Scott Fritzinger. Guitar lessons
Written by Scott Fritzinger, scottf@scs.unr.edu... All rights reserved
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Music has developed over the years from the Baroque Period
up to today and has ... just kidding... i wouldn't do that to you..
hehe... ok...
your guitar has 6 strings on it and they corrospond to notes in
the musical scale... these notes are arranged from A to G... in
between each whole note (with 2 exceptions), there is a half step
referred to as a sharp which is a half step up from the lower note
(symbolized by a #)... or if your pessimistic, a flat which is a
half step down from the higher note (symbolized by a b)...
these are all the notes (12 of them) from A to G:
with sharps:
A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#... or
with flats:
A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Bb...
please note that A# is the same note as Bb... C#=Db, D#=Eb... and
so on... the notes in the 1st listing correspond with the same
note in the 2nd listing (vertically)... someone just decided to
have fun and let 2 different symbols be the same note... hehe..
not funny!
the guitar is tuned in such a way that it is easier and generally
more basic to understand... your low string is an E... this is
referred to as the 6th string because whoever invented this tuning
had a cruel sense of humor... don't we usually count from low to
high? anyways... the 5th string is an A... 4th is D... 3rd is G...
2nd is B... and the high string is another E, the 1st string...
here it is simplified...
e 1st
B 2nd
G 3rd
D 4th
A 5th
E 6th <---- this is the string closest to your head when
you play...
now you ask... what are those funny metal things on the long part
of the guitar? i'm glad you asked... the long part of the guitar
is referred to as the "neck"... on top of the neck is a flat area
that contains pieces of metal that are spaced out... these are
called "frets"; thus the entire area where the frets are is called
the "fret-board"...
the guy who thought up this method of numbering strings
did it this way to ease in tabbing guitar music... what i mean by
that is that when someone writes down a guitar part to a song, that
is called a tablature... it contains 6 lines and a number or blank
on each line representing the fret # or, if no number, then don't
pick that string...
here is an example:
this is what is called a "G" chord and is what i will be
working with the most throughout these lessons...
____ these are the string names from high to low.. like above
|
| the fret numbers... push down the strings at this fret
| |
e -3------ <--- push down the 1st string with your pinky
B -0------ <--- don't put any fingers on this string
G -0------ <--- don't put any fingers on this string
D -0------ <--- don't put any fingers on this string
A -2------ <--- push down the 5th string with your index finger
E -3------ <--- push down the 6th string with your middle finger
ok... it'll be a *little* stretch at first, but with practice,
it'll come naturally (hopefully)... now take your pick or thumb
and strum all 6 strings... that's a G!
NOW... this is a section that i will throw in now and then for
"net guitarists handbook" type-thing... when you get a tab or see
one online, the people who transcibe (tab) them will probably
just abbreviate what i did above with the g chord... like this:
G <---- THE NAME OF THE CHORD
3
0
0
0
2
3
this is pretty common... but now you know how to read this... remember,
if a tablature is done correctly, the HIGH-E (1st) string will be on top
then it will work down from there...
there is lesson number one... this basically covered reading tab, but
next time i will go over with you a little bit more about the chords...
a little theory next time!
BTW- here are a couple more chords for you to fool around with!
remember: the top line is the high E (1st) string...
C D A E
-----0--------2--------0--------0---------------
-----1--------3--------2--------0---------------
-----0--------2--------2--------1---------------
-----2--------0--------2--------2---------------
-----3--------0--------0--------2---------------
-----0--------x--------0--------0---------------
^
|____ x = don't strum the 6th string in
the D chord (or any string in any
chord with an X on it... that is
tablature notation for "don't hit
string!"... or you can mute it by
barely touching it with your thumb
or any other finger without
it down... this is "muting"...
when it makes a dull sound)
Lesson #2. Basic Chord Theory
now last time (and if my memory serves
correctly because the 1st lesson was deleted off
my HD), i was talking about the chords in
general... like where to put the fingers on each
string and on which fret... and i got into the
tablature a little (that should help some of you
'net guitarists with the OLGA files), but now i
wanna get a little deeper into the chord theory...
