Chords for Mandolin Lesson: Trouble With Chop Chords?
Tempo:
90.75 bpm
Chords used:
G
F
B
A
Bb
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[G]
Howdy folks if you're just starting out on the mandolin you probably learned this little two finger G chord
very early on possibly from one of my lessons and
then you progressed up to some three finger shapes and
Then somebody came along and said that well in bluegrass
we like to play these chop chords and we like to cut them off and make them real short and percussive and
they showed you this big giant G chop chord and
Possibly you found it extremely difficult.
Well in this lesson
I want to give you an option something else you can play in place of that that is a lot more comfortable for
beginners or people with small hands or people with
Arthritis or any other difficulty in reaching that little finger note?
So this is just an option that works really well for bluegrass chopping.
So let me show you what I'm talking about
Now I'm gonna keep this lesson really short and simple
We're gonna start with the big G chop chord, which you may be having trouble with
What we're gonna do is simply dispense with the little finger
Put it off for later.
Shall we say you still should
work towards
Mastery of use of the little finger, but for now, let's just not use the little finger
we're left with this three finger G shape and
This one open string which is gonna ring like crazy and we're not gonna be able to cut it off and
Damp it for good percussive chopping like you can do with this
You can cut those off, but you take that finger off
That thing's gonna ring and ring and ring and it's gonna make your sound very muddy
So this is a very simple solution
It's an alternative form of the G
You just get rid of the little finger take your middle finger
Lift it off the first string and bring it over to the fourth string at the fourth fret
That's all there is to it.
You'll notice there is an X over the first string
We do not play the first string in this chord.
It's a three finger shape
And it will work beautifully over a G chord.
All of the notes in this shape are G chord notes
It is missing the D note
It does not have a D but your guitar player your bass player and your banjo player will more than likely be hitting a D note
So don't worry about that missing note
You're playing two B's and a G here
But the beauty of this shape number one being less of it an exercise in contortion and self-torture
being more comfortable is
that
It is a nice replacement for this two-finger G
If you've just started and you know that for your G chord or this three finger one here
This at least allows you to strike from above and damp the strings
Because it's really a challenge to damp open strings.
So that's it.
It's a very simple chord and
Much more comfortable.
I used to call it my resting chord because if I was playing a chop chord somewhere
Sometimes this middle finger will begin to cramp up because it's rolled up so tightly [B] and just to bring it over here
We'll give it a break
[A]
[G]
so work with that and
Don't neglect the big chop
It's it's a great chord and it will help you improve the strength of your little finger, which is also useful in lead playing
So if you find that that [F] little chord shape helps and I think for a lot of people it will I teach some children
how to play the mandolin with private lessons and
Many of them have a very difficult time stretching all the way up to that little finger note now
Eventually, they will get it children seems to be more persistent than some adults
anyway
You know keep coming back to that chord.
Don't just put it aside and say well, I'll never try it
But anyway use this easier version of the G chop chord and if you'd like to learn some small
smaller versions of all of the major and minor chords and actually a couple of
optional ways to do each one of them
Please take a look at my [Bb] lesson, which is called chop chords for small hands
And it's about a 30 minute lesson and it it covers all of the major and minor chords
using two different ways to
Approach them and they're all in these smaller more compact shapes.
So if your hands demand it
[C] I suggest you go take a look at that.
Anyway, have fun and I'll see you down the road
[F]
Howdy folks if you're just starting out on the mandolin you probably learned this little two finger G chord
very early on possibly from one of my lessons and
then you progressed up to some three finger shapes and
Then somebody came along and said that well in bluegrass
we like to play these chop chords and we like to cut them off and make them real short and percussive and
they showed you this big giant G chop chord and
Possibly you found it extremely difficult.
Well in this lesson
I want to give you an option something else you can play in place of that that is a lot more comfortable for
beginners or people with small hands or people with
Arthritis or any other difficulty in reaching that little finger note?
So this is just an option that works really well for bluegrass chopping.
So let me show you what I'm talking about
Now I'm gonna keep this lesson really short and simple
We're gonna start with the big G chop chord, which you may be having trouble with
What we're gonna do is simply dispense with the little finger
Put it off for later.
