“Scratch,” as in something being “from scratch,” is a funny kind of expression, don’t you think? It turns out that it means: “proceeding from the starting line, or a scratch in the dirt, as in a race.” This leads to a more general definition: “to come from nothing, to be without advantage.” If this describes your current relationship with the guitar, then, boy, have I got a book for you.
Table of Contents
Preliminaries Choice of guitar Picks, capos and the neck Fretting and tuning Relative tuning Chords and chords E Minor chord Some principles E Major chord A Minor chord Switching from Em to Am C Major chord Switching from Em to Am to C G Major chord Switching between G and C Teamwork Sympathy and more G chords Song Examples D Major Chord The G Chord Family - song examples The Rhythm Changes F Major chord D Minor chord The C Chord Family - song examples Strumming Away Down-Up motion Notation Rock Strum Pattern Folk Strum Pattern Country Strum Pattern Hip Hop Strum Pattern The D Chord Family - song examples A Major chord B Minor and B Minor-seventh chords Seventh chords - D7, G7 and A7
1 - 4 - 5 substitutions The A Chord Family - song examples Switching from A to D to E to E7 The E Chord Family - song examples B7 chord The Circle of Fifths Progressions in C, G and D Strumming, Part Two Escape hatch Jazz chords Major-seventh chords Minor-seventh chords Suspended chords Anchor chords Chord Review Fingerpicking Notation and the Tier System Arpeggios and Tablature ¾ Time Arpeggios in the wild Travis-Style fingerpicking 5/4 and 6/4 bass patterns Inside-Out picking patterns Outside-In picking patterns Pinch patterns Strumming, Part Three (variations) Power chords: E-shape and A-shape Barre chords: E-shape and A-shape 1 - 4 - 5 and Rhythm Changes Epilogue Appendix A: Bunches of Useful Chords Appendix B: Using the capo to make key changes
