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If youre familiar with guitar tuning or music theory then youll already be reaching for the guitar and getting tuned up. For the rest of you, heres one way to get your guitar ready for a Keef-a-thon
4. Check all the strings and fine tune as necessary. The top a-string should sound like the top e-string held down on the fifth fret. The d-string should sound like the a-string held down on the seventh fret. The g-string and bstring should be as normal. The bottom e-string should sound the same as the b-string held down on the third fret. 5. Or, instead of 4, just strum the guitar without any fingering and if you get a nice sounding chord then youre all set. If you are in tune, and you just strum the guitar without any fingering at all, you will be getting a G major chord. Thats why its called Open G: leaving all the strings open creates a G chord.
6 C#
7 D
8 D#
9 E
10 F
11 F#
12 G
Like most rockers, a lot of the songs Keef plays are based mainly around three chords. Lots of his chord sequences are mainly G, C, and D. Other favourites are based around C, G, and F. Some are based around A, D, E. Take some time to play some classic rock chord sequences using the new tuning. Itll feel strange at first, but youll soon wonder why you bothered playing any other way. (Until you try to play a minor chord, that is.)
Instant Keef
Take the time to practice that until you are making smooth chord changes. Play the D# for a full bar, the C for a full bar, the F and G for half a bar each, and then return to the C. Of course it sounds much more interesting when Keef plays it. Whats his secret? Lets find out!
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Technically speaking, when you add extra fingers to the basic chord then it becomes a whole other chord. Referring to these by name makes Keef-style playing sound much more complicated than it really is. Most of the time we can dispense with chord names and just think of the extra fingers as variants of the root chord different flavours added to make the chords more exciting.
12 G
4
(You probably wont go to fret position 1 very often when playing in C which is why its in brackets.) Once youve played around a while, youll start noticing familiar riffs. For instance, playing variances on the fifth fret (C/Fadd9) for two bars, then moving down to the third fret (A#) and playing fewer variants will sound just like the introduction to Start Me Up.
3 A#
/D#add9
5 C/Fadd9
You should find that it now sounds much more authentic now. The only slightly tricky addition is that for the final two chords (fret three and then the return to fret five) start on the variant and then return to the basic chord, rather than starting on the basic chord before going to the variant.
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Have a play with those two variants, mixing it in with the one you know already. Youll find that these two have a similar but more subtle effect than the first. You can usually use them in the exact same situations.
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On the Exile on Main Street album, Keith plays Happy with a capo on the fifth fret moving the riff from C to F.
Timing
Keith claims that the secret to timing is to play something just when people least expect it. Listen to his recordings, and youll hear that every sound he produces is a bit of a surprise, and consequently a bit exciting. Here are some tips for getting similarly exciting and surprising timings: Dont be afraid of playing nothing. Let the sustain carry for a while, then surprise everybody with an energetic power chord. On the verses for Brown Sugar, for example, Keith really doesnt do very much but everything he does do is exciting. Look for chances to emphasise or counterpoint the drums and melody. On lots of songs, the singer will emphasise some notes and words more than
Instant Keef 7
others. Use the guitar to give the lyricist some extra oomph or wait for a break between lines and fill the gap in the vocal with some muscular riffing. Change the timings between verses and consider switching chords just before or just after youre supposed to. When using variants, dont always switch between the basic chord and a variant at the exact same time in each bard. Move from the basic chord to variants while the strings are still ringing from the previous strum Try two strums in rapid succession, the first one just before the beat
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