Hey Friend,

Moving between the C major and F chords (at least the triad versions) should be fairly easy for you to master quickly. You're already well-versed with the open C chord, and getting to F major is literally just shifting your middle and ring fingers over two strings. The first system in the tab exercise works you through that very progression.

This is an important transition, since this marks the I to IV chord change. You're moving from major to major chord rather than major to minor. Because this is the IV chord, you still have some tension as the sound is drawn towards the V chord, but you also have some feeling of resolution because it is a major chord.

When we play Rock music, the IV chord is a main staple in both verse and chorus progressions. In fact, you'll find the bulk of the songs you play will incorporate the I, IV, V and VIm chords as the most used. Now you've see two of those in the key of C major.

The following systems in the tabs give you some practice using each of the chords we've covered so far. As you play through them, pay attention to any chord changes that sound familiar, even a little. You've probably heard them in a song or two and your memory will pick them out. You might not recognize when or in what song you might have heard the progression, but the mind and ears have a tendency to "record" everything they see and hear. 

It might drive you a little crazy in the beginning, but after a while you'll get better at remembering sounds and what songs they came from. It's another skill you pick up just from using your ears more consciously.

Think about it for a second - hearing is a sense most of us take for granted because we don't know a time when we couldn't hear. So we don't really pay attention to most noises around us. In fact, we get pretty good at filtering out many sounds. Otherwise, we'd go nuts!

When you begin to consciously pay attention to particular sounds, you get better at picking out details and hearing things other people don't distinguish. This is why we can tell when a recording feels flat versus one that "pops!" We might not be able to explain why, but our ears can tell.

Musicians, recording producers and engineers spend a great deal of time training their ears to hear subtle differences in sound, and they learn how to adjust sounds to make them serve the overall recording better.

Anyway, that's a rabbit hole we could travel down for hours on end, but it takes us off point for learning these chords. Practice through the chord progressions in the tabs and get the movements down with your fingers.

As I was looking over the tabs this morning, I began thinking that maybe I should do another set of exercises that take you through each individual chord change, finger by finger, to help you stay as efficient as possible. 

Let me know... just hit reply to this email. Back-atcha tomorrow...

Peace~

Dave