WGG has moved from this location to it’s own hosted webspace at www.worshipguitarguy.com!  If any of your feeds point to this location, you’ll want to change them to get the latest content from WGG!

For the past two weeks I’ve been playing around with doing some redesign and enhancements to WGG.  Unfortunately, I’ve realized how limited I am in making changes on a “hosted” WordPress account, so I’m in the process of transitioning worshipguitarguy to its own webspace with the open source install of WordPress.  This gives me a ton more freedom, letting me host more media files on the site, making it easier to do site redesigns, and also lets me take advantage of the ton of great plugins created by developers for the wordpress platform. 

I’m planning on completing the migration process about two weeks from now, after all the bugs have been worked out…  the main link to the site will still be www.worshipguitarguy.com, but if any of your RSS feeders or links point to worshipguitarguy.wordpress.com you may need to update them… 

And there will be some more surprises and some awesome new content coming after the site move…

From time to time, I’ll meet someone that wants to take their talent and heart for worship before audiences all over the world.  For me, conversations like these are always intriguing… and in the process I’ll often ask a couple questions to help me better see the motivation driving their desire.  Sometimes I’ll meet someone with a very clear understanding of the work they want to pursue.  But at other times I’ll hear signals that the person I’m talking to “romanticizes” life in the Christian music industry in a way that doesn’t line up with reality.

Before I go any further let me say that I’ve never played for a major Christian artist, and the extent of my “tours” involve driving an hour or two to help lead worship with various worship leaders I know.  To borrow a line from Bart Millard of MercyMe, my only payment is often ”Taco Bell and directions home.”  And I’m perfectly content with that.  But I’m fortunate to have close friends at all levels of the Christian music industry, from the local artist trying to scrape together the cash to record an album to one who’s a band member for a multi-platinum Dove Award winning artist.  Out of discussions with those friends, I’ve learned many things about the joys, struggles and realities of life as a professional musician.  And truthfully, most of them can’t see themselves doing anything but playing music, but at the same time their stories have helped me have a more realistic understanding of what their line of work is like…

Being a touring musician in the Christian industry isn’t a ticket to financial success:  This is a given for someone who lives in a one bedroom apartment trying to get industry professionals to listen to their work, but surprisingly it can also apply to the band member traveling with that artist who’s name we all know.  I know of a guitar player who tours with an “A-list” Christian musician, only to serve lattes in the drive-thru at Starbucks during the week to make ends meet. 

The reality is that most music teachers and many full time worship leaders in the local church are more financially secure than many musicians you’ll see touring on the road.

Being a full time touring worship musician doesn’t mean you’ll be on that “Spiritual High” all the time:  Many of you know what I’m talking about here… you go to a camp or conference where there’s a worship leader that takes you to “a place” you’ve never experienced before in worship.  It might be easy to wonder if that musician lives every day of their lives on that “high with God.” 

The reality of it is that those people are more like you and I than you may think.  They wake up each morning with pressure from record labels and promoters to write great music.  They face issues with family and friends that the rest of us do.  Unfortunately though, they’re often on the road at times when they’d rather be home supporting their loved ones.  And life on the road brings a whole new set of temptations that are harder to deal with when you’re tired, and lacking the support of your local church and the people who love you and hold you accountable.

The Christian Music Industry is a Business:  It’s awesome to have an industry dedicated to sharing the love of God with others, however it’s easy to forget that it’s still a business driven industry.  Artists that sell have more backing than those who do not, regardless of musical talent and creativity.  Most tours are booked based on financial projections and profitability.  Getting a gig with an artist is a business decision, and there are times that musicians on tours don’t get along with each other.  Musicians I know have told me that when moments of conflict come up, they have to accept it’s often just a business or personality issue, and not something to overspiritualize or take personally.

In Part 2, we’ll take a look at a little more of what a life on the road means, as well as some of the challenges songwriters and musicians face.

You may notice WGG doing some funky things today.  Well after over a year I figure it’s time for a site redesign, and unfortunately there’s no good way to do it with WordPress.com (that I’ve found) except to have everyone see every little bit and piece of the process. 

If anyone has any good suggestions of ideas that can be done with WordPress and Sandbox let me know!

Ok, let’s wrap this thing up, with a couple of resources:

Worship Chords Exposed Chord Chart:  First, this is a PDF chord chart of all the chords from this entire series.  It’s a nice, neat, clean, handy dandy reference for you to pull from when practicing.

CAGED Reference Chart for the Nashville Number System:  This chart’s a comparative reference for each of the five CAGED keys in relationship to their Nashville Number System numbers.  It’s a quick and easy guide for changing a song’s key and determining which chords to play after the change.

