Here’s a great article I found that covers a lot of essential music theory information at a beginner level, and applies it to the guitar. There’s a lot of information here, so don’t worry if it doesn’t all sink in the first time you read it.
Bookmark this page in your browser, or print it out if you prefer, and read it every couple of weeks, or every couple of months, as you learn to play the guitar.
Each time you read it, more of it will sink in, and it will probably help you to pull together some of the stuff you’re learning in your lessons.
Enjoy!
Bob
Here’s the article:
Learn to Play Guitar Fast – Get a Flying Start by Understanding Simple Theory
When you first start learning guitar the first thing you think is “There’s too much!” Too many notes, too many chords, too many strings, too many frets, too many fingers! Added to that is the guitar tutor seeming to speak in a strange new language. Here is a short piece of vital information that will help it all to make sense and work better. You will learn how notes, chords and scales work, quickly be able to work out how to play most songs you hear and able to start creating your own. Use this and get a real flying start!
Take a look at the fretboard of your guitar – the first twelve fret spaces feature inlaid markers. These are at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets and they are there to help you quickly find the right place – the right note. Each of the 6 strings can be fretted in one of twelve places (we’ll leave the upper regions of the fretboard, ‘upper’ meaning nearest the guitar body, for now) – that’s 72 notes but, you’ll be pleased to know, this isn’t a random ordering but very systematic. Understanding the system will accelerate your learning like nothing else. While you are looking at the fretboad, take these conventions on board too: ‘low’ and ‘high’ refer to pitch, as do ‘up’ and ‘down’ – the lowest string is the thickest one, producing the deepest note. The top string is the thinnest string, producing the highest note, the bottom string is the thickest and lowest. This carries over into numbers – the 1st string is the highest/thinnest, the lowest/thickest is the 6th string. Notes also rise in pitch as you fret them nearer to the body of the guitar so this direction is ‘up’ the fretboard whilst ‘down’ refers to fretting nearer the headstock – up towards the body, down towards the headstock.
Standard guitar tuning is, from lowest (and thickest) string to highest: E A D G B E – these are the notes that the open (unfretted) strings produce. Why not A B C D E F? Or E F G A B C? Shouldn’t the notes be in sequence? And why letters anyway? Why not 1 2 3 4 5 6? Well, the notes do run in sequence, and we do use numbers for them – from 1 to 7. First of all, the note sequence travels up the fretboard: The open 6th string produces an E, fret this string at the 12th fret and it produces another E, but an octave higher. There are 12 notes to the octave and the string produces each of these as you go from open then up a fret at a time. At the 12th fret, the octave begins over.
We use the numbers 1-7 for the notes in the octave but wait a moment – didn’t I say there were 12 notes? Indeed there are. First of all though you will be familiar with the major scale in the form of Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do – but what notes are they? Well, you get to choose the first note and that determines the rest. The 7 notes in the octave are A B C D E F G and the 7 notes in the scale are represented by Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti – and then back to Do again, but an octave higher. ‘Do’, note 1, is any note you choose – if you choose C as note 1 that is the key. The scale is then the scale of C. Choose G and it would be the scale of G etc. The difference between the 7 notes that are in the octave and the 12 notes that produce an octave lies in the intervals. Intervals are how we measure out the scale, an interval is the distance between notes and we refer to them as steps – the distance from any note to the nearest one higher, or lower, is a half-step (sometimes referred to as a half-tone or semitone). On your guitar, each fret represents a half-step.
Lets return to your guitar and it’s 6th string – the thickest, lowest one. Played ‘open’ – unfretted, it is an E. Fretting at the 1st fret, a half-step up, gives an F, then, at the 2nd fret, the note produced is F# – F Sharp. Moving on, a fret at a time, we get G at the 3rd fret, then G# A (at the 5th fret) A#, B (7th fret), C, C# ( 9th fret), D, D# and then E again (at the 12th fret). ‘Sharp’ simply means ‘above the note’ – so A# is the note a half-step (or semitone) above A. We could equally call it Bb – which is B Flat – ‘Flat’ means ‘below the note’ – Bb is a half-step (semitone) below B. So A Sharp and B Flat are one and the same (as are G Sharp and A Flat, C Sharp and B Flat etc) – there is a convention used in musical notation that determines when a note is termed sharp or flat but don’t worry about that for a long time yet!
Not all the scale notes (A B C D E F G) are a whole-step apart and separated by a semi-tone (sharp or flat) – B & C, and E & F are each just a half-step from each other, giving us an octave (using flats) of A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab (which could also be shown as A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# if we use sharps).
