Tips ' n ' Tricks

TIPS
Warming Up String Choice Finger Nails Choosing a guitar
String Longevity Tuning Your guitar Learning to play Holding a note
Strumming Chords Tablature Tricks
Guitar Riffs Guitar Tabs Chord Tabs Scales

Learning to Play

The best way to learn guitar is to practice, practice practice, sorry to be so obvious but you cannot expect to pick a guitar up and play within minutes. The best way to start is to do it steps.

Learn to tune your guitar.
Tuning you guitar accurately is very important. I believe that a student needs the incentive of actually liking the sounds that they are producing in order to maintain the learning curve and encourage continuous growth.

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Hold down a note.
Learn to hold down the string against a fret to produce a note and in turn a melody.
Remember to hold down the string close to but not on the fret to produce a clean note. The closer to the fret your finger is the easier it will be to produce a clean note.

To the right is a scale of G Major.
Every note is played on the G string so that you can practice holding down notes and moving.

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Learn to strum.
Fig 3
You can choose to use a plectrum or use your fingers. Its probably easier to begin with a plectrum. Use the picture opposite (Fig 3) to learn how to hold the plectrum. Don't hold it too tightly but also not too loose either or it will ping out of your fingers. Try lightly strumming down only at first and then move on to strumming up aswell. If you wish to use your fingers then use your index finger for a down stroke and your thumbnail for the up stroke.

Plectrum v Fingers?
Depends on what you are going to play really - Rock styles usually require a plectrum while classical guitar requires fingers

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Learn your chords.
Chords are your first step to learning to create music. Also they teach you to hold the strings down. Remember to arch your fingers so that they come into contact with the string they are trying to hold down without touching the strings next to it. Keep it simple. Don't run before you can walk

To the right is a set of simple chords to get you going.(Fig 4)
The horizontal lines are the frets on your guitar and the vertical lines are the strings (Thickest string (Bottom E) on the left and thinnest (Top E) on the right). Place your fingers where the dots are. Below the chord box are some numbers represent the fingers to use for each string.
(See Fig 2 - left hand fingering)

O - above a string means to leave that string open.
X - above a string means not to play or strum that string.

Practice these until fluent. Whilst holding down a chord pluck each string in turn to make sure that no notes are dulled that should not be. This will take practice and time. Finger exercises can increase the strength in your fingers and ease holding down the strings, also a good guitar with light gauge strings.

Once you are fairly familiar with the chords try changing from one to the other with increasing speed and accuracy.
  Fig 4
Here are some simple song examples using these chords:
(The default is major i.e. C means C Major, m on its own denotes Minor)

C Am F G (So many songs use this chord sequence its not true i.e. blue moon, drive me crazy, etc. etc.)

E A E B A E (Typical blues in E)

Em G D A (Verse of Wonderwall by Oasis - if you feel adventurous then leave you little finger on the 3rd fret of the top E string for all these chords for a more authentic version)
Once you feel accustomed to these chords you might ready to move onto the next step

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Guitar Riffs
Riffs are a repeated chord progression, pattern or melodic figure, often played by the rhythm section. Many guitarists have a large collection of these in their repertoire. Combining these will form new movements and songs.
Click on the button to add some riffs to your own repertoire

I Great Guitar Riffs.

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 Learn some songs.
Learning songs are the best way to learn timing and counting. You already know how the song should sound so you'll know if your getting it right or wrong. Remember to keep it simple. Its better to do it simple and right than fancy and wrong. Guitarists will very rarely be the only instrument playing so you don't have to provide the whole musical accompaniment. As long as you are strumming in time then that's all that matters. Once you learn a few simple songs you find the rewards needed to continue practising and eventually become accomplished. From then on its up to you.

Learning songs requires either tuition from others or song books which display the song on one of two methods:

1. Chords - the easiest method to learn a song. The lyrics are written out with the chords written above the word where the chord changes.
2. tablature - A more accurate method for more complicated pieces. The strings are represented by staves like in normal music notation and the notes are represented by numbers denoting which fret to hold the string down on. There may be some extra notation above telling you how to play each note or how to move from one to the next.

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Tablature Notation

h - hammer on
Use the left hand to percussively tap up to the next note without plucking it
p - pull off
use the left hand to drag off the string to play the next note without plucking it
b - bend string up
use the left hand to push the string up (or down) to stretch the string and raise the note
r - release bend
After bending the note up - release the stretch back down to the original note
/ - slide up
Slide your left hand finger along the fret board up to a note
\ - slide down
Slide your left hand finger along the fret board down to a note
v - vibrato (sometimes written as ~)

Example of tablature
Method 1 - wobble your left hand finger on a note to alter the pitch slightly up and down
Method 2 - stretch the string up and down to raise the pitch up and down
Method 3 - use your tremolo arm to lower and raise the pitch of a note
 t - right hand tap
Use a finger ,usually you index but your second finger if you are holding a plectrum, to percussively tap the string against a fret to produce a note
x - play 'note' with heavy damping
As previously described using the fleshly part of your palm to dampen a note a clip its sustain

There are many styles of guitar you can play and by no means do you have to choose one but many guitarists find that they excel at a particular style above others.
Click on the button to learn some songs using tablature

I Guitar Tabs


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Branch out.
As mentioned above there are various styles of guitar that you can play but there are also various techniques that you can employ for any styles.

Strumming & Damping. I tend to strum up with my thumb nail and down with the back of my fingers but its up to you and what you find easiest. However if you wish to add an element of interest and beat to your strumming try damping aswell. (Damping is when you use the fleshy part or your palm and place it over the strings close to the bridge to dampen the notes proceeded when you strum.)
Try for example treating your open strumming as the hi-hat in a drum beat and then damping the snare drum strum. (You can even hit the front of the guitar when you do this to produce a percussive beat)

Finger Picking. For classical guitarists this is essential but lots of styles may move through movements that require this technique. This involves the picking of one or more strings at a time to produce a more piano-like piece. A knowledge of guitar tablature is essential for learning new pieces.

Plectrum. Using a plectrum makes fast single string picking easier. Rock guitar and lead guitar usually employs a plectrum for more powerful playing. Great effects can be produced when damping and extremely fast up and down picking on a single string with a plectrum and playing melodies.

Lead guitar. Probably the most rewarding for the budding rock guitarist where a guitarist plays the main melody of a piece for several bars whilst the rest of the band usually backs them up with the continuing rhythm section. Glory! Usually involves showing off with speed dexterity and technical expertise but melody is more important to me and a list of my favourite guitarists would reflect this.

Rake Picking. Picking out the notes of a chord in quick succession to produce a lead guitar sound and NOT a strum. Usually up the top E string then hammer on a top note pull it off and pluck back down the chord again. Repeat at speed but with clarity and don't let the notes ring into each other or it will just sound like a strum

Tapping. See below in tricks under tapping.

Combinations and accomplishment in all the above techniques will produce a well rounded guitarist

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