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Teach Yourself How to Play the Guitar Overnight!

INTRODUCTION:

First of all, we must forget everything we’ve ever thought about how complicated playing music is. I compare it to ‘math anxiety’

Many people fear music and think that it takes a genius to be a good musician. To be a master it might take a genius, but to play songs on the guitar, sound good and have a great time is only a lesson or two away! I have been playing and teaching music professionally for many years and was a child piano prodigy myself. I play and teach: piano, guitar, bass, flute and drums. I have tought many friends and family members how to get started playing songs on the guitar practically overnight. When you are dedicated enough and passionate about learning the guitar, it comes a lot easier than you may think. My fiancee is also excelling at the guitar and the bass guitar since I’ve shown her a few methods and tricks. I hope this gives you the kick start you need to get started rockin’ and rollin’! Enjoy.

LET’S LEARN!

Grab your guitar! I am assuming that prior to reading this you have a pretty good idea of how to hold a guitar and pluck the strings either with your finger(s) or with a guitar ‘pick’.

If not here’s the rundown:

(For Lefties, Do everything opposite i.e ‘left upper thigh’ etc.)

Playing guitar for hours can strain your back if you do not maintain an upright posture. Pick up your guitar and place the back of the guitar against your stomach. If you are right handed, the guitar neck should be pointing towards your left. Rest the guitar body on your right upper thigh.

Now place your left hand around the guitar neck and place your right arm around the body so that your hand is lying by the strings. Adjust your body positioning so that you are completely comfortable.

Hand Positioning

If you’re left handed, don’t worry.You have two options here. The first option is to buy a right-handed guitar and re-string it, so that the order of the strings in figure 3 is reversed. The second option you have is to buy a left-handed guitar.

If you’re right handed, you will use your left hand to construct chords.

The left hand fingers are bent and pressing down on the strings on the fret board. The back of the neck is curved, so that your hand molds into the shape of the neck. Your thumb is arching aver the top of the neck. This is a common thumb position for constructing chords.

It is also ok to press your thumb into the back of the guitar neck when constructing chords, although this is more common when playing scales. Try out both thumb positions and use the one that is most comfortable for you.

Right Hand/Arm

This is the hand that you will use to “strum” the strings to make the different chord sounds. Rest/Lie your right arm over the guitar. Your right bicept should be resting on the top of the body of the guitar. Your hand should be positioned directly above the sound hole in the guitar. This is where the sound is produced.

Using a Pick

You should grasp the pick between your thumb and forefinger of your right hand.

Here is a link to a great resource *WITH VIDEO* to show you what it looks like to strum and play and hold the guitar! However, that site also continues to teach traditionally and we are here to learn the guitar OVERNIGHT! So, let’s not spend too much time over there. What we have here that they don’t have there is……Guitar Tablature! Or ‘TAB’ for short. This system allows you to get propelled into playing songs and ‘riffs’ on the guitar almost immediately! Guitar Tab is a universal language among musicians and even professionals use it as a reference. After this lesson, you will be able to Google the Guitar Tab for pretty much any song that you want and be playing the melody line or main riff within minutes!

What is Guitar Tab?!?

It is an alternative way of reading music. Instead of reading notes on staff paper which can be quite tricky, it is made up of a number system that is so easy my granmda can play ‘smoke on the water’ with ease!! NO joke.

The following 6 lines do not represent your typical ‘music staff’ which actually has 5 lines. These 6 lines represent the 6 strings on your guitar.

The Top Line represents the thinnest or ‘highest pitched’ string on your guitar. The string that is closest to the floor. The bottom Line represents the LOWEST SOUNDING String on the guitar and this one is the thickest. It also is the closest to the ceiling.

**CHECK OUT THE GUITAR ANATOMY PICTURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE REPORT!

String #

____________________________________________________ 1

____________________________________________________ 2

T____________________________________________________ 3

A____________________________________________________ 4

B____________________________________________________ 5

____________________________________________________ 6

NOW…..

This is what blank Guitar Tab looks like. Right now all you see are the 6 lines (6 Strings) I know you’re thinking “why is it upside down?” I have no idea. That’s how

Tablature was invented. Just imagine the bottom line as being the top string that’s closest to you. With that out of the way we can work on our next keyword. “Frets.”

