Guitar Musings My First F

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When I went to grade school there were five different grades you could get on your report card.  These were represented by the letters A-D and of course F.  An A was the best grade you could get and obviously F was the worst grade you could get.

Interestingly, there are also standard guitar chords with the same names, A-D and F.  Do these chords also represent a progression from best to worst?  I decided to do some investigation into this intriguing hypothesis.

Since A was the best grade you could get in school, was A the best chord you could play on the guitar?  Let’s take a listen. 

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My, that does sound good.  An A chord does seem to be equivalent to a grade of A, exceptional and something to be very proud of, but what about B?  If my theory is correct, a B chord should sound slightly worse than an A chord, but definitely nothing to be ashamed of.

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Not too shabby.  A B chord does seem to be equivalent to a grade of B. Good, but not exceptional.  Let’s give C a try.  A grade of C is supposed of be average.  Nothing to get too excited about, but probably not enough to get you into trouble with your parents.  Is that what a C chord sounds like?

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Decent, but nothing to write home about.  Which takes us to D.  Is D the first chord that is going to get me into trouble?  I am almost afraid to try.

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Hmm.  That wasn’t very good at all.  It looks like the grade school/guitar chord relationship may have some merit after all, or it may just be one big coincidence.  You can be the judge.  Before you make your decision though, there is one last chord to ponder.  The F.  Just like many of you, I remember my first F very vividly.  And it sounded like this…

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