Posts Tagged ‘Guitar Music’

Guitar music has a musical notation all its own. Rather than the standard musical notation that other musicians use, guitar players use a more simple and operational type of musical notation, called a tab. The great thing about using acoustic guitar tabs is that you can learn to play guitar without having to learn to read music in the traditional sense. Tabs, or tablatures, are used for many stringed instruments. In this article we keep looking at how to read guitar 2 as we previously discussed in Part 1.

Let’s take the example of a tab for a group of notes; in this example we will start with the “E”, the lowest string and we will go all the way through to “G”, the highest one.

E———————————————————————————0—-1—-3————-

B—————————————————————0—-1—-3——————————-

G—————————————————-0—-2———————————————–

D———————————–0—-2—-3———————————————————–

A——————-0—-2—-3—————————————————————————

E—-0—-1—-3——————————————————————————————-

Let’s have a look at the same tab but instead of having numbers I actually put the names of the notes.

E———————————————————————————E—-F—-G————-

B—————————————————————B—-C—-D——————————

G—————————————————-G—-A———————————————–

D———————————–D—-E—-F———————————————————–

A——————-A—-B—-C—————————————————————————

E—-E—-F—-G——————————————————————————————-

You can now read simple notes in a guitar tab. Let’s go a step further and see if you can tab out a chord. A chord is a combination of 3 notes played at the same time.
The tab rules stay the same aside from the numbers that will be added up. Let’s have a look at a “D” chord tab.

E——2————————-

B——3————————

G——2————————

D——0————————

A——X————————

E——X————————-

In the example we just used, you would play the “D” chord once. Every time you read the chord on your tab, play it. To give you an example, a tab that would tell you to strum the chord 3 times would be similar to this:

E——2—–2——2——————-

B——3—–3——3——————-

G——2—–2—–2——————-

D——0—–0—–0——————-

A——X—–X—–X——————-

E——X—–X—–X——————-

The example above shows us that a very quick way to learn how to play acoustic guitar fast. The only downside is that by only reading tabs, you do not learn the note durations. Tabs are not supposed to replace musical sheets but are just indicators as to where and how to play a chord on the guitar.

Should you want to learn a song using tabs, here is what you should do:

First, pick one of your favorite songs and get a feel of how it should be put on paper. Once you have done that you can try to replicate the song using the music language, which is the tab code.

The second important thing is to use written music that has the tab right under the music sheet. That way, not only can you read the music from the sheet but you can also see the position on the guitar with the tab.

Blues guitar chords are not really different than the chords you would find in many styles of music. What make blues music and blues guitar different is the fact that most of the chords are of the dominant family instead of the major or the minor family. In this article I’ll explain the difference and point you in the right direction to learn more blues guitar chords and spice up your blues guitar playing.

All chords in music are divided into 3 families: major, minor, and dominant. Altered chords usually get lumped in with the dominant chords also. All chords are built from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the major scale. As the chords get bigger, we can start to add in the 7th tone as well, and even notes from the second octave of the scale. This would mean the 9th is really the same as the 2nd, the 11th is the same as the 4th, and the 13th is the same as the 6th. An interesting side note is that a 13th chord actually has every single note in the scale.

Triads are the building blocks of all chords. A triad is a chord that contains the requisite 1st, 3rd, and 5th and nothing more. The major triad has the 1st 3rd and 5th with no alterations. A minor triad has the 1st and 5th, but the 3rd note is flatted. To flat a note means to lower it by 1/2 step. B would become Bb for example, and C# would become a C.

The major chord family is notated by the word “major” in the name of the chord. A major7th chord has a 1,3,5, and 7 from the major scale. A major9 chord has a 1,3,5,7, and 9 (same as 2 but up an octave.) Major11 adds an 11, and major13 adds the 13 on top of that.

The minor chord family has the word “minor” in the name of the chord. These chords all have 1,b3, and 5 from the minor triad. A minor7 chord has a flatted 7 as well. Minor9 adds a 9 (not flatted), minor11 adds an 11, and minor13 adds a 13. Only the 3rd and 7th are flatted in all cases.

The dominant family is the most common in blues music. The dominant family is the default case. So C7 is really C dominant 7 even though it’s usually not notated that way. These chords all have a 1,3,5, and a flatted 7th. The 9th chord adds a 9, the 11th an 11, and the 13th a 13. In all cases the 7th is the only flatted note.