I am sure you have heard this term before ‘Guitar Frets.’ If not, they are the metal strips that go up and down across the fingerboard of the guitar. They separate the notes (tones) on the guitar. When you place your finger (form your left hand) in between two frets and hold down the string you are then prepared to strum or pick the string with your right hand. Strings aren’t meant to only be played open. When you hold down a string at a given ‘fret’ what you are actually doing is making the string shorter, thus making the pitch ‘Higher’ and changing the note (or tone).

There are usually about 20 something frets on a standard guitar. It doesn’t make a big difference if you have 20, 22, or 24 frets on your guitar. This just means that you can play a couple notes higher on the guitar and those notes are so high pitched they are pretty annoying to listen to anyway! You will stay in the lower range of the guitar most of the time. Now let’s get this ‘Higher’ and ‘Lower’ thing straight. In music, the musical notes (tones, pitches, whatever you call them) are changed by pitch. We all know that pitch means the frequency of sound so something high pitched would be like an opera singing lady who breaks a wine glass with a super high note. A Low pitch is similar to a Bass instrument or a man with a really deep voice. ‘Deep’ is the same as ‘Low’ when talking about pitch. On a slide whistle you blow into it and move the slide up and down to change the pitch. The closer you bring the slide to you the higher the pitch gets and vise versa.

On the guitar however it is not up and down. It is left to right. When you play a string open, that is the lowest (deepest) sound you will hear produced from that string. As soon as you place your finger on the First ‘Fret’ and then strike the same string again the pitch will be slightly higher. The more you move to the right the higher the pitch will get. (Because the string is getting shorter!).

There are usually dots on the fingerboard of your guitar to act as a guide when moving around and holding down different frets. Normally they are on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets.

*TIP*:

You don’t want to put your finger on the metal fret itself…but just slightly to the right of it produces the best sound.

Let’s Play Already!!!

Ok, Ok. Now that we know what frets are. We know how to play a note (playing either an open string, or pressing down a fret on that string and then strumming it)

And we know what ‘Blank’ TAB music looks like. Let’s learn how to read TAB and how it will help you.

The Lines represent the strings.

The NUMBERS represent the Frets.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

_0_3_5_0_3_6_5_____________________________________

Music (and TAB) is read from left to right like English.

The ‘TAB’ above tells you to play on the Low string only (the thickest string)

You know this because the numbers are only written on that string (the bottom line)

The number ‘0’ means to play the string open. Then the number ‘3’ means place your index finger of your left hand and hold down the 3rd fret on the low string (same string you played open). and then followed by the 5th fret and so on.

This is the main riff to the popular song ‘Smoke on the Water.’ If you are unfamiliar with this song you can see it and view at on Youtube. Type in ‘Smoke on the Water.’ this way you will know what it sounds like before you attempt to play it by reading it above. So if you play the string open (just strum the string without touching it with your left hand) and then the 3rd fret and then the 5th and then open again, and then the 3rd fret 6th fret and 5th fret…you have you have just played smoke on the water! Try this next song…EVERYBODY Knows the tune from ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ so you shouldn’t have any trouble with it.

‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’

____________________________________________________ high string

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

_____________________________2_2____________________

_4_2_0_2__4_4_4__2_2_2__4__________________________ LOW String

The first 4 notes (4,2,0,2) sound like “ma-ry had a”

and then the three 4’s (444) sounds like “lit-tle lamb”

and then again with three 2’s (222) is again “lit-tle lamb”

and then the 4 on the low string and the two 2’s on the next string sound like

the final “lit-tle lamb”

Notice how the last two notes are on the next string. This would be the second string from the closest string to you. It is also the second most thick string on the guitar. REMEMBER: With guitar TAB you must already be familiar with the melody and rhythm of the song because even though the TAB shows you which notes to play to make the song, it does not show you how ‘long’ to hold each note in order to make the song sound right. For example, reading the above song ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ by just playing all the notes in a row without giving the proper time for each note would not sound very much like that song at all! You know to put a pause in between ‘little lamb’ and the next ‘little lamb’. Also, you know that the last ‘lamb’ is held for a slightly longer amount of time than the rest.

Here is a scale study for the guitar. This will sound like (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do) It is know as the ‘Major Scale’ and plays a HUGE part in music in general.

