Left-hand technique is very important if you want to produce a clear and "warm" tone in your music making.

The thumb and fingers must work co-operatively in a fine-motor sense because any excess pressure, or indeed not enough pressure, can mean the sound produced from your notes are anything but good quality.

Firstly, the thumb of the left hand forms the basis of your balance in terms of guitar technique.

It should be placed behind the first or second finger and be positioned about one third of the way down from the top of the fret board.

Here is a photo I took of my left hand thumb from behind…

As you can see the correct technique is to keep the thumb straight (but not rigid). The thumb actually acts as a pivot so that you can keep your balance when your wrist bends and your fingers stretch to reach around for more difficult finger positions, or chords...
Secondly, if you're conscientious about your guitar technique, you should use the very tips of your fingers on the string as you push it down on the fret board.

If you use the "pads" of your fingers rather than the finger tips you run the risk of the note not being sounded correctly. Indeed, there is a very good chance the note will "buzz" or even be muted.

The muting is especially problematic for the strings under your finger i.e. the strings not being fingered but being slightly touched by the skin of your finger being used to play a note above.

As you look from above at your finger playing a note it should really look like this...

You can achieve this fingertip control by bending your knuckles at each joint as you attempt to play a note on the string.

If you looked side-on at the shape of your finger as it played a note it would look a little like the letter “C”, only a little more “square”.

Lastly, to achieve good left-hand guitar technique, you must finger the note on the fret board right next to the fret itself.

If you play too far away from the fret you will tend to get a really annoying buzzing sound as you play the note. If you play right on top of the fret you will tend to get a muting sound which is also not conducive to good music making.

Here is another photo that shows you how to place the tip of your fingers on the string with correct fret positioning…

Notice the spacing betwwen the finger joints. This gives the hand ideal balance and allows you to reach out for chord shapes and other individual notes with more ease.

I hope this mini-lesson on using the correct left-hand guitar technique has been of some use.

-->Read more...

It Is All Important For Classical Guitar!

It is widely accepted that if you are going to play a guitar properly, then how to hold your instrument is of the utmost importance. I have numerous quality books on the subject and they ALL say virtually the same thing, with only slight modifications of opinion.

I always tell my students, when discussing how to hold a guitar to sit towards the front of the chair, though they must be comfortable. Using a footstool to raise their left leg allows the student a very good position to observe what their left hand is doing.

The guitar itself is rested on the left leg (assuming you’re playing right-handed) at its waist and the end of the guitar is held steady by your right leg. The end of the headstock should be at eye level and the guitar is slightly tilted back towards your chest.

If you then rest your right arm on the lower bout, in line with the bridge, you’re in a perfect position to play the strings with your right hand. Another important point to remember is to keep a slight arch in your right forearm so that you can depress the strings properly.

I’ve noticed that when students flatten out their forearm, they tend to pull the strings out to gain volume and in the process cause a horrible "thwacking" sound from their instrument.

The arch in the forearm tends to alleviate this problem although you don’t want to arch your forearm and wrist too much as it can cause problems later down the track with "carpal tunnel syndrome" and other awfully painful problems...

If you look at what David Braid has included in his book, Play Classical Guitar, and Anthony Glise says in his book, Classical Guitar Pedagogy, the import of the information is much the same.

Look at some of the photos contained in these articles about how to hold a guitar and you’ll see the similarity of opinion...

When the left hand is used to hold the neck as you’re playing notes, the guitar has five contact points with your body which helps to keep it very still and secure whilst playing. The left hand can easily and securely move around the fingerboard.

When thinking about how to hold a guitar remember to stay relaxed. This will allow your music to flow from the sound hole. You can always see a tense guitarist as their shoulders are always too high, which often means they play with a particularly noticeable "strangled" sound.

If you follow these points I’ve mentioned and look at the above photos, it should be easy to master how to hold a guitar.

-->Read more...

Continue of Part 1

Lesson 7: Playing Songs

• Now that we've learned how to play notes, chords, and scales, we are ready to move on to the most enjoyable and rewarding part of playing guitar: Playing Songs.