the G chord is basically what i will be
working with because it is so nice... it is
probably the perfect example for chord theory
too...
now,what do i mean by "theory"? By "theory",
i mean what it takes to "build" a chord... you know
when you play the G chord, it sounds nice and
wholesome (at least it should sound that way ;) )
all the chords i gave you you last time all sound
differently, but have something in common... they
all have what is called the root, third, and fifth
notes of a scale in them... now those of you that
play piano, you probably what i'm talking about...
those of you who don't, i'll explain
let's look at the G:
G
3 <----- G (root)
0 <----- B (third)
0 <----- G (root)
0 <----- D (fifth)
2 <----- B (third)
3 <----- G (root)
the letters written are the actual notes, while
the words in parenthesis' indicate what note that
is in the G scale (just for reference right now,
the major G scale is G,A,B,C,D,E,F#)...notice that
the root note in a G chord is a G!...if it were
a D chord, the root note would be a ... D!...
C chord, C!... the root note of a chord is what
names the chord.. (remember that... it will come
in handy in the next lesson)...
the B, or third, is the 3rd note in the G major
scale... and the D is the 5th... look below...
the notes in the G chord are underlined.. see
how nicely it works out?
G(Root,1),A(2),B(3),C(4),D(5),E(6),F#(7)
--------- ---- ----
(side note: books abbreviate "R" for the root
note... if you see R on a tab in a book, then
that note on that string is the root note...
REMEMBER THAT IT NAMES THE CHORD!!)
now i shouldn't be getting into scales and such
yet, but since i'll be using the G a lot, i
thought i might just introduce the G scale in
this lesson...
ok... this G chord i showed you and have been
working with is actually called a "G major"...
because it has the Root, 3rd,and 5th... there
are also minor chords, but those are 2 lessons
away...
ok.. here are all the chords i gave you, but
now i included the notes of each and said
whether it is the root, 3rd, or 5th..
please play around with these and become
familiar with them...
ALL THESE CHORDS ARE MAJOR.... BECAUSE THEY SOUND
HAPPY!... hehe..actually because they all have
the R,3rd,5th in them... and they sound happy...
A E C
0 <--E (5th) 0 <--E (R) 0 <--E (3rd)
2 <--C# (3rd) 0 <--B (5th) 1 <--C (R)
2 <--A (R) 1 <--G# (3rd) 0 <--G (5th)
2 <--E (5th) 2 <--E (R) 2 <--E (3rd)
0 <--A (R) 2 <--B (5th) 3 <--C (R)
0 <--E (5th) 0 <--E (R) 0 <--E (3rd)
D
2 <--F# (3rd) (The reason i am not including the scales
3 <--D (R) of each root note of the chord is because
2 <--A (5th) i want everyone to be familiar with
0 <--D (R) the structure of major chords (R,3rd,5th)..
0 <--A (5th) when i get into scales and modes and so on,
x then you will be able to figure out the scales
on your own... :) ... but i'll still write
them out.. )
well, this is when the real fun begins! really...
this is your introduction to the wonderful world of
barre chords (also called power chords, but there is
a difference)... ok.. here we go...
A "barre" means that something is pressing down the
strings all at one fret... essentially, the "nut" of
your guitar (the piece of plastic/ivory/graphite that
your strings are run over at the top of the neck (there
are slots in it for the strings)) is a barre because
all the strings "sound" off of it... if you put your
index finger at the 3rd fret and press down all the
strings, then your index finger is considered the barre.
this is the basic idea behind the barre chord- you
replace the nut by your index finger by pressing down
all the strings any given fret... now, if you press down
all the strings at the 3rd fret, and strum, it sounds
pretty bad... just like strumming your guitar open with
no strings fretted... so, what we need to do is to press
down some strings on top of the barre you set up with
your index finger...
