Guitar Gurus - Help!

[Analog]

Okay, I'll admit I'm new at playing guitar, and I'm trying to learn one of my favorite songs, "down on the corner" by CCR.

Here is the tab I'm using from ultimate guitar:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/c/c...ter_revival/down_on_the_corner_crd.htm

As you hover your cursor over each chord, you can see where to put your fingers, a nice touch by this site.

I puke when I reach the 'F' chord. It looks like all 6 strings need to be held down on that chord (and played), and I'm clueless on how I can get my 5 fingers to do that! It can't be THAT hard, can it? is it possible that its a misprint? Is there something I'm missing?

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[Eli]

It's a barre chord. Use your index finger to hold down all the strings, and the remaining fingers to complete the chord.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Eli
It's a barre chord. Use your index finger to hold down all the strings, and the remaining fingers to complete the chord.

Barre? Hmm, didn't realize that. So the index goes across all of them.. Interesting.

 

[Eli]

They're typically hard chords for newbies to master. Practicing will do you good. Just google it, tons of info.

 

[paulxcook]

You've seen a capo, right? User your index as a capo, and use the remaining fingers to do the fingerings on the AD and G strings. Middle finger on G, ring on A, pinky on D.

You'll get used to it as you play more of them. Just try to memorize it as a shape: you'll be able to do this up the fretboard to play any chord, A-G.

 

[CraKaJaX]

You can cheat a bit on the F chord if you want. You don't have to have your finger across all 6, but just the e & b string. It's definitely one of the harder chords when you're learning to play, no doubt.

 

[dwell]

Yeah just cheat

e|-------------3--|
B|---1----1----3--|
G|---2----0----0--|
D|---3----2----0--|
A|--------3----2--|
E|-------------3--|

Down on the corner...

 

[CraKaJaX]

Originally posted by: Chris
Yeah just cheat

e|-------------3--|
B|---1----1----3--|
G|---2----0----0--|
D|---3----2----0--|
A|--------3----2--|
E|-------------3--|

Down on the corner...

That's a hell of an F chord. Doesn't sound the same as 1,1,2,3,3. I think that 1,1,2,3,3 is easier to transition to than 1,1,2,3,3,1. Sounds identical really.

 

[Lifted]

Originally posted by: Chris
Yeah just cheat

e|-------------3--|
B|---1----1----0--|
G|---2----0----0--|
D|---3----2----0--|
A|--------3----2--|
E|-------------3--|

Down on the corner...

Fixed.

Just cheat even more. Keep your pinkie on high e. Even less moving around for the supreme lazy asses.

Edited for being a dumb ass, haven't played in years.

 

[ZOOYUKA]

After that, here is some more CCR for you to learn.

Bad Moon Rising

Have You Ever Seen the Rain PT1

Have You Ever Seen the Rain PT2

 

[dwell]

Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
That's a hell of an F chord. Doesn't sound the same as 1,1,2,3,3. I think that 1,1,2,3,3 is easier to transition to than 1,1,2,3,3,1. Sounds identical really.

That's technically F/C. The full barre F into open C is such a common progression that the OP might as well learn it now. Same goes for open C into full F, which is much easier. But barres are a real bitch for beginners.

 

[Fritzo]

There's no need for the extra C and F notes on strings 5 and 6 here. This is a pretty standard progression (the funky playing is what makes the song). Just play the F chord with your first finger barring the 1st and second string, 2nd on the 3rd string, and 3rd on the 4th, and use your thumb to mute the 6th string. It's a much better transition than from going from open chords to a barre chord.

BTW- if you master this chord pattern, you can automatically play about 1000 songs

 

[Gibsons]

I struggled with that for a bit... What I never was able to do were those weird augmented(?) chords. Where you sort of have to make a tunnel with some fingers and fret one string behind the tunnel. gives a "jazzy" sound, IIRC. Fortunately, they aren't used much.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
There's no need for the extra C and F notes on strings 5 and 6 here. This is a pretty standard progression (the funky playing is what makes the song). Just play the F chord with your first finger barring the 1st and second string, 2nd on the 3rd string, and 3rd on the 4th, and use your thumb to mute the 6th string. It's a much better transition than from going from open chords to a barre chord.

