Chords & Rhythm lessons
Each of my YouTube lessons, written up so you can read it, skim it or come back to it while you practise. Every post has the video and links to the free tools that go with it.
October 2026
17:00Barre Chords Made Easier: The Tips That Actually Help (and One I'm Not Sure About)
Struggling with barre chords? Where the pressure really goes, thumb and wrist position, using your elbow, finger order, detuning, setup and songs to practise with.
5:40Low E Down to B: A Heavy Guitar Tuning Beyond Drop D
Tune just your low E string down to B and leave the rest in standard. How to tune it, which keys and scales suit it, and the chord shapes that work.
2:56A Chord Change Exercise: Keep Every Finger Touching a String
A simple silent exercise for faster chord changes: move between two chords without your fingers ever leaving the strings, so you learn the route between shapes.
September 2026
9:14A Simpler Way to Learn the CAGED System: Three Shapes on Three Strings
Learn the CAGED system for major chords with three small shapes on the D, G and B strings, a 4-3-5 fret pattern to connect them, and how each shape links to CAGED.
16:00Drop D Power Chord Variations: 40 Ways to Make Them More Interesting
The standard drop D power chord is used by many and made interesting by few. Here are add9s, major and minor shapes, inversions, dissonant chords and open-string ideas, with tab.
9:13Barre Chord Alternatives: Four-String Shapes That Leave Room for Melody
Full barre chords sound blocky. Drop the two low strings and you get major and minor shapes that free up your fingers for hammer-ons, riffs and fills between chords.
24:00A Step-by-Step System for Learning Guitar Rhythm From Scratch
Go from no understanding of rhythm to playing quarter, eighth and 16th notes and triplets with a metronome, then turn them into strumming patterns and songs.
5:41What the Back in Black Bridge Riff Teaches You About Riff Playing
The bridge riff from AC/DC's Back in Black makes you work on one finger per fret, hand synchronisation and muting. Here's how to practise each part of it.
4:08How to Change From C to D Faster by Spotting the Shape They Share
C and D look like they share nothing, but two fingers keep the same shape in both. Here's how to slide that shape across, and use the same idea on C to G.
3:58Why Your Strumming Sounds Robotic, and the Simple Fix
Hitting all six strings on every strum flattens your dynamics. Split the chord between downstrokes and upstrokes, pick out single strings, and save the full strum.
August 2026
5:24Two Exercises to Put All Your Chord Fingers Down at Once
If you place chord fingers one at a time, your changes will stay slow. Two simple exercises, reversing the finger order and lifting the shape, to fix it.
5:49Your Chord Changes Are Slow Because You Practise Them Too Carefully
If you can already play your chords cleanly, slow and perfect practice won't make your changes faster. Here's how to practise at speed, how many mistakes are fine, and two tricks that help.
April 2026
10:28Nothing matches that yet. Try another word, or ask me and it might be the next lesson.
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