Remember the E chord that i wrote in lesson #1 ? that
"shape" is what we will be using, along with the shape
of the A chord... the "shape" of a chord is what it
says... it is how the chord looks, or is shaped...
ok.. here is the E chord:
E
e 0
b 0
g 1
d 2
a 2
E 0 <--- (root)
ok... remember from lesson #2 that the root names the
chord... so the E names a chord... with E-shaped barre
chords, we are interested with the root on the 6th string
only... now, since the basis on barre chords is that your
index finger replaces the nut, we'll slide this (the shape)
up to the 3rd fret... this is what we'll get:
e 3
b 3
g 4
d 5
a 5
E 3 <---- (root)
do you see? the 3rd string is 1 fret up from the 2nd, just
like the E chord, and the 4th and 5th string frets are
2 up from the 6th string... is is the same shape, just
shifted up the neck... there are several ways to finger
this, but i find it easiest to do the following:
press down all the strings at the 3rd fret with
your index finger (push hard, finger strength will come
with practice)
e 3 <--- index
b 3 <--- index
g 4 <--- middle
d 5 <--- pinky
a 5 <--- ring
E 3 <--- index
it is a stretch, but will come easily with practice...
ok... now that we have a new chord, lets give it a name!
the root is on the 6th string with the "e-shaped" barre
chord, so the note on that string names the chord...
so:
E F F# G
(open) (1st fret) (2nd fret) (3rd fret)
so the chord is another form of a G chord!! wow... all
together now: wow. that's cool... ok.. gee, great
enthusiasm you all have.. geesh..
now, this shape can be moved all the way up the neck
til your heart's content... here are all the notes on
the 6th string for you to reference in helping you name
the chords (remember, the root for the E-shaped barre
chords are on the 6th string):
E,F,F#,G,G#,A,A#,B,C,C#,D ,D#,E
0,1,2 ,3,4 ,5,6 ,7,8,9 ,10,11,12
now... you say you don't want to go from the 3rd fret
to the 8th fret to go from a G chord to a C chord
using barre chords? then i introduce to you the A-shaped
chords... ok, the reason there are a-shaped barre chords
is because people didn't want to have to go up and down
the neck like a madman/woman (gotta be PC) switching from
chords to chords...
the A chord:
A
e 0
b 2
g 2
d 2
a 0 <--- root
E 0
note that the root is on the 5th string... so, if we take
this "shape" and move it up the neck by replacing the nut
with our index finger again, then we can play other chords
with the A-shape.. example: try this
e 3 <--- index
b 5 <---\ use your pinky and ring fingers
g 5 <--- >--together to press down these 3
d 5 <---/ strings...
a 3 <---index (root)
E X <--- the 6th string in A-shaped barre chords
isn't played.. you can mute it by barely
touching it with the tip of your index
finger.
notice again that you are laying your index finger across
all the strings pressing them down hard (except now, you
don't press down the 6th string)... ok, let's name this
chord... remember the root is on the 5th string, so that
names the chord... here are the notes on the 5th string
and the corresponding fret numbers:
A A# B C
(open) (1st fret) (2nd fret) (3rd fret)
so the chord is a C chord!... makes going from a G chord
to a C chord a lot easier huh?... ok, here are all the
notes on the A string up to the 12th fret...
A,A#,B,C,C#,D,D#,E,F,F#,G ,G#,A
0,1 ,2,3,4 ,5,6 ,7,8,9 ,10,11,12
so, if you move this shape up to the 5th fret, you will
be playing a D.. got it?
one more example of each to make sure i didn't lose you...
using the E-shape: using the A-shape:
F: B:
e 1 e 2
b 1 b 4
g 2 g 4
d 3 d 4
a 3 a 2 <-- root
E 1 <-- root E x
after a while, you will pick up on these pretty
easily and be able to tell which shape each is...
(note to the curious: the E and A shapes are
popular because they are the easiest shapes to
move up the neck... you can move the C chord shape
up the neck, but it won't be too comfortable to
play... )
ok... there you go... BaRRe CHoRD 101...
remember, if you are still confused, then simply write
me, and i will get back to you as soon as i can...
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
1. root names the chord
2. barre chords are basically replacing the nut
with your index finger.
3. guitar is fun... don't get frustrated... it will
come naturally with time, practice, and
the biggie... PATIENCE!