• Now, everybody has their favorite songs, their favorite licks, their favorite bands, and their favorite pieces of music that they know by heart and would just love to be able to play. And this is fine, perfect even! But before you go off and try to learn Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" or Mozart's 5th concerto, step back for a second and remember that even those musicians had to start somewhere. For this lesson we will focus on learning a few simple songs that you can play (using the chords we've learned so far) that will help give you a feel for song structures, timing, and give you your first chance to sing along with your guitar playing. Here are a few songs to get you started:

• Leaving On A Jet Plane by John Denver
  • Chord Chart w/Lyrics and MP3
  • Intro: G C G C
  • Verse: G C G C G C D D (Repeat Twice)
  • Chorus: G C G C G C D D (Repeat Twice)

• Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan
  • Chord Chart w/ Lyrics and MP3
  • Intro: G G
  • Verse: G C D G G C G
  • Chorus: C D G C C D G

• For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield
  • Chord Chart w/ Lyrics and MP3
  • Intro: E A
  • Verse: E A E A E A E A
  • Chorus: E D A C

Practice Lessons

1. Start slowly by going back and practicing each of the chords that are used in each song.
2. Practice moving in between each of the chords.
3. Listen to the song a number of times (if you don't know it well already) so that you have a good idea of what the song should sound like.
4. Singing along will help give you a better idea for when to change chords.
5. Don't rush! Start slow and gradually work your way up to a faster speed.

Beginning Guitar Songs

• GuitarNoise.com: Easy Songs for Beginners
• Gitarrero-Beginner: Easy Guitar Song Collection
• About.com: Easy Song Tabs

Lesson 8: Practicing

• Now that you know the basic concepts of how to play guitar, your next step is to get better at each of them. The only way to do this is by practicing consistently and often. While at first this may be a tiresome and sometimes aggravating process, the better you get at playing the guitar, the more fun you will have doing it — and the less like "practice" it will become. Here are a few tips for practicing:

1. Set out a few minutes each day (15 - 20 minutes) to practice in an environment that allows you to fully concentrate on the guitar.
2. Stretch out your fingers, hands and arms before playing.
3. If you're using an electric guitar, turn off the distortion. This will allow you to hear your mistakes more clearly.
4. Know specifically what you are going to practice before you begin. This will make your practice sessions more efficient.
5. Go over things you've practiced in your last session before moving on to new things.

-->Read more...

Introduction

• Due to its versatility, portability, and the fact that it can be used to play almost any type of music, the guitar is one of the most popular instruments to learn how to play. Whether you're interested in folk, country, rock, jazz, or any number of other musical styles, learning how to play the guitar can give you the ability to play and perform your favorite songs, or even write some of your own. But just like any instrument (or anything worth learning for that matter), learning to play the guitar can take a good deal of patience, perseverance, and good old-fashioned practice. For those who stick with it, though, learning how to play the guitar can be an extremely rewarding experience and can provide endless hours of personal enjoyment.

What You'll Need

Photo by Jason Nelson

1. A six-string Guitar: See Mahalo's Guide to How to Buy a Guitar in order to choose the right one
2. A Guitar pick: Light gauge (thinner) picks are preferable for beginners
3. Patience: Definitely a virtue for learning how to play guitar
4. A love of music and a desire to learn

Things to Remember

1. Keep your fingernails short by trimming them regularly. This will allow your fingers to hold down the notes easier and produce a better sound.
2. Your fingers will start to hurt as you begin to play. This is normal. Eventually, with time and practice, your fingertips will develop calluses and the pain will go away.
3. Take some time in between lessons to make sure that you've mastered each part. Practice each lesson for a few minutes before moving on to the next.

Lesson 1: The Basics

Photo by Mahalo

• Before we start playing, let's first go over a few of the basic terms and parts of the guitar that you will need to know in order to proceed:

Strings

• A normal guitar has six strings, each of which has a different size and note value. In standard tuning, the bottom string (also the skinniest and highest sounding) is an E note. This is also known as the 1st string. The 2nd string up (a little bit thicker and lower sounding) is a B note. The 3rd string up is a G note, 4th is a D, 5th is an A, and the 6th string (thickest, lowest sounding, and closest to your body) is also an E note. When in tune, playing the 1st and the 6th strings open should produce the same note, albeit at different pitches. Mnemonic devices can help you remember the order of the strings: For example, from top to bottom: Eat All Day Get Big Easy. Or come up with your own.

