You are going to be reading chord boxes in the very first stage so you will need to get this down now. You won’t need to read tab for a little while yet, but we’ll give you a brief run down of it here so you at least understand the basics of this as well. I do not encourage beginners to read music notation, because it makes for very slow progress.
The first thing that you need to know is how to read chord boxes. These show you where to put your fingers on the fingerboard to play chords. The six vertical lines represent the six strings. The string on the furthest left is the thickest string (E). The two lines at the top of the box represent the nut (the plastic, bone or metal piece that the strings go through on the headstock) and the rest of the horizontal lines represent the frets.
The dots represent the places where you put your left-hand fingers, and they are numbered to show which finger to use. Number 1 is the index finger, 2 is the middle finger, 3 is the ring finger and 4 is your pinky (little finger). If you have played the piano make sure you don’t get confused; piano finger numbering is completely different (guitar players generally don’t use their left-hand thumbs).
Notice the X or O above each string too. These show whether you should play the string or not for that chord. The O means that you play the string ‘open’ – with no fingers holding it down – and the X means that you should not play that string.
Reading TAB
Guitar TAB (or guitar tablature) is a way of writing music specifically for guitar. It is perfect for those that do not read music, and in many cases offers more information to the written notation would anyway!
TAB has six horizontal lines that represent the six strings on the guitar. The top line is the thinnest string (first) and the lowest line represents the thickest (sixth) string. The numbers that are placed on the lines tell you what fret to play a note. You will only ever play the strings with numbers on; If a string has no number, don’t play it. The 0 means that a string is played open, with no fingers pressing down the string on the frets.
Hold the pick so that it comes out of the side of your thumb and hold it with the tip of the 1st finger (see the pictures below). The rest of your hand should just be relaxed. Make sure that the pick is coming out of the side of your thumb – this is by far the most important aspect of the correct postion.
Common Questions Answered...
My pick seems to turn around in my hand, what is going on? This is really common when you start out. If you try and hold the pick too hard then your arm will feel tense; if you hold it too loose, then it falls out or turns around. The solution is practice. Don’t let it worry you in the early stages; it will simply take a while for your hand to deal with holding the pick with exactly the right amount of pressure.
What angle should the pick hit the strings? When you are strumming with a light pick, the angle of picking is not too important. However, if you feel like your pick is getting stuck in the strings, it might be because you are angling the pick in such a way that it’s getting caught up. To get it right: start by lining up the pick with the strings, and then turn it so that the pick is angled down just a bit, say 15 degrees. This way the pick will glide over the strings rather than getting caught up in them. If the pick is strumming flat (parallel) against the strings it often get hooked into the strings and make your rhythm playing kinda lumpy. So you need to keep the pick at an angle so it will move easily over the strings.
I sometimes find my 2nd finger holding the pick too: is that bad? Yes it is. Try and hold the pick with just your thumb and 1st finger. Using other fingers will most likely put your wrist at a strange angle and cause problems when you try to develop your technique further.
That said, many great players use strange techniques and hold the pick funny, but wha tI always recommend is starting the ‘right’ way and really giving it a good go before you decide it doesn’t work for you. George Benson holds his pick kind of upside down; Brian May uses a coin and Jeff Beck gave up on using the pick altogether, so it really is your decision in the end.
Often, people who start out using a thicker pick try and use three fingers to hold onto it when they strum. A better solution is just to use a thinner pick and hold it the right way!
Using your 2nd finger to hold the pick will:
• Change the angle of your hand, and so change the angle that the pick hits the strings, in a bad way. • Change the angle of your palm, which makes it hard to do palm muting. • Make ‘hybrid’ picking almost impossible, if you decide to get into that later. • Mean that you can’t use your 2nd finger for tapping. • Hinder your ability to manipulate the pick.
I know the ‘right’ way can feel really weird if you started using three fingers to hold the pick, but I really think it’s worth trying to get back to holding it with just your thumb and 1st finger. It will take a bit of time to get used to how hard to hold it. Like everything else, it’s gonna take some practice!
Do I need to hold it different when I strum? Yes. When you pick out notes one at a time, you don’t want too much pick poking out, but when you strum it’s ok to have a lot more pick showing from out of your thumb. As you play more you will learn to manipulate how much of the pick sticks out while you play; this sounds hard but it will just happen naturally. Don’t stress about it! It will happen when it’s ready, and not a second earlier...