Lesson #4. Minor Chords (an extension of lesson #3)...
just when you thought all chords were happy...
ok... here it is... lesson #4... (didn't i say that already?)...
anyways... this lesson works off of ideas discussed in lesson #3.. so be
sure to have read that before attempting this... so on that note...
ok, minor chords are kind of the "opposite" of major chords... not
because of overall finger placement and such, but rather because of the
sound.. minor chords are used for "grim" or "sad" songs in most
occasions... because that is the overall sound of the chord...
now, you're thinkin' "hmmm.... they must be really quite different than
the major chords...".. i'm glad you thought that... actually, the only
difference (in general) is the placement of one (1) finger... i'm goin''
to work with them in the barre chord frame of mind because they are
probably the easiest way to recognize/play most of the minor chords...
from the last couple of lessons, we have recognized this to be the E
major chord (with the make-up of the chord in parenthesis)..(the Maj
represents "major"):
E Maj
e 0 <--- R
b 0 <--- 5th
g 1 <--- 3rd
d 2 <--- R
a 2 <--- 5th
E 0 <--- R
now, to play an E minor, you simply lower the 3rd (which is on the 3rd
string) one-half a step (or the equivilent of one fret)... this "new"
note would be considered the 3rd in an E minor scale... so the G string
still contains the 3rd... the notation for the chord would be Em
(the lowercase m represents "minor")..so, an E minor would be:
Em
e 0 <--- R
b 0 <--- 5th
g 0 <--- 3rd (in Em scale)
d 2 <--- R
a 2 <--- 5th
E 0 <--- R
if we take this shape, and move it up the neck, we can get other minor
chords.. let's move it up to the 3rd fret...
Gm
e 3
b 3
g 3
d 5
a 5
E 3 <--- R
since the root is a G, the chord would be G minor (Gm)..(remember that
the root names the chord)... to finger this, use the suggested fingering
in lesson #3, and simply lift the middle finger... (your finger
strength and stamina will improve with your playing... don't worry.. that
buzzing will go away soon)
ok... now you ask "can we do this with the A shaped barre chords?"...
yes you can... but you need to figure out the Am chord first though, then
move that shape up the neck...
so, using the same idea as above, here is the A Maj chord and the
respective Am chord:
A Maj | Am
e 0 <--- 5th | e 0 <--- 5th
b 2 <--- 3rd | b 1 <--- 3rd (in minor scale)
g 2 <--- R | g 2 <--- R
d 2 <--- 5th | d 2 <--- 5th
a 0 <--- R | a 0 <--- R
E x | E x
now, let's move the Am shape up to the 5th fret...remember that the root
for the A shaped barre chords is on the 5th string... so, when we move it
up to the 5th fret, the root would be a D... and since it is a A minor
shape, the chord would be a D minor (Dm).. so we would have:
Dm
e 5
b 6
g 7
d 7
a 5 <--- R
E x
ok... in the next lesson i will be covering scales in general... so if
you don't understand whats goin' on when i talk about the 5th and 3rd,
then go back to lesson #2 and look over what i have written there... if
you are still up in the air, then you should get a nice understanding
after the next lesson... after lesson #5 (scales in general), i will go
into putting chords together and some frequent "chord progressions"... if
you like Rancid (the band), then you'll love the I-IV-V blues
progression... (you'll see what i mean)...
until then... have fun... and practice... practice... practice...... .
. . . . . . . . .
Lesson #5. Scales (in general)...
OK... (i say that a lot)... anyways.. this lesson will discuss scales and
will probably pull a lot together from the previous 4
lessons...(hopefully)... if i mention something in this lesson and you
don't recognize it, look over the past lessons... i've tried my best to
use terms from past lessons...
Scales-
a "scale" is a series of notes that is used to build chords and to also
use for writing "solos" and such... this is the best way i can think of
to explain it in plain terms.. you'll see what i mean..
chords are built from scales.. (not the other way around)... you can
figure out a major/minor and whatever other chord from the given scale...
here is an example:
this is the C major scale:
C , D , E , F , G , A , B , C
a way of thinkin of it is that the "C" is the root of the scale... this
scale begins and ends on the note C, and since the root names the chord,
it also names the scale... (this is a basic way of thinking about it...
later i will discuss the proper terms)..
ok... let's put in the appropriate numbers and such below each note..
