This is the new location for this site
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/bzgregg/guitar.htm
This is the new location for this site http://www.telusplanet.net/public/bzgregg/guitar.htm |
|
Guitar Playing Intro Level | Table of Contents | Index | Brian's Home
© Brian Gregg
Buying a Guitar | Tuning the guitar
Major Chords F, C, G, D, A, and E
Lesson #2 Learning how to play chords
Reading a chord progression chart
Lesson #5 Doe Rae Me on one string
Lesson #6. D chord and A chord and E
Lesson #8. Up and Down Picking
Lesson # 9 Strumming and Eighth note Rhythms
minor chords Dm, Am, Em, Bm, F#m, and C#m
To play a note on the guitar press a finger of your left hand on a string behind a fret and then
pluck the string with a finger of the right hand or with a pick.
Behind the fret means on the side towards the nut and the tuning pegs.
tips:
Press only as hard as you have to, to get a nice sound.
If you press harder than you have to your finger will get sore.
Press as close behind the fret as you can.
However if you get so close you are right on the fret the note will sound dead
With your first finger, press in first position, on the second string and pluck that string.
repeat this a few times, keeping in mind the tips, until you get a nice sounding C note.
Keep your finger pressed on the C note; in a rhythm like a slow steady walk, pick the string.
Count in fours as you pick; 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 etc.
Pick a little bit louder on the 1 counts
Play the C note for four counts very quietly
then for four counts a little bit louder
and then for four counts quite loudly
repeat this over and over a few times without stopping,
keeping a rhythm like a slow steady walk and counting 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 etc.
Playing a B note is easier. It is played by picking the 2nd string when it is open. Open means
that you don't press your finger on the string at all, so that it rings from the nut instead of a fret.
Play B for 4 counts and then C for 4 counts
repeat this over and over a few times without stopping,
keeping a rhythm like a slow steady walk and counting 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 etc.
Keep the rhythm steady even if the first few C notes don't sound right.
After 10 or twenty repetitions it will sound better.
Your fingers learn faster if you don't stop and if you don't go too fast.
Chords Tuning the guitar
To read the following chord diagrams you must know that:
the wide line at the top is the nut and the other lines across are the frets
up and down lines are the six strings
X means you don't pick that string; O means you play an open string
the numbers are finger numbers
Major Chords F, C, G, D, A, and E
Lesson #2 Learning how to play chords (see the diagrams above)
When you play a chord it is good to hold your left thumb fairly straight up and down
behind your middle finger. Some people like to swing the thumb out to left a bit
Do what is most comfortable.
At first while your fingers are learning how to play a new chord
pick each string separately one at a time to check that each note is clear.
When you have all the notes sounding nice strum the whole chord.
To strum you drag the pick across all the chord quite quickly so all the notes
sound almost at once.
When you have tried the first two or three chords enough that your fingers can find the chord
fairly fast you can begin to practice changing chords.
|| C / / / | F / / / | C / / / | F / / / ||
Reading a chord progression chart
Above is a chord progression chart
The double lines mark the beginning and end. The up and down lines are called bar lines
Rhythm in music is made up of small groups of beats that repeat
Usually four beats
This is called a bar
The beats of the bar are counted 1-2-3-4
The bar line marks where you finish counting one bar and start the next
The letters like "C" or "F" mean you strum that chord
The slashes, " / " , mean you strum it again
--------------------------------------------------------------------
So this chord chart means that you strum C four times and then F four times,
then again C four times and F four times
repeat this over and over a few times without stopping,
keeping a rhythm like a slow steady walk and counting 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 etc.
Keep the rhythm steady even if the first few strums of the chord don't sound right.
After 100 or 200 repetitions it will sound better.
Your fingers learn faster if you don't stop and if you don't go too fast.
|| C / / / | G / / / | C / / / | G / / / ||
repeat this over and over a few times without stopping
|| F / / / | G / / / | F / / / | G / / / ||
Keep the rhythm steady even if the first few strums of the chord don't sound right.
Your fingers learn faster if you don't stop and if you don't go too fast.
Summary note:
Once you become comfortable with these first three exercises you will know how to play
6 chord changes CF, FC, CG, GC, FG, and GF
There are millions of songs you could learn to play now
millions of songs use only these 6 chord changes
Lesson #3. The Box
This pentatonic scale pattern can be played in any position on the neck
Each different position puts the scale in a different key
Box exercise #1.
