Introduces the notes of the high E string and the three most common types of notation for the guitar: common notation, tablature, and chord diagrams.
Notes on using this course
This is the "latest" version of this course. It includes some major changes from the original. If you prefer any of the old exercises or songs, see the "version history" at the bottom of any lesson.
Guitar is an unusual instrument, in that there are a number of very different, widely-accepted styles of playing. (Think of the difference in technique between, say, a classical guitarist, a rock guitarist, and a blues guitarist). There are also several common, but very different, ways of notating music for guitar, including common notation, tablature, and chord symbols. The purpose of these lessons is to acquaint the beginning guitarist with the basics needed for most guitar styles and genres. Many beginners are not certain what style of playing, and what type of notation, suits them; this general introduction not only gives them a little time to decide such things, but also gives them some basic music theory and background in other styles and other kinds of notation, so that they become more well-rounded musicians, capable of making forays into new genres and styles.
The exercises are my own. The music on the song sheets and ensemble sheets are my arrangements of
public domain tunes. All exercises and arrangements are published under the Creative Commons attribution license that covers all material in Connexions. Basically any use is allowed, as long as the author and source (Catherine Schmidt-Jones, and Connexions, http://cnx.org) are properly attributed. (Keep in mind that other arrangements of these same tunes may be under stricter copyright licenses!) In order to make the requirement easy for you to fulfill, the attribution information has been added at the bottom of each lesson and practice page.
Author recommendations for students
The lessons are designed to be done with a knowledgeable teacher.
If regular lessons are not feasible, it is strongly recommended that self-teaching students consider joining a beginning guitar class, getting a few beginning lessons, or getting occasional lessons to answer questions, correct bad habits, and get some guidance.
If even that is not feasible, the student should try to study guitar-method videos for the information that cannot be conveyed on paper. Watching performances of favorite guitarists can also be useful.
Self-teaching students should also seriously consider taping practice sessions regularly, and listening to and/or watching the tape carefully. This exercise is also very useful, even for those students who have a teacher. Like all good criticism, self-criticism should be as specific as possible, and focus on what needs to be done to improve.
Author recommendations for teachers
Highly-motivated students, adult beginners, and students who have already studied other instruments may be able to do these lessons at the rate of one per week. Young or musically-inexperienced students may need more time on some, or all, of the lessons. As long as students practice well and regularly, they should be encouraged to move at a comfortable pace.
Students should not go to the next lesson until they can successfully play the music on the
practice page . Some students will need extra practice at some point in the lessons. If this is the case, an extra lesson book, song book, or etude book, in a style of music that the student enjoys, can be studied alongside these lessons.
Lesson pages focus on giving information, including suggestions for understanding music theory. Some students will be more interested than others in this information. A guitarist who understands theory is a more well-rounded, capable musician, but as long as they can play the exercises adequately, students do not have to understand everything on the lesson page in order to move to the next lesson. They can refer back to it later, as things begin to make sense and questions arise.
The "find out more" links are to on-line theory lessons, which often include exercises. If theory is an important part of your program, you may wish to include theory exercises as part of the lesson assignment. Otherwise, simply point them out as extra easily-available information.
Beginning at Lesson 3,
Song Sheets and
Ensemble pages are included. These can be used for extra practice, for beginners' recitals, and/or for developing an early "repertoire". The tunes are from a wide variety of traditions and genres, to help young students decide what type of music they like. Songs that are already widely available in many other guitar method books are avoided. A student can start working on a song or ensemble any time after completing the lesson indicated near the song title.
When the student indicates an interest in learning specific songs or types of music, simple versions of those pieces should be included alongside the lesson music as soon as possible.
Lesson pages
Here are PDF files of the
Lesson page and
Home practice page . If you can't get the PDF files, you can use the figures below. The suggested theory assignment for this lesson are
The Staff and
Clef .
Questions & Answers
A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
Adjei
please, I'm a physics student and I need help in physics
Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
