LESSON PLAN: Dividing the Chords in Class
Objective
Students will be able to play two different chords by focusing on one at a time while participating in a jam session over several classic rock tunes.
Resources
Poster of A, poster of D, “playing the D chord, playing the a chord” handout, printout of lyrics to any of the suggested songs
Procedures
- Lead students through an understanding of playing the A chord, based on the handout from the Teachers Manual “How to Play an A Chord”. This may be a good opportunity to pair kids up for peer to peer instruction.
- Repeat this same process with the D chord using the handout from the teachers manual “How to Play a D Chord”.
- Ask everyone to play the A chord with you using this strum pattern
- Encourage everyone to keep the arm moving steadily up and down even when it isn’t strumming the guitar as this helps in playing and time keeping. Some teachers demonstrate this concept by holding an egg shaker in their strumming hand to show that the rhythm continues even when you’re not strumming. After the strum pattern is working pretty well, repeat this process using the D chord.
- Have students sing along with you to songs that use this progression (“Feelin’ Alright”, “Imagine”, “Waiting in Vain”, “Drive My Car”, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”, “Glory Days”, etc.). After everything is working well, switch the groups around so that everyone gets an equal amount of practice time on each chord
Extension
- During some repetitions of the chord progression go around the room allowing kids to take a “2 note solo” (Teachers Manual handout)
- Further divide the class into a group that you assign a bass line on the open A and D strings if you don’t have a bass player in class.
- Further divide the class into another group assigned to manufacture the drum beat to this song if you don’t have a drummer.
National Core Arts Standards (Music)
Anchor Standard 5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Example: General Music MU:Pr5.1.5 b. Rehearse to refine technical accuracy and expressive qualities to address challenges, and show improvement over time. Common Core Correlation: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.B Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.