Playing guitar is easy. It is the easiest
instrument I've learned and the most fun to play.
Sections
Tablature
Tuning
Chords
Scales
The Power Chord
bar chords
misc
Advice
Go Tab Something
Tablature
Okay, so for those who are completely new to tablature;
You got six lines;
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
Which represent the 6 strings on a standard guitar,
EADGBE. For those who don't know the notes of the strings then
MEMORIZE them (j/k, although it's not that hard. I know them because
I used to tab songs from sheet music during my 9th grade english class)
so, it goes like this;
E-------------6 string
B-------------5 string
G-------------4 string
D-------------3 string
A-------------2 string
E-------------1 string
The 1st string is the thickest and the 6th is the thinnest. Other
ways to remember this;
Holding the [right handed] guitar, looking down at the guitar,
the string closest to you is the first string
The string that breaks most often is the 6th string (or
all except the first string in my case)
Lowest note= first string. Highest note= Sixth string.
Now, what do the numbers mean?
The numbers mean the fret to put you
finger on.
If you don't know what a fret is, then you should go learn
the basic terminology of a guitar before playing tabs...
Anyways, there are usually 23 frets on a guitar (although
my friends fender only has 22) and each fret represents a half step
up from the note before.
So A----5---- means to play 5 on the A (second) string
if there is a 0, that means to play it open.
Key because my tabs are confusing enough
b- bend. I don't say how much to bend, because
you should just bend it to as much as you feel, because
that's what makes bending notes so fun.
s- slide. There are quite a few scenarios for this. For
the following I will use the note "5 on the A string" or D.
----s5---- means slide to 5.
----3-s5--- means play a 3 and then slide to 5
----3s5---- means put your finger on 3,
and as soon as you play the note, slide up to 5.
----5s----- means to play a 5 and then slide down
h- hammer
p- pull
TUNING
Tuning is rather easy, as long as you got one string
that is in tune.
If either E is in tune, you can tune the second
E to the same note (although it will be in a different pitch)
-0-
---
---
---
---
-0-
To tune the rest of the guitar;
before going into this; I will explain the
reason you can do this What is a 5 on the first string?
Well, 5 half steps from E.... (E,E# (which=F),F#,G,G#,A)...it
is the note A. What else is A?... 0 on A of course. So,
to tune the A string, play a 5 on E.
----------0--
--------0-5-- a 5 on B is an 0 on E
------0-4---- a 4 on G is an 0 on B
----0-5------ a 5 on D is an 0 on G
-0--5-------- a 5 on A is an 0 on D
-5----------- a 5 on E is an 0 on A
Notice the pattern? Notice the little change
when trying to tune the B? Why is it a 4 instead of a 5?
No one really knows why...(actually, someone probably does,
but for the time being) I think it's so the first string
and the sixth string are both the same note.
CHORDS
People new to guitar will probably not know chords. I didn't
learn chords until about a year into guitar, but it's best learned
as more of a add on process, as in you should learn chords
only necessary to songs. Take, for example, the song Eyes on Me.
C-Am-F-G, C-Em-F-G. Very, very basic and very good to learn.
The major chords that everyone should eventually know are
E,A,F,D,G and the C chord. So I'll list them now;
----0--2--3--0-1-
-1--2--3--3--0-1-
-0--2--2--0--1-2-
-2--2--0--0--2-3-
-3--0-----2--2-3-
----------3--0-1-
C A D G E F
A Minor is used more then A, so
----
-1--
-2--
-2--
-0--
----
is useful to learn.
Don't bother learning all the chords at once, or even
focusing on chords. Just learn them as you learn songs. The song
that actually got me into chords was Minority by Green Day. That's
just C-G-F-G C-G-F-C. Anyways, if you want to learn more, keep going.
SCALES
the most useful thing to know are scales. All songs can be
broken down into chords, and all chords come from scales.
It's true. For example, a C7 chord is nothing more then a C
chord with the 7th note of the scale added on.
So, the basic formula for a scale is this;
------------------------------------------------------------------(x-1)-x--
-----------------------------------------------------------x-(x+2)---------
-----------------------------------------(x-1)-(x+1)-(x+2)-----------------
-----------------------(x-1)-(x+1)-(x+2)-----------------------------------
---------(x-1)-x-(x+2)-----------------------------------------------------
-x-(x+2)-------------------------------------------------------------------
So, and example is, this scale.
----------------------------2-3----
------------------------3-5--------
-----------------2-4-5-------------
-----------2-4-5-------------------
-----2-3-5-------------------------
-3-5-------------------------------
But what's the name? Well...3 on E...that's 3
half steps from E, making it (E, F, F#, G) G.
