I’ve talked about my student Dave before.
He’s an inspiring student.
Many years ago, I remember him arriving for a lesson excitedly telling me about a local band he saw live.
He was telling me how good they were… but how the guitarist played loads of barre chords.
Being fairly new to the guitar, the idea of playing a gig consisting mainly of barre chords looked brutal to him.
So, we were going through some barre chords, and I showed him a fun way to practise his barre chords.
It was using a technique ideal for rock guitarists (the style of music Dave loves)…
I did this by demonstrating how to play the almighty power chord.
Now, “power chords,” if you don’t know, are kind of like stripped-back barre chords.
Instead of playing five or six-string chords where you barre across all the strings…
In a power chord, you play two strings (or sometimes three).
When watching a band play live, it can sometimes appear that they are playing full barre chords…
But in fact, they can sometimes be playing much simpler power chords.
To the untrained eye, it is not obvious.
When I showed Dave this technique, it was like a “penny dropping,” he said.
You see, power chords don’t get enough love in my opinion.
They are great if you play electric, but they can be useful on the acoustic too.
The main way is that they can be a gateway between open chords and full barre chords.
…Kind of like a musical stepping stone.
Power chords offer a versatile middle ground, allowing you to infuse your acoustic playing with a punchy sound without the complexity of mastering full barre shapes.
The next time you’re strumming away on your acoustic, don’t underestimate the power that these humble two-note chords can bring to your musical expression.
Which brings me to one of the new Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy lessons.
In one new lesson, I’m teaching a mini ‘challenge’ where I show you the technique of how to transition between ‘power’ and ‘barre’ chords.
There are lots of ways of practising barre chords, but this is a useful and slightly unusual way.
It takes practice to do this though, of course.
But if your hand ever aches when you try barres, or barre chords feel like they’re an insurmountable mountain, you’ll likely get a lot from this lesson.
…Possibly a huge amount, depending on how you use it and practise it throughout the month.
It also ties in nicely with the new “5-Star” Award, which I’ve been talking about this week.
All very powerful stuff, especially with 2024 around the corner.
To subscribe in time to get this lesson, be sure to check out the page below and join the Academy before tomorrow night.
Find out more about the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
Enjoy your practice!
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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