Guitar Lessons – Reading Tabs

Intro

You will need to know how to read music if you want to play music that other people have written or if you want to write your own music. There are two types of music you can learn, tablature or notation. GLI will have examples that have both types but you should know how to read both of them.

The downfall to tab is that guitarists don’t get to see chord shapes like they would in regular notation music (the black dots). Also, since only guitar and bass players use tabs it is hard for a guitar player that has only used tabs to communicate with someone like a piano or horn player that uses notation.

Reading TAB

The good thing about tablature is that it is really easy to read. There are six lines, one for each string and there are numbers placed on the lines to show which frets to push down to play the piece at hand. The bottom line represents the lowest string on the guitar. The top line represents the highest string. If the numbers are on the bottom string it means the note is played on the lowest string of the guitar. When the numbers are stacked on top of each other it means to play a chord. Sometimes you will see that there are X’s stacked on top of each other instead of numbers, this means to mute the strings so that the notes do not sound and then strum them.

Time Signatures

Music can be divided up into small sections called measures. The examples in GLI will have measure numbers above the examples in red lettering. Measures are a way to organize music and show time signature. Each measure contains a certain amount of beats according to the time signature. Knowing what time signature we are in will help us to play the music at hand.

Time signature tells us how many notes we can fit into a measure before we have to start another one. If we didn’t have measures and time signature musicians would have a hard time playing together without getting lost in the music. Time signature gives us a predictable route within the music. Tab doesn’t have a real way of showing the time signature that the music is in, but in GLI there will be notation examples along with the tab so you can peer at the notation to see the time signature. Time sigs are shown as a fraction, like 4/4. This is the most common type of time signature. The number on top shows how many notes are in a measure and the number on the bottom will show how long those notes are. In the case of 4/4 there are 4 quarter notes in each measure. You will not have to know a lot of time signatures for now. Just stick with 4/4 until later.

In tab there are a lot of different symbols to know. Aside from lines and numbers there may be slanted lines between two numbers, this means to slide your finger on the fret board between frets instead of just fretting the next note. You can slide down and up depending on what the arrangement of notes is. There are also curved lines between notes that mean to play two notes but only pick the first one, this is called slurring, or hammer ons and pull offs.

At first this should feel like a ton of information. There are still a lot of different symbols, these will get you started on playing though. Like any new hobby or skill you learn, everything you read at first will seem very confusing and complicated.

Good luck!

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David Coates has been playing guitar his whole life, and is presently a team member of a Free Guitar Lessons site. The site features free tools, lessons and resources for guitarists of all ages and stages. So if you are interested in learning to play guitar there will be an enormous variety of tip, tools and tutorials for you.

Finger Strength

If you practice often and for more than an hour at a time, you will be able to build up decent finger strength on your own. But if you’re looking to quickly build finger strength and stamina, there are an unlimited number of exercises you can do to speed up the process. Most finger exercises are difficult as well, which adds a second degree of practice. The following samples are exercises that sound horrifying but yield great results if used actively. The rationale of these exercises is you help your mental skills and your physical finger skills.

Scales

The best way to get quality practice time is to practice your scales up and down. Start with a simple major or minor scale and play it up and down without stopping for about 5 minutes. While you’re playing, focus on making clear, crisp notes and keeping both hands in time. Make sure that you also focus on the feel of the scale and the sound. Make sure your fingers are fretting the notes correctly, between metal frets. Keep your fingers down on the fretboard until you have to move them to a new string. When you move to a new string, don’t lift your fingers off the fretboard farther than you have to. This is a very common mistake in brass horn players and can happen to guitarists as well. Only move your fingers as far as you must so you can avoid wasting time moving your fingers farther than you have to. With ALL of these points in mind, let’s move on to the next exercise.

Staircase Exercise

This is a well-known John Petrucci riff that can take you a long way. This exercise can also be used on both acoustic and bass, maybe even more effectively because of their higher string gage. The shape used in the exercise is like a staircase that is inverted several times. Each time you play the shape once normally and once inverted, then you move it up one fret and continue. Make sure to keep your fingers on the fretboard as long as possible, and let the notes ring out the best you can. Keep the whole exercise flowing and moving. Start off slowly and pick up the tempo gradually as you feel more comfortable. Don’t focus on making the shape and then playing, but start playing the shape before all of your fret fingers are all the way down. It’s the best way to keep everything flowing smoothly. This exercise will greatly help your fingers’ accuracy and speed.