Shall we say you still should
work towards
Mastery of use of the little finger, but for now, let's just not use the little finger
we're left with this three finger G shape and
This one open string which is gonna ring like crazy and we're not gonna be able to cut it off and
Damp it for good percussive chopping like you can do with this
You can cut those off, but you take that finger off
That thing's gonna ring and ring and ring and it's gonna make your sound very muddy
So this is a very simple solution
It's an alternative form of the G
You just get rid of the little finger take your middle finger
Lift it off the first string and bring it over to the fourth string at the fourth fret
That's all there is to it.
You'll notice there is an X over the first string
We do not play the first string in this chord.
It's a three finger shape
And it will work beautifully over a G chord.
All of the notes in this shape are G chord notes
It is missing the D note
It does not have a D but your guitar player your bass player and your banjo player will more than likely be hitting a D note
So don't worry about that missing note
You're playing two B's and a G here
But the beauty of this shape number one being less of it an exercise in contortion and self-torture
being more comfortable is
that
It is a nice replacement for this two-finger G
If you've just started and you know that for your G chord or this three finger one here
This at least allows you to strike from above and damp the strings
Because it's really a challenge to damp open strings.
So that's it.
It's a very simple chord and
Much more comfortable.
I used to call it my resting chord because if I was playing a chop chord somewhere
Sometimes this middle finger will begin to cramp up because it's rolled up so tightly [B] and just to bring it over here
We'll give it a break
[A]
[G]
so work with that and
Don't neglect the big chop
It's it's a great chord and it will help you improve the strength of your little finger, which is also useful in lead playing
So if you find that that [F] little chord shape helps and I think for a lot of people it will I teach some children
how to play the mandolin with private lessons and
Many of them have a very difficult time stretching all the way up to that little finger note now
Eventually, they will get it children seems to be more persistent than some adults
anyway
You know keep coming back to that chord.
Don't just put it aside and say well, I'll never try it
But anyway use this easier version of the G chop chord and if you'd like to learn some small
smaller versions of all of the major and minor chords and actually a couple of
optional ways to do each one of them
Please take a look at my [Bb] lesson, which is called chop chords for small hands
And it's about a 30 minute lesson and it it covers all of the major and minor chords
using two different ways to
Approach them and they're all in these smaller more compact shapes.
So if your hands demand it
[C] I suggest you go take a look at that.
Anyway, have fun and I'll see you down the road
[F]
Key:
G
F
B
A
Bb
G
F
B
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ Howdy folks if you're just starting out on the mandolin you probably learned this little two finger G chord
very early on possibly from one of my lessons and
then you progressed up to some three finger shapes and
Then somebody came along and said that well in bluegrass
we like to play these chop chords and we like to cut them off and make them real short and percussive and
they showed you this big giant G chop chord and
_ Possibly you found it extremely difficult.
Well in this lesson
I want to give you an option something else you can play in place of that that is a lot more comfortable for
beginners or people with small hands or people with
Arthritis or any other difficulty in reaching that little finger note?
So this is just an option that works really well for bluegrass chopping.
So let me show you what I'm talking about
_ Now I'm gonna keep this lesson really short and simple
We're gonna start with the big G chop chord, which you may be having trouble with
What we're gonna do is simply dispense with the little finger
Put it off for later.
Shall we say you still should
work towards
Mastery of use of the little finger, but for now, let's just not use the little finger
we're left with this three finger G shape and
This one open string which is gonna ring like crazy and we're not gonna be able to cut it off and
Damp it for good percussive chopping like you can do with this
You can cut those off, but you take that finger off
That thing's gonna ring and ring and ring and it's gonna make your sound very muddy
So this is a very simple solution
_ It's an alternative form of the G
You just get rid of the little finger take your middle finger
Lift it off the first string and bring it over to the fourth string at the fourth fret
That's all there is to it.
You'll notice there is an X over the first string
We do not play the first string in this chord.
It's a three finger shape
_ _ And it will work beautifully over a G chord.
All of the notes in this shape are G chord notes
It is missing the D note
It does not have a D but your guitar player your bass player and your banjo player will more than likely be hitting a D note
So don't worry about that missing note
You're playing two B's and a G here _
But the beauty of this shape number one being less of it an exercise in contortion and self-torture
_ being more comfortable is
_ that
It is a nice replacement for this two-finger G
If you've just started and you know that for your G chord or this three finger one here
This at least allows you to strike from above and damp the strings
Because it's really a challenge to damp open strings.
So that's it.
It's a very simple chord and _
Much more comfortable.