I like the "back in the old days" style, is it really bad to hold the pick at the knuckle? Well, no—there are many great players that played that way—but there are issues with it. I recently taught a guy who showed up with blood all over his guitar because his knuckle was hitting the strings a lot. That’s no good. It also makes it hard to use ‘circle’ picking which is a more advanced technique you certainly won’t be doing in the beginner’s course, but is very useful later on when you want to start speeding things up a bit!
I like the Jazz III but they feel too small for strumming... Then try the Jazz III XL, which is the same shape and thickness, but a bit bigger; lots of people like them.
When I do a lot of strumming (with a pick) the nail on my index finger gets worn down quite a lot, it’s kind of towards the right side (or bottom as I’m playing). Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? That means you are letting your finger hit the strings when you strum. This is a very bad habit; you need to adjust your finger position on the pick and the angle of your hand as you are doing your down-strums. You would be better off trying to fix this now rather than later. Go back to doing it nice and slowly and make sure that is not happening. It’s going to be a bit tough to make the change but it’s definitely worth it.
If you don’t stop it now it will affect your sound later, and you’ll hurt your fingers if you practise a lot.
There are three golden rules that I think are very important to adhere to if you are going to start developing your chops (guitarist slang word for technique).
• Practice the right thing.
Do not let yourself make any mistakes while working on technique. Do things very carefully, because there is no point in working a lot on developing a bad habit into a perfect bad habit!
• Start new things very slowly and only speed up when it's perfect.
Speed comes with time and a little help from a metronome, but fast runs must be played smoothly, accurately and clearly or they sound rubbish. The amazing thing about the really technical guitarists like Steve Vai or Eric Johnson is not just how fast they play but how cleanly they play. Slow it down to half or quarter speed and you can hear every note clearly - that is what you should be aiming for. Clarity.
• Keep all movements to an absolute minimum.
Try and keep all movements as small and accurate as possible. Try not to let your fingers fly too far away from the fingerboard, or to 'point away'. Also try and keep your picking under control using only the tip of the pick and not moving it too far from the string.
The following three exercises are very important in my opinion. I think they give a solid grounding for any further technique development in later stages, and have a good all round benefit for the majority of players. The Finger Gym is one that I have seen hundreds of students make drastic improvements after just a few weeks work on it (also had loads of emails praising this one). The Spider is quite a challenge (not good for beginners) and really works the alternate picking. And lastly scale picking works your speed development and hand co-ordination. All very important. 5 minutes on each of these every day would be a great start to a routine! You could easily spend more time if you have it to spare - see practice routines...
Learning licks is very important, they function as musical words, helping to learn new styles (languages) and showing you new and interesting approaches to things you already know. Two very important points to help you make the most of them...
Use the licks : Use a backing track, a looper pedal or a jam buddy - just make sure you use them. Try and mix them in with licks you already know so they blend in a bit, you need to work on linking them, it's often getting into and out of a new lick that is the most difficult, so work on it!
Find the essence: Once you can play and use the lick comfortably then it's time to try and extract the essence of it and then try and use it to create new material. I think this is the most fun part. Try and find the thing in the lick that can be extracted and put into something else - look beyond the notes, though they are usually easiest to extract and re-apply. Think about exploring the dynamics, the phrasing, the techniques, the way a position was shifted, that kind of thing... and try and make up your own cool stuff using the essence.
More than a lick : These videos are not a little 10 second clip of just the lick like you find some other places. I show it to you in quite a bit of detail and then most times I explain where it comes from, how to manipulate it and any concepts behind them, many times it's much like a lesson than just a lick demo!
I was trying to do them every week but there are too many other things to do, so I've put them on hold, but will continue adding to them as I get time.
Finding the notes:
A major triad consists of the first, third and fifth notes of a major scale. If you are not sure how this works you will just have to trust me, and read up on some theory later.
In the key of F Major (F G A Bb C D E F) the triad notes would be F A and C. Lets start by finding them all on the guitar fingerboard. Notice that every note can be found on every string. On some strings the octave is shown to to help make the shapes clear later.
I would suggest if you do this yourself that you work out where each note is found on each string and then double check them. Mistakes in this kind of exercise can be a real pain.
Once you are sure you understand this bit, it's time to move onto the next lesson .
Questions from the forum I think will help you too!
I started playing classical-style with the guitar on the left leg. I think I should switch but it's hard. Help! If you started playing with a ‘classical’ posture then your hands will be used to playing that way and making the switch will feel difficult, but not for long. As with most things, when you try something new it usually takes a little getting used to, and this is no exception. You should find that after a few weeks of playing it will feel better and you’ll probably have a hard time going back to the old way.