The most common blues guitar chords are the 7th chord and the 9th chord. The 7th can be used for hundreds of songs. The 9th is a great substitution for the 7th chord and can add quite a bit of spice to your playing. The 11th and 13th chords can take a bit of getting used to.

Obviously, on the guitar, we have to leave some notes out to play an 11th or 13th chord because we can’t play 6 or 7 notes at a time. Even most common chords that have all 6 strings have some duplicate notes to make them playable. Getting used to playing all of the 7th chord and 9th chord shapes will get you well on your way to great blues guitar playing.

You’ve heard a lot about rhythm and blues, but it’s the bass that makes you want to dance. It’s the thumpa-thumpa that gets your groove on, your head bobbing up and down and your feet a-tapping. Indeed, it’s all about the bass – the lower notes that give guitar music the texture and body. In a band, it’s the bass player that closes the gap between tempo and harmony. That’s from endless years of practice perfecting the craft, which beginners can learn from bass guitar chords.

Hearing bass?

If you have heard the songs of Metallica (who hasn’t?), you’ve definitely heard the heavy tones that prop up all throughout, giving them that distinctive sound that only Metallica can offer. Finally, bassists have entered the front door, and are no longer asked to pass through the kitchen door. Playing bass guitar chords have given bassists the tickets to the front door.

It is easy to learn to play the bass guitar, but mind you, the bass guitar is very difficult to tame. If you are dreaming to hold a bass guitar onstage, then practice playing a note at a time. You will be surprised to discover that before you can pluck a note, you will have to master some hand exercises to speed up your guitar playing.

What’s the big deal about bass guitars and bass guitar chords?

A bass guitar is unlike a regular guitar. It has four strings and is an octave lower than the bass strings of a regular guitar. The bass guitar has a longer neck for longer scales. Most bass guitars have hollow bodies, and the sound that is bounced back has a different resonance and tone. The bass sound provides the low-pitched bus runs and bass-line typical in different music genres – jazz, fusion, rock, and funk. A sturdy guitar can take all the punishment, as well as give the best bass bellow.

Chords refer to the collection of tones when played together simultaneously. This can refer to any type of fretted string instrument. There is no fuss about bass guitar chords, really. They are plainly guitar chords played on the bass.

Bass guitar chords always have 12 keys. It must show the major, minor, diminished, minor 6th, and major 7th. The suspended 4th added 7th must also be learned. Bass guitar chords also have notations – names and locations of the notes on the frets and strings, as well as the enharmonic equivalents and the positions of these notes within the bass clef. As you learn the different music styles from bass guitar chords, you will soon be going into bass runs, low pitched bass lines, and soloing.

Raring to play the bass guitar?

If you think the bass guitar is yours to tame, you have to get a good instrument to practice the bass guitar chords with. Check out the different bass guitars to suit your needs. Some of the most popular ones used by professionals are the ESP B50, Squier Standard Jazz, Yamaha RBX260, Epiphone Accu Bass, and Ibanez GSR200. If you are thinking about a good investment, get a Tobias Growler 5-string electric bass guitar. This is expensive but will withstand all that picking, plucking, and slapping. If you see yourself playing the bass long term, then this is the guitar for you.

One can say that behind the great bass guitar chord playing, is also a great bass guitar, and player. The formula also calls for dedication, determination, and enthusiasm. Without these, neither great bass guitar nor bass guitar chord can be played. Get lessons, a songbook, and download bass guitar chords from several guitar sites online. Now, let’s hear some bass.

Knowing how to read guitar notes is the basic need for anyone wanting to play songs on the guitar. It is very frustrating to be gazing at these dots on the page knowing that they are the key to making guitar music. If you have ever looked at the musical notes in a book you have possibly seen two sets of parallel lines with the notes on them. They are called leger lines. The top lines are the treble or high notes, the bottom lines are the home for the bass notes. In guitar music only the top set of lines is used.

