A minor (or Am) is another of those guitar-friendly keys and widely used in rock guitar songs and also Spanish or Spanish -influenced flamenco pieces.

Both these chord progressions are very common in music, and you can adapt them a little in order to play many songs that use the same concepts.

• Note the use of three note chords. This is definitely the way forward and is explained more fully in some of my other hubs, such as Guitar- advanced and jazz chords.
  

This is known as a cycle -of -fourths progression - it uses the cycle of fifths diagram, but moving counter-clockwise around parts of the circle. Look up my other hub "Cycle of Fifths" for more info.

It sounds nice, and hopefully you will not only learn some new chords, but also how to use them in context.

Look at the voicings for Dm7 and G7 - three note chords that are easy to get to quickly - you can slide into them from 1 fret below, you can add vibrato. This is a chord form I use all the time. The Fmaj7 shape is basically an Am, with the F played with your thumb.

If you split this progression, the first 4 chords and the last 3 chords are both very common in jazz tunes.

In this chord progression the note on string 4 (D) is moving down chromatically, that is, one semitone or one fret at a time. This gives a smooth and predictable flow to the chords, as in "It's a Fair Way to Devon" - but not exactly the same, as that could result in legal action!

Make a half - barre with first finger, flattened over fret 5, for the first three chords.

Both sequences will work well with C major or Am pentatonic scales - see my hubs on lead guitar and guitar scales for more info.

When the E7 appears, try using A harmonic minor or put a G sharp note in to fit the chord better.

A harmonic minor is A B C D E F G sharp A

It's an instant Spanish-sounding scale, probably with Arabic connections.