Dark Red Guitar Lesson

In this song, we’re going to use quite a lot of different chord shapes, which can be a great way for you to recap all of them! Luckily, we don’t have a lot of patterns to play, which will allow you to focus on the chords!

The Main Riff

We’re going to need Bb, Ab minor, Gb, B7 and B major7 using the shapes shown below.

This chord progression is only two bars long. In the first bar, we play Bb for two beats before moving to Ab minor which we also hold for two beats. On the second bar, we start on Gb that we’ll play for two beats again, before moving to B7 and B major7, which we only play for one beat each.

In terms of strumming, we’re only using downstrokes! Try your best to count along and don’t hesitate to slow down at first.

Again, try to focus on your chord shapes, making sure they all sound clear. As you’re getting more comfortable with them, you can also try to spot the differences between these chords!

For example, the difference between B7 and B major7 is the 7th of the chord: it’s a b7th in B7 but a natural 7th in B major7. That means the difference between playing B7 and B major7 is just one note, so one finger!

The Melody

The melody acts as a little introduction to the chords we’ll be playing just after. We start on the E string where we’re playing the notes Bb on fret 6, A on fret 5, Ab on fret 4. We then jump to the A string, where we play the note Eb on fret 6 before playing C# on fret 4. Finally, we jump back to the E string where we’re going to play the note B on fret 7. We then finish on Bb which is the note we started from on fret 6.

The notes you’re playing in this little melody are going to be the root notes of the chords that you’ll play in the chord progression just after, so try and get comfortable with it, as it will make your life a lot easier in just a bit!

The Bridge

On the bridge, we’re going to need a few more chords. We’ll need to play Bb minor7, A minor7, Ab minor7, Eb minor7, C# and B.

We’re going to use the shapes below, take your time with them but remember that the first three chords are played with the same exact shape. We simply move it down a fret each time! Also, remember that the root notes of each of these chords are played on the same fret as the melody we’ve seen just before.

The pattern is a little bit more complex than the one we’ve seen at the start of the lesson. We start by playing Bb minor7, A minor7 and Ab minor7 on beats 1, 2 and 3, before moving on to the rest of the chord progression with a quick Eb minor7, C#, B and back to Bb minor7.

Remember to keep your right hand moving at all times so you’re sure you’re mechanically playing the correct rhythm with the right movement.

In Conclusion

This song is a perfect way to build confidence with the different families of chords you may have seen. As always, take your time and trust your ears!