You’re 6th string then gives the following notes: Open is E, then – a fret at a time, F, F# (or Gb), G, G# (Ab), A, A# (Bb), B, C, C# (Db), D, D# (Eb), E (at the 12th fret), then starting over F, F# (Gb), G,G# (Ab) etc as you go on upwards. Take some time to let this sink in by fretting the 6th string at each fret, picking and calling out each note as you go. You can then repeat the exercise for the 5th string (don’t worry, it isn’t necessary to do all six!) – starting, this time from that strings open ‘A’. What you are learning are the key root notes which will open up the fretboard for you in terms of both chord playing and lead solo playing. This knowledge will enable you to quickly work out the chords for any song you listen to on the radio, and to help you start writing your own songs while still learning the basics.
For now, I’ll leave you with a final word on scales. If you try picking a melody from the nots produced on one string you’ll find that some work together and some don’t. Why would take a book, at least, to explain! Suffice to say, there is a major scale for every note and a formula for each one. The good news is that the formula (thanks to what we have learned above) is the same for each one. Remember – the major scale (Do, re, mi etc) identifies notes 1 to 7 then starts again an octave higher. We now know that some of these notes could be ‘sharps’ (or ‘flats’) but lets look first at the scale of C Major. The formula we apply is WWHWWWH – where ‘W’ means ‘a whole step to’ and ‘H’ means ‘a half-step to’. From C this gives us a seven note scale (in bold) of: C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B – that’s C, whole step to D, whole step to E, half step to F, whole step to G, whole step to A, whole step to B and a final half step to C for the scale repeating an octave higher. Find and pick these notes using the 6th or the 5th strings, or a mixture of the two. On the 6th string you’ll find yourself starting up at the 8th fret whilst the 5th string lets you start from the 3rd but don’t feel you have to play the scale notes in order – try mixing them up and see what happens.
Repeat the exercise for the key of G – that’s choosing G as your 1 note in the do re mi – and you find the scale of G Major is G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, and a final half step back to G to begin over again.
Scales tell you what notes work in a particular way with your chosen starting note or key note – there are different scales producing different tonal variations but for now concentrate on the basics here. Next time we’ll see how chords are constructed – using the knowledge you just gained here – and I’ll show you how easy it is to work out the chords for most of the songs you hear, plus you’ll learn to play barre chords and start writing your own songs. Not for nothing do I call my method a flying start!
Jez Rogers is a guitarist/singer performing both solo and with several groups. His Sea Company project promotes local music with training and advice on setting up bands sound systems for live performance. Jez writes from hard earned experience, his free newsletter for news, reviews, guitar tuition and advice on equipment for live performance and home recording is available now at http://sea-company.heart-shapedworld.com/index.html
Learn to Play Guitar Fast
Here’s a great article I found that covers a lot of essential music theory information at a beginner level, and applies it to the guitar. There’s a lot of information here, so don’t worry if it doesn’t all sink in the first time you read it.
Bookmark this page in your browser, or print it out if you prefer, and read it every couple of weeks, or every couple of months, as you learn to play the guitar.
Each time you read it, more of it will sink in, and it will probably help you to pull together some of the stuff you’re learning in your lessons.
Enjoy!
Bob
Here’s the article:
Learn to Play Guitar Fast – Get a Flying Start by Understanding Simple Theory
By Jez Rogers
When you first start learning guitar the first thing you think is “There’s too much!” Too many notes, too many chords, too many strings, too many frets, too many fingers! Added to that is the guitar tutor seeming to speak in a strange new language. Here is a short piece of vital information that will help it all to make sense and work better. You will learn how notes, chords and scales work, quickly be able to work out how to play most songs you hear and able to start creating your own. Use this and get a real flying start!
Take a look at the fretboard of your guitar – the first twelve fret spaces feature inlaid markers. These are at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets and they are there to help you quickly find the right place – the right note. Each of the 6 strings can be fretted in one of twelve places (we’ll leave the upper regions of the fretboard, ‘upper’ meaning nearest the guitar body, for now) – that’s 72 notes but, you’ll be pleased to know, this isn’t a random ordering but very systematic. Understanding the system will accelerate your learning like nothing else. While you are looking at the fretboad, take these conventions on board too: ‘low’ and ‘high’ refer to pitch, as do ‘up’ and ‘down’ – the lowest string is the thickest one, producing the deepest note. The top string is the thinnest string, producing the highest note, the bottom string is the thickest and lowest. This carries over into numbers – the 1st string is the highest/thinnest, the lowest/thickest is the 6th string. Notes also rise in pitch as you fret them nearer to the body of the guitar so this direction is ‘up’ the fretboard whilst ‘down’ refers to fretting nearer the headstock – up towards the body, down towards the headstock.
Standard guitar tuning is, from lowest (and thickest) string to highest: E A D G B E – these are the notes that the open (unfretted) strings produce. Why not A B C D E F? Or E F G A B C? Shouldn’t the notes be in sequence? And why letters anyway? Why not 1 2 3 4 5 6? Well, the notes do run in sequence, and we do use numbers for them – from 1 to 7. First of all, the note sequence travels up the fretboard: The open 6th string produces an E, fret this string at the 12th fret and it produces another E, but an octave higher. There are 12 notes to the octave and the string produces each of these as you go from open then up a fret at a time. At the 12th fret, the octave begins over.