But that's a MAJOR chord. Minor chords are like this;
------------------
------------------
------------------
-------------3-5--
-------3-5-6------
-3-5-6------------
I forgot the rest, but that's all you need to know. It's
the root of all 'sad songs' or songs of angst. Seriously.
There are many other types of scales that I won't go into,
although here's another useful one;
----------------------3-5-
------------------4-6-----
--------------3-5---------
----------3-5-------------
------3-5-----------------
--3-5---------------------
Which is basic blues.
Practicing scales is the best way to get fast, and
since most solos are based on a certain scale, it makes playing
solos natural.
THE POWER CHORD
Power chords are either chords that people who can't play
normal chords play, or they are chords to be played with
distortion. Lets face the facts; Playing a full F chord or
E chord would sound stupid with heavy distortion.
The basic formula for a power chord is;
-------
-------
-------
-------
-(x+2)-
-x-----
And it works for all strings except for G and B;
---------
--(x+3)--
--x------
---------
---------
---------
And why does this always work? Because, whenever
you play a note, the note on string up and two frets up
is always in the scale. And if a note and X number of
notes of the same scale are played, you get a chord. Simple.
Here are some examples;
--------------11-----
------------9--9-----
----------9-6--------
--------5-7----------
--7-9-3-3------------
--5-7-1--------------
POWER CHORDS MIXED WITH CHORDS (AKA: BAR CHORDS)
It is possible to take any note anywhere
on the guitar and play the chord. Except for
maybe on the last 2 or 3 strings, but only because
there are not enough strings to really give it that
sound. But on the first or second string alone,
46 possible chords can be played... how?
Imagine playing an F (1-3-3-2-1-1-) now just
keep your fingers where they are and slide your hand up
to any fret. You got another chord. Example;
e-1--2--3-
b-1--2--3-
g-2--3--4-
d-3--4--5-
a-3--4--5-
e-1--2--3-
For those who don't know how to play an F chord here's how
most people play it (and although I discourage teaching specific
fingers for chords, I'll do it here)
First finger, put in over the first fret of all strings. This is
called a BAR CHORD.
Second finger- 2 on G.
Third finger- 3 on A
Fourth finger- 3 on D
Now, to do a chord on for a note on the A string, it goes like this;
e-1--2--2--
b-3--4--5--
g-3--4--5--
d-3--4--5--
a-1--2--3--
e----------
What are the differences? Well, note the 3, 4 or 5 on B. Normally,
it goes (x)-(x+2)-(x+2)-(x-1) but now it's (x)-(x+2)-(x+2)-(x+2). Why?
That damn B string. But what if you try to play it normal? For example
--------------------
--2--------------3--
--3--instead-of--3--
--3--------------3--
--1--------------1--
--------------------
You get a minor chord. This is a common chord, played it many, many
songs.
MISC
After playing guitar for quite a bit of time and
playing a variety of songs ranging from rock to blues to
punk to classical, I've found many common chord changes,
many common chords, and the not so common (quite unique)
chords. Examples;
--2-----3---
--3--8--1---
--2--7--2---
--4--6--2---
--2--7--0---
-----0------
Example; Common chord changes of punk
---------- --------- ---------- ---------- --------
---------- --------- ---------- ---------- --------
---------- --------- ---------- ---------- --------
--7------- -7------- ---8-10--- --7-9----- --------
--5-7-9-5- -5-9-7-5- -5-6--8-8- --5-7-7-5- -7-5-4--
----5-7-3- ---7-5-3- -3------6- ------5-3- -5-5-5--
Plus many more
ADVICE
Anyways, my best advice is not to go out and try
to learn everything, but to learn stuff as it comes at you.
Especially, play what you are interested in. Is there
a certain song you would love to play? Well, learn it.
Learn the song, not the chords in the song. By doing this
you indirectly learn the chords, but it doesn't seem so
"something you gotta study" thing.
A lot of things I know about guitar were learned over time.
I don't like the standard guitar teachers because they would
probably teach you hammer and pulls, then scales, then chords,
then songs. I say the first step is to learn a song, and almost
all songs are easy to play, it's just the speed that throws some people off.
GO TAB SOMETHING
Tabbing is a skill that will greatly increase your
own skills. Why? It's the playing by ear. I've tabbed around
40 anime songs and even more punk/ other songs. After
tabbing songs, you start to recognize common chord changes.
Written by SJ (kirei_008@hotmail.com)
AKA The guy who thinks he's good at guitar. 7/17/2002. http://angelfire.com/anime3/chd