Ebook1 Yourguitarsage
Ebook1 Yourguitarsage
Ebook1 Yourguitarsage
Page 1
Introduction
Thank you so much for purchasing this ebook! I sincerely feel that what I cover in
the next few pages is the absolute best place from which to start your journey to
learning to play the guitar...And after going through this information, Im sure
youll agree!
Because people find my information from so many different sites on the internet, I
thought Id dedicate this page to showing you the best places to find Your Guitar
Sage videos, materials and information...
I hope to see you soon on my many web and social networking pages!
Like YourGuitarSage on Facebook!
www.facebook.com/yourguitarsage
Follow YourGuitarSage on Twitter!
www.twitter.com/yourguitarsage
Subscribe to YourGuitarSage on Youtube!
www.youtube.com/yourguitarsage
Before we begin, I want to let you know a little about myself and my approach
towards teaching guitar. I have been playing guitar for over 25 years and have been
in numerous bands (rock, metal, country, pop, classical, alternative) during that
time. I have studied with many teachers and was a classical guitar major for 3
years before graduating with a Music Business degree. I am a working studio
guitarist as well as a guitar teacher, songwriter and producer. I LOVE playing
guitar for a living and am living my dream! I also LOVE imparting others with
knowledge so that they, too, can fulfill their dreams as it relates to the guitar. Thank
you for allowing me to guide you in this great learning process.
A word of encouragement - Some of the concepts that you are about to learn are
quite thick with information; you WILL be challenged to do some serious
thinking about the guitar. Your hands will be, most likely, just as equally
challenged. One-on-one teaching allows me the opportunity to impart these same
concepts in more detail, and also gives me the chance to encourage my students; to
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guide them through those parts that might discourage them from playing. Before
embarking on this journey, you must remember that you WILL get discouraged at
times! You WILL get frustrated and most likely, you will want your skills to
progress fasterand to that I say, WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Most every
musician wants things to move faster than they typically do. The greatest guitarists
have ALL felt these frustrations and have also felt, at times, that they were not cut
out for guitar. But like all good, worthy endeavors, we must strive for the mark. If
gold were just a few inches beneath the soil in our own backyard, we would be
digging it up all day and probably wouldnt appreciate it much at all. But because
its found deeper and requiring considerable effort to extract it its much more
valuable and appreciated that much more!
So be encouraged! Remember that the time you spend on the guitar WILL pay off!
Have FUN and spend as much time as you can playing, practicing and honing your
skills. I promise you WILL see great progress!!
NOW DIG IN!!
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Video Directory
The following is just a short list of videos available to you free of charge on 2 of
my YouTube channels,
YourGuitarSage and YGSGuitarLessons. These and many of my other videos serve
as the perfect teaching companion to this eBook - and to the others that are
forthcoming, as well!
YourGuitarSage YouTube Channel
http://bit.ly/15xr5P
http://bit.ly/ik9Bxu
Intro to YourGuitarSage
http://bit.ly/i0ziiC
http://bit.ly/gJAPtS
Encouragement/Advice
http://bit.ly/hV1x24
http://bit.ly/f9dqUe
http://bit.ly/ey8W75
http://bit.ly/f6ock8
Strumming Method
http://bit.ly/eOwK91
http://bit.ly/hz2UX9
Diatonic Harmony
http://bit.ly/fmeX98
So, check em out - especially if you find a particular topic a little difficult at first and replay them as often as you need!
...and of course, dont forget to subscribe to YourGuitarSage and
YGSGuitarLessons on YouTube!
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Introduction ............................................................................................................2
Video Directory ......................................................................................................4
Anatomy of the Guitar ............................................................................................6
Diatonic Harmony...................................................................................................7
Where the Notes Fall on the Fret Board ..................................................................9
How to Read Chord Stamps .................................................................................. 11
How to Play Open Chords.....................................................................................13
How to Use a Capo ...............................................................................................17
How to Master Strumming Quickly and Easily .....................................................19
How to Read Chord Charts ...................................................................................23
How to Practice to Chord Charts ...........................................................................35
Number System Chart ...........................................................................................36
Chord Noodling Improvisation .............................................................................37
Chord Noodling Maps in Open Major Keys ..........................................................39
Blank Tablature Page ............................................................................................40
Blank Chord Stamp Templates ..............................................................................41
Blank Fretboard Templates ...................................................................................42
Discover the Most Simplified Easy-to-follow Guitar Learning System .................43
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Diatonic Harmony
The musical alphabet goes from A to G (there is no H, I, J, etc.)
