that you can actually
hear a guitar strumming, andyou can.
(20:22):
You know there's a drum therethat you can hear there's a beat
, and you can start trying tofigure out, kind of where this
exists.
And then from there you can goin all kinds of crazy places
with your guitar playing, and Iencourage you to do so.
But start by learning how tobreak down this, this triangle,
all right.
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