The Method for Beginning Guitarists. Kale Good

Transcription

1 The Method for Beginning Guitarists Kale Good

2 Part I. The Basics

3 Lesson Adduction The object of this exercise is to adduct the fingers, that is to pull them toward each other as you use them, and to pass smoothly from finger to finger with no excess motion. Only the very tips of the fingers should touch the strings. The arm should hang relaxed directly below the hand at all times, the wrist should remain as unbent as possible throughout, much as it is when the arm hangs at rest at your side. The lower finger is slowly placed on the string while the higher note is still sounding and the higher finger is gently relaxed just as the lower note is played. (lower and higher = pitch!) Each time you cross to a new string the arm moves slightly up or down from the elbow, carrying the relaxed finger over the new string, while the previous note is still sounding; the arm s motion will carry the thumb along with it. The thumb will remain lightly held approximately behind the second finger, the thumb s tip joint unflexed! The thumb should not be opposed, that is rolled inward toward the center of the palm, if the thumb is pressed at all it should roll slightly away from the center of the palm, so there is no pressure on the carpal tunnel. This example is about as high a fret as is practical on an acoustic or classical guitar. One may begin on even smaller frets with an electric guitar or a guitar with a cut-away. Continue on the next lower fret: 7 Move down one fret at a time until you you finish at the first fret:

4 . Adduction When appropriate, continue high on the neck in whole tones, moving gradually down the neck as above. Most people can play to in whole tones almost immediately. to will take a little longer, And finally, to will take considerable time and patience to progress to the whole tone, Eventually, you will want to master to at a minor third. These exercises are only played with the non-adjacent pairs of fingers; to, to, and to. Once fluent they can be reverse; to, to, and to.

5 Lesson lilypond-book pdf latex-progra lily-output-dir=ly-pdf $$i.. A Song on Two Strings Ode To Joy = Beethoven 9.. Tuning the guitar There are three basic pieces of knowledge you need before you can tune your guitar successfully. In addition to these three pieces of knowledge, there are some tips and pointers that will help you succeed in tuning your own guitar. First, you need to understand how to read a tuner. The fuel-gauge graphic Figure. shows a typical tuner. The string is in tune when the tuner is centered. If it is on the left, the string is flat. This means it is too low in pitch and Figure..: A Basic Tuner needs tightening. If the string is on the right, the string is sharp. It is too tight and needs loosening. Next, you need to know the names of the strings. Figure. has the name of each string listed at the top. Finally, you need to know how to adjust the tension on the strings. This is done by turning the tuners, located on the headstock. Turning the tuners counter-clockwise tightens. Clockwise motion loosens the strings. Basic Procedure. Play a string.

6 . lilypond-book pdf latex-program=xelatex lily-output-dir=ly-pdf $$i A A / B B C C / D D D / E E F F / G G G / A A Table..: All The Notes. Make sure that the note indicated on the tuner is the correct note for the string you are tuning.. Observe the tuner s reading and adjust accordingly. Repeat until you are in tune If the tuner displays an incorrect note, use Table. to correct it. The table lists all the notes from low (flat) to sharp (high). If you are tuning to E and the tuner reads D, you re very flat. Tighten the string until the gauge reads E, then use the basic procedure until you are in tune (notes joined by / indicate a single note that has two names). Tips Tuning your guitar every day will make the tuning task easier and faster, as well as making you sound better. Make sure that you are turning the right tuner! This can be done by following the string up to the correct tuning peg. I advise doing this until you are very comfortable. If you don t, you might have the same experience that I had when I was learning: Broken Strings! Some tuners don t have a gauge, but use blinking lights instead. The faster the light is blinking, the further out of tune you are. As you get closer to in tune, the blinking will slow down... Using the Metronome Talk about how to use a metronome and metronome marks. This should really come after the exercise, but I m having some formating issues. Figure..: String Names.. Finger Independence The Creepy Crawler Exercise =

