I admit I don’t know very well the output of those 2 bands, but don’t they use chords in their songs? Something must be playing behind the solos 
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They use power chords but almost all of them use arpeggios, scales, palm muting, pull-offs, hammer-on, moving up and down the fretboard but they do use tritones and dyads which I think are chords?
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Have you tried skipping ahead to the power chord lessons in the course?
If you succeed with that, and it gets you motivated and playing the music you like, I don’t see much harm. You can do OMC, PFC exercises with power chords too!
That said, there’s a lot of benefit to working through all of Justin’s lessons…they really do give you a solid foundation that should work with any style of music.
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open chords are the foundation to everything on guitar. The CAGED system is based on the open chords that make up the Name and lay out the fret board perfectly. Even people who put down the CAGED system use it without know that they are.
You’ll find that as you explore music even band like Metallica and Megadeth are a lot more than just power chord. So you may as well learn as much as you can and be a much better player for doing so.
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yeah you’re both right, I might as well perfect these chords and not have to worry about them later. I’m just going to keep going through the course and add the other stuff into my practice. I’ve seen loads of improvement in the past couple weeks so this course is definitely working.
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I referred to this earlier post, because I do something very similar, and it seems very effective.
Don’t have a good name for the exercise yet, but…
Play (press strings and strum) / Slap / Hover / Touch
…is the gist of it.
The differences from Richard’s exercise are:
-
you strum the chord each time. This gives you a quality check. It also highlights any sympathetic tension in your fretting hand that may occur when you strum
-
you slap the strings after each strum. This forces you to reset your fingers and reform the chord, and seems to reduce tension. I find this less disruptive than slapping your knee, as some people recommend.
For me the hover - forming the chord “in the air” without touching the strings - is usually the hardest part. So I usually start out touching one string at a time at first. I experiment with putting fingers down in different orders, then 2 fingers at once, and they seem to learn how to move all at once after a while.
I do it no tempo at first, speaking each step out loud, until it starts to flow. Then I do it against a straight 4/4 drumbeat, with hi-hats on the 8th notes. (Metronome also works…but feels less musical). As slow as necessary to stay relaxed and precise. 40 - 60 BPM usually works for me, but don’t be afraid to go slower.
Do "Play"on beat 1; “Slap” on beat 2, etc.
At all times, the focus is on relaxation, agility, and precision. Not speed!
After a while (often several days or more) your fingers start to effortlessly form the chord shape in the air, and drop down on the strings without fumbling or tension.
Then just press all the strings and strum. Repeat ad infinium, speeding up incrementally.
I’m in the process of relearning my technique with thumb muting, and this really seems to be helping.
If anybody tries this, please follow up with your experience, questions, suggested improvements, etc.
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Hello @SaulU
All guitar based music - including those bands you mention - is built on the most basic and simple of foundations. Those bands guitarists would not have a clue how to play arpeggios, solos, riffs etc if they had not learned the essential building blocks of rhythm and chords.
Stick with the programme, it is everything you need and will take you where you want to go.
This is hard, does anybody have any alternative to it?
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Hi @David_Lefthand, yes it is hard at this stage. Key here is “aspire to this” - try to make air changes your goal, they will automatically come in time if you play enough.
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@jkahn I’ve tried all my best to put it in my practice routine, yet it’s all difficult 
At this point, i’m frustrated not being able to do this, i’m always laying my fingers down the feet board one after the other.
I feel like skipping this lesson and going to the next, but my guilt is catching up with me.
Is there no other way i can do this? 
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@David_Lefthand
I am no way perfect at this, especially only on module 6, but I found that playing along with songs on the app helped me to progress. If you are watching the screen for the chord changes you can’t be looking at your fretting hand and it sort of happens if you play enough.
Hope this helps.
Michael
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@David_Lefthand It is difficult at this stage, yes. Don’t think you have to master this air changes lesson before moving on to the next one! Move on if you want to. Air changes are a long term goal. Keep doing your changes like you are now, and doing your One Minute Changes and you will eventually start doing air changes. Just keep playing songs and learning.
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@MAT1953 this is a great tip, i would love to put it into my playing!
Often enough, i look at my fret while playing.
Thank you Mr Mathew!
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Thanks for this sir, it sure would be helpful i will try it and hope it works for me
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Richard’s suggestion worked for me!! The only ones being a real pain are Dm and C chords, still working on them! You will get it, just takes time. When playing songs, don’t be concerned about these air changes. They will start to happen on their own and you won’t even realize you’re doing it.
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Hi everybody, i’m also still struggeling trying to do this air changes. It seem’s my fingers just aren’t able to form an e.g. D-chord right in the air, no matter how much time i give them for the job.
So i’m trying to break this down into smaller pieces. And step one is to hold a chord e.g. D-chord just normal and then lift all fingers up in the air and just place them back on the strings, same chord again, no change. I try to make this perfect and check it after every ‘lift off and landing’ by really playing that chord then and listen whether all strings sound ok. If i can do this perfectly, than i would proceed to try and change chords in the air.
Maybe not good for everyone, but i give it try.
Happy learning everyone!
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