Learning to play the guitar is one of the best things in the world. Playing the guitar is so much fun and whether you are looking to play just for your own amusement or you want to set up a band, it is one of the most rewarding instruments to choose. When you are starting out learning to play, the chords are very important. Once you master the easier chords, you can check out these advanced level guitar chords.

Advanced Guitar Power Chords

Power chords are one of those chords that you’ll learn as you improve your playing skills. It is a chord, which consists of the root note and the fifth interval. Power chords are often very popular in rock and metal music. So, if you are looking to add a bit of distortion to your sound, then go with these advanced power chords:

E power chord:  

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|—–2—|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|—–1—|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

B power chord:   

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|—–4—|———-|

|———-|—–1—|———-|—–3—|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

C power chord:        

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|—–4—|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|—–3—|

|———-|———-|—-1—-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

You usually play the power chords with your index finger on the lowest sounding fret and then use your middle finger on the strings that are the on the same fret. This makes it relatively simple since you often use only two to three strings in power chords.

There are plenty of great tips for playing power chords online. For instance, check out the Fretboard community for discussions on the best power chord songs and start practicing!

Advanced Major Chords:

On top of this, you should also start adding some major chords to your playing. These guitar chords are very good if you want to achieve jazz and blues sounds with your playing. Major chords are a fun way to add a bit more swing to your playing. Some of the best advanced major chords to add to your playing include:

Cmaj7/E:      

|———-|———-|—–3—|———-|———-|

|—–1—|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|—-4—-|———-|

|———-|—–2—|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

Cmaj9 (tab’s first fret is the tenth fret on your guitar!)

|—-1—-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|—-3—-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|—-4—-|———-|———-|

|—-2—-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

 Emaj9:  

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|—-2—-|———-|

|—–1—|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|—-3—-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

|———-|———-|———-|———-|———-|

These are very good chords to learn if you want to shake up your song selection. Understanding the way these advanced level major chords work can give a lot more kick to your sound.

On top of this, remember that when it comes to boosting your chord knowledge to the next level, it can help to learn from the best. For example, if you are passionate about jazz music, you can check out these contemporary jazz guitarists listed by Guitar Aficionado.

Mix and Match Your Styles

When you are starting out with advanced guitar chords, the key is to keep yourself from moving too fast. Sometimes playing the basic chords might get a little bit boring, but you need to keep at it as long as you can do it in your sleep. If you move on to tougher stuff too early, you might find these advanced chords a lot harder than they actually are. Remember to practice with our beginner chord songs before you learn these advanced chords.

Mix and match your styles and the genres you play. You don’t just want to stick to songs that seem easy. Even songs that use very basic chord structures can be a bit trickier to play when you aren’t that familiar with the song or the style.

Hopefully, the above tips help you take your guitar playing to the next level. Remember that there are no shortcuts to mastering the guitar!

Mastering the basic guitar chords first will get you on the right track to learning to play the guitar. Before you can start practicing simple songs, it is a good idea to get a grasp of playing the simple chords perfectly. Here are the five basic guitar chords you need to learn to play and some suggestions for songs that help you put your new skills to practice.

Frets and Strings

Before you get started, it is essential to understand the guitar frets and strings. Frets are the sections that the guitar neck is divided into. You can locate them by noticing the little metal strings that are on the neck. When you are playing the chords, your fingers need to be pressing the string on a specific fret. These are often displayed on a tab by using the different sections, like this:

|——– |——– | E

|——– |——– | A

|——– |——– | D

|——– |——– | G
|——– |——– | B

|——– |——– | E

When it comes to strings, you need to remember that the bottom string is actually referred to as the first string. Thus, the top string is the sixth string of the guitar. When you are reading a tab, the sixth string is always the bottom string. Furthermore, each string has a corresponding letter or note. You can see them in the tab above.

1. E

E major is one of the basic open chords that you need to learn to play. You’ll need to press three different strings on the first two frets of the guitar. To play the chord you need to do this:

• Place your index finger on the G string (third string) of the first fret
• Place your middle finger on the A string (fifth string) of the second fret
• Place your ring finger on the D string (fourth string) of the second fret

On a tab the chord would be displayed like this:

|——– |——– | E

|——– |—2— | A

|——– |—3— | D

|—1— |——– | G
|——– |——– | B

|——– |——– | E

2. Am

Am or A minor is a simple chord to learn to play, especially after you learn to play the E chord above. You only need to move each of your fingers down by one string. You play it by:

• Placing your first finger on the B string (second) on the first fret
• Placing your middle finger on the D string (fourth) on the second fret
• Placing your ring finger on the G string (third) on the second fret

