Category: Chord scales for modes

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Chord scales for modes Jazz chord theory Styles of great guitarists

Using Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy Jazz guitar chords for Irish tunes in the dorian mode

This week’s free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be delving into some of the shapes popularised by Django Reinhardt which went on to define the sound of gypsy jazz… and how you can recycle them to make your Celtic backing guitar sound cool!

For examples of the amazing “Hot Club” sound of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappeli, check out the brilliant Platinum Collection album available here. Support Folk Friend by buying through this link- I will get a small commission if you do, which enables me to make more free videos!

For this Irish guitar lesson, we’ll be working with a reel in the dorian mode called The Star of Munster. The recording I play along with in this clip is by Matt Coleman:

There is also a slower version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QprRbpc21k

And an even slower version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37OBWkXIlC4

Categories
Celtic music theory Chord scales for modes DADGAD Drop D Ear training Fingerstyle Jazz chord theory Picking patterns Strumming patterns

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, to music theory, to strumming patterns to rhythms to memorising tunes…. So much to practice- so little time! In today’s free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I’m going to be telling you my top ten practice tips to make your guitar practice time more efficient.

I’ll also be demonstrating my brand new invention, the Folk Friend Guitar Practice Diary (click the link to buy now)! It uses a targeted system of quarterly, monthly and weekly reviews alongside an events calendar and my revolutionary Tablusic system to help you achieve your goals quickly. It also contains lots of handy tidbits for the budding Celtic guitarist, like chord shapes, mode diagrams, practice techniques and a ready made section for you to write your own tabs and chord diagrams quickly and easily.

The Stephen Guise book I mentioned (Mini Habits) is available here.

I receive a small affiliate commission if you buy it through the above link.

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Chord scales for modes

How to change chords fast on Celtic backing guitar! Quick change chord scales part 1 – C major

In this week’s free Irish / Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I’ll be showing you a “quick change chord scale” for C major and its related modes, D dorian, G mixolydian and A aeolian. The idea is that using these easy Celtic guitar chord shapes you will be able to create fluid movements between chords in any of the above keys. Chord scales can be used to provide links between chords or even as ready made chord progressions in their own right.

There are two more videos in this series, dealing with:

Part 2: G and D major and related  modes

Part 3: A major and related modes

 

Categories
Chord scales for modes

Easy chord shapes for Celtic guitar- how to change chords quickly in G and D major

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers the “chord scales” for G and D ionian. These are super easy chord shapes for backing guitarists, which fit with Irish and Celtic tunes in these keys and can easily be played together at speeds. They also create nice runs of linking chords and will work in the other modes related to D major and G major; A dorian, D mixolydian and E aeolian for G and E dorian, A mixolydian and B aeolian for D.

You can learn more about the modes with an Amazing Mode Wheel, in my first book, Backing Guitar Techniques For Traditional Celtic Music, or on my free blog here.

There are two other videos in this series, dealing with:

Part 1: C major and related modes

Part 3: A major and related modes

Categories
Chord scales for modes

Quick change, easy to play chords – Part 3 – A major and B dorian

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend is the last in my series on easy to play chord scales for Irish guitarists and Celtic backing enthusiasts! I’ll be showing you my absolute favourite chords for my absolute favourite mode in all of Celtic music- A ionian (or A major). These chords will also fit with tunes in the common Celtic mode of B dorian. These are jazzier than the chords which I demonstrated in the first two videos in this series (linked below) but they are easy shapes to play and very quick and easy to change between by just sliding up and down the fretboard!

 

There are two more videos in this series:

Part 1: C major and related modes

Part 2: G and D major and related modes

Categories
Chord scales for modes Drop D Styles of great guitarists

Beginner’s Celtic guitar lesson in drop D- as used by John Doyle, Paul Brady, Arty McGlynn, Tim Edey…

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers one of the most popular tunings out there; drop D. This is a great tuning for beginner folk guitarists as it has the nice low, booming bass notes of a tuning like DADGAD but without the need to learn loads of new chord shapes!

If you are interested in finding out more about the amazing guitarists Tim Edey, John Doyle, Arty McGlynn or Paul Brady who I mentioned in the intro then please consider buying their music through the links below. These are affiliate links so I receive a small commission if you buy through them, which enable me to continue to make free Youtube content for you! Please note that you will need to click the link for your country otherwise they WILL NOT WORK.

 

Tim Edey: UK: https://amzn.to/2TlMzwg

USA: https://amzn.to/3klj75K

Canada: Not available- sorry!

 

Arty McGlynn:

UK: https://amzn.to/3jmZBEH

USA: https://amzn.to/2FQRQJg

Canada: https://amzn.to/2HvuGZf

 

Paul Brady:

UK: https://amzn.to/3ohpFVk

USA: https://amzn.to/2HpkodI

Canada: https://amzn.to/3okRzj0

 

John Doyle:

UK: https://amzn.to/2Hx0Wez

USA: https://amzn.to/3klux9q

Canada: https://amzn.to/2TiKwcI

 

You can also buy a full DVD of John Doyle teaching Drop D guitar here:

UK: https://amzn.to/3kqc3F0

USA: https://amzn.to/31xN62Y

Canada: https://amzn.to/37AK01Q

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