CAGED Keys Back to Back mp3:  Here’s an example of a 1-5-6m-4 chord progression played back to back in each of the 5 CAGED keys.  This gives you a good reference of the unique qualities or voicings each CAGED position brings in relationship to the others.  The progressions are played in the “CAGED” order so it’s C, A, G, E then D.

Among guitar players I know, C is probably the least popular of the five CAGED chord forms, but it is still a very useful voicing.  I often joke about the C forms being the cowboy or southern gospel forms, since I’ve found them throughout both traditional country music and it’s Christian quartet based cousin. (The reason I know this is many of the musicians I play with come out of southern gospel family backgrounds.  Fortunately, they “Saw the Light” though, no pun intended.   )

If you’re looking for something different in a song you’re playing, take a listen to some old country rhythm patterns, and play around with the C chord positions below. 

	C major: For the C position chords, I use mostly the traditional way of playing to give that “old school” feel.  For instance, my C is a straight C major, with my index finger on the B string first fret, my middle finger on the D string second fret, and my ring finger on the A string third fret.  You then just mute the low E string.  C Major mp3
	F major 7: Here’s the one exception to standard major chords with the C position forms.  The Fmaj7 has a super cool voicing that creates a unique “tension” in the song.  I finger by placing my index finger on the B string first fret, my middle finger on the G string second fret, and my ring and pinky on the D and A strings at the third fret respectively.  To grab the low F note, I wrap my thumb around the top of the guitar neck.  One cool thing about playing this particular chord is it’s an easy switch from a C major to this form. F major 7 mp3
	G Major: Here’s a traditional three finger G major, (without the third fret on the B string fretted.)  by playing the G this way, you can throw in Gadd9 and G sus4 as variations.  If you’re looking for something with a bit more variation, try this… fret the Fmaj7 chord above, and slide all of those fingers up two frets.  I believe that’s a G6 and it also works very well in the key of C.  G major mp3
	A minor Again, this is a traditional A minor chord with your index finger on the G string first fret, and your middle and ring fingers on D and G strings respectively at the second fret.  A nice variation to throw in is an Am7, which just means you pick up your ring finger and play the G string open.  A minor mp3
	E minor: The easiest chord of the bunch.  The Em is played with your middle and ring fingers on the A and D strings at the second fret.  E minor mp3
	C/E The C over E chord has always been interesting for me, since I’ve always found it to sound quite strange.  It’s just a standard C chord, but with the E string strummed open instead of being muted.  When playing this chord, you may want to experiment with not hitting all six strings at once, due to the slightly “dischordant” feel I’ve found from playing it.  C/E mp3
	G/B The final slash or polytonal chord is the G/B.  it’s just your pinky and ring fingers on the high E and B strings at the third fret and your index finger at the second fret on the A string.  G/B mp3

C-G-Am-Fmaj7 Chords mp3
This is again an example of a 1-5-6m-4 progression, this time in the key of C with the chord forms shown above.

Next in our journey through the CAGED Chord forms are the chord positions in the key of A.

I’ve always seen A position chords as the moody or emo chords of worship music.  You can use them in songs that are darker and more contemplative where you don’t want that “happy clappy” feel.  In fact, Matt Redman’s made good use of these chords in some darker songs, like ”You Never Let Go” and ”Blessed Be Your Name.”  Two more non-worship examples of A position chords in “darker” songs include U2’s “Bad” and “All I Want Is You.” 

	A major: A always seems to be a tough chord for beginning guitarists to get, since it involves cramming so many fingers into one space. The traditional way to fret an A chord is to place your index, middle and ring fingers at the third fret on the D, G, and B strings respectively. However, this often turns into an exercise in torture as there’s so little space for so many fingers. Some guitarists fret this chord by just putting their index finger over all three strings and barring, or clamping down on them, and muting the high E string. I actually use both of these methods quite often, it just depends on the song I’m playing and the chord transitions around the A chord.  A major MP3
	D major: D major is your index finger on the G string second fret, your middle finger on the high E string second fret, and your ring finger on the B string third fret. Playing the chord this way is important because it gives your fingers room to move around quite a bit to create variations extremely easily. D-major.mp3
	E Major: The E chord is a standard root position E-major.  When you strum it, feel free to let all six strings ring out, since they’re all notes within the chord scale.  I’ll usually hold down this chord with my ring finger on the D string, second fret, my middle finger on the A string second fret, and my index finger on the G string, first fret.  E major chord mp3
	F# minor Again, I’m not totally sure what the correct technical name for this chord is, but it’s core is an F#m.  (I believe it’s an F# minor 7 variation)  This one can be a trick to play, I usually approach it by placing my ring and pinky fingers on the A and D strings at the fourth fret, and my index finger on the G string at the second fret.  Then I wrap my thumb over the top and hold down the low E string on the second fret.  As a cheat, I’ve seen guitarists mute the low E string to make the chord easier to play.  This technically works because it’s what’s called an “inversion” of an F#.  Fsharp minor chord mp3
	B minor: For a 2 minor, or B minor with A position chords, I rarely cheat.  Yup, that means learning and playing a barred B minor.  It can be tough to pull it off cleanly, especially when you’re first learning, but I haven’t really found any of the variations to have quite the right “voicing” or feel for many worship songs in A.  To play the B minor, bar your index finger across the second fret, A through high E strings, place your middle finger on the B string at the third fret, and your ring and pinky fingers on the D and G strings at the fourth fret.
	A/C#: The A/C# is the one difficult chord for many guitar players to play. The way many people I know play it is to place their index finger over the D, G, and B strings (barring it) and using your pinky to hold down the A string at the fourth fret. It’s a bit tough to make transitions to and from this chord so you will want to practice it.  A/C# MP3
	The second slash or polytonal chord is the E2 over G#.  When playing this, I put my ring finger on the D string, fourth fret, my pinky on the G string, fourth fret, and my index finger on the low E string, fourth fret.  I mute the A string.  E2/G# MP3