It is also a great finger strengthening exercise for the guitar player. This requires you to play on three strings. Frets # 3 and 5 on the LOW string. Followed by Frets # 2, 3 and 5 on the very next string. Lastly, frets # 2, 4, 5 on the 3rd string. Executed correctly it should sound like Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do.

____________________________________________________ high string

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

_____________2_4_5__________________________________

______2_3_5_________________________________________

_3_5________________________________________________ LOW String

As stated in the beginning of this report, it is not intended for you to become a master overnight. But, with this information and the fabulous world of the internet and countless resources available you can take this as far as you want. Many famous musicians to this day do not know how to read music and 99% of them know TAB and can learn a song or solo quickly by reading the TAB.

There are SO many FREE websites that have the TAB to almost every song!

Go to google and type in Guitar Tab for (song you want to learn) and it will surely pop right up. Remember that the bottom line is the string closest to you…DON’T let that fool you. The TOP Line is the guitar string closest to the floor. We didn’t even play on that string this lesson.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You now know how to hold the guitar

You now know how to play the very popular riff for ‘Smoke on the Water’

You know how to play a ‘major scale’ which is the foundation for modern music.

You know how to play ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’

You know how to read Guitar TAB!!!!!!!!!

You can now go look up the TAB for any song you want to learn for FREE online!

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Teach Yourself Guitar Overnight: Lesson 2

Introduction to Playing Guitar Chords

Welcome back!

So you’ve been through Lesson 1. You’ve learned how to read and play ‘Guitar TAB’. You also know how to play ‘Smoke on the Water’ and the ‘Major Scale’! Congratulations!!! That was your first step toward great guitar playing and you should be proud of yourself.

Let’s move forward shall we?

Guitar Chords…What are they?

I’m sure you’ve heard the term before, but what does it mean? What is a chord?

We learned that a ‘note’ or a ‘musical tone’ is basically any sound that a guitar would make. It is a definite pitch defined by a frequency of sound. The science of it is not really that important for this lesson but when you put notes together you make music! This is called a melody. Notes being played in a ‘progression’ (one after another) produces a melody…while notes played ‘at the same time’ or on top of each other is a chord. If you tried just playing any three (or more) notes together you wouldn’t necessarily be playing a chord and it might not sound too pretty! So, to sum it up a chord is three or more notes played at the same time ‘in harmony’ meaning they sound good together!

Why are Chords Important?

Chords are very important in music, and extremely important in guitar music.

When you hear someone playinga song on the guitar and singing along, they are playing chords in the background to fill in the ‘rhythm’ section of the song. Most songs –even classical music- consist of a ‘Melody Line’ and a ‘Chord Progression’. For example, in modern music the melody line would be “Wild thing, you make my heart sing” while the chords are being strummed in the background.

In classical music, the left hand on the piano or the ‘rhythm’ section of an orchestra would play the ‘chord progression’ while the main lead instrument or the right hand on the piano, would play the main melody line. (Most likely what will stick in your head!)

How do I play chords?

There are 5 ‘open’ chords on the guitar. They are called ‘open chords’ because some of the notes in these chords are played as open strings that you don’t have to put fingers on frets to accomplish. That does not mean that the entire chord is just all open strings! Just a few notes of each of these 5 chords are open.

These chords are E, A, D, G and C.

Let’s learn ‘em!

We remember the guitar ‘TAB’ setup right?

_____________________________________________ String #1–High String

_____________________________________________

T____________________________________________ A____________________________________________

B____________________________________________

_____________________________________________ String #6-LOW String

*REMEMBER: The Top line is the highest sounding string that is closest to the floor when playing the guitar. The Bottom line is the LOW (thickest) String on the guitar.*

This is the ‘TAB’ for an ‘Open E’ Chord, a very common chord on the guitar.

NOTE: The 0’s mean to play that string OPEN without holding down any frets.

____0_________________________________________ ____0_________________________________________

T___1_________________________________________ A___2_________________________________________

B___2_________________________________________

____0_________________________________________

Notice how the notes are stacked on top of eachother? This means to PLAY THEM AT THE SAME TIME! When they are written from left to right, then you play them one after the other….thus creating a melody line. When they are stacked, they are played at the same time thus creating a ‘CHORD’!

So for this chord, you only have to hold down fret #2 on the two strings below the lowest string….I suggest using your middle finger for the first one and ring finger for the next, then you realize that the next string says fret #1 and your index finger is conveniently right there! It is always important to consider the best fingering for chords as they will help you play them easily and transition between them faster.

