For my next lesson, I wanted to do a contemporary song, so I selected "Daughters" by John Mayer. This is a great song, somewhat hard to play, but as a father with a daughter, I can definitely relate to the song's lyrics and it just feels right playing it. I didn't have the sheet music, so I played it by ear. I played this chord progression for the verses and chorus: Bm7, Em7, A7, and D. For the bridge, I played F, D#, D, Bm7, Em7, A7, then back to F, A, then repeat the Bm7-Em7-A7-D chord progression - piece of cake! You should also know that I used a non-standard tuning (DGCFAD) on my guitar to help me hit those high notes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
How to play three classic Toddler songs
In this article, I'll teach you how to play three classic toddler songs: "Farmer in the Dell," "The More We Get Together," and "Happy and You Know It." As you can see from the embedded video, it's always a hit playing these songs to a roomful of kids.
All three of these songs use a simple I-IV-V chord progression. The way I play it is in the key of E, capoing the guitar at the second fret and fingering the following chords to match my vocal range:
I - D
IV - G
V - A
Of course, you can play these songs in a different key if you wish, e.g. the key of G would be the following chords without a capo:
I - G
IV - C
V - D
On the first two songs ("Farmer in the Dell" and "The More We Get Together") you only need two chords: I and V (D and A in my arrangement). Check out the video below and you'll see what I mean.
Enjoy!
Labels:
acoustic guitar,
Children's music,
Music theory
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