7 .. Technical Goals of Book. lilypond-book pdf latex-program=xelatex lily-output-dir=ly-pdf $$i Exercise Adduction Exercises Tuning Using an Electric Tuner Chromatic Finger Permutations 7th Chords: A7, E7, D7 D Major Scale Using a Metronome Strumming Patterns: ths & Ties Alternate Picking Major Chords: A, D, E Major Chord G Scale: C Major Strumming Variations: Boom-Chuck, Chunka-Chunka Chromatic Finger Variations bpm Completion 7

8 Lesson i.. Developing Pick Accuracy = Prelude Kale Good Lateral Independence Chord Prep Exercises: Level One Achieve buzz tones and bell tones while switching between note-pairs within a bar. Note that these are three separate exercises rather than one continuous exercise.... Under Pressure I can still vividly remember my time in college driving to my guitar instructor s house for our weekly lessons. Most of the year I drove there with the heat blazing, trying to make sure my fingers stayed warm so that I could play my best. Regardless of how well I had prepared, I always seemed to play the small (and large) mistakes that I fixed over the course of the week. Now that I m a teacher, I see this often with my own students. One of the most common comments I get is I played this better at home. Students often feel like this is the musician s version of The dog ate my homework (and seem to worry that I don t believe them), but the truth of the matter is that every musician has experienced this in their own lessons. I ve found that it is relatively easy to tell the difference between a student who has not practiced and a student who is having difficulty. Which is to say: Relax, I believe you when you tell me you had it right at home!

9 . i There is a saying that the best playing gets done in the practice room, and its true! As soon as we step outside of the practice room, we are under pressure to perform according to the exceptions of the audience, whether it is a teacher, some friends, or an arena of adoring fans. While there is a lot to be said for learning to deal with the nervous feelings and nervous energy that accompany a performance, today I want to focus on a different way that you can prepare for outside-the-practice-room playing. In this newsletter, I want to show you how you can practice playing under pressure. This is, after all, the situation we encounter as soon as we leave the warm, comfortable cocoon of our practice room. Record yourself: Knowing that you ll have to listen back to yourself playing, mistakes and all, is a great way to add some pressure (it also has a ton of other benefits) Play x-number of times in a row, without mistakes: If you ve told yourself that you won t stop practicing until you play times in a row without mistakes, you re going to be under a lot of pressure by the time you play 9 times in a row correctly. Number better be right, or else your back at! Play Cold: Our best playing happens when we re all warmed up; unfortunately, guitar lessons usually get started off cold. Find out what happens when you try to play without any warm up, and investigate how you can prepare for playing cold. Tell a partner/roommate/parent that you will do a chore for them for a week (or a few days, depending on the chore) if you make a mistake while playing the piece: This makes you accountable to someone else, much like a lesson or performance. For added difficulty, tell them that you have to play x number of times in a row! These four pointers can help you prepare for under-pressure situations from lessons to performances and beyond. Use them to help avoid the biggest source of in-lesson frustration. 9

10 Lesson i.. More Fingers, More Strings Aura Lee Traditional = 9

11 Lesson Four Finger Chromatic Exercises in Scales The following groups may be played from the sixth string to the first and back, beginning in the high positions near the body and working gradually downward to the first position. Keep the weight of the arm under your hand at all times, with the thumb approximately behind the second finger. Keep the weight on each finger until the next is placed, then relax it. There is no need to actively pick up that is to say to extend the relaxing finger. When changing strings, shift the whole arm straight up and down from the elbow; the thumb will follow. There is no need to bend the wrist or lift the elbow outward. Place each finger on its tip, adducting it. As you progress to the wider frets you may place the first finger flat, in a hinge bar. This will help keep the forearm suppine, the elbow relaxed, and make placement of the fourth finger much easier, in addition to being a valuable skill in itself. A number of different right hand techniques may be used over time as the left hand becomes more fluent. One may also combine these with slurring, shifting or other left hand skills. As the scales become more familiar, use the rhythms below to build up speed. Aim to achieve bpm with the final rhythm by then end of this book. Rhythms for Speed