That said, some people simply prefer playing with the classical posture, and that is fine too.
How does one go about holding top-heavy guitars? Top heavy guitars (where the headstock is heavy and the neck pulls toward the ground) can be a pain. My Gibson Les Paul Gold Top is really top heavy and the only thing I have found to help is to use a strap and stand up. I don’t practise a lot with Les Pauls for this reason, but I know other people who love the feel of them, so it’s just a preference I guess.
When I place all four fingers on the fretboard, my index finger tilts inward towards/away from my other fingers. Is this bad? Everybody’s hands are a little different, don’t worry about it! There are some guitar freaks out there that seem to have ‘guitar-shaped’ hands with perfectly even finger lengths, that seem to be able to stretch to grab any chord with ease, but that’s not the case for most players. I have a tiny little finger, but I don’t find many chord grips I can’t play... I’ve seen dudes with HUGE ‘farmer’s fingers’ that can still play intricate jazz grips and little kids playing amazingly difficult stretches with tiny hands... it just takes practice!
This is where the sound of the guitar will come out after it has bounced around inside! When you strum you don’t want to cover this too much if you can help it.!
Rose
This is just decoration around the Sound Hole.
String Peg
A string peg is a plastic (or sometimes metal) pin that holds the string in the bridge. Make sure these are pressed in firmly because there is a lot of pressure on them and they can be dangerous if they spring out. Read the lesson on Changing Acoustic Strings (lesson BC-202) carefully before playing with these!
This is the Note Circle. It shows all the 12 notes that exist in Western music.
Notice that A# and Bb are the same note (called enharmonic if you want to be clever). They sound the same but have different names. Also notice that there is no note in between E and F or B and C. This is where the white notes are right next to each other on the piano keyboard.
Moving clockwise around the circle makes the notes higher in pitch.
The interval of a semitone (shown on the left) is the smallest step on the guitar, and is one fret. Two semitones make a tone (shown on the right), and these two intervals make up scales.
The note circle can also be used to work out any note on the fingerboard by knowing only the note names of the open strings. Simply count clockwise around the circle, moving up one step for each fret, starting from the note of the open string.
It is theoretically possible to have a B#, it would have the same pitch as C, and would be played the same way on the instrument.
This table should be memorised as it is the foundation of all music
Pretty much everyone needs to develop their technique in order to execute the music that they wish to perform. It is no good having a great idea in your head and not be able to get it out, and you will probably find that there are many songs that you want to play but are not physically capable of yet.
Technique development is the physical development of your hands (and to some extent your body) so that you can play things that you want to play.
For demanding styles (like jazz and fast metal) it is essential to develop your technique to a high level, and then maintain it. Even if this is not your thing, it is a good idea to get your technical ability higher than you need it - so that it will sound easy and smooth when you play.
COUNTRY ROOT :
How do I move scales around and what is the root note (R) on all the scales?
The root note of a scale defines the scales tonality. For example, in the Minor Pentatonic Scale (Position 1) there is a (R) root note on the 6th string, played with the first finger. Where you place this root note will give you the name of the scale. For example, the scale I show in the Beginners Course is the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. To play this scale in Position 1, you need to put the (R) root note on the note A, which is found at the 5th fret of the 6th string. If you wanted to play the C minor Pentatonic Scale, you would place the (R) root note on the 8th fret of the 6th string. The scale can be played anywhere, you just need to place that 1st finger (which is on the root note of the pattern) on the note you want!
All the scales move up and down the neck and you must use the right key for the song. To understand keys, you need to do a little music theory but there is a lot of information about this on the site too, and some below!
What are Positions and what is all this CAGED stuff?
Positions (also called Shapes or Patterns) are different ways of playing the same scale. Because of the make up of the guitar, there is nearly always more than one way to play any scale, chord, lick or whatever.
I think the best way to learn this is to take a blank neck diagram from the Blank Papers are and then copy down onto it the notes from the A Minor Pentatonic scale (A, C, D, E, G) onto the whole neck (hint: every note will be found at least once on every string). A simpler alternative is to put red circles around those notes once you print off the Notes On The Neck diagram...
Once you can see all the notes on the neck notice the way that the same group of notes can be arranged into the 5 Patterns shown on The Minor Pentatonic page. I think that should clear up a lot of things...
Then m,aybe you should try and do the same for the notes of the D Minor Pentatonic (D, F, G, A, C) and notice that exactly the same patterns are formed but are on different frets. That should help you get the concept of the root notes, patterns and way that scale patterns can be moved around the neck to fit in different keys!
