Night Moves by Bob Seger features simple barre chords that are ideal for beginners. Furthermore, this song showcases the timeless G6 to Cmaj7 progression found in so many rock tunes.
The F chord has a reputation for being difficult to play, requiring strength and coordination if played incorrectly. Take your time when starting out – no point getting frustrated right away if it proves challenging!
Barre Chords
If you don’t have enough strength to barre all six strings at once, an excellent alternative is to bar just your index finger – this will create a similar chord shape, without losing bass notes. Play this voicing and listen for when third, fourth and fifth strings can be heard clearly since those strings don’t need to be barred by other fingers.
Once you understand these shapes, practice moving them up the fretboard. For instance, by moving an F shape to the second fret, an E major barre chord will form; from there it can move to C and G chords (and more). When comfortable changing these up the fretboard, work on making clean ones using exercises like barring one fret with one index finger while strumming, then taking away to hear each string vibrate individually.
Open Chords
Open chords offer guitarists who prefer playing on steel stringed acoustic guitars with less than ideal action an alternative to bar chords. These chords don’t require pressing all strings down at once so some remain “open”, making strumming with your left hand possible.
One of the best ways to practice open chords is with music – Night Moves by Bob Seger is an excellent song to start learning them with because it doesn’t require a capo, and only requires four open chord shapes!
If you feel confident with these open chords, try substituting similar shapes into other songs to create fuller sounds in your music. Once you have these voicings down pat you can move onto more complex chord progressions – have fun exploring guitar chords!
Minor Chords
By understanding basic chord patterns, it’s possible to develop an extensive repertoire of major and minor chords, opening up doors for songs as well as improvisation.
General rule of thumb states that major chords tend to sound brighter and happier while minor ones sound darker and melancholic – although the distinction can often be more subtle than this.
Minor chords can be identified based on the interval between their root and third notes – for instance an A minor chord features an A – E – G interval while major chords feature C – G intervals.
An alternative method for identifying minor chords is their seventh degree. A major seventh chord takes a regular major triad and adds the flat seventh from the minor scale; this notated as “CM7, CM7 or C7”. Conversely, minor seventh chords take regular minor chords but subtract its flat seventh from it, creating what’s known as a minor seventh chord that may also be notated with “Mm7, M7 or M”.
Major Chords
Major chords consist of three notes and are among the first basic chords you’ll learn. Chords that use the same major scale tend to sound happier while their order can create either progression or tension based on where they appear in your composition.
On the guitar, major chords are notated with a 1 inside a black dot; this indicates you should fret the note with either your index finger, middle finger or ring finger; you may also see chords notated as “0 inside a dot,” which indicate they should remain unfretted and open to vibration.
Most major chords can easily be expanded into seventh, ninth or thirteenth chords by adding a second or fourth. C7 represents a major triad with a major seventh added while chords with major ninth or thirteenth notes are typically notated C9 and C13, respectively.