Lesson #4

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Hey there! I’m Thomas Michaud. Name that song. “Proud Mary.” You’re right. It’s done by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Been done by many artists, maybe the most famous. Tina Turner. I’m going to show you that intro to that song at the end of this lesson. It’s not as hard as it looks, and I’ll break it down. We got a lot to cover. Let’s get started.

The first chord we’re going to learn in this lesson is E7, and this one’s pretty easy. Make your E chord that we did in a previous lesson. Take your third finger off, and let all the other notes down. That’s E7. It’s basically the E chord, E major without the third finger, E7. Now, there’s other ways to make E7, but this is a very good way and a valid way, so learn this one first. Okay. Enough of that.

Let’s go on to the B7. This is a four-finger chord, start with your second finger on the fifth string, second fret, first finger on the first fret, fourth string, and then your third finger there on the third string, second fret, going to press that first string down. That’s your second fret pinky, B7.

Do it one more time with me. Put your second finger down second fret, fifth string. First finger, fourth string, first fret. Third string, third finger, second fret, and then finally, leave a string open on the second string, and the first string is your pinky, second fret. Go ahead and check all the chord notes. Are they sounding? Good. Good.

Now, for the D minor. Here’s what it sounds like. I’m going to show you this chord with the way I like to make it. First finger on the first fret, first string. Put your second finger on the third string, second fret. Then, your pinky over here on your second string, third fret. We’re going for four strings there. Try to avoid the fifth string, but again, it’s not going to hurt if you actually hit it, not much.

Now, many people make this chord with the third finger on the second string, third fret. You might want to try both. I do that occasionally because sometimes I need the pinky for something else, but this chord, I prefer to use my pinky.

Do it with me. First finger, first string, first fret. Skip a string and put your second finger on the second fret, third string, and then come back. I am going to use my pinky. You can use your third finger if you want. Third fret, second string. D minor. Good.

Here’s an exercise to practice those three chords. We’re going to start with your D minor two times, going over to the E7 two times, B7 two times, and then back to E7. We’ll go nice and slow starting with the D minor. Here we go.

D minor two times, E7, now B7, and E7. Do it again. D minor. Finger the chord. Here we go. Yeah. E7, B7, and E7. One more time. D minor two times, E7, B7. Yes, and E minor 7. Okay, so you can go back and practice those chords we did today.

I want to go ahead and show you that intro to “Proud Mary.” We’re going ahead nice and slow. It’s two times on the G chord. I’m still using the single finger G, and then to the E chord, to G again, to G, and E. Now, we’re going to go down G, E, D, C, and then A.

Yeah. G, G, E, G, G, E, G, G, E, D, C, C, C, C. You see, it’s a good way to practice those chords, changing from one to the other. If you go slow, it’s not that hard. Let’s do it a little bit faster. Try it with me. Ready.

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