The CAGED system explain the relationships between the notes on the guitar and breaks them down into five shapes. C Shape, A Shape, G Shape E Shape and D shape. The relate to the only five shapes that exist on the guitar. Every scale or chord fits into one of these "Shapes". Find more at this link: THE CAGED SYSTEM but beginners might find this a little tricky. Don't be trying to get this until you can play and use your position 1 of the Minor Pentatonic and the Major scales.
What about the Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales?
These are advanced scales that are not used much unless you want to play classical (or neo-classical rock) or if you want to get into jazz. As a beginner you should not waste your time learning these. Spend your time learning things that you will use! Learn things when you need to...
Can all scales be moved around?
All scales (and chords for that matter) that do not use open strings can be moved anywhere on the neck. You need to know the root note though, so you know what scale you are playing!
Start by getting into the idea that your Minor Pentatonic Scale can move around the neck.
Where are the common root notes and where are the notes on the neck?
There is a lesson here that shows you the Note on the Neck and it is a very useful skill to have for many reasons, but you will need to know at least the notes on the thickest two strings to know where your scales can be played.
The common 6th string root notes are: F at the 1st fret, G at the 3rd fret, A at the 5th fret, B at the 7th fret, C at the 8th fret, D at the 10th fret and E at the 12th fret.
The majority of your playing is likely to be in normal EADGBE tuning but there are other common tunings that can be a lot of fun to play with. I love using altered tunings for writing and there and many classic songs that use them too.
Just trying out a new tuning and experimenting is important - in fact, for me one of the most exciting things about being in an unusual tuning is that I don't always know what sounds are going to come out of the guitar and that can be really creative and help me find sounds that I have not found before.
A little bit of research and you will find there are loads of different guitar tunings - but to be honest most of them are not used much - what I am listing below are the more common ones that are relatively easy to work with. There are no rules and you can just make up tunings as you like - like the great Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake - just fiddle about until you find something interesting.
I HIGHLY recommend getting a tuner if you are going to start using altered tunings a lot. Of course it's a good thing to know how to do them by ear, and usually after using a tuner I give them a little tweak by ear anyway - but to get started I always prefer to use a tuner. It's easier, more accurate and faster!
I will get around to making more in depth videos about each tuning sometime soon.
Normal Tuning (E Tuning) :
Tunings are usually described from the thickest string to the thinnest string. Normal tuning being EADGBE - is usually called E tuning.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Normal Tuning
E
A
D
G
B
E
Eb Tuning (down a semitone):
Many rock bands got into the idea of tuning all the notes on the guitar down one semitone. This means that the strings are a little looser and you can bend a little more easily. It also gives access to some slightly lower notes which can sound a little fatter. You can use slightly thicker strings (which tend to sound a little fatter) and still be able to bend them. Lots of rock bands like Gun 'n' Roses and Nirvana use Eb tuning a lot.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Eb Tuning
Eb
Ab
Db
Gb
Bb
Eb
To get into Eb tuning you simply tune each string down one semitone. You are best off using a tuner for this! Or tune your 6th string to Eb using a piano or other instrument and then use basic or advanced tuning method (5th fret of 6th string = open 5th string) to tune the rest of the strings to it.
HINT: if you are struggling with this - put a capo on the 1st fret - tune normally with tuner, and then take the capo off and you will be in Eb tuning!! Can be useful if your tuner only tunes to the "normal tuning" too.
Drop D Tuning :
Drop D is also common in rock music, but also in many folk styles and even country. It gives a really nice low D note, which often sounds really fat and nice.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Drop D Tuning
D
A
D
G
B
E
Getting into Drop D is pretty simple. You already have one of your strings tuned to the note D (the 4th string) so all you have to do is tune your 6th string (thickest) down one tone to sound one octave lower then the open 4th string.
HINT: if you play a harmonic at the 12th fret of the thickest string it should sound the same as the open 4th string if you have done it right!
Songs that use Drop D Tuning: Heart Shaped Box, All Apologies (Nirvana), Harvest Moon, Ohio (Neil Young), Moby Dick (Led Zeppelin), Everlong, Monkey Wrench (Foo Fighters), Dear Prudence (The Beatles).
Drop C Tuning:
Drop C is mostly used by metal bands that want to get REALLY fat big low notes in the riffs. It's essentially the same as Drop D but with every string tuned down a tone. I must admit I never really used this tuning, it's not really my style, but it sure sounds fat and I'd be using it if I still played in rock bands!