Here is a picture of someone playing an ‘Open E’ Chord! to give you a little bit more help!

ANOTHER TIP: Try to imagine making as much of a ‘claw’ as you can with your fingers so that none of your fingers touch the other strings. This can mute those notes and is a very common mistake people make when first starting to play guitar chords.

Only 3 frets are being held down here and 3 strings are being played ‘open’. Hopefully now you fully understand what an open chord is and have some ease playing this E chord. This is not a beginner chord and is VERY Popular in all styles of music particularly rock ‘n’ roll and blues.

Let’s Learn the Rest of the Open Chords!

Ok, if you insist!

The next open chord we will learn is the ‘open G’ Chord.

____3_________________________________________ ____0_________________________________________

T___0_________________________________________ A___0_________________________________________

B___2_________________________________________ ____3_________________________________________

Yes, this one has 3 open strings in it as well. This is another really popular chord on the guitar. The 3rd fret on the bottom line (lowest string) should be played with your middle finger, followed by the 2nd fret of the very nect string played with index finger. Then you skip 3 strings and leave them open! The high string (closest to the floor) you play the 3rd fret with your ring or pinky finger which ever one is easier for you!

The Next open chord we will learn is the C Chord.

This chord has 2 open strings in it and one string that doesn’t get played at all!

This is common and you will see it with a few chords.

_______0______________________________________ _______1______________________________________

T______0______________________________________ A______2______________________________________

B______3______________________________________ _____X________________________________________

NOTE: The ‘X’ on the LOW String means DO NOT PLAY THAT STRING!

Simply start your strum on the next string, the one with the 3rd fret being held down.

Use your Ring finger for the 3rd fret. Then your middle finger for the 2nd fret on the next string. Skip a string (this one is played open) and place your index finger on the 1st fret of the second to last string. Finally, the last string is played open.

Here is a Picture of a ‘C Chord.’

TWO MORE CHORDS TO GO!!

Open ‘A’ Chord:

_____0________________________________________ _____2________________________________________

T____2________________________________________ A____2________________________________________

B____0________________________________________

_____X________________________________________

This chord is fairly easy…the bottom string is not played like in the C Chord. Then we have an open string followed by the 2nd fret on three strings in a row! Finally, an open string at the top.

The Lowest String is NOT Played or Strummed.

The index finger is on the 2nd fret of the second string, followed by the middle finger and then the ring finger, ALL on the 2nd fret of three strings in a row. The top string is played open (string closest to the floor).

LAST BUT NOT LEAST!

The ‘D Chord’ will be our final Open Chord on the guitar. You’ll be amazed at how far you can go with just these 5 chords!

Open D Chord:

______2_______________________________________ ______3_______________________________________

T____2________________________________________ A____0________________________________________

B____X________________________________________

_____X________________________________________

This chord has TWO strings that are NOT Played at all.

The two LOWEST strings. (this means that when strumming the chord with the right hand you will start on the string that says 0, you will not strum every string on the guitar like the first two chords.

The next string is played open, followed by your index finger on the 2nd fret and then your RING finger on the 3rd fret of the next string. Finally, your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top string (closest to floor).

Picture of Open ‘D’ Chord:

Open D Chord.

There you have it! You have learned how to play chords on the guitar, as well as learning all 5 open chords! Again, these are NOT beginner chords, these are professional level guitar chords that are used daily by guitarists and rock ‘n’ rollers all over the world! These are actually the most commonly used chords on the guitar and the most popular! Go out and get yourself a songbook of your favorite artist for guitar! Most ALL songbooks have the Letter of the chord written right above the lyrics so you can follow along and learn the rhythm for your favorite songs just by reading “G, or C, or E, etc…” You can also find the chords to many of your favorite songs by simply Googling ‘Guitar Chords for _________ song.’ They are not always 100% correct but you will be able to tell if it is way off and you’ll also get some great free practice material!

This was Lesson #2 of a two-part lesson titled ‘Teach Yourself Guitar Overnight!’ I do have a third, separate lesson on the way that takes you even further into guitardom. The chords you learned in this lesson are all ‘Major’ Chords. In the next lesson, you will learn the ‘Minor’ Chords as well as the difference between Major and Minor chords. Also, we will begin to play songs using chords.