We use the numbers 1-7 for the notes in the octave but wait a moment – didn’t I say there were 12 notes? Indeed there are. First of all though you will be familiar with the major scale in the form of Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do – but what notes are they? Well, you get to choose the first note and that determines the rest. The 7 notes in the octave are A B C D E F G and the 7 notes in the scale are represented by Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti – and then back to Do again, but an octave higher. ‘Do’, note 1, is any note you choose – if you choose C as note 1 that is the key. The scale is then the scale of C. Choose G and it would be the scale of G etc. The difference between the 7 notes that are in the octave and the 12 notes that produce an octave lies in the intervals. Intervals are how we measure out the scale, an interval is the distance between notes and we refer to them as steps – the distance from any note to the nearest one higher, or lower, is a half-step (sometimes referred to as a half-tone or semitone). On your guitar, each fret represents a half-step.
Lets return to your guitar and it’s 6th string – the thickest, lowest one. Played ‘open’ – unfretted, it is an E. Fretting at the 1st fret, a half-step up, gives an F, then, at the 2nd fret, the note produced is F# – F Sharp. Moving on, a fret at a time, we get G at the 3rd fret, then G# A (at the 5th fret) A#, B (7th fret), C, C# ( 9th fret), D, D# and then E again (at the 12th fret). ‘Sharp’ simply means ‘above the note’ – so A# is the note a half-step (or semitone) above A. We could equally call it Bb – which is B Flat – ‘Flat’ means ‘below the note’ – Bb is a half-step (semitone) below B. So A Sharp and B Flat are one and the same (as are G Sharp and A Flat, C Sharp and B Flat etc) – there is a convention used in musical notation that determines when a note is termed sharp or flat but don’t worry about that for a long time yet!
Not all the scale notes (A B C D E F G) are a whole-step apart and separated by a semi-tone (sharp or flat) – B & C, and E & F are each just a half-step from each other, giving us an octave (using flats) of A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab (which could also be shown as A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# if we use sharps).
You’re 6th string then gives the following notes: Open is E, then – a fret at a time, F, F# (or Gb), G, G# (Ab), A, A# (Bb), B, C, C# (Db), D, D# (Eb), E (at the 12th fret), then starting over F, F# (Gb), G,G# (Ab) etc as you go on upwards. Take some time to let this sink in by fretting the 6th string at each fret, picking and calling out each note as you go. You can then repeat the exercise for the 5th string (don’t worry, it isn’t necessary to do all six!) – starting, this time from that strings open ‘A’. What you are learning are the key root notes which will open up the fretboard for you in terms of both chord playing and lead solo playing. This knowledge will enable you to quickly work out the chords for any song you listen to on the radio, and to help you start writing your own songs while still learning the basics.
For now, I’ll leave you with a final word on scales. If you try picking a melody from the nots produced on one string you’ll find that some work together and some don’t. Why would take a book, at least, to explain! Suffice to say, there is a major scale for every note and a formula for each one. The good news is that the formula (thanks to what we have learned above) is the same for each one. Remember – the major scale (Do, re, mi etc) identifies notes 1 to 7 then starts again an octave higher. We now know that some of these notes could be ‘sharps’ (or ‘flats’) but lets look first at the scale of C Major. The formula we apply is WWHWWWH – where ‘W’ means ‘a whole step to’ and ‘H’ means ‘a half-step to’. From C this gives us a seven note scale (in bold) of: C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B – that’s C, whole step to D, whole step to E, half step to F, whole step to G, whole step to A, whole step to B and a final half step to C for the scale repeating an octave higher. Find and pick these notes using the 6th or the 5th strings, or a mixture of the two. On the 6th string you’ll find yourself starting up at the 8th fret whilst the 5th string lets you start from the 3rd but don’t feel you have to play the scale notes in order – try mixing them up and see what happens.
Repeat the exercise for the key of G – that’s choosing G as your 1 note in the do re mi – and you find the scale of G Major is G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, and a final half step back to G to begin over again.
Scales tell you what notes work in a particular way with your chosen starting note or key note – there are different scales producing different tonal variations but for now concentrate on the basics here. Next time we’ll see how chords are constructed – using the knowledge you just gained here – and I’ll show you how easy it is to work out the chords for most of the songs you hear, plus you’ll learn to play barre chords and start writing your own songs. Not for nothing do I call my method a flying start!
Jez Rogers is a guitarist/singer performing both solo and with several groups. His Sea Company project promotes local music with training and advice on setting up bands sound systems for live performance. Jez writes from hard earned experience, his free newsletter for news, reviews, guitar tuition and advice on equipment for live performance and home recording is available now at http://sea-company.heart-shapedworld.com/index.html
(c) Jez Rogers 2009
Article Source: Learn to Play Guitar Fast – Get a Flying Start by Understanding Simple Theory