Originally Posted by: haghj500Any song you know in open chords can be played using bar chords. Knocking on Heavens Door: using open chords I normally play using G, D, Am. No reason you can't make a G 3rd fret bar, then make a D 5th fret using the 2nd major bar chord shape, then stay at the 5th fret and play Am. Which is the same as the A chord, except you lift your 2nd finger.

If you use 3 different chords ... so what .... just change them to where they are on the neck.

My bass player thoughts - when both of you listen to a song, you both listen to different parts. You both think how did he do that, but you're thinking about two different people. You both play different guitars how could you listen to the same song in the same way. Before you let go try another approach. I would like to learn "some song" and I would like to hear what you can do with the bass lines. Is there something you would like me to work on so you can jam on your bass and try some new runs?

Both get give and take and something new to learn and responsibility to each other giving a reason to get together and jam again.

Here is a simple jam progression you can use to learn the two bar chord shapes. A, C, G, D. In a rock tone strum a full A bar chord, now use the 2nd shape to make a C at the 3rd fret strum it. Make a G 1st bar chord shape 3rd fret, now 2nd shape 5th fret D.

Strum it like Aaaa C c checka G, Dddd d checka, back to A. After a while move it up to B, D, A, E. See what kind of rhythms you will come up with, it can be fun. No reason you can't strum an A, play a quick lead fill in A, then strum the C and play lead in C, strum G fill in G and then D playing lead in D, back to A and do it again.

If you have not found the fret board trainer on this sites home page yet, you should check it out. Low right side of the screen.

Yeah, I've tried the fretboard trainer, using the new app. I haven't tried it online yet, but I seriously doubt it's any different on a laptop than on a phone :)

I actually never considered replacing Open Chords with their Barre Chord counterparts. Thanks for making that suggestion. The version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" that I know (the version by Guns N' Roses) uses a G D C progression with Open Chords for verses and their Power Chord-counterparts for the chorus. Couldn't be much easier, really. The arpeggiated verse seems to become a little harder when using Barre Chords, though (probably since I'm used to the Open Chords).

I'm still having some problems with finding out what songs to learn with the band (or rather, the bassist). But as you point out, we listen for different parts of the song. He listens for the Bass-parts while I listen to the Guitar and Keys/Piano (and sometimes drums too). We'll have to find some songs that will make both of us happy, or we'll never get anywhere (and I intend to go as far as possible with my music career). I've tried suggesting pretty much every cool rock-song I know and love, but most of them are shot down immediately, and the rest are clearly outside our grasp for now. There's a clear conflict of interest here. The only song I've suggested that he hasn't shot down yet is "Smoke On The Water" (which I'm actually getting pretty good at improvising a solo for), and there's not much for me to learn if we go with that song, since I can already play it from start to finish... Well, we'll see how it goes...