I used to call it my resting chord because if I was playing a chop chord somewhere
Sometimes this middle finger will begin to cramp up because it's rolled up so tightly [B] and just to bring it over here
We'll give it a break
_ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
so work with that and
Don't neglect the big chop
It's it's a great chord and it will help you improve the strength of your little finger, which is also useful in lead playing
_ _ So if you find that that [F] little chord shape helps and I think for a lot of people it will I teach some children
how to play the mandolin with private lessons and
Many of them have a very difficult time stretching all the way up to that little finger note now
Eventually, they will get it children seems to be more persistent than some adults
anyway
You know keep coming back to that chord.
Don't just put it aside and say well, I'll never try it
But anyway use this easier version of the G chop chord and if you'd like to learn some small
smaller versions of all of the major and minor chords and actually a couple of
optional ways to do each one of them
Please take a look at my [Bb] lesson, which is called chop chords for small hands
And it's about a 30 minute lesson and it it covers all of the major and minor chords
using two different ways to
Approach them and they're all in these smaller more compact shapes.
So if your hands demand it
[C] I suggest you go take a look at that.
Anyway, have fun and I'll see you down the road
[F] _
_ Howdy folks if you're just starting out on the mandolin you probably learned this little two finger G chord
very early on possibly from one of my lessons and
then you progressed up to some three finger shapes and
Then somebody came along and said that well in bluegrass
we like to play these chop chords and we like to cut them off and make them real short and percussive and
they showed you this big giant G chop chord and
_ Possibly you found it extremely difficult.
Well in this lesson
I want to give you an option something else you can play in place of that that is a lot more comfortable for
beginners or people with small hands or people with
Arthritis or any other difficulty in reaching that little finger note?
So this is just an option that works really well for bluegrass chopping.
So let me show you what I'm talking about
_ Now I'm gonna keep this lesson really short and simple
We're gonna start with the big G chop chord, which you may be having trouble with
What we're gonna do is simply dispense with the little finger
Put it off for later.
Shall we say you still should
work towards
Mastery of use of the little finger, but for now, let's just not use the little finger
we're left with this three finger G shape and
This one open string which is gonna ring like crazy and we're not gonna be able to cut it off and
Damp it for good percussive chopping like you can do with this
You can cut those off, but you take that finger off
That thing's gonna ring and ring and ring and it's gonna make your sound very muddy
So this is a very simple solution
_ It's an alternative form of the G
You just get rid of the little finger take your middle finger
Lift it off the first string and bring it over to the fourth string at the fourth fret
That's all there is to it.
You'll notice there is an X over the first string
We do not play the first string in this chord.
It's a three finger shape
_ _ And it will work beautifully over a G chord.
All of the notes in this shape are G chord notes
It is missing the D note
It does not have a D but your guitar player your bass player and your banjo player will more than likely be hitting a D note
So don't worry about that missing note
You're playing two B's and a G here _
But the beauty of this shape number one being less of it an exercise in contortion and self-torture
_ being more comfortable is
_ that
It is a nice replacement for this two-finger G
If you've just started and you know that for your G chord or this three finger one here
This at least allows you to strike from above and damp the strings
Because it's really a challenge to damp open strings.
So that's it.
It's a very simple chord and _
Much more comfortable.
I used to call it my resting chord because if I was playing a chop chord somewhere
Sometimes this middle finger will begin to cramp up because it's rolled up so tightly [B] and just to bring it over here
We'll give it a break
_ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
so work with that and
Don't neglect the big chop
It's it's a great chord and it will help you improve the strength of your little finger, which is also useful in lead playing
_ _ So if you find that that [F] little chord shape helps and I think for a lot of people it will I teach some children
how to play the mandolin with private lessons and
Many of them have a very difficult time stretching all the way up to that little finger note now
Eventually, they will get it children seems to be more persistent than some adults
anyway
You know keep coming back to that chord.
Don't just put it aside and say well, I'll never try it
But anyway use this easier version of the G chop chord and if you'd like to learn some small
smaller versions of all of the major and minor chords and actually a couple of
optional ways to do each one of them
Please take a look at my [Bb] lesson, which is called chop chords for small hands
And it's about a 30 minute lesson and it it covers all of the major and minor chords
using two different ways to
Approach them and they're all in these smaller more compact shapes.
So if your hands demand it
[C] I suggest you go take a look at that.
Anyway, have fun and I'll see you down the road
[F] _