Frets

• While the strings divide the guitar from left to right (as in the diagram), frets are small metal strips that divide the guitar into sections from top to bottom. If you look at your guitar from above, you can begin to see that the strings and frets together form a kind of grid that covers the entire neck of the guitar. Placing your finger on a string in between two of the frets is what enables you to play a note. The higher up you get on the frets, the higher the notes sound. In general, each fret is a half-step higher than the previous fret.

• TIP: Since you don't actually put your finger directly on each fret, guitarists usually describe frets as the space on the neck between each metal strip. So, the 2nd fret would refer to the second gap between frets that is found on the neck, rather than the second actual metal piece.

Other Important Guitar Terms

Guitar Anatomy

• Headstock: The top-most part of the guitar on which the tuning pegs are located.
• Nut: The small piece of material that is found where the headstock meets the neck. There are usually small grooves carved out in order to guide the guitar strings up to the tuning pegs.
• Tuning Pegs (Keys): Hold the strings in place and allow the user to adjust the pitch of the string by turning the peg.
• Neck: The long, skinny part of the guitar that holds the frets and strings and where the fingers are placed in order to play individual notes or to create chords.
• Body: The large base of the guitar (usually the most bulky part) that is attached to the neck. Acoustic guitars will usually have hollowed out bodies, with the circular "sound hole" in the middle used to project the sound of the instrument. Electric guitars use "Pick-ups" instead of sound holes in order to capture and project the sound of the strings being played.
• Bridge: Small piece of hardware used to anchor the strings at the base of the body.

Lesson 2: Positioning

How to Hold Your Guitar

• Now that we know a little bit about the different parts of the guitar, lets start by going over how to position yourself best for playing.

1. Start by finding an armless chair to sit in. Make sure that you're sitting comfortably and that your back is well supported. Also make sure that you have plenty of room on either side in which to move your arms and hold your guitar.
2. Place the guitar in your lap with the back of the instrument facing (or even touching) your chest. Let the body of the guitar rest on the leg farthest away from the headstock. If you are right-handed, the headstock should be to your left, which means that you will rest the guitar on your right leg. Most acoustic guitar bodies will have curved indentions on either side that are perfect for resting the guitar on your leg.
3. Take a look at the strings on the guitar. If you are holding it correctly, the thickest string (or 6th) should be closest to your chest, while the thinnest (or 1st) string should be closest to your feet.
4. Take your fretting hand (left for right-handers and right for left-handers) and grip the neck of your guitar gently. Your thumb should be resting behind the neck of the guitar, supporting your hand while your other fingers float above the strings, ready for action.
5. Take your picking hand (the one closest to the bridge of the guitar) and grab yourself a pick. Place it between your thumb and index fingers and hold it so that it is secure.
6. In order to get the feel for what playing guitar is going to be like, start by practicing holding down various notes with the fingers on your fretting hand, and also by strumming or playing individual strings with your picking hand. (Note: This will invariably sound bad and not at all like real guitar playing, but don't worry, that's not the point right now.)

Lesson 3: Tuning Your Guitar

Tuning Your Guitar

• One of the most important things you will need to do in order to keep your guitar sounding good (and make practicing worthwhile) is to tune it on a regular basis. The process of tuning your guitar involves adjusting the pitch of each of your strings so that they play the correct note. This is done by tightening or loosening each of the tuning pegs (on the headstock). In general, tightening the tuning peg raises the pitch of a string, while loosening the peg lowers the pitch. There are a few different methods that guitar players use in order to tune their guitars:

• For beginning guitar players, it is often a good idea to purchase an electronic tuner. Electronic tuners are small devices that are able to pick up the sound of a string and let you know (usually through some sort of L.E.D. display) whether the note you are playing is sharp (too high) or flat (too low). Since beginners usually have a hard time telling whether or not a string is in tune just by ear, having an electronic tuner can help make tuning much quicker and more accurate. For more information, see Mahalo's guide to Guitar Tuners.

• For those that don't want (or can't afford) to purchase an electronic tuner, there are other ways to tune your guitar manually and without the aid of an electronic device. The simplest way is to use a method called Relative Tuning:

Relative Tuning

1. Place a finger on the 5th fret of the 6th string and play the note.
2. Play the 5th string "Open." When in tune, these two notes should sound exactly the same.
3. Adjust the tuning peg for the 5th string so that, when played open, it makes the same sound as the 5th fretted 6th string.
4. Place your finger on the 5th fret of the 5th string and repeat this process with the 4th string "Open."
5. Repeat this process for the 4th and 3rd strings.
6. When you reach the 2nd string, things change slightly. Instead of placing your finger on the 5th fret of the 3rd string when adjusting the 2nd string, place it on the 4th fret.
7. To tune the 1st and final string, go back to the previous method by playing the 5th fret of the 2nd string.

