How To Play The Guitar And Basics For Any Instrument introductory musical instruction focused on the guitar

[communitykat 0]

So, you've had your guitar for years and it just sits around collecting dust. But you don't have the money to get lessons and you don't think you can play anyway. Well, most likely you can play, all you need is practice and little tolerance for pain in the first two weeks. Pain? Why pain? Pain because you must condition your fair fingertips for the constant bombardment of pressure from metal strings. (Nylon strings are a bit easier and I like them, but it is best to practice on the worst strings possible...accoustic, high action and thick gauge so that when you pick up your playing guitar, electric, someone elses nice guitar or get a new guitar that you deserve, you will be able to play like butter.) basically, any guitar you have will do fine...it either sucks...which will make you the best player in the end, or it is good, which will be easier for you to learn on. Even if you only have a broken guitar with an intact neck, or a childs guitar, you can get started on the most important part of learning to play...fretboard visualization. What is fretboard visualization? It means knowing exactly what note each fret of the guitar makes, knowing the patterns the notes make , and being able to visualize them for improvisation. Now, this most important fretboard visualization usually takes years, and it is broken down into 3 positions, to make learning easier to manage. This tutorial will work for any kind of guitar: accoustic, electic, classical etc.

 

hERE IS THE BASIC CHART OF THE GUITAR FRETBOARD, YOUR GOAL IS TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH EACH FRET, STRING AND ITS RIGHTFUL TONE

 

E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E

B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B

G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G

D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A

E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E

FRETBOARD VISUALIZATION

 

A LITTLE MUST BE EXPLAINED ABOUT THIS CHART BEFORE YOU CAN COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND IT. IF YOU HAVE A GUITAR YOU KNOW THAT IT HAS 12 FRETS. (if you are not sure of terminology, please google "guitar anatomy") THE CHART HAS 13 COLLUMNS SYMBOLIZING THE 12 FRETS. IT ALSO HAS 6 ROWS SYMBOLIZING THE STRINGS. A guitar has 12 frets and 6 strings.

 

SO IF THE GUITAR HAS 12 FRETS REPRESENTED BY COLLUMNS, THEN WHY ARE THERE 13 COLLUMNS ON THE CHART?

BECAUSE THE FIRST COLLUMN REPRESENTS THE TONE OF THE SRINGS WHEN THEY ARE PLAYED OPEN, WITHOUT DEPRESSING ANY STRINGS ON THE FRETBOARD.

 

THIS FIRST COLLUMN REPRESENTS THE NAME OF YOUR STRINGS (according to the gauge and length give a certain tone) (depressing a string makes the string shorter and therefore makes the tone higher, hence the gradual increase in tone up any string (or row))

 

So, the names of your strings are the following...

 

E--------------------------------------------------- 1st String

B--------------------------------------------------- 2nd String

G--------------------------------------------------- 3rd String

D---------------------------------------------------- 4th String

A--------------------------------------------------- 5th String

E--------------------------------------------------- 6th String

 

The bottom A and B strings are bold because they represent the thicker strings on your guitar. Some (like myself) consider this to be an upside down representation of the fretboard, but this is how it is represented in Tablature, so this is the method I will use. The first string is the thinnest E string or TOP string and the 6th string is the fattest E string, or the BOTTOM string.

 

 

Now, I will explain the matrix of the patterns that make up the tones of the fretboard. How to simply say...the matrix of tone patterns.

 

In the United States we use twelve tones and seven major intervals from an old Catholic adaptation of intervals. The twelve tones being:

 

C C# D D# E F F#G G# A A# B C

 

...the twelfth note is the OCTAVE (the same tone one pitch higher)

 

You can see by carefully examining these twelve tones (which together are called the CHROMATIC SCALE, implying a scale that includes every single tone) have a pattern. There is no sharp (or flat) between EF and there is no sharp (or flat) between BC. If we look for a pattern of only whole tones (excluding the sharps), you will see the major scale pattern.

 

Here is the major scale pattern:

 

Every tone is considered a half step. (On the guitar as you move up a string, every fret is a half step)

Two half steps are a whole step.

