Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 1

Open Position Power Chords

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 1 Backing Track

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 2

Adding a Passing Note (b3 from E minor pentatonic)

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 2 Backing Track

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 3

The dots indicate staccato notes, which are played shorter. In this example, the x's are on the beat where you will stop the strings from ringing with the side of your picking hand.

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 3 Backing Track

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 4

This example contrasts short staccato chords with tenuto chords (-), where the notes ring out for their full value. Again, the x's are when you will "stop" the strings with your picking hand.

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Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 5

The G5 and A5 chords are played early, on the "and of 4", creating an anticipation, which creates forward motion and energy.

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Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 6 

This example takes the anticipation idea further, with D5 being played on the "and of 3". With both the D5 and A5 played on the off-beats, we are now experiencing syncopation. The last part of the example uses palm muting (P.M.), where you gently rest the side of your hand on the bridge as you pick, creating a tight, percussive sound.

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 6 Backing Track

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 7 

The > written above some of the chords is an accent, which means you play those notes a little louder than the others. This example is a combination of accents and palm muted chords. G5 is introduced in the last bar - try keeping your 3rd finger in place when you change from G5 to D5.

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Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 8 

This example introduces a "boogie rhythm" idea, heard in countless Blues, Rock, and Rock and Roll songs. Keep your 1st finger in place for the A5 and simply place your 3rd "in front" of it to play the A6, then lift your 3rd finger to return to A5.

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Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 9 

This example introduces the C5 chord, and revisits the anticipation idea in bars two and four.

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 9 Backing Track

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 10 

This is example uses a cool effect called displacement. We have a simple quaver/eighth note rhythm that is played four times, but because we place a quaver/eighth note rest between each repeat, the rhythm "shifts" to a new place each time.

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 10 Backing Track

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 11 

This example is similar in approach to Exercise 7, where we combined accented and palm-muted notes. However, this example introduces a concept called a pedal, where the chords change, but there is a constant low A note played throughout the first two bars.

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Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 12 

Rockstar Guitar Primer Ex. 12 Backing Track

This final example uses the first three chords we started with, but adds some of the ideas we have discussed; contrast between staccato and tenuto, anticipation, and syncopation.