Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Downloads

Content

A while back I did a lesson called "Open Chord Magic", that focused on how to embellish, and decorate your open position chord work to create something of a "chord-poem". Since then I have revisited this topic a few times, namely in the "Can't Find My Way Home" and "Country Chord Embellishments" lessons. But with a subject as deep and vast as this one, there's always room for more, and today we take things to the next level and look at some really exciting ways to add interest and energy to your open position "cowboy chord" progressions!

We take a pretty common type of sequence in the key of D Major, utilising the I, IV, V and iv chords of the key, as well as a fancy little alternate option for a G minor chord that you may not know about!

Of course it goes without mentioning that these things will work equally well on electric guitar, especially with a clean and reverb-laden tone, but I'm just loving this old Gibson B25 so much right now that I'm finding it hard to play anything else! ;)

Files

Open Chord Magic Tricks - Make basic chords beautiful & interesting! (Acoustic Guitar Lesson)

Access all lesson materials by becoming a Patreon at the link below for just a small monthly fee!.. https://patreon.com/AlexFarranGuitar If Patreon isn’t your bag, you can purchase the materials for this lesson alone, directly at the link below; https://smogfalls.gumroad.com/l/gpfgp Book in for a private Zoom lesson to level up your playing, or find new inspiration!.. just choose a slot at the link below; https://tidycal.com/alexfarranguitar/guitarlesson A while back I did a lesson called "Open Chord Magic", that focused on how to embellish, and decorate your open position chord work to create something of a "chord-poem". Since then I have revisited this topic a few times, namely in the "Can't Find My Way Home" and "Country Chord Embellishments" lessons. But with a subject as deep and vast as this one, there's always room for more, and today we take things to the next level and look at some really exciting ways to add interest and energy to your open position "cowboy chord" progressions! We take a pretty common type of sequence in the key of D Major, utilising the I, IV, V and iv chords of the key, as well as a fancy little alternate option for a G minor chord that you may not know about! Of course it goes without mentioning that these things will work equally well on electric guitar, especially with a clean and reverb-laden tone, but I'm just loving this old Gibson B25 so much right now that I'm finding it hard to play anything else! ;) ⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️ 00:00 - Performance 01:09 - Introduction 01:51 - TAB Sheets! 02:10 - “A” section 03:36 - Accidental Jimmy Page! 07:26 - Bb6 = G minor! 08:46 - Pop Quiz! 09:17 - Picking out a melody 11:07 - B Section 11:33 - Folky Trills 12:32 - E Minor Blues Scale 13:03 - A7 altered 16:19 - Hybrid Picking 16:43 - A7 double-stops 18:19 - Dadd11/A & Classic Endings 19:57 - De-brief 20:32 - Tone Talk! Gear used in this video; 1964 Gibson B25-N D'Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze 12 gauge strings Neumann KM184 mic Neve 1073 DPX Mic Pre Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Logic Pro Universal Audio plugins Sony ZVE-10 camera Neewer Desktop Tripod Final Cut Pro Thanks for watching! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfarranguitar/ Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alexfarran #openchords #blues #folk #country #bluegrass #bluesguitar #cowboychords #guitar #guitarist #musician #gibson #vintageguitar #guitarlesson #guitarra #chitarra #guitarplayer #acousticguitar #acoustic

Comments

JonB

Another nice exposition. I always look forward to these drops. (Ahh yes Jimmy Page - Black Mountainside , or Davey Graham?). A few artists I enjoy that employ some of these techniques - Ian Anderson, Pete Townshend, Tony Rice and even sometimes Billy Strings. Of course usually not so much with the altered sounds. Thanks.

Marinho Del Santo

The "simple" with pretty and sophisticated embellishments. Beautiful, my friend. THANK YOU!

Sava Kalbachou

That Gibson B25 sounds very sweet and suits you really well, Alex! Thanks for another amazing lesson! 🙏🏻

Johan

Another great lesson Alex. You always manage to pack a lot of good concepts and techniques into something that feels more like a song than an etude. Great playing and teaching once again.

Robert Oot

I think it’s Paranoid Android. You have casually demonstrated parts of a few Radiohead songs and a full study of some of their material would be great. Another excellent lesson and I agree with Johan’s comment that it passes as a (fully?) developed song.

MarkF

Wow amazing playing and that guitar man oh man just perfect. thanks for all your hard work putting these lessons together for us it’s very much appreciated.

Alex Farran Guitar

Thank you Mark, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the new lessons!.. (and the new geetar!) 😍

Alex Farran Guitar

Nice one Robert!.. you nailed it! I definitely want to do a full Radiohead lesson soon, just figuring out the best approach.

Alex Farran Guitar

That’s so nice to hear Johan! My goal is always first and foremost to make the study sound like a proper piece of music. That’s how I always treat it and I’m glad you picked up on that! 🙏🏻

Alex Farran Guitar

Thanks Jon! A lovely list of players there! Funnily enough I have a Davey Graham piece on my list of lessons to do! “Blues for Gino” 😉

Johan

Now if you can just explain why I struggle with that bend in the Travis Picking the Blues lesson. LOL.

Keith Moscrop

Pure magic Alex, wife away so spent the whole afternoon exploring your channel!

George lange

Excellent lesson Alex and love the sound of your new Gibson

Heidi IJgosse

This is such a great lesson and the reason I subscribed after finding this on YouTube. I'm mostly an acoustic player and this is exactly the kind of stuff I want to get good at.

David Lockwood

The G13 to G9 to C sounds beautiful at 15 min 30 sec!

Bob Marsh

Love this! So many beautiful runs and progressions - really spices up the open chords. With the downloads, all so very thorough and clear.

Alex Farran Guitar

Thanks Bob, amazing how expressive those open chords can be right?!