[jseth]

Nice to hear you've got the open chords down... lots of great replies; I especially like moon's about all the right hand dynamics... for years I have told poeple that the right hand is the "engine" of the guitar machine, but I believe this says it much, much better:

Your left hand shows what you KNOW - but your right hand shows who you ARE...

When I first started playing, I just learned a little bit at a time... I'd meet someone who played and have them show me something, then I'd go off and practise that... when I started writing songs, I would look for some new chord, something I hadn't heard before or a way to play it that I hadn't tried. Often, when I would play that "new" chord, I'd hear a melody and go from there!

If you have the $$$, dvds are a great way to learn - Stefan Grossman is wonderful, btw, quite a student of "authentic" acoustic blues styles... but you can always learn new stuff, right there, right now!

Check out moving open position chords up the neck, letting strings ring along as you go... you'll find that an Emajor chord (from open position) can get you a lot of neat sounds as you go higher up the fretboard, for instance.

I still remember when someone showed me this chord... for a long time, I called it "the magic chord", and I guess it still is, for me. I have always loved letting open strings ring out on an acoustic guitar, like in different open tunings - this is one you can do in standard tuning.

Make an Eminor chord, open position, but with yourring and pinky fingers. Move your fretted notes up the fretboard 2 frets worth (one whole step) and add your first finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret (the A note on the G string)... et voila! Strum THAT baby for a while! Let all the strings ring, or just some of 'em... move the whole arrangement up another 2 frets and... THERE'S ANOTHER GREAT CHORD! LOL! It's that kind of stuff that kept me coming back, day after day, year after year... oh, the chord is an F#minor7 (add 11), if you're keeping score.

If you can, get a comprehensive chord book - I had one that had "OVER 2000" chords (the title screamed...). It is always a good thing to expand your chord vocabulary.

Another fun thing: just add notes to the open chords you already know. As one reply stated, you can take 'em away, too... adding notes will create some very interesting sounds to play with...

I know this hasn't been about "the blues", per se, just about this wonderful thing we call the guitar... I loved it and was fascinated by it when I first picked it up - and I still love it and am fascinated by it!

play on................................................ ..>

John Seth Sherman

ps. You need to stop whinging about playing or you're gonna get "then give it up" replies! LOL! I KNOW you are not gonna give it up...

"Some folks say that bears go 'round smelling bad;
others say that a bear is honey sweet.
Some folks say 'this bear's the best I ever had',
some folks got a bear beneath their feet..."
Stephen Fromholtz - "Bears"