A half-step is the distance between 1 fret and the next on a guitar
A whole step is equal to 2 half-steps or 2 frets distance
A sharp (#) is when we raise a pitch by a half-step
A flat (b) is when we lower a pitch by a half-step
Every note has a sharp, except for B and E
So, the musical alphabet reads like this A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#...
and all the notes on a 23 fret board look like this
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Definitions To Know
Interval The pitch distance between 2 notes.
Chords 3 or more notes played together.
Arpeggio broken chord, or notes from a chord played apart from each other.
Major Chord 1st, 3rd and 5th scale steps (notes from the Major scale: 1, 3, 5.
Minor Chord 1st, flat 3rd and 5th scale steps (notes) from the Major scale: 1, b3, 5.
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The space notes (FACE) look like this on the musical staff...
From the low open E string to the fifth fret of the high E string, heres what it looks
like...
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Now, when you locate these notes on the fret board of your guitar, you find the
Low E (the lowest note on your guitar with standard tuning); middle C and the
high A from the above staff - all within the first 5 frets!
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The above diagram is called a Chord Stamp. It allows us to easily read chord
shapes. Many chord stamp illustrations vary, but for our example, lets go over the
following:
The red/black dot represents the root of the chord; the note that we build the chord
upon. Essentially, its the note that the rest of the chord is based on (i.e. D, D-,
D7 chords would all have different fingerings, but would all have the same
root, D). Often times, the root is the lowest sounding note in the chord.
The number within the black circle represents the fretting hand finger that should
be pressed down on that particular place on the neck. O means open, or play that
string without a finger on it. Sometimes I will put a T if I want to bring your
thumb up and over the back of the neck to play certain notes. However, you
should not attempt that technique for quite some time as you will need to
understand the proper way of playing chords before you try this rogue method.
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So what type of capo should you buy? My favorite brands are Kyser, Shubb and
G7th. The Kyser is a very easy to use clamp style of capo. Its also handy because
you can easily clamp it to the head stock of your guitar when youre not using it so youll always have it when you need it! While I like using the Kyser for the
quick on and off needed during live acoustic gigs, I have found that it seems to
throw my electrics out of tune a bit from the pressure of the spring.
For this reason, I prefer the adjustable style of the Shubb and G7th for when Im
playing live with an electric (if I desire a capo) and for studio work with both
acoustics and electrics.
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If you find that you are having trouble with a rhythm or two, check out this video
which will teach you a couple of ninja guitar tricks and will help you through the
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3, etc. This would mean that you would put the capo at the 3rd fret. Using a
capo, transposes the actual chords. Often times, charts wont mention the feel of
the song. (feel = what key the song feels like, for example C or G major) Thats
no problem though. Just capo where requested and act as if the capo is the nut of
the guitar.
If you move the capo to the 3rd fret, you will need to play your chords 3 frets
higher than you would if you did not use a capo. I will often denote the feel of the
song, especially if its a number chart. This way you know what chord to play
for the number represented. More on that later!
Groupings Chords will be separated from each other when they represent a
measure. If a song is In 4, you will see a chord separated by a space, and then
another chord, etc. For a song like Carrie Underwoods, Before He Cheats, each
chord represents 4 beats. So there would be a total of 16 beats for the following
chord progression (E- D C B7). If a measure has more than one chord in it, its
called a split measure and is denoted, by an underline.
For example, in the song Hallelujah, by Rufus Wainwright and written by
Leonard Cohen, the 10th measure of the verse is split, C D. Since this is still a
measure of 4, C would get two beats and D would get two beats. In Feists,
1.2.3.4., the intro and verses are all split. Since that song is in 4, each chord
would get two beats because they share the measure. Then in the chorus it would
be back to our normal full measure of four beats per chord. Sometimes you will
see hash marks over the chords if its not an evenly split measure.
In Rascal Flatts What Hurts The Most you will find an uneven measure, in the
1st bar (measure) of the bridge. The C chord would normally be held out for 3
beats, and the D for one beat, but we have yet another notation to consider. The
p above the D, means that you push the D chord. Basically, you just play it
a little earlier than you would normally play it. To be exact, you play the D on
the and of 3 not on the 4. If we count 1+2+3+4+, the C is held for 1+2+3, and
the D is played on the + of the 3 and held out for +4+. This last part is a bit
complex, so if you dont get it right now, dont worry.
Come back to it though, because even though you wont run into it very often, you
will hear a difference.
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Inversions Inversions are chords that have another note from that chord that is
played in the bass, instead of the root. A C chord has a C in the root. A D
chord has a D in the root, etc. Sometimes you will see a chord symbol like C/E
as we see in the 3rd measure of the chorus of The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby.