• If you happen to have a piano handy, and know which notes are which, you can also tune your guitar by matching each of the strings to the corresponding note on the piano.

Tuning with a Piano

1. Start by finding and playing an E note on the piano.
2. Play the 6th string (also an E) on your guitar and adjust the tuning peg so that the E on your guitar sounds like the E on the piano.
3. Repeat this process for each of the following strings: A (5), D (4), G (3), B (2) and the high E (1).

• If you don't have a piano handy, try using this Site, which allows you to play and listen to each of the guitar notes virtually.

• TIP: Whichever way you decide, make sure that you tune your guitar regularly and frequently. Since strings can go out of tune at any time (often more so when playing a lot) you may even need to re-tune your guitar in the middle of practicing.

Lesson 4: Playing Notes

• Now that you've got your guitar in place and your pick in hand, you are ready to start playing notes. As you've probably noticed by now, making noises come out of the guitar is relatively easy. Making noises that actually sound good is another story.

1. Start by plucking the 6th string (the one closest to your chest) without using your fretting hand at all. This will produce an E note. Playing a string without fretting any of the notes is called playing it "Open."
2. Next, move down the strings and play each individual one "Open." This will produce the notes A, D, G, B and E respectively. Notice how each one sounds a little bit higher than the one before.
3. Now, go back to the 6th string and place the index finger of your fretting hand on the first fret (the initial space between the nut and the first fret). Hold down the note with the tip of your finger, rather than the whole first joint. While holding your index finger down firmly on the first fret, use your picking hand to pluck the 6th string. If done correctly, the sound produced should be slightly higher (by a half-step) than plucking the 6th string alone.
4. Next, move your finger up another half-step to the second fret (the space between the first and second frets) and pluck the 6th string again. This should produce a slightly higher pitched sound than the one before.
5. Repeat this exercise with each of the strings. Start by playing the string open, then with your finger on the first fret, and then again with your finger on the second fret. If the notes start to sound muffled, off-key, or just plain bad, take a look at your fretting finger to make sure that you are holding down the note firmly and your finger is placed directly in the center of the fret. Do this until you are comfortable making individual notes.

• TIP: It is important to keep your finger directly in between the frets, as this will produce a "truer" sound. Try not the let your finger slide too close to either fret.

Practice Lesson

• Practice playing individual notes for at least 10 minutes each time you play. Focus on holding them down correctly and moving confidently between the strings.

Lesson 5: Playing Chords

• Now that you are familiar with how to play individual notes, you are ready to learn how to play chords. A Chord is a combination of at least two notes that are played simultaneously, creating a fuller, richer sound than can be achieved by playing each note individually. Most chords involve at least three notes played together, while some may use even more. Also, chords usually involve playing multiple strings at the same time, which is called strumming.

• The most common chords found in Western music are the "Major" chords. These are the ones that beginning guitar players usually learn first. The most common "Major" chords are:

• • C Major
  • A Major
  • G Major
  • E Major
  • D Major

• Each of these chords is made up of a different set of notes that, when played together, create a unique sound. Most of your favorite songs can be played using a combination of three or more of these chords. We will now go over the specific notes, fingering positions and strumming patterns that are used to create each of these unique "Major" chords:

C Major

How to Play a C Chord

1. Place your ring finger on the 5th string, 3rd fret
2. Place your middle finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret
3. Place your index finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret
4. Start from the 5th string and strum each of the strings below it in quick succession. Do not play the 6th string.

• C Major chord
• The C Major chord that you have just made should look a little bit like a staircase, with your index finger forming the lowest step. It may seem awkward at first to keep your fingers in that position, but don't worry. The more you practice each chord, and the stronger your fingers become, the easier it will be for your hand to form the chord structures. It's alright if it didn't sound perfect or if some of the notes didn't ring true. That will come with practice. Just sit back and enjoy the fact that you've played your first chord.