With your first finger play the note on your 6th sting in Vth position.
Keeping your first finger in this place, if you can, stretch your fourth finger up to VIII position
and play that note with your fourth finger.
Lift your fourth finger and play the first note again with your first finger
repeat this over and over going back and forth between the two notes.
note: you will probably find the forth finger is quite weak. This exercise will strengthen it.
this is the same as the previous exercise except you try it on the 2nd string
and the 1st string
as you are playing this exercise think of it sort of as walking
left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot
1st finger, 4th finger, 1st finger, 4th finger,
With your first finger play the note on your 5th sting in Vth position.
Keeping your first finger in this place stretch your third finger up to VII position
and play that note with your third finger.
Lift your third finger and play the first note again with your first finger
repeat this over and over going back and forth between the two notes.
Practice this also on the 3rd and 4th strings
Now put them all together and play the scale in this order
6th string 1st finger then 4th finger
5th string 1st finger then 3rd finger
4th string 1st finger then 3rd finger
3rd string 1st finger then 3rd finger
2nd string 1st finger then 4th finger
1st string 1st finger then 4th finger
Practice this over and over until you don't have to think to do it
Box exercise #5.
Play the scale backwards starting with your 4th finger on the 1st string.
Lesson #5 Doe Rae Me on one string
"Do, Rae, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do" is the Major Diatonic Scale
Musicians more often refer to the scale notes by numbers.
Scale note #1
Pick a string any string and play the open note. That will be "Doe".
Scale note #2
move up a tone to II position and play "Rae"
Scale note #3
move up another tone to IV position and play "Me"
Now play "Do, Rae, Me, Rae, Do" a few times to get used to this first part of the scale.
Scale note #4
"Fa" is only a semitone above "Me" in V position
Now play "Do, Rae, Me, Fa, Me, Rae, Do" a few times
Scale note #5
"So" is a tone above "Fa" in VII position
Play "Do, Rae, Me, Fa, So, Fa, Me, Rae, Do" a few times
Scale note #6
"La" is a tone above "So" in IX position
Play "Do, Rae, Me, Fa, So, La, So, Fa, Me, Rae, Do" a few times
Scale note #7
"Ti" is a tone above "La" in XI position
Play "Do, Rae, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti La So, Fa, Me, Rae, Do" a few times
Scale note #8
"High Doe" is only a semitone above "Ti" in V position
That's it. Now play the whole scale up and down.
note: you can now see the pattern of steps in the scale is:
tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone
The easy way to remember this is that there are only 2 steps that are semitones.
They are the steps between 3 and 4, and between 7 and 8.
All the other steps are a full tone apart.
Lesson #6. D chord and A chord and E
Look at the chord diagrams and learn D Major and A Major and E Major
Practice the following exercises:
|| D / / / | G / / / | D / / / | G / / / ||
|| D / / / | C / / / | D / / / | C / / / ||
|| D / / / | A / / / | D / / / | A / / / ||
|| E / / / | A / / / | E / / / | A / / / ||
|| E / / / | D / / / | E / / / | D / / / ||
|| F / / / | C / / / | G / / / | D / / / | A / / / | E / / / ||
Start with your 2nd finger on the 6th string in position III. This is the low G note.
Then with your 4th finger play A on the same string in position IV.
Practice G A G A a few times then add B on the 5th string.
Practice G A B A G a few times.
Keep adding notes one at a time and the practicing going up to the note and back down to G.
Notice this scale pattern runs up and down two octaves.
tips:
Try and keep your fingers in position; 1st finger over position II, 2nd finger over position III,
3rd finger over position IV, and 4th finger over position V.
Keep your fingers as close to the strings as you can lifting them only a tiny bit when you do.
Practice the scale at a slow steady pace counting 1, 2, 3, 4.
Lesson #8. Up and Down Picking
Until now you have probably been picking with only down strokes as shown in the first bar below
Now try picking down and then up, as in the second bar below
At first practice down picking and up picking a single note
Count 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Keep a slow steady rhythm.
Once you think your picking hand has got this try playing G Major Scale picking down and up.
You want to keep your picking steady down up down up
When you go to play a note on the next string you may find your hand wants to pick
down down or up up. Practice the scale until you can keep a steady down up down up.
tip: touch your fourth and maybe third fingers of your picking hand on the guitar
to anchor your hand. You want to pick mostly with a wrist movement; not from the elbow.
