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Home » Music And Movies Articles » Want To Play Guitar Like The Pros Part 1 Chords

Want To Play Guitar Like The Pros? Part 1 - Chords

Many consider playing the guitar seems easy, and for others playing the guitar seems hard. A popular part of playing the guitar is chords. Whether it's strumming them, plucking them or anything else you have to have a basic understanding of chords. All chords aren't the same. Power chords are a good way to begin learning chords, and advancing to normal chords is usually the best way to master them.

The chords in guitar songs are almost always strummed. The only time when they are not strummed is when they are played separately, and in that situation the notes are usually plucked. If each note of the chord is picked individually, the composer might even decide to skip some notes. A lot of chords can begin from power chords, which are just 2 notes. Power chords are mostly used by the younger players with small hands. If the person cannot stretch there hands out for the whole chord, then they can just play two strings that will just produce the same sound. Although the chord and power chord produce the both sound, they are both very different. The power chord will always have at least 2 notes, but the power chord will not have more notes than the normal chord. For example, let's say someone was playing the E minor chord. The E minor chord consists of the 2nd fret in both the 5th and 4th strings. That form is usually the most common form of the E chord, but it can also be considered a power chord. Power chords usually give the most basic sound possible. If you add more depth to the chord, it will become a normal chord. In order to do that, you have to add more notes that are part of the power chord. Let's go back to the E chord example. The two notes are B and E. In order to do this, you have to know the fret board. To add more depth to this power chord, you must add more B and E notes to the chord. The 6th and first strings open are both E notes. By adding those notes, you now have 3 E notes, and 1 B note. To make it even, you would need to add 3 more B notes. The 2nd string open is also B, and so is the 4th fret of the 3rd string. To do this chord, the persons hand would have to stretch from the 2nd to 4th fret. For people with big hands, that would be considered easy. But for others, a power chord would seem like an easier option.

Learning the chords isn't the only lesson that needs to be learned for chords. Switching to different chords is also a big part of playing them, especially if a song requires lots of different chords. A good way to practice the speed of switching chords is to rest your fingers in the position of the chords. Going back and forth, without playing the chords, will help you gain speed. This can be done while watching your favorite TV show, or outdoors just to relax. After a few minutes of switching, you can add more and more chords. Finally, when you can switch fast enough, you can start to play the chords. Start out slow, but every time you accomplish perfection with the speed, bump yourself a little bit faster. In the end, you will be able to play chords and switch chords a lot faster than you started out with. Improvement is the key!

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Basic Home Loan Terms Explained

The wonderful world of home buying can sometimes overwhelm the first time homebuyer. They are inundated with information riddled with terms of art. ARMS, points, interest rates, good faith estimates, pay-downs, lock-in dates, so on and so forth. Though some or all of these terms may seem somewhat foreign to you, do not get overwhelmed, there are simple explanations for each and every one of them.

Let us start with the different types of loans there are. Typically all home loans fall into two basic categories: mortgages and home equity loans. Mortgages are simply a loan against property that is secured with a "mortgage". This "mortgage" is basically a lien against the property until such time that loan is satisfied. So a mortgage is a loan against property that is secured with a lien against it.

A home equity loan is a loan that is also secured with a lien against the property. The home equity loan lien is secondary to the first mortgage on the home. This type of loan is based on the amount of equity in the house. Equity is the difference in dollars between the value of the home and the amount owed on it. Equity can be a positive number (the house is worth more than what is owed) or can be a negative number (negative equity) which means that there is more owed on the house than the house is worth.

A lien is simply a legal term that indicates that someone other than the homeowner has a legal right and interest in the property. So, if the property is ever sold, all liens need to be satisfied - any money owed to anyone with a lien must be paid, otherwise the new owner may become obligated to pay the amount owed. A lien is against property, not a person. Typically in all real estate transactions there will be a title search that will reveal any liens against the property. This title search is basically an examination over anyone and anything that may have some legal interest, obligation or right to the property.

If there are multiple home loans on a property the order they are paid in is the oldest to the newest. This is only a factor if the property is being sold for below what is owed. This is either through a "short sale" where the house is being sold by the homeowner for below the amount that is owed in the house. They will need approval from all lien holders in order to do this. This is also an issue if a house falls into foreclosure.

Within these two types of loans you will want to know the difference between a fixed-rate mortgage and a variable rate mortgage. A variable or adjustable rate mortgage is an ARM. Fixed-rate mortgages have the same interest rate from the first day of the loan to the last day of the loan unless it is refinanced. A fixed rate or variable rate loan will generally start off for a period of time at a specified rate and then after that period ends, if the loan has not been paid off or refinanced then the rate becomes adjustable based on specific conditions set forth in advance - typically tied to the federal interest rate. An ARM loan will have typically a 3 or 5 year period during which the rate is lower than the going rate. This is used to entice would-be borrowers or help borrowers have lower payments for the initial period.

"Points" are often discussed in connection with loan packages and interest rates. You can "pay down" an interest rate by paying points for example. What this means is you can pay for a lower interest rate if you pay a specified number of points. Points are simply one percent of the loan amount. So a $100,000 loan equates to $1000 for every point.

Another term you will often here is PMI, private mortgage insurance. PMI is insurance for your lender when the amount you borrow is more than 80% of the value of the property. In these cases the borrower needs to pay for this insurance policy. The calculation for your monthly PMI payment is 0.5% of your loan amount divided by twelve.

Tied to the calculation of PMI, as well as many other factors of the loan is an appraisal. An appraisal is a determination by a real estate professional of what the value of the property is. They will evaluate the property and similar properties in the area. They will consider market trends, recent sales and other factors to give an estimate on what the property is worth and would sell for.

Another potential add-on to your monthly payments is escrow payments. Escrow is money that is being held typically to pay taxes. Your lender will collect 1/12 of your yearly taxes every month in order to be assured that your taxes are paid. Your lender then makes your required tax payments. Typically your lender will have a cushion in the escrow account of 2 - 3 months in case you fall behind in your payments.

Though there are many more terms you may encounter these are the most often used, misunderstood terms. During the home loan process, however, you should never feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask what a term means. The more you know the better off you will be.