12 Lesson i A7 E7 V Chord IV Chord Table..: Your First Chords.. Introduction To Rhythms wave your arm around and say these rhythms: : Pie Apple Pie Pie : : Pie Apple Pie Apple : : Pie Pie Apple Apple : : Pie Apple Apple Apple : Figure..: Basic Rhythms D Major Scale Figure..: Apple Pie Rhythms

13 Lesson 7 i Chord Prep Exercises: Level Two

14 Lesson i Name Note Rest Value Whole Note/Rest Pies Half Note/Rest Pies Quarter Note/Rest Pie Table..: Notes, Rests, and Their Time Values

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16 Lesson 9 Kale! Centerline Images! I Chord V Chord IV Chord (The Tonic Chord) (The Dominant Chord ) (The Subdominant Chord) Table 9..: Primary Chords in A Major 9.. Chords: An Introduction The names above the chord charts in Table 9. are the absolute name of the chords. These chords are always A, D, and E, no matter what key you play in. The names below are the relative names of the chords when playing in the key of A. These names tell us about the relationship between the chords. These relationships will change depending on what key we are in. Consequently, the relative names will change to fit the key we are playing in. To sum it up, the absolute name can never change, the relative name can. Place your fingers on the frets and strings indicated. Strum through the strings, being careful to play the open strings indicated by an o above the nut and avoiding open strings with an x above the nut. These chord diagrams have the root note indicated in red. The root note is the note from which the chord gets its name; the root note of the A major chord is A. Some chords seem to have more than one root note indicated; the duplications are simply the root note in a higher or lower octave. The basic chords are made of a root note, a third, and a fifth. We ll talk about this more when we look at intervals and minor chords 9.. Chord Exercises: Changes Talk about it. minute changes primarily. 9.. Tone Production on The guitar Talk about it. Also, talk about reviewing previous songs

17 Lesson song D Major: More D Major Extension... G major Chord Prep Exercises Here they are! 7

18 Lesson i???????????????? 9 Name Note Rest Value Whole Note/Rest Beats Half Note/Rest Beats Quarter Note/Rest Beat Eighth Note/Rest / Beat Table..: Notes, Rests, and Their Time Values

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20 Lesson i : Pie Pull Apple Apple : : Pie Pull Pie Apple : : Pie Apple Pull Pie : : Apple Apple Pull Pie : Figure..: Basic Rhythms C Major Figure..: Ties

21 Lesson Primary Chords in The Key of G G Major D Major C Major I Chord V Chord IV Chord (Tonic) (Dominant) (Subdominant) Table..: Primary Chords in G Major The Primary Chords in the Key of G require the largest amount of cross-fretboard finger independence yet! The G chord has many varieties; I ve chosen one here that will allow you to keep a finger down, at least between some of the changes! Use the skills and tool-sets you ve acquired in improving your other chord changes; -minute changes and using chord changes during your rhythm guitar practice are both great ways to get these changes integrated into your playing. As you might of guessed by now, we ll be looking at some songs with these chords in them in a few weeks, but this time, it will be Choose Your Own Adventure! The songs are really exciting (read: they are by people who aren t old enough to be your grandparents-or even your parents). But until then, you can do rework some of the songs we previously learned and play them with your new chords. Figure..:

22 Lesson i Soldier's Joy Traditional....

23 Lesson i The Blues in A Rhythm: Chunka Chunka! I IV I I IV IV I I V IV I V alternate last line: V IV I fancy stuff more fancy stuff fancy stuff can be either a turn around or an ending. A7 E7 D7 I Chord V Chord IV Chord Table..: 7th chords in A

24 Lesson The End.. This is the end! Good work. You know how to read basic rhythms. You know a nice handful of chords and a couple of songs you can strum around the campfire. Your fingers are getting faster and faster, your picking is getting more and more agile. You know a nice number of strumming patterns, and you can spice em up with the Boom-Chuck and the Chunka-Chunka strumming pattern variations. And you had fun getting here. Awesome! Now move on to book and continue the awesomeness.