Bob Dylan Chords

Studying Bob Dylan chords is one of the most important things you can do as an acoustic guitar players. Not only are most of them easy to play, they sound good. They will also teach you how to put together different chords to make the best sounding tunes. I think just about everybody who has every picked up an acoustic guitar has learned Knockin On Heaven's Door. It's only 4 chords and it's an amazing song!

Bob Dylan chords will also teach you how to play rhythm in a way that moves the song but leaves space for the vocals. This is something that can be overlooked by some younger students when they are learning to play.

Most of the chords that you will learn will be what is called open chords. They use open strings and are played on the bottom fret of the guitar. These chords are often referred to as "Folk Chords" or "Cowboy Chords". You know the A- and D and E chords you probably learned the first day you got a guitar. Tough at first but probably easy now for the more experienced acoustic guitar player.

You will get into some bar chords. One in particular that comes up a lot is the F#- chord that is played on the 2nd fret. This one is used in Hurricane. It can also be moved up to the 4th fret to be played as a G#-.

As a guitar teacher I make sure that my students study Bob Dylan chords to get the basic foundation of how the guitar works as an accompanying instrument. It's important that they not think of the guitar as only a soloing instrument and focus on the flash and speed. I want them to know the importance of being part of an ensemble and this music is a perfect way to expose them to it.

When the students are getting a little better and moving on to bar chords one of the first things I will have them do is this little exercise that helps tons. Take Knockin On Heaven's Door. Instead of play G D A-7 as open chords, play them as bar chords. First using only root 6 bar chords and then only root 5 bar chords. Once you get that down switch to playing G on the 6th String and D on the 5th string and back to the 6th string for A-7. Repeat this exercise for the second half of the progression that uses C instead of the A-7.

Take this exercise and use it with all songs and Bob Dylan chords.

Want to know even more about playing acoustic guitar and easy ways to speed up your learning? Visit my sites below.