Thank you for reading ‘Teach Yourself Guitar Overnight! Lesson 2’

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INTRODUCTION:

First of all, we must forget everything we’ve ever thought about how complicated playing music is. I compare it to ‘math anxiety’
Many people fear music and think that it takes a genius to be a good musician. To be a master it might take a genius, but to play songs on the bass guitar, sound good and have a great time is only a lesson or two away! I have been playing and teaching music professionally for many years and was a child piano prodigy myself. I play and teach: piano, guitar, bass, flute and drums. I have tought many friends and family members how to get started playing songs on the guitar practically overnight. When you are dedicated enough and passionate about learning the bass guitar, it comes a lot easier than you may think. My fiancee is also excelling at the guitar and the bass guitar since I’ve shown her a few methods and tricks. I hope this gives you the kick start you need to get started rockin’ and rollin’! Enjoy.

What is a bass guitar?

A bass guitar is like a guitar, but with only the lowest four strings. The strings are thicker and give you a lower sound than a guitar. The other difference with a bass is how it’s played. The bass player’s job is (usually) to “hold down the bottom end” and provide a “groove”. What’s that mean? Well, first, it means your part in the sound mix is the low range — you’re giving it the deep sounds. Second, you’re part of the rhythm section! That’s right, if you play bass you stick with the drummer. Together with the drummer, you provide a rhythmic base for the other instruments to play with: a groove. The groove you try to achieve is going to be much different depending on whether you’re playing jazz, punk, country, pop, heavy metal, or any other style!

Anatomy of a Bass Guitar!

LET’S LEARN!

Grab your Bass! I am assuming that prior to reading this you have a pretty good idea of how to hold a bass guitar and pluck the strings either with your finger(s) or with a guitar ‘pick’.
If not here’s the rundown:
(For Lefties, Do everything opposite i.e ‘left upper thigh’ etc.)

Playing the bass for hours can strain your back if you do not maintain an upright posture. Pick up your guitar and place the back of the guitar against your stomach. If you are right handed, the bass guitar neck should be pointing towards your left. Rest the body on your right upper thigh.
Now place your left hand around the neck and place your right arm around the body so that your hand is lying by the strings. Adjust your body positioning so that you are completely comfortable.
Hand Positioning
If you’re left handed, don’t worry.You have two options here. The first option is to buy a right-handed guitar and re-string it, so that the order of the strings in figure 3 is reversed. The second option you have is to buy a left-handed guitar.
If you’re right handed, you will use your left hand to construct chords.
The left hand fingers are bent and pressing down on the strings on the fret board. The back of the neck is curved, so that your hand molds into the shape of the neck. Your thumb is arching aver the top of the neck. This is a common thumb position for constructing chords.
It is also ok to press your thumb into the back of the neck when playing.
Right Hand/Arm
This is the hand that you will use to “pluck” the strings to make the different sounds/notes. Rest/Lie your right arm over the bass. Your right bicept should be resting on the top of the body of the bass. Your hand should be positioned directly above the pickups.
You don’t strum a bass like a guitar:
You pluck, pick, pop, tap or slap the strings. Many bassists play strictly with their fingers, while others use a pick. This is not only a personal preference, but also affects what kinds of sounds you can get from your bass. For example, most punkers use a pick, while most jazzers use their fingers. Plucking with the fingers is probably most common. And if you’re looking to get funky, you’re going to want to learn how to slap and pop!
Using a Pick
You should grasp the pick between your thumb and forefinger of your right hand. A lot of bass players do not use picks. It is more common to play with your index and middle finger of your right hand (if your righty!)
What is Bass Guitar Tab?!?
It is an alternative way of reading music. Instead of reading notes on staff paper which can be quite tricky, it is made up of a number system that is so easy my granmda can play ‘smoke on the water’ with ease!! NO joke.
The following 4 lines do not represent your typical ‘music staff’ which actually has 5 lines. These 4 lines represent the 4 strings on your bass guitar.
The Top Line represents the thinnest or ‘highest pitched’ string on your bass. The string that is closest to the floor. The bottom Line represents the LOWEST SOUNDING String on the bass and this one is the thickest. It also is the closest to the ceiling.
**CHECK OUT THE BASS ANATOMY PICTURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE REPORT!