A Major

How to Play an A Chord

1. Place your index finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret
2. Place your middle finger on the 3rd string, 2nd fret
3. Place your ring finger on the 2nd string, 2nd fret
4. Start from the 5th string and strum each of the strings below in quick succession. Do not play the 6th string.

• 

  A Major chord
• The A Major chord is a little bit more difficult than the C Major, due to the fact that all three of your fingers are scrunched together closely on the 2nd fret. Try playing this chord a few times to see how it feels and sounds. If you are still having problems, or your fingers are so big that they just don't all fit on the 2nd fret at the same time, you may want to experiment with other fingerings. One way to remove the need for the ring finger is to use your middle finger to hold down both the 3rd and 2nd strings at the same time.

G Major

How to Play a G Chord

1. Place your middle finger on the 6th string, 3rd fret
2. Place your index finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret
3. Place your ring finger on the 1st string, 3rd fret
4. Strum all of the strings in quick succession

• 

  G Major chord

• The G Major chord can be played with a few different fingerings, although the one described above is the easiest for beginning players. An alternate fingering would be to use your ring finger to play the first note, your middle finger to play the second, and your pinkie to play the final note.

E Major

How to Play an E Chord

1. Place your middle finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret
2. Place your ring finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret
3. Place your index finger on the 3rd string, 1st fret
4. Strum all of the strings in quick succession

• 

  E Major chord

• The E Major chord is one of the most recognizable of the "Major" chords, as it can be found in many of the most popular blues and rock songs. Again, don't worry if some of the notes don't ring true, or if it sounds at all muffled. With enough practice, your fingers will be able to hold down only the necessary notes on the right strings, while allowing the others to be played "Open."

D Major

How to Play a D Chord

1. Place your index finger on the 3rd string, 2nd fret
2. Place your ring finger on the 2nd string, 3rd fret
3. Place your middle finger on the 1st string, 2nd fret
4. Start from the 4th string and play each of the strings below in quick succession. Do not play either the 5th or 6th strings.

• 

  D Major chord
• Of all of the major chords, the D Major chord is often the most difficult for beginners and the toughest to make each of the notes ring true. But have no fear. As with all of the lessons you will learn on the guitar, the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the better it sounds!

• OTHER CHORDS: Although these are the most common major chords on the guitar, they are but a drop in the bucket of all the possible chords that can be made using the guitar. If you run into a chord that you don't know, use this handy Chord Finder in order to find out the correct fingering for the chord you want to play.

Practice Lessons

1. Spend at least 15 minutes practicing each chord until you move on to the next one. Make sure that you can play each one cleanly and without looking at the chord diagram, as this will make it much easier when you begin to learn songs.
2. While playing each chord, start by strumming slowly at first (one string at a time), as this will allow you to see if all of the notes are being played clearly.
3. Once you are comfortable making each of the Major chord shapes, start trying to move your fingers from one chord to another as quickly and accurately as possible. This may seem hard, and will probably necessitate long pauses in between each switch at first. But the more you do this, the less time it will take you to change chord shapes and the easier it will be when we eventually start to play actual songs.

Lesson 6: Playing Scales

• If you are at all familiar with playing the piano, you will know that a "Scale" is a group of musical notes that are played one after the other in either an ascending or descending order. There are many different types of scales, each with their own unique characteristics, note patterns and musical qualities. Here we will learn about a few of the most common scales (in Western Music) and how to use them to improve your guitar playing. Although playing and practicing scales can often be a tiresome and relatively unexciting process, don't be afraid! They will help strengthen your fingers, improve your hand-eye coordination, and greatly improve your ability to learn more advanced guitar techniques, such as soloing!

• NOTE: The diagrams that are used in this lesson show which notes should be played in each scale and which fingers should be used to play each note. Notes with a 1 should be played with the index finger, a 2 with the middle finger, a 3 with your ring finger, and a 4 with your pinkie. An O means that the string should be played "Open."

• We will start with the most basic scale in music:

The Chromatic Scale

The E Chromatic Scale

1. Start, as we did in the lesson on playing notes, by playing the 6th string "Open."
2. Next, take the index finger on your fretting hand and hold down the first fret on the 6th string. Pluck the 6th string again.
3. Using your middle finger, hold down the second fret of the 6th string and play it again.
4. Use your ring finger to hold down the third fret and play the string again.
5. Use your pinkie finger to hold down the fourth fret and play it once more.
6. Repeat these steps for each of the subsequent strings (except the 3rd string — only play the first three frets on that one).