Chromatic Exercises

Another great exercise is the chromatic scale, or any chromatics for that matter. Running up and down the chromatic scale can help speed, accuracy and of course finger strength. Do this often to keep your fingers synched up. And of course, if you have some favorite guitar solos with long eighth- or sixteenth-note runs, you can practice them over and over as well.
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Finger Exercises For Playing The Guitar

If you exercise often and for more than an hour at a time, you will be able to build up decent finger strength on your own. But if you’re looking to have stamina as well as finger strength fast, there are an infinite number of exercises you can do to speed up the process. Most finger exercises are mentally challenging as well, which adds a second degree of practice. The following examples are exercises that sound horrible but yield great results if used actively. The purpose of these exercises is you help your mental and finger skills.

Scales

The best way to get quality practice time is to exercise your scales up and down. Start with a simple major or minor scale and play it up and down without stopping for about 5 minutes. While you’re playing, focus on making clear, crisp notes and keeping both hands in time. Make sure that you also focus on the feel of the scale and the sound. Make sure that our fingers are between metal frets. Keep your fingers down on the fretboard until you have to move them to a new string. When you move to a new string, don’t lift your fingers off the fretboard farther than you have to. This is a very common mistake in brass horn players and can happen to guitarists as well. Only move your fingers as far as you must so you can avoid wasting time moving your fingers farther than you have to. With ALL of these points in mind, let’s move on to the next exercise.

Staircase Exercise

This is a well-known John Petrucci riff that can take you a long way. This exercise can also be used on both acoustic and bass, maybe even more effectively because of their higher string gage. The shape used in the exercise is like a staircase that is inverted several times. Each time you play the shape once normally and once inverted, then you move it up one fret and continue. Make sure to keep your fingers on the fretboard as long as possible, and let the notes ring out the best you can. Keep the whole exercise flowing and moving. Start off slowly and pick up the speed gradually as you feel more comfortable. Don’t focus on making the shape and then playing, but start playing the shape before all of your fret fingers are all the way down. It’s the best way to keep everything flowing smoothly. This exercise will greatly help your fingers’ accuracy and speed.

Chromatic Exercises

Another great exercise is the chromatic scale, or any chromatics for that matter. Running up and down the chromatic scale can help speed, accuracy and of course finger strength. Do this often to keep your fingers synched up. And of course, if you have some favorite guitar solos with long eighth- or sixteenth-note runs, you can practice them over and over as well.

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Guitar Anatomy And Basic Fretting Of An Acoustic Guitar

Before you can start learning to play the guitar you have to know what all the parts are called and what they do. Just like learning to drive a car you don’t just hop in a car and go for it, you have to know what each pedal does and how to use the steering wheel.

The biggest part of the guitar is the body. The body holds most of the other components of the guitar. The body comes in a variety of shapes with the dreadnaught style being the most common. They also come in an assortment of wood types. The body holds the soundboard which helps produce the sound of the guitar. The sound hole is what lets the sound out of the guitar. The bridge is what holds one side of the strings to the guitar, is sets intonation and transfers the vibrations from the strings to the body. The bridge also sets the distance between the strings. The piece that directly touches the strings is called the saddle.

The neck of the guitar is the long piece of wood that extends from the body and holds the frets and fretboard. The neck hold the fretboard which also hold the frets and fret markers. Frets are the metal pieces that are across the fretboard and are used to change the length and pitch of the strings. Fret markers are inlayed into the fretboard for easy reference to the frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12. At the end of the neck is the headstock.

The headstock holds the nut. The nut holds the distance between the strings at the other end of the guitar and also acts as a zero fret. The headstock also holds the tuning pegs. The tuning pegs and post hold the strings in place on the headstock end of the guitar. They are also used to keep the guitar in tune. By turning the tuning pegs you can tune each individual string of the guitar for optimal playing.

To fret notes take your finger of choice, probably the index and push a string down so that it rests against a fret. If you push to hard the string may bend down and out of tune. If you don’t push hard enough the string may buzz. Take a few minutes to practice this. Make sure you are comfortable with playing and fretting notes before you go onto any other lessons. Try fretting with all of your fingers, even the pinky. Also make sure you are comfortable with plucking the strings with your other hand. As you practice you will be able to memorize were the strings and frets are so you don’t have to look back and forth all the time.

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