More of this Feature • Part 1: overview • Part 2: major scale • Part 3: strumming patterns • Part 4: sus4 chords • Part 5: essential knowledge • Part 6: learning songs • Part 7: practice schedule

Related Content • Index of Guitar Lessons • Buying Your First Guitar • How to Read Guitar Tab • Easy to Play Songs • Guitar Chord Library

Needle and the Damage Done - performed by Neil Young
NOTES: this song is great for practicing the strumming concept we learned today, as well as for improving your picking accuracy. This will take some time to master, but it's worth it.
MP3: Amazon MP3 download

Happy Xmas (War is Over) - performed by John Lennon
NOTES: Lots of sus4 chords in this one. This song is in waltz (three four) time, so strum: down, down up down up.

You've Got to Hide your Love Away - performed by The Beatles
NOTES: As with the above Lennon tune, this is a waltz... strum: down, down up, down up. This should be a fairly simple song that illustrates the use of a Dsus4 chord. (This is an Oasis tab, but the idea is the same)

The Man Who Sold the World - performed by David Bowie/Nirvana
NOTES: this song is neat for several reasons - there are some neat chord movements, and the riffs are great. If you study the guitar riffs, you'll notice that some of them are simply major scales in one octave.
MP3: Amazon MP3 download
(this mp3 is the Nirvana version of the song from the MTV Unplugged set .)

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