When you are picking notes on the lower strings ( 6th, 5th, or 4th ) you may not be able to
reach to anchor your fourth and third fingers on the guitar. In that case you can anchor your
picking hand by touching on the 1st or 2nd string with those fingers.
Lesson # 9 Strumming and Eighth note Rhythms
As with picking you can strum a chord with a down or an up stroke.
To understand Eighth notes, first lets review quarter notes.
Strum your favorite chord with down strokes and count 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4
You are playing quarter notes; four per bar.
This may seem silly, but notice that you have to lift your pick up after each down stroke
to get ready to play the next one.
Now, when you are lifting your pick up for the next stroke,
try strumming up instead of just lifting.
You can now play twice as fast without moving your hand any faster.
Practice strumming down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up.
Count 1, an, 2, an, 3, an, 4, an, 1, an, 2, an, 3, an, 4, an
The " an " counts come on the up strokes.
These are eighth notes they sound twice as fast as quarter notes.
You can play 8, eighth notes in a bar where you can play 4, quarter notes.
Try some chord change exercises using this eighth note strum.
Practice it until it is smooth and feels comfortable.
minor chords Dm, Am, Em, Bm, F#m, and C#m
|| F / / / | Dm / / / | F / / / | Dm / / / ||
repeat this over and over a few times without stopping
|| C / / / | Am / / / | C / / / | Am / / / ||
Keep the rhythm steady even if the first few strums of the chord don't sound right.
Your fingers learn faster if you don't stop and if you don't go too fast.
|| G / / / | Em / / / | G / / / | Em / / / ||
Barre chords are chords where you press your whole first finger across most of the strings
behind a fret .
At first they take quite a bit of time for your fingers to learn but once you learn the fingering
for a barre chord you can play many chords using that same fingering by moving to different
positions on the guitar neck which are indicated on the chord diagrams by Roman numerals.
For example if you look on the diagrams of minor chords above you will notice that
Bm chord and C#m chord use the exact same fingering
The only difference is Bm is played in II position and C#m is in IV position.
|| D / / / | Bm / / / | D / / / | Bm / / / ||
|| A / / / | F#m / / / | A / / / | F#m / / / ||
|| D / / / | Bm / / / | D / / / | Bm / / / ||
If you are a beginner take with you, a friend or a friend of a friend who knows guitars.
You want to be sure the instrument works properly and sounds nice.
I recommend buying and using an electronic tuner to tune your guitar.
However it is good to know how to tune by ear too.
The most common way to tune by ear is illustrated above
1. Play an A note on the 6th string by pressing in Vth position
Then tune the open 5th string to this note by turning its tuning peg
2. Play a D note on the 5th string by pressing in Vth position
Then tune the open 4th string to this note by turning its tuning peg
3. Play a G note on the 4th string by pressing in Vth position
Then tune the open 3rd string to this note by turning its tuning peg
4. This is different. Play a B note on the 3rd string by pressing in IVth position
Then tune the open 2nd string to this note by turning its tuning peg
5. Back to the same. Play an E note on the 2nd string by pressing in Vth position
Then tune the open 1st string to this note by turning its tuning peg
When you play a note on the guitar and then play the very next note by moving your finger up
to the very next fret on the same string you are moving up a Semitone.
When you move up 2 frets you are playing a note that is a tone higher .
There are 12 notes in music. 7 have the plain letter names; A,B,C,D,E,F, and G. No "H"
The next note after G is called A again
Sharps (#) and flats (b)
There are 5 in between notes that have two names
For instance the note in between A and B can be called A sharp or B flat
There are 2 places where there is no note in between. No note between B&C nor E&F
C sharp or D flat is the note between C&D
D sharp or E flat is the note between D&E
F sharp or G flat is the note between F&G
G sharp or A flat is the note between G&A
Diatonic scales are 7 note scales. The (Doe, Rae Me, etc. ) scale is a diatonic scale.
Musicians more often use numbers to name the steps of the scale 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Doe or 1 is often referred to as the Root
The high Doe or 8 at the top of the scale is called the Octave
The Root and the Octave always have the same letter name
For example if you are playing a C scale the root will be C and the octave will be C.
The notes of the scale move up by steps that are either tones or semitones.
Most of the steps are tones but the steps between 3 and 4, and between 7 and 8 are semitones
A Pentatonic scale is a wonderful thing. It is a scale of only 5 tones unlike most other scales which
have 7 tones. The normal Major scale goes Doe, Rae, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, and Doe again.