High String (Closest to Floor)_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Low String (Thickest) _____________________________________________

String #
____________________________________________________ 1
____________________________________________________ 2
____________________________________________________ 3
____________________________________________________ 4

NOW…..

This is what blank Bass Tab looks like. Right now all you see are the 4 lines (4 Strings) I know you’re thinking “why is it upside down?” I have no idea. That’s how
Tablature was invented. Just imagine the bottom line as being the top string that’s closest to you. With that out of the way we can work on our next keyword. “Frets.”
I am sure you have heard this term before: ‘Frets.’ If not, they are the metal strips that go up and down across the fingerboard of the guitar. They separate the notes (tones) on the guitar/bass. When you place your finger (form your left hand) in between two frets and hold down the string you are then prepared to strum or pick the string with your right hand. Strings aren’t meant to only be played open. When you hold down a string at a given ‘fret’ what you are actually doing is making the string shorter, thus making the pitch ‘Higher’ and changing the note (or tone).

There are usually about 20 something frets on
a standard bass guitar. It doesn’t make a big difference if you have 20, 22, or 24 frets on your guitar. This just means that you can play a couple notes higher on the guitar and those notes are so high pitched they are pretty annoying to listen to anyway! You will stay in the lower range of the bass most of the time. Now let’s get this ‘Higher’ and ‘Lower’ thing straight. In music, the musical notes (tones, pitches, whatever you call them) are changed by pitch. We all know that pitch means the frequency of sound so something high pitched would be like an opera singing lady who breaks a wine glass with a super high note. A Low pitch is similar to a Bass instrument or a man with a really deep voice. ‘Deep’ is the same as ‘Low’ when talking about pitch. On a slide whistle you blow into it and move the slide up and down to change the pitch. The closer you bring the slide to you the higher the pitch gets and vise versa.
On the bass however it is not up and down. It is left to right. When you play a string open, that is the lowest (deepest) sound you will hear produced from that string. As soon as you place your finger on the First ‘Fret’ and then strike the same string again the pitch will be slightly higher. The more you move to the right the higher the pitch will get. (Because the string is getting shorter!).

There are usually dots on the fingerboard of your bass guitar to act as a guide when moving around and holding down different frets. Normally they are on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets.
*TIP*:
You don’t want to put your finger on the metal fret itself…but just slightly to the left of it produces the best sound.

Let’s Play Already!!!

Ok, Ok. Now that we know what frets are. We know how to play a note (playing either an open string, or pressing down a fret on that string and then plucking it)
And we know what ‘Blank’ TAB music looks like. Let’s learn how to read TAB and how it will help you.

The Lines represent the strings.
The NUMBERS represent the Frets.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
_0_3_5_0_3_6_5_____________________________________

Music (and TAB) is read from left to right like English.

The ‘TAB’ above tells you to play on the Low string only (the thickest string)
You know this because the numbers are only written on that string (the bottom line)
The number ‘0’ means to play the string open. Then the number ‘3’ means place your index finger of your left hand and hold down the 3rd fret on the low string (same string you played open). and then followed by the 5th fret and so on.

This is the main riff to the popular song ‘Smoke on the Water.’ If you are unfamiliar with this song you can see it and view at on Youtube. Type in ‘Smoke on the Water.’ this way you will know what it sounds like before you attempt to play it by reading it above. So if you play the string open (just pluck the string without touching it with your left hand) and then the 3rd fret and then the 5th and then open again, and then the 3rd fret 6th fret and 5th fret…you have you have just played smoke on the water! Try this next song…EVERYBODY Knows the tune from ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ so you shouldn’t have any trouble with it.

‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’
____________________________________________________ high string
____________________________________________________
_____________________________2_2____________________
_4_2_0_2__4_4_4__2_2_2__4__________________________ LOW String

The first 4 notes (4,2,0,2) sound like “ma-ry had a”
and then the three 4’s (444) sounds like “lit-tle lamb”
and then again with three 2’s (222) is again “lit-tle lamb”
and then the 4 on the low string and the two 2’s on the next string sound like
the final “lit-tle lamb”
Notice how the last two notes are on the next string. This would be the second string from the closest string to you. It is also the second most thick string on the guitar. REMEMBER: With ‘TAB’ you must already be familiar with the melody and rhythm of the song because even though the TAB shows you which notes to play to make the song, it does not show you how ‘long’ to hold each note in order to make the song sound right. For example, reading the above song ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ by just playing all the notes in a row without giving the proper time for each note would not sound very much like that song at all! You know to put a pause in between ‘little lamb’ and the next ‘little lamb’. Also, you know that the last ‘lamb’ is held for a slightly longer amount of time than the rest.

