Guitar Lesson: How To Use The A-minor Pentatonic Scale In The First Position
By Peter Edvinsson
What is a 
pentatonic scale?
A common major scale consists of seven notes. A C-major scale for example have these seven notes:
C D E F G A B
The note after the B is a C and the scale starts over again in another octave. A pentatonic scale consists of five notes. In a pentatonic C-major scale the notes F and B are omitted. This makes for less collisions between scale notes and notes in the chords used. In other words, you can use a pentatonic scale together with more chords.
The A-minor pentatonic scale
This scale consists of the five notes A C D E G
If we play these notes in the first position on the guitar you will have the following sequence of notes:
05 35 04 24 03 23
The first number tells you which fret to press down. The second number indicates which string to play. 05 means that you play the open fifth string, that is, without pressing down a fret. The first string is the bottom string when you play.
We will now play the A-minor pentatonic scale in the first position of your guitar. The whole scale from the sixth to the first string will look like this:
06 36 05 35 04 24 03 23 12 31 01 31
In this scale sequence you will find the note A in two positions. That is, on the fifth open string and on the second fret third string.
What can you do with this scale?
1. First I suggest that you commit this scale to memory and that you practice playing it from the lowest note to the highest and then back again.
2. Use correct left hand fingerings. That means that you play the notes on the first fret with your left hand index finger, the notes on the second fret with your middle finger and the notes on the third fret with your ring finger.
3. Play small sequences using only a few of the notes in the scale. For example:
05 35 04 24 04 35 05 or:
23 12 32 01 31 12 23
4. Work on creating melodies using the scale. This will help you understand where the notes you hear in your head are on the fretboard and also make your pentatonic improvisations more musical and enjoyable for yourself and your prospective audience.
5. Improvise together with chords. As you work with the A-minor 
pentatonic scale you can use chords to make the guitar solo improvisations more interesting. Here are two chords that you can use together with the notes:
A-minor: 05 24 23 12 01
D-major: 04 23 32 21
As your probably remember, the first number indicates the fret and the second number the string to play. When you play the chords you can strum them from the lowest sounding string to the first string. For example, strum the A-minor chord and improvise a few notes using the pentatonic scale. Then play the D-major chord and continue to improvise. Play the A-minor chord again and continue in this way.
Improvisation is a form of composition and the musical value depends on how well we know where the notes are on the fret, how focused we are in the creative process, how well we have mastered patterns and licks that are building blocks that can be used to create music, our feelings and many more elements in the musical process.
Peter Edvinsson is a guitarist, composer and music teacher. He invites you to download your free guitar tablature sheet music at http://www.capotastomusic.com
Guitar Care And Maintenance Tips
By Kevin Sinclair
caring for your guitar is by cleaning it on a regular basis. And as a guitarist, it is your solemn duty to ensure that your guitar it maintained to the best of conditions, in order for it to deliver a quality sound. No matter whether you are a professional guitarist or a beginner, it is essential to undertake the care and maintenance of your guitar.
Your guitar will become dirty with sweat and dust just by playing it. Using a soft cloth is the best way to clean it. Special cloths can be purchased in music stores, or you can simply use an old t-shirt, providing that it is 100% cotton. It is imperative however, that if the t-shirt contains a logo, you firstly remove it, as this can cause damage by scratching the surface of your guitar.
If the surface of your guitar is French polished or lacquered, then cleaning items such as paper towels must be avoided at all times, as these will also cause scratches. If you feel that it is necessary to clean your guitar with paper towels, then it is advised to purchase non-woven shop towels which are available on a roll. These do cost a little more, but they will not scratch your guitar.
You will find that dust accumulates under the strings. Therefore particular attention should be paid to this area of your guitar. Do not be hesitant in inserting a cloth behind the strings and giving it a good rub, at the same time as you are wiping the entire body of your guitar. If you pay close attention to cleaning the strings of your guitar, then their life will be extended. In addition to a normal cleaning routine, it is advised that after every jam session with your guitar, you give the strings a good wipe by holding them firmly through a cloth and rubbing the cloth up and down their length. This will remove any dust, grease from your fingers, perspiration build-up, and skin cells etc.
If you find that you are having difficulty in removing finger prints on your guitar, then you can blow a gentle breath, just as you would with spectacles, to create a little moisture. You will then find that by rubbing your guitar vigorously that the finger prints will be removed. It is also possible to use a slightly moistened soft cloth and a small amount of mild detergent. However, do not overdo it. It is essential that you avoid at all times, getting moisture into the small spaces on the guitar surface. However you choose to remove finger prints from your guitar, it is advised to rub it well afterwards with a soft dry cloth. It is also recommended to change to a clean cloth on a regular basis, to avoid rubbing the dirt from an old cloth back on to the guitar.