There are many of the same chords in the key of A that there are in the key of E.  Since the scales of the two keys are closely related, the “overlap” means if you learn one key, you’ll already know many of the chords in the other.  (The same holds true for D and G chord forms.)

A-E-F#m-D MP3
Another example of the 1-5-6m-4 chord progression, this time in the key of A.

There is nothing quite as blissful as the D chord forms on the guitar. 

The D chord forms are some of the most useful for a guitarist.  In fact, some beginner guitar players stick so much with G and E that they don’t take advantage of the flexibility that D gives them until much later on their journey.  So why are D chord forms so valuable?  Well, a big reason is because you can easily finger many variations that add color to your tone.  I find D position chords to be the most flexible out of the CAGED chord positions.  As an electric guitarist, many of my rhythmic lead parts somehow revolve around D positions chords. 

For acoustic guitar players, the Key of D works well in “dark” or “brooding” songs, where there’s a touch of optimism or brightness.  A couple great examples of these chord forms in use are “Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble” by Delirious, and “The Wonderful Cross” by Tomlin/Redman/Watts.  In both songs, the chords sit above a dark and droning synth part.  Also, both “Enough” and “We Fall Down” by Chris Tomlin are actually played with D position chords, although the guitar is capo’ed.  

	D major: D major is your index finger on the G string second fret, your middle finger on the high E string second fret, and your ring finger on the B string third fret.  Playing the chord this way is important because it gives your fingers room to move around quite a bit to create variations extremely easily. D major MP3
	G major: For me, using the G major I showed you in the G position chord lesson seems to work the best, (again index finger A string second fret, middle finger low E string third fret, and ring and pinky fingers on the B and high E strings at the third fret.)  However, if your more comfortable, you can play a three finger G which will also work fine.  (ring finger high E string third fret, middle finger low E string third fret, and index finger A string second fret.) G major MP3
	A major: A always seems to be a tough chord for beginning guitarists to get, since it involves cramming so many fingers into one space.  The traditional way to fret an A chord is to place your index, middle and ring fingers at the third fret on the D, G, and B strings respectively.  However, this often turns into an exercise in torture as there’s so little space for so many fingers.  Some guitarists fret this chord by just putting their index finger over all three strings and barring, or clamping down on them, and muting the high E string.  I actually use both of these methods, the one I use depends on the song I’m playing and the chord transitions around the A chord.  A major MP3
	B minor 6: This is a huge “cheat” for a B minor because it doesn’t involve playing a B minor bar chord.  However, it does sound tonally interesting, so I don’t feel guilty at all for using it.  I play it by placing my index finger on the A string second fret, my middle finger on the high E string second fret and my ring finger on the B string, third fret. B minor 6 MP3
	E minor: This is a standard open position E minor and is pretty easy to play.  Just place your middle and ring fingers on the A and D strings at the second fret, and there you are. E minor MP3
	D/F#: The first important slash chord is the D/F# chord.  It’s often a transition between the G chord and an Em7 chord.  Some guitarists struggle with it so they play an alternate version with their ring finger on the B string, third fret, their middle finger on the high e string, second fret, their index finger on the low E string, second fret, they then let the G string ring open. I fret the chord a bit differently by simply holding down a traditional D major chord and wrapping my thumb over the top of the neck to fret the low E string at the second fret.  D/F# MP3
	A/C#: The A/C# is a difficult chord for many guitar players to play.  One way to play it is to place their index finger over the D, G, and B strings (barring it) and using your pinky to hold down the A string at the fourth fret.  It’s a bit tough to make transitions to and from this chord so you will want to practice it. A/C# MP3

D-A-Bm-G MP3
This is an example of a 1-5-6m-4 chord progression just like in the previous two lessons, except this is in the key of D.  By listening to this and then playing the same examples in the G and E lessons, you’ll hear the difference in the “voicings” of each chord position set.