On a tab, the chord would be displayed like this:

|——– |——– | E

|——– |——– | A

|——– |—2— | D

|——– |—3— | G
|—1— |——– | B

|——– |——– | E

3. C

C chord is another one of the basics chords to play. You can play it by:

• Placing your first finger on the B string (second) on the first fret
• Placing your middle finger on the D string (fourth) on the second fret
• Placing your ring finger on the A string (fifth) on the third fret

When you display the C chord on the tab, it would look like this:

|——– |——– |——– | E

|——– |——– |—3— | A

|——– |—2— |——– | D

|——– |——– |——– | G
|—1— |——– |——– | B

|——– |——– |——– | E

4. D

D chord is very common chord in many songs. It’s a little bit different to the chords above, but it won’t be anything too difficult to learn. To play the chord, you need to:

• Place your first finger on the G string (third) of the second fret
• Place your middle finger on the E string (first) of the second fret
• Place your ring finger on the B string (second) of the third fret

On a tab, the D chord is displayed like this:

|——– |——– |——– | E

|——– |——– |——– | A

|——– |——– |——– | D

|——– |—1— |——– | G
|——– |——– |—3— | B

|——– |—2— |——– | E

5. G

Finally, the G chord is a simple chord to add to your repertoire. In order to play it, you need to:

• Place your first finger on the A string (fifth) on the second fret
• Place your middle finger on the E string (sixth) on the third fret
• Place your ring finger on the E string (first) on the third fret

Again, when displayed on a tab, the G chord looks like this:

|——– |——– |—2— | E

|——– |—1— |——– | A

|——– |——– |——– | D

|——– |——– |——– | G
|——– |——– |——– | B

|——– |——– |—3— | E

Best Songs to Play

You have many songs to choose from that use the above chords. You can check out our previous blog posts for some good songs to use. Alternatively, you can check out websites such as Tabulous.co.uk for great guitar tabs and pick your favourite songs to play.

Ever wondered what is behind the amazing sounds a guitar makes? Well, there are plenty of components, but the pickups are an essential part of helping to create the unique sound we hear. In an electric guitar, the vibrations of the strings are sensed electronically and the signals route back to the amplifier. All of this sensing happens in a magnetic pickup. How do they work, and could you make one yourself?

How Does a Pickup Work?

If you know anything about electromagnets, then you are aware that the coils and magnets are able to turn electrical energy into motion. But they can also turn motion into electrical energy and this is how the sound is produced by an electric guitar.

The humble, little pickups often consist of a bar magnet that’s wrapped with as many as 7,000 turns of fine wire. When you play the string, you’ll produce a corresponding vibration in the magnetic field and therefore establish a current in the coil, which transforms it into sound.

The majority of electric guitars have two or three of these pickups located in different parts of the body. These pickups generally produce a distinctive sound. When you pair different pickups together, you can create a ton of different sound variations and add more flair to your playing.

The different pickups all have unique qualities. Some of them have just a single magnet bar under the strings, whereas others have a separate pole piece for each string. These pole pieces make it easy to adjust their height, which in turn can influence the strength of the signal. This will help produce a unique sound depending on the height of the pole piece.

The Materials Used

The most important part of the pickup is the magnet. There are a few different magnet materials used in contemporary guitar pickups. According to the Guitar Repairs website, these include:

• Alnico – Aluminium, nickel and cobalt: alnico magnets are actually one of the oldest magnets ever developed, and therefore, the pickups that use it are often classic or vintage models. It gives a nice mellow tone to your guitar, but the strength will decline over time.
• Ceramic or Ferrite – strontium ferrite: these magnets were developed as a budget-friendly alternative to alnico. They are commonly used, but can cause “string pull” and intonation problems. The sound is brighter compared to alnico.
• Rare earth – neodymium, iron, boron or samarium cobalt: these are quite rare, but incredibly strong magnets. They are commonly used in modern guitars, as well as acoustic guitars. They provide a very stable and clear tone.

How to get a Guitar Pickup?

If you are looking for a new guitar pickup, you have two options. It is actually possible to make your own pickup from relatively few materials. It isn’t by any means an easy thing to do, but if you are passionate about guitar music, then it might be a fun project to do. There are plenty of tutorials available online.

Alternatively, you could just purchase a new pickup from guitar shops. If you want something very durable and high quality, then use handmade guitar pickups. For example, Creamery Pickups are a good option to keep in mind.

Hopefully, the above helped you understand the way guitar pickups work and how they are made. If you are having trouble with the tone of your guitar, then you can find other helpful tips from our previous blog post. Always look after your guitar well since it’s the best way to guarantee you’ll sound great as well!