There are also various types of commercial guitar cleaners available to purchase, most of which are good products. When purchasing such products, it is essential that you primarily read all instructions on the bottle carefully, and use a water-based product for water-soluble dirt. There are creamy polishes available on the market, but they do have a tendency to be slightly abrasive. Therefore, if your guitar has a matte finish, then it is recommended not to use a cream product.
If your guitar should have a sticky residue from tape or stickers on it, then this will need to be removed by using mineral spirits. It is also possible to use lighter fluid, which is otherwise known as naphtha. Neither of these products will cause any harm to the finish of your guitar. However, you will need to remove the solvent with a damp cloth to buff your guitar clean after removing tape or stickers. Ensure that you are careful when cleaning sticky residue off your guitar, as you do not want to spread it around the rest of the guitar.
The fingerboard of a guitar, along with the strings and the fret wire are subject to acidity in the player’s hands. Therefore it is advised to completely remove the strings and rub up and down the fingerboard with a piece of extra fine grade steel wool. When rubbing the frets, it is essential that you take care not to catch the ends of them with the steel wool. The steel wool does not need to be wet before undertaking this process. It is after a few motions that the frets should be shiny. Obviously this depends on how dirty the fingerboard initially is. If the surface of the fingerboard is not cracked or damaged, then you can apply a little lemon oil to prevent the wood from cracking, which is caused by temperature and humidity.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development. http://www.musicianhome.com/
Basic Positioning Of The Fingers For Guitar Notes
By Kevin Sinclair
Notes are very different to chords. When striking a note, only one single tone is produced from one string. When playing chords, then three or more notes are generally used in order to produce the tone. When a piano is played, only one key is pressed to produce a note. When a guitar is being played, then you need to push down one string onto the fret. Assuming that your guitar is tuned correctly, you can pick the low E-string without fretting, which will result in your playing the E note.
The frets of your guitar produce different notes, such as:
- Using the first fret with the E-string, will produce an F note,
- An F# (#means sharp) is produced when using the second fret,
- When using the third fret on the E-string, you will produce a G note, and
- By using the fourth fret you will produce a G#.
This is continued right up to the B note. It is important to note that there is no B# or E#.
Each specific note can be produced on a guitar in many different ways. It is always advised to learn how to read the tablature format, or guitar tab. The strings of the guitar are resembled in the tablature format, making it easier to learn and read. The guitar tab will point out to you which fingers should be used on which frets.
It is essential to begin with your thumb in order to hold your fretting hand in the correct position for playing notes. You should place the ball of your thumb flatly on the back of the guitar neck, as if you were attempting to create a thumbprint on it. Your other four fingers should then be curled around up and over the strings, ensuring that you are touching the top string lightly, which is the thickest string. Position them comfortably without allowing them to brush against the bottom string, which is the thinnest string. The position of your thumb can now be changed to make it more comfortable.
It is important that you do not place your fingers directly onto the fret when you are fretting. In order to push the string against the fret, you need to use your fingertip. However, ensure that you keep your finger slightly to the topside of the fret. This can be practiced by holding all four fingers on the topside and above the first four frets on the top string, otherwise known as the sixth string. The sixth string should then be picked, then your index finger should be lowered onto the fret, remembering to keep your finger just above it. Pick the string again and you will notice a clear difference in the sound that is produced. The other fingers should be used in a similar manner. You may find it difficult initially, but remember that with time, it will become easier.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development. http://www.musicianhome.com
Do Guitar Players Muscles Really Have a Memory?
By Daniel Lehrman
muscle memory and how does it work?
Is it the most challenging thing about learning to play the guitar and going from beginner to expert? Probably yes at least in the beginning.
In the world of guitars and related equipment, part of that learning process means memorizing how to use fingers, picks, and even pedals in a coordinated way to play a guitar and produce desirable sounds.
How does this memorizing phenomenon take place?
At first, you need to learn to concentrate or focus with great intensity on the subject, in this case music in order to make your fingers, hands, arms (and feet) move in just the right way.
What you’re learning is a precision oriented skill, that is, how to make the guitar perform the task (make music) properly.
Scientists have discovered that there are a large number of internal brain regions which work together with the input and output brain sensors that make the mental images of the music you see in your minds eye.
Using these images, we learn to interpret the input signals, process them, and turn them into output responses of a set pattern such as the study of musical patterns. The twelve bar blues is an excellent example.
After a while, the seeing-thinking-doing disciplines gradually turns into seeing and doing because your muscles start learning how to know and remember just what you are doing, so you actually have less thinking to do as your muscles start to do these patterns instinctively.
What is the goal? Increase your speed, and how to perform the skills drills more carefully and accurately. When you start to think less and do more by instinct you start to develop muscle memory.