If you want to learn how to read guitar notes the three things you will need are a few minutes every day, a diagram showing the notes on the guitar fretboard and a basic music theory primer. The fretboard diagram and the music theory book can be bought at a music store or online. The other alternative is to make use of the many free guitar lesson sites where you can download or bookmark your guitar note pages. The few minutes a day are often very hard to find but it just takes a little effort to step outside your daily routine and see where you can make time to learn the guitar notes.

The simplest way to start making sense of the guitar notes is to learn the names of the notes of the open guitar strings. If you hold the guitar in playing position, the string closest to the top side of the guitar – the thickest of the six strings – is the E. The next string, the fifth is the A string, the fourth is D, the third G, the second is B, and the thinnest string is E again, only one octave higher than the E on the sixth string.

If you look at your guitar fretboard diagram you will be able to see how the notes progress in steps. You will see that some notes have a whole fret between them. Your music theory book will tell you that these spaces hold notes called “sharps” and “flats”, collectively known as “accidentals”. The note at the first fret on the sixth string is F, the next note is not G as you might expect, but F sharp which is written as F#. The note can also be called G flat or Gb, because it is the note below G as well as being the note above F. You will see that there are no accidentals between the notes B and C or E and F.

So you can see the notes progressing in scales along each individual string and also between strings. For instance you can play the notes on the sixth string and instead of going from the G at the third fret to A on the fifth fret, you can go from the G at the third fret to the A played on the open fifth string. As you learn to play the guitar you will hear the difference in sound you can get from playing the same notes at different places on the guitar.

Learning where the guitar notes are on the fretboard will best be done while you are holding the guitar and playing the notes you can see on your fretboard chart. Learning which notes are which on the sheet music is a different kind of learning. If you find the notes of the guitar on the ledger lines, you will see that each note looks different according to its position on the fretboard. The way to begin to learn which note is which is by using the word F A C E to remember the notes in the spaces between the leger lines and the phrase Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit to remember the notes E G B D F which are drawn directly on the lines. If the prospect of learning the guitar notes in this way gives you a feeling of rising panic, remember to take it in only in small steps. It really is not rocket science. Once you have gotten over the feeling of unfamiliarity, the little dots on the page will begin to have meaning.

Many guitarists are self taught, with no idea how to read actual sheet music. Instead, guitar tablature (tabs) break songs down into which notes are played on which strings. This makes it possible for even players who cannot read traditional sheet music to enjoy playing guitar. This process allows guitarists, many who cannot read music, to share songs with one another and learn them quickly and easily. It’s relatively simple to learn how to read guitar tabs, and this article will teach you how.

Standard notation uses five horizontal lines to indicate what degree of pitch each note takes on. Each note has a shape that indicates how long to hold it. This system developed to suit the needs of vocal singers and some keyboard instruments. Tablature, however has been around as long as plucked stringed instruments. The English musicians in Elizabethan times used it to notate their lute songs. So for centuries, tablature has actually been the preferred method of notation for guitarists worldwide.

Unlike standard notation’s five lines, guitar tablature consists of six horizontal lines, each representing a string of the guitar. This makes learning how to read guitar tabs a primarily visual skill, and eliminates the need to read sheet music. The lowest line of tablature represents the low E, or fattest, string on the guitar. An easy way to think about it is that the lowest line is the lowest pitched string. Another way to imagine this configuration is as if you were looking down at your guitar from the playing position.

The next thing to consider is all of those numbers. Each number represents a fret on the guitar. It’s really very simple. A number 2 written on the lowest line means that you are to play the lowest string on the second fret, or F#. This is easy enough to comprehend, if not a little awkward to get used to.

Often with guitar music, you won’t be playing single note lines, but rather chords and double stops (two notes at once, harmonizing). Learning how to read guitar tabs for chords is slightly different. Chords are written just like they’re played- with the notes stacked on top of one another. Numbers written vertically across the six lines mean to play all of them together as one, usually in a strumming fashion.

Standard notation often falls short when writing for guitar. This is because the guitar has not historically been a major instrument in Western classical music. Major force in popular music, yes, but not as popular as the bowed strings or woodwinds for orchestras. Because of this, standard notation has evolved to suit the needs of the masses rather than specific instruments. Of course, there are symbols that are instrument specific, but since the guitar uses so many different techniques, standard notation often falls flat.

With a little practice, you’ll learn how to read guitar tabs in no time. Once you do, a whole new world of music will open up to you.