• Voila! You've just played your first scale. Not the most awe-inspiring experience of your life, I'm sure. But truly a monumental first step in your transition from ordinary citizen to Guitar God (or Goddess).

The Major Scale

E Major Scale

• E Major Scale Chart

1. Play the 6th string "Open"
2. Play the 6th string, 2nd fret
3. Play the 6th string, 4th fret
4. Play the 5th string "Open"
5. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
6. Play the 5th string, 4th fret
7. Play the 4th string, 1st fret
8. To finish the scale, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram.

• The Major Scale is one of the most important and useful scales to know when playing guitar. Try playing the Major Scale using different root notes.

The Minor Pentatonic Scale

E Minor Pentatonic Scale

• E Pentatonic Minor Scale Chart

1. Play the 6th string, 3rd fret
2. Play the 5th string "Open"
3. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
4. Play the 4th string "Open"
5. Play the 4th string, 2nd fret
6. Play the 3rd string "Open"
7. To finish the scale, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram.

• Often known as the "Blues" scale, the minor pentatonic is a popular scale for soloing in the Blues and Rock genres. Try playing the minor pentatonic from different root notes.

• NOTE: All of the scale examples above use E as the root note. All of these scales can be played using any note as the root. Use this Scale Finder to find scale charts for different root notes.

Practice Lessons

1. Practice each of these scales for at least 15 minutes or until you are confident enough to move on to the next one.
2. Once you have mastered playing each scale from top to bottom, try playing it backwards by starting on the last note of the scale and playing in reverse order back to the first note.

Continued on How to Play Guitar for Newbies Part 2

-->Read more...

Music Notation

It's Easier Than You Think!

A few basics will take the fear out of reading notation for many people. Yes, it can and does get complex at the higher levels but if you're just reading the basics of notation, signs and terms will get you a long way.

Indeed, learning the basics of music notation is not much harder than reading guitar tablature. So where should you begin? Good question! I'd say right at the start...

First of all I should mention the musical alphabet. It is exactly the same as the first seven letters of the English alphabet, namely: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, (then back to A).

This series of notes continues up and down the staff (which I'll explain below) in the same pattern of letters but denotes different pitches of the music note when it does.

Yes, there are sharps and flats but I'll deal with these later.

Secondly, in music notation you use what's known as a "staff". A staff is a series of lines and spaces that a music note sits on or between.

Additionally, the use of a "clef" sets the pitch of the notes that are on the staff and in guitar music we use the "G" or treble clef almost exclusively.

It is called the "G" clef because its tail wraps around the "G" line within the staff. Here is a graphic example of what I mean...

You can see from the lowest line of the staff that you start on an "E" note and end on an "F" note at the top.

The actual musical alphabet can be seen from the start of the second space up. Yes that's right, the "A" note. Notice also the tail of the "G" clef as it wraps around the "G" line of the staff.
Now that you know about the staff and the clef I'll give you an example of the most common notes in music notation with both their American and British names.

I rather like the American way of naming musical notes as it makes much more sense than the old-fashioned way.

Here is an example of what I mean in music notation...

The comparative names in the old English notation system (from whole note to 128th note) are: Semi-breve; minim; crotchet; quaver; semiquaver; demisemiquaver; hemidemisemiquaver; quasihemidemisemiquaver a.k.a. semihemidemisemiquaver.

As you can see, this type of notation can become very "unwieldy" indeed! Take a tip; stick with the American music notation where possible.

Another basic piece of information you need when reading music notation are time signatures.

Time signatures are mostly found at the beginning of the music and consist of two numbers (one vertically above the other), which indicate both the number of beats in a bar and the value or duration of each beat in the bar.

A bar line groups the beats into equal portions. Bars are also known as "measures".

A double bar line usually indicates the end of a section of music.

Let's have a look at some simple time signatures in graphic form in music notation...

These different musical notes have different lengths or duration. This is what gives rise to rhythm. Here is a graphic of the comparative lengths of each note above in the time signature of 4/4...

As you can see the "whole note" in 4/4 time lasts for 4 counts once it is struck. In this example I'm using the note of "G".

Then the half note has the 2 counts per note, hence the term half note, as all the notes are just divisions of the whole note. This is why the American music notation makes so much sense.

