Article by Mike Hayes
Acoustic guitars are always popular as accompaniment instrumentsfor Gospel, Sacred, Folk and traditional get-togethers. The pureclear sound of the acoustic steel string guitar makes it theideal instrument to accompany the human voice.
The guitar is also a very portable and personal instrument plusthe fact that so many favorite songs only use three chords makesthe guitar easy to learn.
The most guitar friendly keys for guitar accompaniment are: Keyof G, key of D, Key of A and Key of E.
Key is a short list of Folk and Traditional songs that use only 3chords.
Folk and Traditional songs
Beautiful Brown EyesBig Rock Candy MountainBlue Tail FlyCareless LoveCattle CallCrawdad SongFrankie and JohnnyGolden SlippersGoodnight IreneGoodnight LadiesGotta Travel OnHand Me Down My Walking CaneHome On The RangeJesse JamesJohn HenryI Gave My Love A CherryLetter Edged In BlackLittle Brown JugMichael Row The Boat AshoreMidnight SpecialOn Top Of Old SmokeyO' SusannaO' Them Golden SlippersPut On Your Old Grey BonnetRed River ValleyShe'll Be Comin' Round The MountainStrawberry RoanSwanee RiverThis Land Is Your LandWorried Man Blues
There's hundreds of other Folk And Traditional songs that requireonly 3 chords keep your ears open and add new titles to this listas you discover them.
Now let's turn our attention to Sacred and Gospel songs that use3 chords.
Sacred and Gospel Songs
Amazing GraceFaith Of Our FathersFarther AlongGloryland WayI Saw The LightI'll Fly AwayIn The GardenJesus loves MeJust A Closer Walk With TheeNearer My God To TheeOld Rugged CrossSoftly And TenderlyThat Old Time ReligionWhere Could I Go (But To The Lord)Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Again, this is list is just the tip of the iceberg there's manymore just waiting to be discovered.
The trick is to play all these songs with easy chord shapes whilestill being able to accompany the vocalist(s) in a key that bestsuits their voice.
The ideal way to achieve this is to master the three basic chordshapes in the guitar friendly keys and then use a capo totranspose these easy chord shapes into other keys.
The three basic chords in the key of G are G, C & D7.
The three basic chords in the key of D are D, G & A7.
The three basic chords in the key of A are A, D & E7.
The three basic chords in the key of E are E, A & B7.
The best news is you don't even have to know all the chord shapeslisted above, you could play all these songs (and a whole lotmore), by learning only three chords in one key. However it'sbetter if you know at least two keys.
Take your time and learn these basic chords on the guitar, youwill be glad to did, they will reward you with many hours of funon the guitar.
About the Author
Mike Hayes develops systems and products to help you succeed inyour guitar playing. Find out more about how to learn guitar fastwith his popular free ecourse, available at:=> http://www.guitarcoaching.com