Premium
VIP
Beta Tester
Mudfootball G-D7 Shuffle
Lesson #180 • Oct 7, 2018
Video Overview
Instructional PDF 2 pages
Editor’s notes
This exercise is inspired by the opening riff heard in Jack Johnson’s song “Mudfootball” off his 2001 debut album. It features only two chord shapes (G & D7), but it’s made unique by the interesting voicing of each chord along with the muted strumming pattern that’s used. The chord voicings as well as the muted strumming technique are particularly helpful to have in your bag of tricks, in my opinion – so I wanted to share! This has long been a favorite warm-up exercise of mine, going back to when I first learned guitar.
Full warmup exercise
E ||–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–
B ||––3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–x––|––3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–x––|–
G ||––4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–x––|––4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–x––|–
D ||––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––|––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––|–
A ||––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––|––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––|–
E ||–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–
v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^
G G
E –|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––||
B –|––3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–x––|––3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–3–x–x–x––||
G –|––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––|––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––||
D –|––4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–x––|––4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–4–x–x–x––||
A –|––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––|––5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–5–x–x–x––||
E –|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––|–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––||
v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^
D7 D7
Learning the chords
First, understand the two chord shapes you’ll be playing. Individually, they look like this. Note how your left-hand’s index and ring fingers stay in the same exact place for each chord! All you’re doing is switching your left-hand middle & pinky finger between the 3rd and 4th strings.
E ––––––– E –––––––
B –––3––– <= left index B –––3––– <= left index
G –––4––– <= left middle G –––5––– <= left pinky
D –––5––– <= left pinky D –––4––– <= left middle
A –––5––– <= left ring A –––5––– <= left ring
E ––––––– E –––––––
G D7
Also, I should note that it’s ideal to mute the high & low E strings for both these chords. Do this by letting your left-hand index finger lightly touch the high-E string, and letting your left-hand ring or thumb lightly touch the low-E string. If you lightly touch these strings (but don’t press them down into the fretboard), they’ll be “muted” and make no sound when strummed. This lets you strum all six strings, but only results in the middle 4 strings making an actual noise (which is what we want here).
The muted “grab strum” technique
As I describe and demonstrate in the video, this exercise gives a good chance to practice (1) muting all the strings while continuously strumming in an down-up-down-up (etc) manner; and then occasionally (2) depressing your fingertips on to the fretboard to play the necessary chords – but doing this only for a single strum, before returning to the mute-all-the-strings left-hand posture, via un-pressing the strings agains the fretboard (but still muting them). This is ridiculously hard to describe with text all by itself! So I implore you to see my video for reference – as this technique can be used in so many situations outside of this warmup exercise.
Using these same shapes in different keys
When learning this exercise, it’s helpful to understand that these same exact shapes can be shifted up (or down) the fretboard, and will continue to sound good when played together – even though the key is changing. For example, here’s the chords you’d be playing if you switched to a few different frets:
E –––––––––––– E –––––––––––– E –––––––––––– E ––––––––––––
B –––1––––1––– B –––3––––3––– B –––5––––5––– B –––7––––7–––
G –––2––––3––– G –––4––––5––– G –––6––––7––– G –––8––––9–––
D –––3––––2––– D –––5––––4––– D –––7––––6––– D –––9––––8–––
A –––3––––3––– A –––5––––5––– A –––7––––7––– A –––9––––9–––
E –––––––––––– E –––––––––––– E –––––––––––– E ––––––––––––
F C7 G D7 A E7 B F#7
Browse Related Lessons
Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:
Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!
Most of the lessons on my website are 100% free. If you have the means, please show your support with a tip jar contribution. I put many hours into every lesson — but it only takes you a minute to make a donation. You have my thanks!
Looking for More Song Lessons?
Featured Courses
Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made
Coming soon is Jambox – which shows all the video jam tracks I've made. It's note quite ready for the spotlight, but check it out if you like!
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!
Recent Lessons
-
Dec 20, 2024
Deck the Halls – Fingerstyle!
-
Dec 19, 2024
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
-
December 13, 2024
Gifted Memberships & Pentatonic Scale Q&A
-
December 6, 2024
"Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
-
November 28, 2024
Thanksgiving Roundup: Improved Search, Vidami Coupon Code, and Melody Deep-Dives
-
November 15, 2024
"Scarlet Begonias" by Grateful Dead
-
November 12, 2024
Does CAGED Help When Learning Songs?
-
November 8, 2024
Rhythm Deep Dive: "Guitar Town" by Steve Earle