FF 4.1 | Cowboy Chord Intro & Prep

Classroom

Mar 20

Cowboy Chord
Teacher Guide

Open position chords, or Cowboy Chords, are one of the most commonly used shapes that guitar players use. This unit provides students a way to learn and alter the five main shapes, promoting independence and musicianship. There are also opportunities to apply them in fun group-play and songwriting activities.

1 TEACHER PREP & MATERIALS

UNIT PREP

Take some time to learn the five open position shapes (C, A, G, E, D), the locations of the chord tones within the shapes, and the chord quality formulas. Apply these to play songs that you like, focusing on creating a good sound and strumming. Try your hand at writing a song using these chord shapes on guitar. Finally, try to learn a song or two that uses cowboy chords by ear, focusing on the chord progression and the strumming or picking patterhn.

SEQUENCING AND PACING

Allocate approximately 3 weeks for this unit, allowing students ample time to familiarize themselves with the five dynamic chord shapes and how to alter them to form the basis of countless songs. This period will also enable them to develop fretting and picking hand technique to execute open position chords in a musical fashion. The sequence of the jamming and songwriting projects can be switched depending on the goals of your class. Either can act as the capstone project for the unit.

- Learning About Dynamic Chord Charts (2 days)

- Playing Songs With Dynamic Shapes (2-4 days)

- Technique and Strumming (3 days)

- Transcription (1 day plus additional time post-activities)

- Jamming (2-5 days)

- Songwriting (2-5 days)

MATERIALS

Optional electric guitars and amps.
Optional bass guitars and amps.
A mic and playback system.
Optional drums.
Computer with audio interface for recording.
Microphone for recording.

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