C , D , E , F , G , A , B , C
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th
notice there are 8 notes in the C major scale...(the first and 8th notes
are both a C)... now, look back at the 2nd lesson and look at the C major
chord... notice what the root(1st), 3rd, and 5th notes are...(don't worry
if you don't have that lesson.. the C major chord is below..) they
are C, E, and G respectively... now look at the C major scale... the
root(1st) 3rd and 5th notes are the same... that is how major chords are
"built" or "constructed".. take any major scale, find the 1st, 3rd and
5th notes in the scale, fret the appropriate strings, and play...
ok, now let's look at how to find out the major scale of any given
note... here are all the notes in general (12 of them ( 13 if you count the
high C), and each one is a half-step (one fret) away from the adjacent
one)...
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C
let's look back at the C major scale again (C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C)... remember
that each of the notes in the 12 note scale above is a half a step away
from the next note... (example: C# is a half-step away from D AND C...)
so, to make up the C major scale, we start on the "root" (C), then go up
to D, which is 2 half-steps away (which is in fact one whole-step away..
2 halves make a whole..)... then from D, we go to E (another whole step),
the we go to F (a half step), then we go to G (whole), then to A (whole),
then to B (whole), then to C (half)... now, this is the "formula" we used
for the C major scale (simplified):
start on root note, then go up a whole step, another whole step, then a
half step, then a whole step, a whole step, another whole step, finally a
half step to wind up where we started.. on the root note, but an "octave"
higher ("octave" means 8 ... since the C is the root of this scale, the
8th note, or "and octave higher", would be a higher C...)... so, this is
the formula for major chords:
1) start on root note
2) move up these "steps" from the root note..
whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half
if done correctly, you will end on the same note you began on...
let's try an example:
here are all the notes again (i've extended it a little):
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, ...
and so on...
let's figure out the G major scale...
we'll use the formula:
1) start on the root note
ok.. put your finger on the screen on the low G
2) move up these "steps" from the root note:
whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F#) (G)
and since we ended up on a G, then we know we did it right...
so the G major scale is: G,A,B,C,D,E,F#,G...
now let's compare this to the G major chord:
in the G major chord, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th are G, B, D respectively..
compare this to the scale:
G , A , B , C , D , ...
(1ST),(2ND),(3RD),(4TH),(5TH)
^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^
they match up!!....
now, on to minor scales (don't worry.. everything is wrapped up in the
end of this lesson..)
minor scales are figured out the same way, except the "formula" is a
little different... (step #1 stays the same.. you always start on the
root note of the scale)
for step 2, you use different "steps"... for a minor scale, i will tell
you the formula...
1) start on the root note of the scale
2) move up these "steps" from the root note::
whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole
if you end on the same note you began, your did it right...
example: let's try an E minor scale...
here are all the notes again... (extended):
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E
1) start on the root note of the scale
put your finger on the screen on the low E
2) move up these "steps" from the root note:
whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole
(F#) (G) (A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
since we ended on E, we did it right...
now, compare this to the E minor chord... in the E minor, the root, 3rd,
and 5th are E,G, and B respectively.. in the E minor scale, they are the
same...
To wrap things up, now you:
1) can figure out major or minor scales.. just use the formulas... write
them down somewhere on paper.. also write down all the notes
(BTW- the technical term for all the notes is the "chromatic scale"...
each of the notes is a half step away from the next one..)...
here is the "chromatic scale" again for you:
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C
(this is the C chromatic... because it starts and ends on the note C..
this is used primarily for finding C scales... to find, let's say,
an F scale, use the F chromatic below.. and apply the formulas..)
example:
F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F
by using the chromatic of the scale you are trying to find, it makes
it easier to figure it out because you start on low F and end up
on high F!
and
2) are gettin' ready to start learning the basics of soloing...
