This is a very basic lesson that is aimed at the beginning guitarist who maybe has limited or no knowledge of chords and scales. This lesson doesn't go too in depth as far as music theory goes. This lesson will be too easy or unnecessary for some and just right for others. I'll will post many lessons of varying difficulty.
Also, before starting, please note the diagrams (which I made completely from scratch in MS Paint). I originally just tried to type out some tabs, but I wasn't satisfied with that. The first diagram is in the traditional style of a chord chart. To interpret a chord chart, imagine looking straight at the fretboard of an upright guitar.) The second diagram features traditional sheet music as well as tabs. If you don't know how to read tabs, well, tabs represent the strings themselves. The top line of a tab is the high E string, the second highest line of a tab the B string, and it continues on that way. The numbers represent which frets to play. If you see an X, you don't play anything or you would mute the string. If you see the number 0, that means to play the string open. Simple right? Let's begin:
Definition of a chord : 2 or more notes played at the same time. Some music theorists would say a true chord is 3 or more notes, but in the case of the guitar (and other instruments), power chords are played quite frequently. A power chord is typically a 2 or 3 note chord that is movable through out the fret board. Chords are usually built from notes within a scale. So we'll leave it at that for now, and explain the theory behind chords in a different more advanced lesson.
Definition of a scale : A collection or sequence of notes derived from a formula. Played individually. When starting out you typically play a scale's notes in order ascending and descending to learn where the notes are, what notes they are, to get your fingers used to playing them, and to get the sound and feel of the scale. Eventually you would experiment with playing different patterns of the scale and build from there. Scales are the building blocks of chords, and learning tools for guitarists wanting to learn lead/solo guitar work. Eventually we'll talk about whole steps, half steps, and intervals and other theory stuff, but I don't want to discourage anybody by throwing too much at you at one time. A lot of learning music and guitar comes from learning your scales.
So as mentioned, I'll get into the theory behind scales and chords and things like that in another lesson.
Here's some basic open chords (called open chords because you play un-fretted, open strings) to get you started (originally had typed them up but here's an improved diagram):
Make sure when playing these chords that each note sounds/rings out properly. When starting out you may accidentally mute a string that should be played. I recommend just adjusting your fingers around until you get it to sound correct, but also make sure you aren't putting unnecessary strain on your arms, wrist, and fingers. You don't want to injure yourself, and trust me, its possible.
So moving on to an example of a scale. This is the C Major scale starting in root position (meaning the scale sequence starts at the note C, which is at the 8th fret of the Low E string.) In this example the scale is played in ascending order in a single octave (C to the next C).
The notes of the C Major scales are C, D, E, F, G, A, B. This is the same thing as playing all of the white keys on a piano/keyboard in order starting at the note of C. Play the scale slowly. Use a metronome to keep beat. Keep practicing it until it becomes easy. Learn how it sounds and feels. And try to use alternate/economy picking as shown in the diagram if possible.
And that's about it for now, the next lessons will probably be more in depth. I hope this has helped those just starting out on guitar. Thanks for reading.