Of course, during the drills and practice sessions, your muscles aren’t really memorizing anything (all memories are stored in your brain).
Instead, what you see with your eyes is interpreted instantly by your brain in the form of nerve signals and sends the signals to your muscles to make your fingers and hands move instinctively.
As I mentioned earlier, by making the same movements over and over in response to the same image/s such as your music lesson, the nerve to muscle connections gradually start to remember the pattern, that is, the transmission of the signals becomes more efficient and easier, and this is how the thinking part in the seeing-thinking-doing is gradually replaced by seeing and doing or by muscle memory.
And this is exactly what takes place when people spend time practicing certain exercises. At first, their body language tells you if the pupil is concentrating carefully while working hard to watch and learn.
Believe this, when you come back later (the next day) the same person is more relaxed and making the same precise movements, but now much faster! A miracle? No, hard work!
Note: As elementary as the concept of muscle memory seems to be, any skill requires development of muscle memory, surgeons have great muscle memory.
You would not want a surgeon that had never practiced an operation or procedure before cutting you open for the first time, would you? Hopefully that surgeon had a lot of practice in medical school first.
In the world of playing the guitar, muscle memory is especially important because it’s the combination of precision and speed that make players truly different. And muscle memory also let’s you turn your attention to the bigger picture, to go to the next step in the teachings being learned by eliminating a large part of the mental load.
But there’s a major prerequisite to learning the new skills and acquiring muscle memory, you must be practicing regularly, diligently and properly.
This means lots of observation and input right from the start from your teacher (an expert and your guidance), since beginners don’t always know enough about doing things properly and notice and correct their own mistakes! (If they could, they’d be experts.) What is worse is not practicing properly, you’ll learn to do things wrong and eventually you’ll need to forget those bad habits.
That’s why we say lots of practice produces the fastest way to move towards great playing ability. And this is where players who put the most time into practicing the proper techniques and scales over and over, outperform, outplay and continue to make gratifying gains in their playing skills over people who are not as aggressive about their discipline to become a top notch player.
Guitar Players Center is a site committed to distinguishing itself from the pack by providing our readers with real world unbiased, no holds barred guitar and gear reviews, articles and videos. For more information visit http://www.guitarplayerscenter.com/
A Guide To Reading Sheet Music
By Kevin Sinclair
To read basic sheet music is not difficult once you have mastered the odd and peculiar looking notes and symbols and understand exactly what they mean.
Did you notice that the notes are written on a set of five horizontal lines? This is known as a staff. The vertical lines placed at intervals on the staff are used to divide the music into measures. Each measure contains a number of notes and the name of the note is determined by the horizontal line it is placed on or between. So, let’s start at the bottom line and work upwards on each line. On the treble clef these notes are E, G, B, D, F., easily remembered by the little rhyme, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor. The notes located in the spaces between the lines are F, A, C, E which no doubt you have spotted, spells the word face.
On the left hand side at the beginning of the music there is a clef sign, either a treble clef where the notes are usually higher in tone or bass clef where the notes are lower. The clef dictates which octave the notes are to be played in. Alongside the clef you fill find two numbers written as a fraction and this is the time signature of the music and how many beats should be played to the measure.
The sharps or flats of the key the music is played in are shown in the key signature which is also near to the clef or sometimes, if it is just an odd note here or there to be played sharp or flat the symbol will be alongside the note itself. A b sign means a flat while a # symbol means a sharp and both of these are written against the notes required to be changed.
The notes are best described as such -
* A hollow oval called a semibreve. This is a whole note lasting for four beats or a measure.
* A hollow oval with a stem is called a minim. This note takes two beats.
* A solid oval with a stem is called a crotchet and lasts for one beat.
* A black oval with a stem and flag is known as a quaver and last for half a beat.
* A black oval with a stem and two flags is called a semi-quaver and takes just a quarter of a beat.
A note followed by a dot increases the value of the beat for that note.
Each of the above mentioned notes have a matching rest.
* The semibreve rest looks is a small black oblong sitting on top of a line.
* The minim rest is identical but sits under the line.
* The crochet rest looks is the sign of a curly vertical line.
* The quaver rest looks like a vertically slanted line with a black circle on the top left with a loop.
* The semi-quaver rest is similar to the quaver rest but with two black circles attached.
Crochets, quavers and semi-quavers are frequently attached to each other by one or two lines going across the stems. The stems of the notes can point upwards or downwards depending on whether they are above or below the center line on the staff. If the notes are joined by a curved line then only the first note is picked out but the count of the other notes is included.
These are just some guidelines for the beginner but there are many opportunities available on the Internet and in books showing numerous diagrams on how to read sheet music whatever your chosen instrument.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development. http://www.musicianhome.com
