Introduction to Chords and Picking Technique

So far, we've looked at single note playing with the pick, but on guitar, we also have chords. These are two or more notes played at the same time. We'll cover this later on in the course, but for now, it's important to get accustomed to:

• Brushing the strings.

It's easy at the beginning to think you need to dig in really hard to the strings and drag your pick through them. Instead, remember:

"It's more of a brush, like with a paintbrush. We're just stroking the strings."

Example Demonstration

I'll play you two examples here:

1. First Example:

   • I'm going to be stiff and drag the pick through the strings.
   • You can hear that it does not sound good. It's too aggressive, clanky, and doesn't produce a nice sound.

2. Second Example:

   • This time, I'll just brush the strings.
   • You'll hear the sound is much rounder and clearer.

Again, this is something we'll look at further in future lessons, but it's good to understand this concept now.

Exploring Different Sections of the Guitar

With our pick, we can choose to aim for different sections of the guitar.

• As we mentioned earlier with the pickups, you have:
  • Mellow Sounding Pickup
  • Harsh Sounding Pickup

This principle applies to picking technique as well:

• Near the Neck:

  • The sound is quite round and warm.

• Close to the Bridge:

  • The sound is quite pokey and trebley.

This is great for some styles, but not all.

Practice Tips

It's a good idea to practice at home by:

• Going through each string in different areas of the neck.
• Getting used to those different sounds.

In the next section, we're going to look at how to read music. But for now, it'd be great if you could focus on these picking exercises.

"It might feel a little bit awkward at the start, but in the next few days, it will start to feel much more natural."

It's important to get this technique down before we move any further.