 

Whole step Whole step Half Step Whole step Whole step Whole step Half step

 

Using this pattern we can see that for the C scale (that is, starting the pattern on the tone "C")

 

Here are my twelve tones

CC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#BC

And here are the seven major intervals:

C D EF G A BC

 

From C to D is a whole step...or two half steps...one half step from C to C# and one half step from C# to D. If you look at your guitar fretboard and the tone chart above 'FRETBOARD VISUALIZATION" you will see that C is on the second string, first fret. Since every fret is a half step...the second fret on the same string is C# and the third fret is D. One whole step from the first fret C to the third fret D.

 

 

THE C SCALE HAS NO SHARPS(#) OR FLATS ( Flats are the same tones as sharps. Call them sharps (#) when going up a scale and flats ( when coming down

 

The reason the C scale has no sharps or flats is because the major scale interval pattern has half steps that land on BC and EF, the only intervals in the major scale that require only a half step.

 

Let's try this exercise starting on the tone D

 

Here are my twelve tones (starting on D)

DD#EFF#GG#AA#BCC#D

Here are my seven major intervals using the major scale pattern discussed above.

D E F#G A B C#D

THE D SCALE HAS TWO SHARPS, A C# AND AN F#

 

This pattern has been called the Circle of Fifths, because starting with C, as you move 5 spaces up the major scale each fifth tone's pattern will add a sharp. Here is the circle of fifths:

 

C G D A E B F

C HAS NO SHARPS OR FLATS

G HAS ONE: F#

D HAS TWO:F#,C#

A HAS THREE:F#,C#,G#

E HAS FOUR: F#,C#,G#,D#

B HAS FIVE SHARPS; F#,C#,G#,D#,A#

F HAS ONE Bb

 

This leads into the Circle of flats that I will add on later...

Now you know how to construct any major scale on any instrument and, specifically, where to find the fingerings on your guitar.

 

There are many scales, not just Major scales. By simply adjusting some key intervals we can configure minor scales, augmented scales, diminished scales and more...

 

Now I will outline how you can create other scales besides the Major one. Scales change by changing the interval pattern. Many blues songs are played with minor scales. Minor scales generally sound sad, as you will notice if you can construct one and figure out how to play it on your instrument.

 

To construct a minor scale, simply flat the 3rd tone of the major scale. This requires you to know the major scale first. I recommend that you become familiar with the major scale before trying to morph into other scales.

 

Lets use C again as a starting tone:

Major Scale

C D E F G A B C

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

 

Now flat the 3rd tone, which is E, to create the minor scale.

C D Eb F G A B C

 

Remember that flatting a tone just means to move it one fret down to a lower tone. Eb is the fret before E.

 

Let's try the same thing in D

 

First construct the major scale from the chromatic scale (the chromatic scale uses all 12 tones)

using the pattern:

 

Whole step, Whole step, Half step, Whole step, Whole step, Whole step, Half step

 

...remember a whole step is two frets and a half step is one fret.

DD#EFF#GG#AA#BCC#D

D E F#G A B C#D

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

now that we have the major scale constructed, make it into a minor scale by flatting the 3rd tone, which is F#...

D E F G A B C#D, this is the minor scale.

1 23 4 5 6 7 8...you can see that only the 3rd tone has changed and it is flatted one half of a step.

 

 

Okay, now I am sure that all of you string players out there want to play chords. Now that you know the basic structure of major and minor scales, you can play any major or minor chord...Here is how you do it.

 

A chord is simply the 1st 3rd and 5th tone of a scale. Looking above and using the D minor scale, if we locate tone 1, 3 and 5 you will know the notes of the D minor chord.

1=D

3=F

5=A

 

a MAJOR D chord would have:

D E F#G A B C#D

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

 

1=D

3=F#

5=A

 

Now let's look at the guitar fretboard and find at least one way to play the D MAJOR chord with 1=D;2=F#, 3=A:

 

 

E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E

B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B

G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G

D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A

E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E

FRETBOARD VISUALIZATION

 

 

Okay, let's try another chord: C

 

Here is our C major scale

C D E F G A B C

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

 

Take the 1st, 3rd and 5th note of the scale: CEG, these are the notes you can play to make the sound of the C chord.

 

Where are these notes on your fretboard?

 

Let's just look at the first four frets, since most of our chords are traditionally played in this posistion. (However, the beauty of learning the basic matrix of chord formation is that you can be creative and find the 135 of any chord anywhere on the fretboard)

 

E F F# G G# A

B C C# D D# E

G G# A A# B C

D D# E F F# G

A A# B C C# D

E F F# G G# A

 

There is the traditional C chord.

Edited April 6, 2007 by communitykat (see edit history)