D Arpeggiated Chords MP3
Arpeggiated chords are chords where the notes are picked individually instead of being strummed.  Here’s a little variation I had fun with by playing an electric guitar with delay.  The chord progression is D – D2 – G – A. 

Just for reference, this is played with a Fender Strat with the pickup selector in the “bridge-mid” position.  The background effects are just three layers stacked on top of one another, one with an Ebow on a D note, another with an Ebow on a G note, and the third is an acoustic guitar playing the same notes, but with reverb and delay effects turned up quite high.

On to Part 2!

Since a guitar is naturally tuned around notes common to the E scale, there are many other E chord options all over the neck for you to explore.  The ones listed below are common ones I use regularly in my playing to give things a bit of variety.  You can also play some of these alternate positions as a second guitar, playing over someone else who’s strumming root position chords.  The awesome thing about this is you each will be doing something slightly different, adding a fuller sound to the song you’re playing.

E major: 

This E5 is an absolute favorite of mine.  It’s located one octave above the root position E chord and is played with your index finger on the A string, seventh fret, and your ring and pinky fingers on the D and G strings at the ninth fret.  This chord is great for playing over another guitarist who’s playing the root position E chord.  Because of the higher notes it fills out the overall sound when adding a second guitar.  Below are some alternate chords for the A, B, and C# minor that are adjacent to this form.  E5 Octave MP3

Here’s a second E5 that shares some notes with the root position E major chord.  It can be a bit of a trick to play at first, due to your finger positions.  The easiest way for me to play it is to place my index and middle fingers on the A and D strings at the second fret, then place my pinky on the G string at the fourth fret.  If you’re familiar with the cut capo, you’ll notice this is the exact same chord you play for an E major if your capo’s on the guitar.  E5 at the 2nd Fret MP3

 A chords:

The two A chords shown here are very useful for creating variety in your sound.  Fingering this Aadd9 involves placing your ring finger on the D string at the seventh fret and your middle finger on the G string at the sixth fret. Aadd9 MP3

This chord’s either an A2 or an E5/A.  Fingering it is extremely easy, it’s just your ring finger and your pinky on the D and G strings on the ninth fret.  Make sure to mute the low E string as the A is your bass note. E5 over A MP3 An interesting variation is to take your middle finger and put it on the G string, eighth fret, and remove your pinky.  This chord has a very dark, dramatic sound to it that fits well if you want a very “haunting” variation.  A chord variation.mp3

 B chord

This chord is a substitute for the Bsus4 when you’re playing the E5 chord above on the seventh and ninth frets.  To switch to this chord, all you do is move your index finger up one string to the low E at the seventh fret, then mute the A string.  E5 over B MP3

  C#m chord

The E5/C# is a substitute chord for a C# minor.  You fret it by placing your pinky and ring fingers on the D and G strings at the ninth fret, and your middle finger on the low E string at the ninth fret.  Make sure the A string is muted in the process.  E5 over Csharp MP3

 B/D# Chord

Remember in part 1 where I said there was a way to play a B over D# without tuning down?  Well here it is.  You fret your index finger on the sixth fret, A string, your ring finger on the eighth fret G string, and your pinky on the ninth fret D string, while muting the low E string.  B over D# MP3

Empty Me Chord Progression MP3
This chord progression is much like the one in the song “Empty Me” as recorded by Jeremy Camp on Carried Me, The Worship Project.  The progression is an E5 @ the 7th fret > E5/B > E5/C# > E5/A.  It’s a great example of how the 7th octave E chords sound.

E > D# > C# to A Walkdown.
Here’s another chord pattern that’s found it’s way into many worship songs.  Start by playing (for one measure each) the E5 at the seventh octave, the B/D#, the C# minor at the fourth fret, (check Part 1), then the A2 on the second fret.  This type of progression fits well on songs like Matt Redman’s “Let Everything that Hath Breath”, or David Crowder’s “Our Love is Loud.”

Octaves:
Another fun thing to do in the key of E is to play octave chords on the A and G strings (while muting the D string).  Your root position starts on the seventh and ninth fret, (it’s essentially the E5 on the seventh fret above without the D string) and you can move up and down the scale to create interesting melodic lead and rhythm patterns.  I’ll try to post more on this idea later.

This weekend, I was interviewed by Chris over at behindthemixer.com about how to approach the guitar from a sound guy’s perspective…  Here’s a link to the article

http://www.behindthemixer.com/content/interview-worship-guitar-guy

If you get the chance, check out the other articles at behind the mixer too.  Chris has a TON of valuable information related to all things sound.