Intro In a simple chord sequence, in which all the chords come from the same key, it’s easy to select the scale to improvise over the sequence. The standard choice is to use the scale of the key. In this example (a I-VI-II-V7 in G), in which all the chords are in the key of […]

Here’s a document I recently gave out to my songwriting class at City Lit. It’s aimed at people with no previous knowledge of chords, taking them through all the basics in a visual way with plenty of diagrams. There’s no music notation. If you think your students would benefit from it, please feel free to […]

Week two at the City Lit, in the beginners’ guitar class, and the usual complaints about stretching for a C chord. It’s a leap, it’s true, and the first (of many) point at which the debutant wonders if they’re cut out for the guitar after all. My usual joke amid the grumbles is to say […]