BTW- if you master this chord pattern, you can automatically play about 1000 songs

do you mean like this:

http://www.actoguitar.com/f-major.gif

taken from here:

http://www.actoguitar.com/vi-learn-guitar-chords/366-b-your-first-chords.html

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Analog

Originally posted by: Fritzo
There's no need for the extra C and F notes on strings 5 and 6 here. This is a pretty standard progression (the funky playing is what makes the song). Just play the F chord with your first finger barring the 1st and second string, 2nd on the 3rd string, and 3rd on the 4th, and use your thumb to mute the 6th string. It's a much better transition than from going from open chords to a barre chord.

BTW- if you master this chord pattern, you can automatically play about 1000 songs

do you mean like this:

http://www.actoguitar.com/f-major.gif

taken from here:

http://www.actoguitar.com/vi-learn-guitar-chords/366-b-your-first-chords.html

You got it.

BTW- That's a moveable chord shape. If you move it down two frets, it's a G chord, and down on the 8th fret it's a C chord.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

As said by others, practice this a ton it's a very usefull chord shape. It's an E position barre chord barred at the first fret. Just practice making the E chord shape with your middle,ring and pinky finger, and practice making the bar. Once you get it down you can play just about any sharp,flat and natural chord using that shape by moving it up and down the fretboard.

I don't agree with those saying use the cheat form. To me it's actually harder to perfect the cheat form than the standard barre form. And as you progress as a guitar player barre chords are essential, might as well learn it properly now it will help you in the long run.

Build up strengh by squezing a rubber ball between your index finger and thumb. And when practicing the barre on the fretboard try and keep you thumb centered on the back of the neck, don't let it wrap around. With the thumb in the center of the neck you have more leverage.

And once you have the E form down, you also have the Am form just by moving everything down one string. Then all you have to perfect is the A form and your well on your way to mastering barre chords.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
As said by others, practice this a ton it's a very usefull chord shape. It's an E position barre chord barred at the first fret. Just practice making the E chord shape with your middle,ring and pinky finger, and practice making the bar. Once you get it down you can play just about any sharp,flat and natural chord using that shape by moving it up and down the fretboard.

I don't agree with those saying use the cheat form. To me it's actually harder to perfect the cheat form than the standard barre form. And as you progress as a guitar player barre chords are essential, might as well learn it properly now it will help you in the long run.

Build up strengh by squezing a rubber ball between your index finger and thumb. And when practicing the barre on the fretboard try and keep you thumb centered on the back of the neck, don't let it wrap around. With the thumb in the center of the neck you have more leverage.

Wouldn't you agree it's odd that the tab had open position and a barre chord mixed together? I think that there's a script on that site that just links to a libary of chords. These "Cowboy" chord songs rarely use barre chords.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
As said by others, practice this a ton it's a very usefull chord shape. It's an E position barre chord barred at the first fret. Just practice making the E chord shape with your middle,ring and pinky finger, and practice making the bar. Once you get it down you can play just about any sharp,flat and natural chord using that shape by moving it up and down the fretboard.

I don't agree with those saying use the cheat form. To me it's actually harder to perfect the cheat form than the standard barre form. And as you progress as a guitar player barre chords are essential, might as well learn it properly now it will help you in the long run.

Build up strengh by squezing a rubber ball between your index finger and thumb. And when practicing the barre on the fretboard try and keep you thumb centered on the back of the neck, don't let it wrap around. With the thumb in the center of the neck you have more leverage.

Wouldn't you agree it's odd that the tab had open position and a barre chord mixed together? I think that there's a script on that site that just links to a libary of chords. These "Cowboy" chord songs rarely use barre chords.

Yep, your probably right about the script. And learning to properly change from open to barred chords takes some practice but I do it all the time especially with open C and G. And for me it depends alot on what type of guitar your playing. When playing an acoustic I'm more likely to use as many open chords as I can (except F, I always barre F), but when playing electric I will transpose the open chords to barre chords where possible.
And I absolutely love semi-barred chords with open strings when playing between the 7th and 12th fret on an electric. Ala "hold on loosely, 38 special"