Here is a scale study for the bass guitar. This will sound like (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do) It is know as the ‘Major Scale’ and plays a HUGE part in music in general.
It is also a great finger strengthening exercise for the guitar player. This requires you to play on three strings. Frets # 3 and 5 on the LOW string. Followed by Frets # 2, 3 and 5 on the very next string. Lastly, frets # 2, 4, 5 on the 3rd string. Executed correctly it should sound like Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do.

____________________________________________________ high string
_____________2_4_5__________________________________
______2_3_5_________________________________________
_3_5________________________________________________ LOW String

Boogie Woogie Bass Line!:

____________________________________________________ high string
____________________________________________________
______2_4_5__4_2____________2_4_5_4_2_____________
_0_4______________4____0_4______________4__________ LOW String

As stated in the beginning of this report, it is not intended for you to become a master overnight. But, with this information and the fabulous world of the internet and countless resources available you can take this as far as you want. Many famous musicians to this day do not know how to read music and 99% of them know TAB and can learn a song or solo quickly by reading the TAB.

There are SO many FREE websites that have the TAB to almost every song!
Go to google and type in Guitar Tab for (song you want to learn) and it will surely pop right up. Remember that the bottom line is the string closest to you…DON’T let that fool you. The TOP Line is the guitar string closest to the floor. We didn’t even play on that string this lesson.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You now know how to hold the bass guitar
You now know how to play the very popular riff for ‘Smoke on the Water’
You know how to play a ‘major scale’ which is the foundation for modern music.
You know how to play ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’
You know how to play the famous ‘Boogie Woogie’ Bass Line!
You know how to read TAB!!!!!!!!!
You can now go look up the TAB for any song you want to learn for FREE online!

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Guitar Theory – Guitar Soloing

What is a Guitar Solo?

A guitar solo is when the ‘lead’ guitar player improvises a melody (on the spot) over the rhythm section of a band.
(Carlos Santana, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix, etc.)
Yup, the lead guitarist makes it up as they play it!
You are probably thinking to yourself…Hmmm, will I ever be able to do that? Make up a solo on the spot?!
The answer is YES, you can.
There are ‘tricks of the trade’ for guitar soloing just as there are for any specialty or profession.
I am going to guide you right to the point, just like all of my reports.
No fluff, No BS. We’ll discuss ONLY what you need to know to take a freakin’ guitar solo!
Hopefully You have a good idea about how to hold a guitar and play a note. You do not have to know what note you are playing! (ex. A, C, G, etc)
All you have to know, is how to play a note. That is pressing a finger down on a fret and strumming or picking the strings with the other hand.
Also, you will need to know how to read Guitar TAB. I taught TAB in my first guitar lesson report. Now that we got that out of the way…let’s learn!

Who Plays a Guitar Solo and Where does it Fit in?

As I mentioned above, the ‘lead guitar’ player of a band/group is the one who will take a guitar solo. (Duh, of course, a keyboard solo would be taken by the keyboardist!)
A typical song usually consists of a ‘Chord Progression’ and a ‘Melody.
The ‘Chord Progression’ is the combination of chords that is played in the background over the melody. The melody usually consists of notes that are part of the chord being played at any given time. So if the chords for a song are G, C, D. (which MANY famous songs are just 3 chords! More than you can imagine..)
The melody of the song would probably include one of the notes of a G chord while the band plays that chord. When the band switches to a C chord, the singer or whatever is playing the main melody swtiches to a note that sounds good with the C chord and so on. That is how a song is constructed.
During a song, sometimes an instrument will take a solo.
This occurs in classical music as well as rock ‘n roll and a lot of styles in between! Jazz is very big on soloing and improvisation.
The melody line will stop, but the rest of the rhythm section of the band will continue to play the ‘chords’ of the ‘background music’ while the lead guitarist takes a nice solo over the music. That doesn’t mean that they play the same melody that the singer was just singing! It’s more about showing what the instrument is capable of, and making musical ‘phrases’.
So the guitarist solos and then the singer usually comes back in for a final chorus and then the song ends. What I am going to do, is narrow down the notes for you, so you know what you need to play to take a great sounding solo.