Simply put, this is a C chord with an E in the bass. Normally when we play a C
chord, we mute the low E string (6th or thick string) with our thumb, or we dont
strum it at all. That would produce a sonically correct C. However, when a /
chord is represented, that usually means that another instrument (usually the bass)
is playing that low note, instead of the root of the chord (i.e. C).
Other examples that you will see often times are G/B, which means a G chord,
with a B in the bass (2nd fret/fifth string). C/G is C chord with a G in the bass (3
fret/6th string). D/F# is a D chord with an F# in the bass (2nd fret, 6th string). I
like to reach my thumb around the neck and play that F# with my thumb (difficult
for smaller hands). Often times you will have to change your fingering in order to
produce this new inversion. If you dont quite get this section on inversions at
first, dont worry. Learning is a process. Come back to it and eventually, it will
make sense.
Also, whenever you see a / chord, you can safely play the chord to the left of the
slash. If its a C/E, you just play the C. If its a D/F#, you can just play the D. If
you are playing with a bassist, he would usually play the lower notes and your ear
wont be searching for it. If you are playing by yourself (solo guitar), you might
find something missing with the chord if you dont include the lower note.
Number charts Often times, studio musicians (especially in Nashville) will
prefer a number chart. These charts refer to numbers instead of letters. The
reason that studio players like these types of charts is that they are easy to
transpose (change keys). Refer to the colorful number system matrix chart for
these examples. For Hallelujah, the 1 represents the G and the 6 represents an E.
However, there is a minus (-) after the E. That means that you make the E, an Echord, instead of an E. The fifth measure of the verse is a 4, which in the key of G
is a C chord.
The sixth measure is a 5, which in the key of G is a D chord. If we were in the
studio and the singer wanted to try this in the key of C, instead of G, we wouldnt
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have to rewrite our charts. We would just have to rethink in the key or feel of C.
In this scenario, the 1 would be a C, the 6- would be an A-, the 4 would be an F
and the 5 would be a G. Another reason that we might want to change keys (other
than the singer), is playing ease. This song is easier played with a G feel, so that
our 5 chord is a D instead of an F (in the key of C).
However, in the 14th measure of the 1st verse, we find a 3-. In C, that would be an
E-, which is an easy chord to play. In G, the 3- would be a B-, which is a bar chord
and a more difficult chord to play. Using the capo helps us to limit bar chords, but
sometimes they are unavoidable. Everything else however is consistent between
number charts and standard charts. In a nutshell, number charts substitute numbers
instead of letters.
Symbols and Notation Since charts are condensed versions of actual music,
there is often much left to the imagination. We cant hear a piece of music. It is
lifeless, until a musician brings it to life! Symbols and notation help musicians get
a better idea of what the composer or arranger wants, like road signs when we
drive.
Since these are fairly impromptu and different from each chart writer to the next,
sometimes you just have to use common sense. (i.e. if a chorus is followed by 3x,
it typically signifies that you should play the chorus three times). However, you
will see these symbols [: and :] or something similar fairly often. These
denote a repeated section of music. If you were to see, [: E- C G D:], you would
play E-, C, G and D and then repeat it. If the :] were followed by a 3x you
would play for a total of three times.
How to practice If you are still new to chords and moving between them, its
best to 1st practice your transitions. To do this, move your fretting hand (relax the
strum hand) back and forth between two chords. Just toggle back and forth
without strumming. Try this for a bit with all the chord transitions in a song. Once
you get the left hand working, you can strum to make sure the chords sound
nicely.
Remember that every great guitar player struggled with the same chords that you
and I struggle with. DONT GIVE UP!! Just be observant to your hands when
you hear something thats not right. Once you have the transitions down, its best
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to play the chord on the 1 and hold it out for the full measure or four beats (if the
song is in 4). Often times this is called a diamond. You will see this written in
many of my charts when a chord is to be held out for a full measure.
Playing in diamonds will get your internal metronome (clock) in better sync with
the music. Once you get the feel of diamonds, you can start strumming on each
single beat. If you know what the strumming rhythms of the song is, you could
then practice that, but not before getting the diamonds and single note strums
down. Here is the breakdown for practicing these charts:
1. Transitions
2. Diamonds
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Counting Song
IN 4 Capo 2 (C feel)
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Big Cheater
IN 4 Capo (G feel)
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Hurry
IN 6 Cap 5 (G feel)
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Ellen
IN 4
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Hurts
IN 4 (Capo 1 G feel)
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Key of C
Key of D
Key of E
Key of G
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