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Drop C Tuning
C
G
C
F
A
C
The big deal with this is that you need to use thicker than normal strings or they just get too floppy and will rattle and sound rubbish. Suggested gauge 14-60 or thereabouts.
Easiest way to do this is to use a tuner. Or drop Low E to D and then tune as normal. Then drop the D's down to C.
Songs that use Drop C Tuning: Toxicity (System Of A Down), Bandit (Neil Young).
Double Drop D Tuning :
Double Drop D Tuning means that you tune both the E strings down to D. This is used a lot in fingerstyle guitar, I really love this tuning.
What I like is that the middle 4 strings are all in normal tuning so most of your regular chord shapes word - and the thin string note of D adds a sweet sound to many chords: Regular C becomes Cadd9, Amin becomes Amin11, G becomes G7... to play D you just leave the thin string open. To play E you need to play the bass note at 2nd fret thickest string. It's quite easy and fun to play around with.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Double Drop D
D
A
D
G
B
D
Use the open D string as a guide to tune your two outside E strings down a tone.
Songs that use Double Drop D Tuning: From Katie's Window (me!), Song For George (Eric Johnson), Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young).
DADGAD (D Modal Tuning or Celtic Tuning):
"Dad-gad" is a common folk tuning, not one that I get one with so much, no idea why... I have tried to like it, but it just doesn't connect the way other have for me... that said there are lots of cats around that make amazing songs using this tuning and it fun to play with.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Double Drop D
D
A
D
G
A
D
There is only one note changed from Double Drop D - the second string lowered a tone.
Songs that use DADGAD: Drifting (Andy McKee), Kashmir (Led Zeppelin), lots of Irish music & check out.
Open G Tuning:
An "open tuning" is when you can play all the strings with no fingers on them and you will get a chord - for example and "Open G" tuning will produce notes that make up a G chord if you play all the strings but don't hold down any strings with your fretting hand.
Common in slide guitar because you can play the whole chord with all the notes in a line (in the one fret).
The classic shape is to go from G (TAB: x 0 0 0 0 0) to G6sus4 (TAB: x 0 2 0 1 0) - looks like you are playing an Amin7 shape. This chord movement is the big "trick" used by The Rolling Stones and many others. You would also use this shape to play a shuffle 12 Bar Blues. The 6sus4 shape works with barre chords too of course!
Important to note that the lowest root note is the 5th string - hence why Keith Richards famously took off the 6th string during the 70's - it wasn't needed!
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Open G
D
G
D
G
B
D
Get your guitar in Double Drop D and then Tune the A String down a tone.
Songs that use Open G Tuning: Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Start Me Up (Rolling Stones), Bohemian Like You (Dandy Warhols).
Open G with a Drop C:
Maybe this is my tuning... I don't know of others that use it - but I very much doubt I am the first!. I write with it a lot, and love the sound of the low C.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Open G Drop C
C
G
D
G
B
D
Songs that use Open G with Drop C Tuning: Broken, Falling Next To You
Open A:
You have a couple of options here - you can tune three strings up or use Open G and a capo!
To tune it open you tune strings 2/3/4 all up one tone each. That should not cause too much tension on the neck but I still usually get the guitar into Open G and put a capo on the 2nd fret!
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Open A
E
A
E
A
C#
E
Open D:
Lots of old blues styles use Open D but I never got on with it for slide, but enjoy experimenting with it, quite fun.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Open D
D
A
D
F#
A
D
Start with DADGAD and then lower the G string by one semitone.
Songs that use Open D Tuning: Feelin Bad Blues (Ry Cooder, from Crossroads movie).
Open E:
Again with Open E you can choose to tune strings up, or use a capo with Open D. The risk with tuning strings up is that you create more tension in the neck and also strings are more likely to break. But it unlikely to damage your guitar, and breaking strings is not really a big deal...
So either Tune up strings 4/5 up a tone and 3 up a semitone, or use Open D Tuning and get a capo on the 2nd fret! Your choice.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Open E
E
B
E
G#
B
E
Open C:
I'll be honest with you... I don't think I have used this one before - it was suggested on the forum, so I thought I would add it in, and I'm going to play with it later today and see what comes out! It looks like my kinda tuning!
Quite a lot to do here... string 6 down 2 tones, 4/5 down a tone and 2 up a semitone.
Note: somestimes the thin E is tuned down to a D.
String ->
6 (thick)
5
4
3
2
1 (thin)
Open C
C
G
C
G
C
E
Conclusion
Well there is a LOT to experiment with here - hope that answers many of your questions!!
If you know some more song examples (especially for the more unusual tunings, then please leave a note in this place!!).