It is just simple mathematical divisions of time starting with the whole note and dividing from there.

The simple mathematical pattern therefore is...you guessed it...doubling each time there is a division. In other words, 1 note per bar, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 & 128.

Also in music notation there is one small change to the note as you divide it up. For instance, if you look at the graphic above you see the whole note is just an ellipse.

The half note is an ellipse with a stem. A quarter note is an ellipse, with a stem and the elliptical part colored in.

The eighth note has all of the above with an added tail on the stem.

From the eighth note to the 128th note it is just a simple matter of adding an extra tail to differentiate from the note that precedes it.

How simple is that?!!!

Obviously, the faster notes like the 32, 64th & 128th are not played in succession like in the graphic above.

It wouldn't be sustainable in real life. You see them in much smaller quantities such as "grace notes" and "ornamentation" (especially in classical music).

So there's nothing to worry about here. A little practice and anyone can manage to play these notes clearly and with precise execution.

Let's talk now about "pitch" in music notation. Pitch means the difference in sound in terms of higher or lower notes.

That is the height or depth of sound. The notes are placed on the staff according to the required pitch.

That means the lower a note is placed on a staff the lower is its sound. Conversely, the higher a note is placed on a staff the higher is its sound. If you need to go higher or lower that the staff you use what is known as "ledger lines".

These lines indicate in music notation pitch that is outside the normal range of the staff.

Here is an example of the A major scale over two octaves using the treble clef. I've also used guitar tablature so you can see the comparison...

You can see the ledger lines in use. You should remember that if you're going "down" in pitch you read the scale backwards and if you're going up in pitch then you read the scale forward.

The above graphic was an A Major scale. So, starting on the "A" note and reading upwards the scale was A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G# and back to A.

Music Notation Sidebar

The musical alphabet consists of sharps (#) & flats (b) as well as note names.

This means that the actual number of notes in the alphabet is 12 rather than 7. Some note names are "enharmonic", meaning they have two names for the same note e.g. G sharp can also be called A flat etc.

Here is the full alphabet... A, (A# Bb), B, C (C# Db), D (D# Eb), E, F, (F# Gb), G (G# Ab), then back to A

The last thing I want to talk about in the basics of music notation is "dots" and "rests".

A dot, when placed behind a note or rest in music notation increases the value or duration of that note by half.

For example, if you have a whole note (worth 4 beats in 4/4) that is "dotted" its value or duration will increase to 4+2=6 beats.

The same applies for ALL other notes, that is, their duration or value is increased by half of the original note again.

In all music notation there is an equivalent rest. They represent a period of silence but correspond in name and value to a music note. Here is a graphic of all the notes discussed above and their equivalent rests...

Notice how the whole note rest is "hanging' from the middle line on the staff and the half note rest "sits" on it.

This is because they look exactly the same and only their position differentiates them.

I hope you've got something from this lesson on music notation. Good luck with your music playing AND reading in the future!

-->Read more...

Here are the guitar chord charts for the basic guitar bar chords. Included are major, minor and dominant guitar bar chords.

The Guitar Chord Charts:

-->Read more...

Continue of Part 1

Guitar bar chords that have their bass note on the A string work in the same way as the bar chords with the root on the E string. There's one difference: don't play the E string because it is not part of the chord and it will not sound good most of the times.

The major bar chords start from the A chord:

Now slide all the notes of the chord two frets higher on the neck. Then 'bar' all the strings on the second fret with your index finger. If you have followed my explanation correctly it should look something like this:

The A chord becomes a B chord.
This is not a very easy chord to take in the beginning.

An alternative way of fretting this chord is using the little finger instead of fingers 2, 3 and 4. It depends a bit on the shape of your fingers if this alternative fretting works or not.
Here's the guitar chord picture and diagram:

The difficulty with this chord voicing is the highest E string. You have to bent your little finger a bit to allow the high E to sound.

Like before, you can slide this chord up and down the guitar neck. Just remember there's always 2 half steps between the scale tones, except between E-F and B-C (1 half step).

The guitar neck with the notes of the A string:

Now we used the A major chord, but like before we can also use the minor chord:

Change the chord fingering like we did with the E chord on the previous page so you're index finger becomes available. This chord becomes a Bm guitar bar chord if we slide it up 2 frets and add the 'bar':

Again, don't play the low E string.