please write down the chromatic scale and the formulas for finding the
major/minor scales on a piece of paper... and practice figuring out the
scales... then compare what you have to the appropriate major/minor chord
and try to see the relation of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th of each scale to the
chord...
above all else, have fun.. sure this is getting more technical, but you
don't need to drill yourself .. take it at a steady pace... move on when
you are ready to, and kick back when you need to... :)
Lesson #6. Chord progressions...
this "lesson" is straight forward... and pretty short too!
but, it'll give you something else to mess around with.. :)
Anyways,
what do i mean by the term "chord progression"? i'm glad you asked..
a chord progression is the sequence of the chords in a song... maybe an
example is needed.... Let's say a song has these three chords in the
verse... : D G A D ... and they are played in that order... then, D G A D
would be the chord progression... get it? ... ok, now that that's out the
way, lets dig into the meat-and-bones of the "lesson" (ok.. maybe a sick
and disgusting choice of words... sorry to all the vegitarians out there!
:) )
now, try picking up your guitar and playing those three chords in that
order (D G A D)... sound kinda wholesome?? well, it should if your guitar
is in tune and you're playing the right chords.. ;) ... hehe...
anyways, notice how when you play the A, there is a sort of "tension"?
and when you go back to the D after that, there is a "release" of
tension? well, what you just played was called the 1-4-5 chord
progression (i'll show you why its called that in a sec).. but, the basis
behind that being the MOST popular chord progression (which it is) is
because there is that tension and release.. (it plays on the emotions
believe it or not..) if you listen to practically ANY song today
(especially classical music), there is a "climax" in the song where it
may the the loudest, or might have the highest note... that is the
tension.. and the part after that would (hopefully) be the release...
(god know how many times i've heard a song, and there wasn't a release
after all that tension, and when the song is over i screamed "that was
it?" :) )
ok.. now you know ABOUT the 1-4-5 (or as most people write it.. the
I-IV-V) progression, but now i'll show you how to figure it out... :)
this part goes back to scales... the major scale in particular... let's
take the D major scale for example.. (if you don't know how to get this,
go back to "lesson" #5)....
D major scale:
D E F# G A B C# D
the reason it is called the I-IV-V is because the root notes of the chords
are the 1st, 4th and 5th notes in the D major scale..
check it out:
D E F# G A B ......
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
^^^ ^^^ ^^^
whoah... funny how that works.... you can do this to any major scale...
let's try the C major scale and figure out:
C major:
C D E F G A B C
and here it is:
C D E F G A.......
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
^^^ ^^^ ^^^
so, the I-IV-V progression for a C would be C-F-G (goin' back to C is
optional... it's up to you... but remember, having all that tension build
up and not being relieved will tick off your audience! ;) )
one more "some-what" popular progression would be the 1-3-4 (or the I-III-IV)
use the same method as above to figure it out... (example: for a C, the
progression would be C-E-F )...
**PLEASE REMEMBER- these progressions are by NO means a template for
writing songs.. they are just basic tools you help you understand music a
little better... i am just trying to get across to you what
tension-release is and this is the best way i know how :).... please
don't let this "lesson" limit your playing at all... play around...
remember: notable musicians broke the molds... :)
Interesting fact- remember how i told you that i would show you how to
play over half of the songs off of Rancid's new album? well..:) ...
throughout practically the whole thing they use a I-IV-V progression .. :)
(and for those of you who don't know who the hell rancid is, then this
means nothing... so... i'll be on my merry way!)
LAST THING!-- you can play these progressions any way you want using
barre chords or Open-fingering chords (that's the term for the chords i
showed you that are not barre chords)... but, if you use barre chords,
you'll notice a "shape" to the I-IV-V progression...
ONE MORE THING! (promise)- you might hear of the "12-bar-blues" from time
to time.. and that progression is an extremely popular one... it uses the
I-IV-V progression, but in a different order... and it lasts for 12
musical bars.. (for those interested, here it is:
take a C-F-G for example...
