Lesson 3
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Now, we’ll begin to add Music Theory to your guitar playing, by working with notes and scales. Music notes are the building blocks of music. They are symbols on a musical staff that represent musical sounds, pitch, and duration.
The music scale is a series of notes in order of pitch. Scales are used to create melodies and harmonies.
What you'll learn
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Open string notes
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The Chromatic Scale
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The tuning fret (5th fret)
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Plectrum picking
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Finger picking
In this lesson, we'll build upon the 4-finger exercise you've been practicing since your first lesson (and hopefully, you have been practicing it)!
4-Finger Practice Review
Remember the position of your fingers as you play the fretboard. This lesson follows the number of each finger. The number of each finger also represents the fret you are playing the note on. Finger 1 plays fret 1, finger 2 plays fret 2, finger 3 plays fret 3, and so on from the 1st string to the 6th string.
Be sure to keep your thumb behind the neck and in line with the number 2 finger, and the palm is flat and parallel with the bottom of the neck as pictured.
While knowing all the notes on the fretboard is a valuable goal, we'll focus on the notes up to the 4th fret for now. As you play each note (using a pick or your index (i) and middle (m) fingers), say the note name out loud. This will reinforce how scales are constructed and their positions on the fretboard.
Play the notes on the fretboard starting with the 1st string. Then repeat the exercise playing the notes within the music staff below the fretboard.
How did you do?
The goal here is to learn the notes at least up to the 4th fret as they appear on the fretboard and the music staff. Learning what and where the notes are will be easier as you practice your chords.
Definitions:
The open string notes on a guitar are the notes that each string produces when plucked without pressing any frets down.
From the thickest to thinnest string, the open string notes are: E, A, D, G, B, E
It's important to memorize these notes as they are fundamental to understanding the guitar and playing chords.
The 5th fret on any string (except the B string) plays the same note as the open string above it.
So, if your low E string is in tune, you can use the 6th string on the fret to tune the 5th string (the A string), and so on.
Lesson Three: Finding Notes on the Guitar