If we slide the Bm chord 1 fret up we get a Cm chord, 2 frets more and it's a Dm chord, ...

Now let's start from the A7 chord:

Again, change the fingering to liberate your index finger, slide it 2 frets up and add the 'bar':

The result is a B7 guitar bar chord.

You can also do this with other chords like major7, minor7, major 9. Experiment and think logical and most important: don't get frustrated trying to figure guitar bar chords out, it takes some time.

-->Read more...

Guitar bar chords (or barre chords/barré chords) play an important part in guitar playing. They are used extensively in all kinds of music.

Bar chords are called the way they are because you 'bar' all the strings at one fret with your index finger. When doing this your finger replaces the nut of the guitar. Taking all the frets with one finger is not an easy thing to do. I wish I could offer you a bar chords made easy solution, but I'm afraid I can't. You have to give this some time and practice. I've had a few students who could fret guitar bar chords almost perfectly within first week they started learning them, but for most beginning guitar players it takes a bit longer. Once you're able to play them you wonder what was so difficult about it (but I guess that's the case with most of the things you learn).

Have a look at this guitar bar chord picture and the chord diagram for a better understanding:

Here are the 2 most important types of guitar bar chords:

• Guitar bar chords derived from the chord of E. This kind of chord has it's bass note on the E string. All strings are played.
• Guitar bar chords derived from the chord of A. This kind of chord has it's bass note on the A string. The E string is not played.

Let's start with the first type: bar chords derived from the E chord.
Here's the guitar diagram and guitar chord picture for the E chord:

To make a bar chord out of the E chord, we need to change the fingering. Instead of fretting the chord with finger 1, 2 and 3 we're going to fret it with finger 2, 3 and 4 like you can see on the following picture:

The bass note or 1 of this chord is the open string E (if the 1 in this sentence sounds like Chinese to you, you'd better read the guitar music theory tutorial). Now slide all the notes you are fretting (all 3 of them) one fret higher on the neck. Then 'bar' all the strings on the first fret with your index finger. If you have followed my explanation correctly it should look something like this:

The bass note of the chord is on the first fret of the E string: the note F. From low to high these are the notes in the chord: F C F A C F or 1 5 1 3 5 1. This chord is an F. By sliding one fret up from the E chord we made an F chord out of it.

Play the strings 1 by 1. You'll notice that not all strings sound clear and some strings don't have any sound at all. There's nothing wrong with your fingers, this is a difficult thing to do but you'll soon get the hang of it if you practice enough. The F chord is also the most difficult bar chord because the frets are so wide at the beginning of the guitar neck. Try the same chord higher on the neck and it will be easier. Experiment with the position of your thumb and with the way you put pressure on the strings.

Some things you need to know before we go any further:

• One fret on the guitar equals a half step.
• All notes in the C major scale are 2 half steps apart from each other, except between E & F (1 half step) and B & C (also 1 half note).

Knowing this you can find every major chord there is. Starting from the F chord slide up 2 frets (so you are on the 3rd fret now). The chord you are fingering now is the G chord. Slide 2 more frets to the 5th fret and you have An A chord. 2 more frets and you're on a B chord. Now slide 1 fret up (remember, between b/c and e/f only 1 half step) and you're on the C chord. 2 frets further (the 10th) gives us a D chord. 2 frets and we have an E chord again (on the 12th fret).
If you slide 1 fret up from the F chord we have an F# or Gb (see guitar music theory for more about # and b). The same goes for the other #'s and b's.

The guitar neck with the notes of the E string:

Have a look at the guitar bar chord charts for all the major chords or try the guitar chord finder.

'Wild Thing', as performed by 'The Troggs' is a good song to practice major guitar bar chords. Here's the chord progression:

|E A

|B A

|

Our starting point was the E chord, but you can also start from an Em chord:

Adjust the chord fingering like we did before with the E and slide this chord 1 fret higher on the neck. Then put your index finger to bar the first fret and we get an Fm chord:

Now you can also find all minor chords using the same system as above.

The same goes if you take E7 as your starting point:

Adjust the chord fingering and slide one fret higher to get F7:

Slide up further for every dominant 7 chord possible.

The bar chords we covered until now all have their bass note on the low E-string. Another type of bar chords have their bass note on the A string, so please follow me to page 2 of the wonderful world of guitar bar chords.

Next page: part 2 of guitar bar chords

-->Read more...