(the number in parenthesis tells how many bars to play
that chord)
C (2) , F (2) , C (2) , F (2) , G (1) , F (1) , C (1) , G (1)
now you can play the blues.. :)
have fun strumming...
next time- The Pentatonic!! .. woo-woo!...
Lesson #7. BaRRE chord variations
(be sure to have read the Barre chord lesson, or to have a basic
understanding of Barre chords before reading this.. :) )
hey there... this is just a quick "side note" of sorts on some barre
chord variations...
i've seen a lot of questions in both the newsgroups and in mail about all
these add2, sus4, add7, slash notation, and so on... sooo..
**"sus" chords-
basically, the only difference between these and the major chords is that
the 3rd in the chord is REPLACED by the note that comes after the "sus"..
"sus4"-
here is an and E and Esus4:
E Esus4
e 0 0
b 0 0
g 1 2 <--- 3rd is REPLACED by 4th!
d 2 2
a 2 2
E 0 0
the only difference is on the 3rd string... the 3rd note in the major
scale is replaced by tacking on the 4th on top of it..
(basically, instead of playing it at the 1st fret, move it up to the
second :) ) ...
now, you can move this shape up the next, just like barre chords!
so let's say you wanted to play a Gsus4?? just move this shape up
to the 3rd fret! :)
you can do the same with the A shaped barre chords... here is an
A and an Asus4:
A Asus4
e 0 0
b 2 3 <---- 3rd is replaced by 4th!
g 2 2
d 2 2
a 0 0
E x x
here, the 2nd string contains the 3rd in the A chord, so just
move that up a fret to get the 4th, and "wah-la!" (or however you wanna
spell it.. :P )
move this shape up the neck, and you have more sus4 chords!
example:
Dsus4
e 5
b 8
g 7
d 7
a 5
E x
"sus2"-
i'm only gonna cover the A shaped sus2 chords because i dunno of
a reasonable fingering for the E shaped sus2 chords that doesn't
require a 4 fret strech (which is difficult for beginning guitarists)..
soo.. on that note..
the Asus2 shape simply replaces the 3rd (again) with the 2nd in the
major scale... so...
A Asus2
e 0 0
b 2 0 <---- 3rd replaced by 2nd!
g 2 2
d 2 2
a 0 0
E x x
and you can move this shape up the neck... so, this would be a Csus2:
Csus2
e 3
b 3
g 5
d 5
a 3
E x
"add9"- or add(whatever)
these are almost the same as sus chords, but instead of replacing
the 3rd with the 2nd , you replace the root with the 9th (which is the
2nd because the 8th note is the same as the root note)...but hold
on.. you don't replace the lowest root note with the second, 'cause that
would use the "slash" notation.. (next section covers the slash
notation)... anyways, and example is in order... let's use the E shaped
chord:
E Eadd9
e 0 2 <--- replace root with 9th
b 0 0
g 1 1
d 2 2
a 2 2
E 0 0
and you can move this up the neck...
Aadd9 is the following (same concept):
A Aadd2
e 0 0
b 2 2
g 2 4 <--- root replaced by 9th
d 2 2
a 0 0
E x x
"slash" notation-
although on paper this looks pretty complicated, it really isn't..
let's say you have "C/G" (pretty common)... what this means:
C/G
the chord to finger-----^ ^----- the bass note to play on bottom
so, you would finger a "C" chord, but make the bass note "G"..
(the bass note is the lowest ROOT note of the chord)... so..
C/G
e 0 --,
b 1 \
g 0 >--- standard Cmajor
d 2 /
a 3 --'
E 3 <------- "G" played as the bass note...
another example:
C/B
e 0 --,
b 1 \____ makings of the standard Cmajor chord
g 0 /
d 2 --'
a 2 <--- bass note ("C") replaced by "B"
E x
in this example, since we don't want to go up to the 7th fret on
the 6th string to play the "B" (that would be a nice stretch), we
move to the 5th string, and play the B there.. by doing this, we
replace the bass root note of the Cmajor chord with the "B".. (and
this is ok to do, as long as it is the bass note (which it is
because the 6th string is muted.. :) ))
more examples (open fingerings):
G G/F# G/E D/F#
e 3 3 3 3 2
b 0 0 0 3
g 0 0 0 2
d 0 0 0 0
a 2 2 2 0
E 3 2 0 2 <--- these are the only notes that
are different from the major
chords...
