LESSON #1

The Open Strings

So to begin. The first thing I should explain is the way that the guitar is set out and the way this is translated in these lessons.

If you turn your guitar around so that the strings are facing you, you will see that the thickest string is to the left of you (if you play right handed), this is called the BOTTOM string. This can be a little confusing at first since, when you play the guitar, it seems like it should be the top string because it is the highest one, physically. It is called the BOTTOM string because the sound that it makes when you pluck it, is LOWER than any other string.

The string on the far right (the thinnest one) is called the TOP string. Don't worry if this is confusing to begin with. Everybody comes to terms with the idea of viewing the guitar this way round even though it seems to be the opposite at first.

OK. If you were to pluck the BOTTOM string, (you are in tune aren't you) the note that you play is called E. The next string up is called A, then D, then G, then B, then E. Yep, the top string sounds the same note as the bottom string, the difference being that one is referred to as the bottom E and the other as the top E, can you guess which is which?

To aid you in memorising the notes of the open strings, try making up a little mnemonic to help you.
How about... Every Alcoholic Dies Giggling But Early
Probably not, so try to make one up yourself. The funnier the better as it aids in memorizing it.

The reason I am telling you this is to, in technical speak, set out our terms of reference. If I were to say to you, "play an E Chord followed by a C Maj7," you would have no idea what I was talking about, at this stage. However if I were to say to you "play a D string and then an A string," you would now know exactly what I was talking about.

 

OK, onward and upward. We're going to learn our first tune. At this stage it is important that it is a tune that we ALL recognise. Personally I would choose Hedonism (Skunk Anansi), Torn (Natalie Imbruglia) or something along these lines, but then a lot of heavy metal fans, or classical fans or whatever, wouldn't know what the tune was, so we'll keep it nice and easy. This first tune is Skip to my Loo. Yeah I know it's a ridiculous tune and I know it's not at all cool but everybody's gotta start somewhere.

There are only two chords in this tune and to begin with I am going to allow you to play it in a loose kind of strum. Next up, I'll show you the very first finger style that everybody learns. The fingerstyle technique is pretty cool as it allows you to accompany your own voice over a lot of different songs and doesn't require too much thought.

The two chords that you need are A

 

E---------0-----------
B---------2-----------
G---------2-----------
D---------2-----------
A---------0-----------
E---------X-----------


note: an X on a string means DON'T PLAY that string when you strum.


and E.

E-----0----------------
B-----0----------------
G-----1----------------
D-----2----------------
A-----2----------------
E-----0----------------


If you are not sure about tablature then click here to have a brief look, then come back.

Try to play them in the following manner. Count in this fashion

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.. 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &..

Keep your count regular and even. If need be, tap your foot as you play to keep an even count.
OK, we're only going to play in the gaps where we would place a number, and rest for the '&' parts so the rhythm would be...

A & A & A & A &... E & E & E & E &... A & A & A & A &... E & E & A & A &...

For future reference we will write this as

A . / . / . / . E . / . / . / . A . / . / . / . E . / . A . / .

The figure / means, whatever chord you played last time, you should repeat. The dot represents a rest but is useful for more complex rhythms, especially when we start notating such things as reggae rhythms.

When you're playing the tune, gently brush the strings in a downward (bottom string to top string) fashion for each strum. Each time you say & your hand should be travelling in the opposite direction, but in this case it isn't making contact with the strings. You can also hum along to it but this is not mandatory (personally, I wouldn't).

 

Now for the fingerstyle. Again we have to have a way of notating it so we will use an idea called TABLATURE. It's not hard to read tablature, it just looks a bit daunting when you first start. Each line represents one of the strings on the guitar. The bottom line means the bottom string, the top line means the top string.

A number on a particular string means to 'fret' (and pluck) that particular string at the specified fret. So if we wrote...

 E-----3-------------------
B-------------------------
G-------------------------
D-------------------------
E-------------------------
A-------------------------

we mean, play the TOP string at the third fret. If we wrote...

E-----3-------------------
B-----0-------------------
G-------------------------
D-------------------------
E-------------------------
A-------------------------

we mean, play the top E string, pressed down at the 3rd fret, and the B string open (no fretting).

If we write...

E--------------------------
B---------2----------------
G---------2----------------
D---------2----------------
A---0----------------------
E--------------------------

this would mean... Play the A string open, followed by the D, G and B strings all fretted at the second fret. What we are talking about is the chord of A but played with the Bass Note first, followed by the top of the chord.

Notice that we are reading it from left to right as if it was normal writing. Anything that is 'stacked' in a vertical row, like the three 2's, means play these ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

I will try to help by putting chords above the tablature if you are meant to be holding down a specific chord, like so...

 

    (A)
E--------------------------
B---------2----------------
G---------2----------------
D---------2----------------
A---0----------------------
E--------------------------

And now for the tune, fingerstyle...

 

   (A)                                     (E)
E--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------
B--------2-------2-------2-------2-----|--------0-------0-------0--------0----------
G--------2-------2-------2-------2-----|--------1-------1-------1--------1----------
D--------2-------2-------2-------2-----|--------2-------2-------2--------2----------
A----0---------------0-----------------|------------2----------------2----------------
E------------0---------------0---------|----0---------------0-------------------------


 

    (A)                                    (E)                (A)
E--------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------
B--------2-------2-------2-------2-----|--------0-------0------2-----------2----------
G--------2-------2-------2-------2-----|--------1-------1------2-----------2----------
D--------2-------2-------2-------2-----|--------2-------2------2-----------2----------
A----0---------------0-----------------|------------2-----------0-----------0----------
E------------0---------------0---------|----0-------------------------------------------


This fingerstyle is generally known as 'dumb ching' for fairly obvious reasons. As you can see it has an alternating bassline and this adds a little colour to the accompanyment.