Playing Songs With One Chord
I like to introduce the “D” chord very early on. (in the first week of classes). It can be a lot of fun. It is very important to have the students sing along with the chords. I tell them that I will not test them on their singing if they try to sing along with the rest of the class. I think that is very important that they learn where to place the words in relationship to the chords.
The first chord I teach is the “D” chord.
I play it with a Thumb Brush (TB). The thumb plays the bass note in a downward stroke, and then the index plays the rest of the strings, also with a downward motion (like shooting a marble, the finger moves, but the hand remains still).
D
1 3 2
Here are two songs you can do with just the “D” chord.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
T B T B T B T B
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,
T B T B T B T B
Merily, merily, merily, merily, life is but a dream.
You can also do, Frère Jacques.