The D String

Reading The "D" String

Another way to help you read sheet music, is to look at the note that you have just played, see if the note after is higher or lower, then work out how much higher or lower it is. Think of your staff as steps. As you can see with the picture to the right, the steps are on a line then a space then a line again and so on.

Try to make the comparison between note on the staff moving up or down one place (eg. space to a line or line to a space) and notes on the guitar moving up or down one placing (this doesn't mean one fret at a time but more so to the next note, eg. D to E or F to G). This will make sight reading a little easier. Most of the time songs will go up or down in steps. A good example of this is "Song Of Joy". Look below and you'll see how the next note in the song is only one step up or down from the previous. Good sight readers don't even think of what the notes are playing, they just use the steps (or intervals) between the notes to play the song.

PLAY THROUGH THIS EXERCISE - "D E & F" NOTES

Now practice all 3 lines together along with the audio below!

Test

I will test you on the E B and G strings this friday

What you should know

1. The 15 chords
2. Brown eyed girl rhythm
3. Finger picking 
4. Note reading E B G strings
5. The ensemble songs. 

Practice EBG

3rd String G

Reading The "G" String

There are only two notes on this string (G & A), so this makes the notes on this string easy to remember. As you can see the stems are going up this time instead of down. This is because when the dots are written below the middle line the stems face up, and when the dots are placed above the middle line the stems go down. If the dot is placed on the middle line, then it is up to you to decide whether the stems should go up or down. It also usually follows the direction of the last stem.

In the exercise below the last note on the last bar is a whole note. This note is sounded over four beats, it is twice as long as a half note and four times as long as a quarter note. Remember to count it out aloud when you are playing. Pick the note on the first beat then let it ring up to the end of the fourth.

PLAY THROUGH THIS EXERCISE - "G & A" NOTES

Now practice all 3 lines together along with the audio below!

Practice reading your E string notes from yesterday.

And... Move on to The B String

The E string

Reading The Thin "E" String

In the next section you will learn all the notes on your six strings within the first four frets and how they are written on paper. Each diagram (like the one to the left) will be laid out the same. Let’s break the diagram down into three parts; Finger Number Note Names Position of notes on the staff Your “E” note is played open on the first string, “F” is played with your first finger on the first fret on the first string and “G” is played with your third finger on the third fret on the first string.

What you see below are not songs but exercises. They should not be memorized, they should be read, the same way you would read a book. When you read a book you take in the story but you don't memorize the words do you? The same should happen when you read sheet music fluently.

There are two ways to play any instrument, one is to learn how to sight read music. This is the same as reading a book out loud to someone. The next way is to memorize the song, this is the same as being an actor where you memorize your lines then repeat them when you are performing. Because you have memorized your parts, this gives more room to be creative with your performance (to ad-lib or improvise). Neither way is better or worse than the other, and both take a while to master, doing both memorizing and sight reading should be your goal, this will set you apart from other guitarist.

PLAY THROUGH THIS EXERCISE - "E F & G" NOTES

Now practice all 3 lines together along with the audio below!

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As you can see the fingering is the same as the E, F & G notes, except you will now be picking the second string instead of the first.

Towards the end of the third line in the exercise below you can see there are different looking notes being used. These notes are half notes, remember half notes are worth two beats. Try to count out aloud when you are playing these notes, for example the third note on the second last bar which is "D", would be picked on the third beat, then let ring out over the fourth beat.

PLAY THROUGH THIS EXERCISE - "B C & D" NOTES

Now practice all 3 lines together along with the audio below!

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