You Aren't Bad. Your Chords Just Need This Three Step Method

If you're like most guitar players, you feel like you're drowning in endless knowledge. Modes, scales, pentatonics. And while all that stuff is important, here's what I keep finding with the folks I coach one on one: the real deficit is usually in how they play their chords.

A lot of players are hitting their chords way too hard. Harsh, aggressive strumming. The good news is you don't need to learn a single new chord to fix it. This is a three step method for making the chords you already know sound beautiful.

Step one: lighten your touch

This is the foundation. Just lighten up your right hand.

That's really it. It doesn't matter what progression you're playing. In the video I'm using A, C sharp, D, and back to A, but you can apply these principles to any song.

So much of how your playing is perceived, by you and by anyone listening, comes down to the touch in your right hand. Same chords, lighter touch, and it's a completely different instrument.

Step two: go low, low, high

Instead of strumming the whole chord over and over, hit a low note twice, then hit the chord.

Low, low, high. Low, low, high.

That one pattern instantly gives your playing motion. Two steps in and you already sound so much better than the wall of strumming you started with. You'd be surprised how many players never leave that wall.

Step three: Hendrixify it

Yes, I made that word up. The last step is to add even more movement by decorating the chord with little hammer ons and pull offs.

For example, over the A chord you can hammer on to the fourth scale degree, the D, and pull right back off. So the pattern becomes low, low, high, with a little Hendrix flourish inside the chord.

Now you're not just playing a progression. You're telling a story with it.

Why this works

Everything here comes down to touch. If your chords sound harsh, no amount of new scales will fix the listening experience. If your touch is light and your chords breathe, people are going to want to play along with you. If you play out in a band, or want to, trust me, everyone will appreciate this way of playing a lot more than aggressive strumming.

So often we don't need to learn something new in the left hand. We need to take what we already know and make it sound better. Acoustic or electric, at home or on a stage, this three step method works.

Once your chords sound beautiful, the next step is making your solos match. Start with the anti pentatonic method.

Watch the original video: You Aren't Bad. You Just Don't Know This System

Want to go deeper?

Grab the free Blues Bootcamp. It walks through my core concepts with tabs, downloadable PDFs, backing tracks, and a jam with me section.

And if you want me to look at your playing personally and build a curriculum around exactly what you need, that's what my coaching is for. Start here: work with me.