If you have children of your own, playing guitar songs for them is an effective way to pass on your passion for music and musical theater. A classic nursery rhyme like This Old Man makes an excellent start.
This version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is played on only one string to provide an understanding of how melodies traverse guitar strings, as well as demonstrate tritone substitution to add chromaticism into harmonic progressions.
1. G Major
G Major chord is a versatile chord used in numerous songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. If you’re just getting started with learning chords, a beginner-friendly sequence such as this may help ensure that your fingers don’t tire themselves too quickly!
Marty guides you in learning the G major scale and understanding its intervals to reharmonize songs with different chords.
Additionally, you will develop the skill of hearing and sensing when a chord needs to change within a song – an invaluable ability for musicians of any kind! By the end of this lesson you’ll have learned three ways of playing this classic children’s tune!
2. C Major
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an excellent way to begin learning to play guitar. It’s short and simple, making it simple for you to remember and strum, plus provides you with an opportunity to practice rhythm as well as learn chords ear.
In this first version of the song, only open strings and the third fret of the second string are used; this creates a basic C major chord often known as a barre chord.
To create this chord, place your index finger across all strings at the third fret and form a C major barre chord, also known as a C major triad – this shape will likely come up as you learn guitar! It is a popular chord shape which you will likely come across while practicing.
3. D Major
D Major chord is one of the first ones many beginners learn, consisting of notes D, F# and A to produce an exuberant sound. An open D chord can be created by performing a barre across all but the top string to form this chord.
Play this chord as a triad by muted the bottom two strings with your pinky finger. This version sounds more bassy and requires greater flexibility from your ring finger.
If muting is not an option, consider adding a minor seventh to make Dmaj7 chord instead. While this chord should move toward G as the tonic note, music rarely adheres to expectations! Experimentation is key in discovering what music can offer!
4. A Major
The A major chord is an invaluable first chord to learn for beginners on guitar. Used widely throughout songs and easily combined with other chords to form beautiful melodies, it should not be neglected when learning how to play this instrument.
This chord can also be utilized effectively within blues contexts and combined with Lydian mode for added jazz flair. Try this chord using standard tablature (which uses fret numbers instead of notes) or fingerings charts for experimentation.
If you’re having difficulty placing three fingers within a fret space, try curling your fretting fingers upwards so only their pads hit the strings instead of their tips – this will help avoid finger pain and enable cleaner playing styles. After this practice is done, use your thumb muting technique for percussive strumming effects.
5. G Major
G major is an extremely popular key for songs, being used for both British and New Zealand national anthems. Additionally, classical, country, rock, and metal musicians often choose this key as it only has one sharp or flat note and allows easy open string voicings to learn chords quickly.
If you are having difficulty with playing three-finger versions of this chord, here is a simple variation with four fingers instead. By doing this, it will save time by not needing to move your hand up and down the fretboard as often, decreasing risk of missing notes!
This rendition of G major omits its fifth note from its bass note arrangement and leaves only its root and fifth notes intact, which some refer to as a “rock” G chord.