Welcome to the Guitar Basics eBook!

In this book I have compiled a list of open position chords, barre chords and scales that are very useful. These chords and scales can be used for playing rhythm and soloing in the styles of music I perform most often - rock, funk, r&b, soul, blues and pop music. It is important to memorise all of these chords and scales. These are tools that will help you in building the foundations to becoming a confident and versatile guitarist. The chords and scales included are the fundamental tools needed to write songs or perform in a band. Although not comprehensive, the chords and scales listed cover most of the basics you need to know to play rhythm guitar and to create melodic and expressive solos. I hope you enjoy the book and are inspired to be creative by some of the chords and scales listed. Good luck on your musical journey!

Kevin Briggs

The diagram below represents the guitar neck, frets and strings as well as which finger to place on a certain string. The string furthest to the left (on the diagram) is the low E string (thickest) and the string furthest to the right is the high E string (thinnest).

If you see an X over the top of a string, it means do not play that string. If you see an O over the top of a string, it means play that string without a finger on it. (This is referred to as an open string) Left hand fingers are numbered 1 (Index) 2 (Middle) 3 (Ring) 4 (Pinky)

Barre Chords
Barre chords are a type of chord where one or more fingers are used to press down multiple strings across the guitar fretboard. Barre chords are transposable (movable) shapes. This means that you can move the shape of the barre chord and it will still be the same type of chord. If the shape is major, it will still be major wherever you move the shape on the guitar neck. It does not matter what type of barre chord it is, major, minor, minor 7th, major 7th or any other type of barre chord. The only thing that will change is the root of the chord. For instance if you play a major barre chord shape from the low E string at the 5th fret the name of the chord will be A major. This is because the note at the 5th fret on the low E string is A. If you play a major barre chord shape from the low E string at the 3rd fret the name of the chord will be G major. This is because the note at the 3rd fret on the low E string is G. The chord below is an F major barre chord because the 1st finger is at the 1st fret on the low E string (F). The line across the top of the guitar fretboard is telling you to place (barre) your first finger across all of the strings

Finger Exercises
Here are some great exercises to help develop your left and right hands. DON'T FORGET TO ALTERNATE PICK! Alternate picking = strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes. Pick towards the floor and then the ceiling. Make sure the majority of the movement with your right hand is coming from your wrist. Example of alternate picking with the sequence of fingers 1234. 1 (Down) 2 (Up) 3 (Down) 4 (Up). Down is towards the floor and up is towards the ceiling. Here are 24 different exercises. Take one exercise at a time to begin with. Start at the 1 st fret, on the high E string, first descend (Go down the strings EBGDAE) then ascend (Go up the strings EADGBE). Continue moving up one fret at a time using the same exercise. After you are feeling comfortable with each exercise, combine two different exercises. Descend on the first exercise and ascend on the second exercise. Practice slowly at first making sure that all of the notes are sounding clean and accurate. You should always practice with a metronome.

1234 2134 3124 4123 1243 2143 3142 4132 1324 2341 3214 4213 1342 2314 3241 4231 1423 2413 3412 4312 1432 2431 3421 4321

Looking for something to take your playing to a higher level?

Do you need musicians to jam/play along with but cant find anyone in your area? Would you like some backing tracks to solo over using scales/licks you've learned? With a couple of other musicians (Nick Marangoni and Nick Cohen) I've released 4 backing track albums since 2010. These albums have charted very well on iTunes. People are really enjoying practicing along to the tracks. The first album released was the Blues Backing Tracks album. The other three in the series are Rock Backing Tracks, Blues Shuffle Backing Tracks and Blues Funk Tracks. See below Swamp Blues from the Album Blues Backing Tracks charting number 7 on iTunes September 2011!

What you will find when you download the albums are Blues, Rock and Funk tracks recorded by professional musicians for you to practice along to. These tracks will really help you to develop your soloing and rhythm skills. A perfect way for you to develop your own style of playing. You can play along with any instrument. Doesn't matter if you're a guitar player, sax player, trumpet player, vocalist or tuba player. Anyone can use these backing tracks! Besides being educational, it's fun and you can use all of the scales listed in this eBook to jam along with the tracks. You can even create your own melodies and write songs based on the chord progressions. It's just like having your own live band to write songs with! You can download these albums from iTunes. Just follow the link to your country. You will see the country listed below the link. If your country is not listed, please just go to iTunes and search Briggs/Marangoni or Briggs/Cohen/Marangoni. Links are listed on the next page.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes U.K. http://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 ITunes Australia http://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 itunes NZ http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes USA http://itunes.apple.com/it/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Italy http://itunes.apple.com/de/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Germany http://itunes.apple.com/at/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Austria http://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Canada http://itunes.apple.com/jp/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Japan http://itunes.apple.com/no/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Norway http://itunes.apple.com/ie/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Ireland http://itunes.apple.com/nl/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Netherlands http://itunes.apple.com/se/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Sweden http://itunes.apple.com/pt/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes Portugal http://itunes.apple.com/fr/artist/briggs-marangoni/id368096583?ign-mpt=uo%3D6 iTunes France

I've been a guitarist/performer/teacher/songwriter for many years. I've had the privilege of performing around the world with many very successful artists. Although I really enjoy working with other artists, I also enjoying creating my own music. Have a look out for my EP release in 2012. It will be a mixture of styles and there will be some special guests! Also if you are interested, please have a look at my youtube page and facebook page. On these pages you can see me perform and keep up to date with what I'm doing with my musical career. http://www.youtube.com/guitaristkevinbriggs http://www.facebook.com/guitaristkevinbriggs I hope you have enjoyed the information in this eBook!

Kevin Briggs
Contact - guitarbasicshandbook@gmail.com (Subscribe to this address for occasional updates on album releases etc.. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.)

Information on the other musicians performing on the Backing Track Albums. Nick Cohen - Bass Guitar Nick Cohen is a top UK session bassist and songwriter, whose credits include Eurythmics, Roy Ayers, Massive Attack, M-People, Matt Bianco and Ive Mendes among many others. Nick Marangoni - Drums Nick is an in demand drummer on the London session scene. He has performed with many artists ranging from Jazz to Blues to Rock. In 2011 Nick toured and recorded with the Polygram signed band Cat's Eyes.
Album Artwork and Layout - Dan Perry Photo on the Guitar Basics Handbook - Benny Edwards You do not have permission to sell or modify this eBook! Kevin Briggs 2012