![]() And the bonus was that it was so easy and everyone knows the song so it almost teaches itself.Īnd now that you know what we’re going to be concentrating on, let’s get down to it and work on making smooth chord changes from G to C (and back again) by means of using walking bass lines, shall we? And that’s when I realized that this song not only was great for teaching walking bass lines, but that this particular walking bass line was the perfect way to help people start forming their C chord in a manner that would be both smoother and faster in the long run. So I started using it in my private lessons and, after moving here to the Berkshires, in my group adult classes as well. And when You Are My Sunshine came on, I found myself thinking two things: first, why had I never noticed what an incredibly depressing song this really was? And second, this song would make a great demonstration of a walking bass line. Back in the spring of 2001 (and even that seems ages ago now), I was visiting some friends and they had the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? playing in the stereo. Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places. And this is where our song, You Are My Sunshine, comes to the rescue. What we want to do is to get in the habit of forming our chords, especially ones like C and G that our fingers have to stretch across five or six strings, from bass to treble. But for most guitarists, playing a G in this fashion is uncomfortable and we learn to live with moving all our fingers when changing from G to C. Changing to C is then simply a matter of shifting those fingers up to the next string. It’s similar to the situation Josh Urban describes in his latest article, On The Other Hand, and it’s one reason than some people play the G chord more like the C, with the ring finger on the low E string and the middle finger on the A. This is what causes the rhythmic “hiccup” we spoke of earlier. But if you form the chord, like the C chord in this example, from the treble to the bass, you usually find yourself waiting to strum until the chord is formed. Which finger do you move first? More often than not, most beginners will lead with their index fingers, planting that firmly on the first fret of the B string before forming the rest of the C chord.Īnd here’s why it throws you off: Again more often than not, you will find yourself changing chords on a downstroke, meaning you’re strumming from the bass (lower notes) to the treble. Now I want you to do it again, but this time I want you to watch your fretting hand as it makes the switch from the G to the C. Strum the G chord slowly, in four steady downstrokes, and then change to C. Even if you play your G differently, still try this out. Chances are that you, like most guitarists, finger the G chord with your middle finger on the third fret of the low E (sixth) string, your index finger on the second fret of the A string and your ring finger on the third fret of the high E (first) string. Take a moment and try this following experiment: Okay, by now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with walking bass lines… Being able to change smoothly, let alone quickly, between these two chords seems a bit like asking too much! ![]() What usually happens is that you’re on one of the two chords and you create a bit of a “hiccup” in the rhythm while you switch chords. It’s not easy to get the change in a timely manner, meaning in the context of playing them in a song. Many beginners manage to get the chord shapes and can play G and C by themselves, meaning out the context of a song, but find switching between these two chords frustrating. It becomes even bigger when you learn just how many songs contain chord progressions involving G and C. One of the bigger challenges early on is the change between G and C chords. Doing that, while keeping a steady rhythm (strumming or fingerpicking), often seems a bonus. As mentioned in numerous lessons, a lot of the “beginner” part of “beginners’ guitar” consists of learning chords and getting to the point of being able to smoothly switch from one chord to another.
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