The Major Pentatonic scale omits Fa and Ti
So it goes Doe, Rae, Me, So, La, and Doe again.
I call The Major Pentatonic Scale The Cowboy Scale because it works so well with
Country music or Folk music. It even works with Pop music.
I call the minor Pentatonic scale the Blues Scale
It has the very same notes as the Major Pentatonic
The only difference being that instead of starting on Doe and ending on Doe
It starts on La and ends on La. It is the scale to use for playing blues or minor music.
The Box is the easiest fingering for playing Pentatonic scales
Shown below, the names of the notes in The Box, from La to Doe
| 6th string | Doe | La | ||
| 5th string | Me | Rae | ||
| 4th string | La | So | ||
| 3rd string | Rae | Doe | ||
| 2nd string | So | Me | ||
| 1st string | Doe | La |
For a beginning guitar player all you really need to know about Key is that if we say a song is
in the Key of C it probably starts on a C chord and probably ends on a C chord.
If you want to know more read the following.
There are 12 notes in music but in a song or piece of music, usually only 7 notes are used
and the other 5 are left out. There are 12 different sets of 7 notes.
These are the 12 Major Keys:
A, B flat, B, C, D flat, D, E flat, E, F, F sharp or G flat, G, and A flat,
Keys and how they relate is easier to understand if we see them arranged in a circle of 5ths
The Key of C has no sharps or flats. In the sharp Keys clockwise to the right G has 1 sharp
D has 2, A 3, E 4, etc.. Counter clockwise, the flat Keys start with F which has 1 flat, Bb 2, etc.
The Keys of G flat and F sharp are the same Key
It is also interesting to know that when you have one sharp it is F#
When you have 2 they are F# and C#
When you have 3 they are F# and C# and G
When you have 4 they are F# and C# and G# and D
When you have 5 they are F# and C# and G# and D# and A#
When you have 6 they are F# and C# and G# and D# and A# and E#
Similarly in the flat Keys Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb
Each Major Key has its own related minor Key. They are related because they use exactly the same set of notes and they therefore share the same Key Signature. The difference is that when you play a scale in a Major Key you play it from Doe , Rae, Me, etc, up to Doe but in the related minor Key you start the scale from La and play up the scale to La again.
Major |
minor | signature |
| C | Am | none |
| G | Em | 1 sharp |
| D | Bm | 2 sharps |
| A | F#m | 3 sharps |
| E | C#m | 4 sharps |
| B | G#m | 5 sharps |
| F# | D#m | 6 sharps |
| Gb | Ebm | 6 flats |
| Db | Bbm | 5 flats |
| Ab | Fm | 4 flats |
| Eb | Cm | 3 flats |
| Bb | Gm | 2 flats |
| F | Dm | 1 flat |
is a group of one or more sharps or flats shown at the start of a music manuscript.
It tells you which Key the music is in. The Key signatures are shown above.
You can think of intervals as two notes played together. More than just a note but not quite a chord
Different intervals are named to show how far apart the two notes are.
Each interval has its own sound which you can learn to recognize by ear.
The flat 5 interval and the minor 2 sound quite horrible just by themselves.
The unison, octave, 4, and 5 have a sort of hollow sound.
The Major 3rd sounds sweet.
Below, capital "M" stands for Major; small "m" minor
interval name |
lower note |
upper note | semitones apart |
| unison | root | root | 0 |
| m2 | root | m2 | 1 |
| M2 | root | M2 | 2 |
| m3 | root | m3 | 3 |
| M3 | root | M3 | 4 |
| 4 | root | 4 | 5 |
| flat 5 | root | flat 5 | 6 |
| 5 | root | 5 | 7 |
| m6 | root | m6 | 8 |
| M6 | root | M6 | 9 |
| m7 | root | m7 | 10 |
| M7 | root | M7 | 11 |
| octave | root | octave | 12 |
Scales
Copyright 2000 Brian D. Gregg All Rights Reserved.
These Guitar Lessons may be used and modified free of charge by anyone so long as this
copyright notice remains intact.
Selling these lessons without prior written consent is expressly forbidden.
In other words, please ask first before you try and make money off of my lessons.
Obtain permission before redistributing this software over the Internet or in any other medium.
In all cases copyright and header must remain intact.
Brian Gregg can be contacted by e-mail at:
bzgregg@telusplanet.net