******* (try playing the G G/F# and G/E one after another... that effect
is called a "BASS RUN"... used widely in the blues, and by
Oasis.. :) .. now you don't need to worry about finding a
bassist.. hehe.. just kiddin.. :) )
you can use barre chords to form these chords too!... and pretty easily
too! :)
here is a D and a D/A side by side
D D/A
e 5 5
b 7 7
g 7 7
d 7 7
a 5 5
E x 5 <--- "A" is tacked on the bottom of the chord
another example:
F F/E
e 1 1
b 1 1
g 2 2
d 3 3
a 3 3
E 1 0 <--- bass "F" is replaced by "E"...
want a "listenable" example? check out my tab section off of the main
page here and look at "santa monica" in the miscellaneous section.. that
song uses a G G/E progression... :)
that's all she wrote!... :) actually that's all i wrote, and since i'm a
guy, then that's all he wrote... first statement was figure of speech...
uhh... ok.. anyways...
anyways, you ask "what the hell is a pentatonic?" .. and i say
"it's a long complicated word that describes a pretty simple idea
and is a good beginning into soloing" ... that about sums it up.. :)
well, that's the end of this lesson, and next time i will..
(just kidding.. heheh) ... ;)
try to remember back to the idea of Barre chords, and how you could
simply move 1 shape up the neck and you'll get a different chord.
now, the basic pentatonic uses the same idea. it has its own shape
(just like a barre chord), and its own root note too! ...
pentatonics use a LOT of the same ideas as barre chords, so if you
have that lesson down packed, you will just breeze through this one.
:)
ok, now into the nitty-gritty stuff... the pentatonic scale...
here is just one of the shapes of a pentatonic scale:
e--0-----3
b--0-----3
g--0--2---
d--0--2---
a--0--2---
e--0-----3 <--- root is open E string
since the root is the open E string, you could call this an
E pentatonic... the main thing to see here is that it is really
quite easy to play this scale... try playing it like this at
first:
e---------------------------0--3
b----------------------0--3-----
g-----------------0--2----------
d------------0--2---------------
a-------0--2--------------------
E--0--3-------------------------
let's name these notes:
E, G, A, B, D, E, G, A, B... wait, i'm starting to see a pattern..
E G A B D are all the notes there are in this pentatonic scale. they
keep repeating over and over again... :) ... so that makes this pretty
simple...
now, like i said before, this shape can be moved... so lets say we
want to play a G pentatonic for some reason, we can just move the
root up to the 3rd fret, and keeping the shape, we have this:
e--3-----6
b--3-----6
g--3--5---
d--3--5---
a--3--5---
E--3-----6
same shape, just "transposed" up (transposing basically means to
simply move the shape up or down a number of steps... ) ...
now how do you utilize this information? ... well, right now, you
can play around with them... try mixing it up a little bit...
the general idea to begin with is to try soloing with the pentatonic
of the chord that is playing... so, if you are playing a G chord,
try playing over it with a G pentatonic. :) and so on...
in the next lesson, i'll show you how to expand the pentatonic
so you will be soloing ALL over the fretboard.. :) ..
ok, i've had a couple requests on info for playing "bluesy" type
stuff, and thought this lesson would be a good place to place some
of that info in..
using the basic idea of the pentatonic scale above, there is a
"blues" scale that you can build on top of the pentatonic, and
it's really easy... here is the shape:
e--0-------3
b--0-------3
g--0---2---3
d--0---2----
a--0-1-2----
E--0-------3
and you can move that shape up the neck too... try playing around
with it with a swing beat, and you'll be able to pull out some
recognizable blues riffs... :)
that's all for now, but stay tuned for the next one... which won't
take me months to complete... hopefully... ;)
until then, keep on strumming!
proud to be a guitar freak...
Scott, scottf@scs.unr.edu
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Last-modified: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 06:35:27 GMT