Let’s Get to the ‘Tricks of the Trade’ and Solos Already!!

Ok, Ok! Phew. I didn’t realize you were that anxious.
Calm down, and grab your guitar.
Ok, what I’m about to tell you will change the way you feel about guitar solos and how difficult they are.
Almost EVERY Guitar Solo that you ever heard, consisted of a 6 note pattern! What?!? You heard me, more than 90% of all guitar solos are played using the ‘Blues Scale’ otherwise known as the ‘Minor Pentatonic’ Scale. This scale is only 5-6 notes long (one note is optional).
It obviously repeats itself in higher pitched octaves therefore you can go up and down the guitar neck and take a crazy solo….but it’s still only 6 notes.
WOW. That’s a heavy load for a lot of people who dream of taking guitar solos. Why? Because it’s not as hard as you think. Only 6 notes. The pattern I will show you will make it even easier!

Here is the Guitar TAB for this AMAZING pattern!

______________________________36________________
__________________________36____________________
___________________3_5_6________________________
______________3_5_______________________________
_______3_4_5____________________________________
__3_6___________________________________________

That is going ‘UP’ the scale.

Here is going ‘DOWN’ the scale:

__6_3___________________________________________
______6_3_______________________________________
__________6_5_3_________________________________
________________5_3_____________________________
____________________5_4_3_______________________
___________________________6_3__________________

You might notice this already, but even JUST playing this scale sounds like a guitar solo!!!

ANOTHER TRICK OF THE TRADE:
I call this the ‘Universal Pattern’ Law.
Anything you do in one spot on the guitar, can be done the same way on any other spot on the guitar! Sound weird? It is. For example, the first few notes of this scale:

_______3_4_5_
__3_6________ (LOW String)

By starting on the 3rd fret we are soloing in the key of G.
If we wanted to solo in the key of A we would have to start on the 5th fret of the lowest string:

_______5_6_7_
__5_8________ (LOW String)

The pattern looks AND feels the same as when we did it starting on the 3rd fret. You can get the pattern down perfectly the way I showed you starting on the 3rd fret, and then try to do the same solo on any other fret on the bottom string. You can slide your hand just one fret to the right and start on the 4th fret:

_______4_5_6_
__4_7________ (LOW String)

You will see what I mean as soon as you play all of these examples.

That is GREAT NEWS!!!
I just basically told you that you can take a guitar solo using the 6 note pattern (done 2 and a half times thus the 14 total notes) that I showed you.
AND you don’t have to learn how to solo in every key!!! Just memorize the pattern and you’ll automatically be able to play it in ANY KEY! Whoa.
That’s great news if you ask me.

Taking it Further

Once you have mastered the above scale check out theorylessons.com to learn more about different positions of the blues and pentatonic scales. It should be noted, that many guitarists get a lot of mileage out of the single position above, so experiment with creating guitar solos before you memorize a whole bunch of scale positions.

Now, you’re ready to improvise. The concept is simple; string together series of notes from the scale that sound pleasing together (these series of notes are often referred to as “licks”). When you’re done experimenting a little, look up videos of your favorite guitar players and solos. Listen to the Licks they play and try memorizing, and utilizing some of these in your guitar solos.
Using the Scale to Play Guitar Solos!

Now that you’re comfortable with the blues scale, you’ll want to play guitar solos over some form of accompaniment. The most common things guitar players solo over is a 12 bar blues.
Something that beginner lead guitarists don’t realize is that improvising ( or, “soloing”) does not involve playing a series of random notes, and then they magically sound great together. Rather, guitarists draw their guitar solos from a scale, using it as a template to improvise with. The Blues Scale, despite it’s name, is a scale which is used extensively in all styles of guitar solos.
To use the blues scale, play it so that the root of the scale starts on the letter name of the scale you want to play. For example, to play a G blues scale, find the note G on the LOW string (3rd fret) and start the scale there. (this is the one we learned!) An ‘A’ blues scale would start on the 5th fret of the LOW string.
Try playing the scale up and down at first. Start off slow, then get faster and faster. Try messing around with different phrases and patterns (all within the same notes of the scale though). You will hear and see how powerful this is after you play it for the first time!

Congratulations! You took the 1st step in learning how to take rockin’ guitar solos!!!