BC Guitar

By Samuel Larson

Welcome to Beginning Contemporary Guitar,

As a teacher, I've observed that new students vary widely in age and past experience. Some students have played an instrument and have learned to read music but are new to the guitar. Others may have some experience with the guitar but no formal training in the language of music. And some students have never played a musical instrument.

No matter which background applies to you, if you're taking this course, then you've decided to start from the beginning to develop a solid foundation with both the guitar and reading music.

The materials list for this course has three required elements:

1) You'll need a six string acoustic or electric guitar,

2) A medium gauge guitar plectrum (guitar pick),

3) And a computer, laptop, or handheld electronic device.

This course is offered in digital format, and some of the course material includes interactive audio/visual media. In order to take full advantage of the interactive elements, be sure to use a device with audio/video capability.

Thank you for choosing this coursework for your lessons. After many years of watching new students develop into musicians, I strongly believe that a program which embraces the language of music is the best beginning for a lifetime of musical fulfillment.

Samuel Larson

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samuel Larson
• Release date: Jul 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463213469

Book preview

Beginning Contemporary Guitar

By Samuel Larson

Beginning Contemporary Guitar

Samuel Larson

Copyright 2000-2022 by Samuel Larson

All rights reserved.

Dedication

To all of my students,

For over 20 years of good questions, frustrations, and hard work. Your desire to improve has molded this ebook course.

To my lovely wife Heidi,

You are truely the love of my life.

And to Jim Hill,

For guiding a young man in the right direction.

Preface

Welcome to 'Beginning Contemporary Guitar'.

As a teacher, I've observed that new students vary widely in age and past experience.

Some students have played an instrument and have learned to read music but are new to the guitar.

Others may have some experience with the guitar but no formal training in the language of music.

And some students have never played a musical instrument.

No matter which background applies to you, if you're taking this course, then you've decided to start from the beginning to develop a solid foundation with both the guitar and reading music.

The materials list for this course has three required elements:

1) You'll need a six string acoustic or electric guitar,

2) A medium gauge guitar plectrum (guitar pick),

3) And a computer, laptop, or handheld electronic device.

This course is offered in digital format, and some of the course material includes interactive audio/visual media. In order to take full advantage of the interactive elements, be sure to use a device with audio/video capability.

Thank you for choosing this coursework for your lessons. After many years of watching new students develop into musicians, I strongly believe that a program which embraces the language of music is the best beginning for a lifetime of musical fulfillment.

Please drop me an email if you have any questions or comments: [e-mail]

Samuel Larson

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Chapter 1 - Getting to Know the Guitar

Lesson 1 : Headstock

Lesson 2 : String End Points

Lesson 3 : Neck

Lesson 4 : Body

Lesson 5 : Holding the Guitar

Lesson 6 : Holding the Pick

Chapter 2 - Tuning

Lesson 1 : Guitar Tuning Video

Lesson 2 : Tuning with a Piano

Lesson 3 : Electronic Tuners

Lesson 4 : Relative Tuning

Lesson 5 : Using a Pitch Pipe

Lesson 6 : Using a Tuning Fork

Lesson 7 : Alternate Tunings

Chapter 3 - Learning the Language of Music

Lesson 1 : Pitch

Lesson 2 : Duration

Lesson 3 : Rest

Lesson 4 : Meter

Lesson 5 : Tempo

Lesson 6 : Intensity

Lesson 7 : Timbre

Lesson 8 : Articulation

Chapter 4 - String Number 1 with Notes G, F, & E

Lesson 1 : G Third Fret - Rhythm - 4/4 Meter - Legato

Lesson 2 : F First Fret - Dotted Half Note

Lesson 3 : E Open - 3/4 Meter - Quarter Rest

Lesson 4 : Practice Utilities - Approach to Practice

Lesson 5 : Beethoven 'Ode to Joy' (reduced) - Half Rest

Lesson 6 : Larson 'Common Time Cadence'

Lesson 7 : Larson 'Triple Time Modulation' - Sharps

Lesson 8 : Larson 'Minor Cadence' - Flats - Ledger Lines

Chapter 5 - String Number 2 with Notes D, C, & B

Lesson 1 : D Third Fret - Metric Pulses in 4/4

Lesson 2 : C First Fret - Transposing Instruments

Lesson 3 : B Open - Metric Pulses in 3/4

Lesson 4 : Practice Utilities - Isolate a Difficult Spot

Lesson 5 : Beethoven 'Ode to Joy' - Moving to an Adjacent String

Lesson 6 : Traditional 'Frere Jacque' - Consistent, Even Timing

Lesson 7 : Strauss II 'Roses from the South' - Slur

Lesson 8 : Pierpont 'Jingle Bells' - Accent - Section Repeat Sign

Chapter 6 - String Number 3 with Notes A & G

Lesson 1 : A Second Fret - Steps - Scale - Tie

Lesson 2 : G Open - Circle of Steps - Anacrusis - Traditional 'Red River Valley'

Lesson 3 : Eighth Notes - Dotted Quarter Note - Larson 'Minor Cadence'

Lesson 4 : Practice Utilities - Think Ahead of the Music - Andante - Allegro

Lesson 5 : Beethoven 'Ode to Joy' - Playing Simultaneous Parts

Lesson 6 : Traditional 'Frere Jacque' - Hammer-on, Pull-off, Slide

Lesson 7 : Traditional 'Amazing Grace' - Rhythmic Variation

Lesson 8 : Pierpont 'Jingle Bells' - Verse & Chorus Sections - Da Capo

Chapter 7 - String Number 4 with Notes F, E, & D

Lesson 1 : F Third Fret - Key Signatures - Traditional 'Ah! vous dirai-je Maman'

Lesson 2 : E Second Fret - Sixteenth Notes - Fermata

Lesson 3 : D Open - Major Keys - Major Scale - Half Steps & Whole Steps

Lesson 4 : Practice Utilities - Identify the Melodic Structure

Lesson 5 : Ward 'America the Beautiful' - C Sharp

Lesson 6 : Traditional 'Angels We Have Heard on High' - Dynamics

Lesson 7 : Traditional 'Greensleeves' - F Sharp - G Sharp

Lesson 8 : Mozart 'The Marriage of Figaro' - A Sharp - Enharmonic Equivalents

Chapter 8 - String Number 5 with Notes C, B, & A

Lesson 1 : C Third Fret - Key of C Major - C Major Scale - 2/4 Meter

Lesson 2 : B Second Fret - Trad. 'When the Saints Go Marching In' - Modulation

Lesson 3 : A Open - Traditional 'Scarborough Fair' - Skips - Circle of Skips

Lesson 4 : Practice Utilities - Use Repetition - 3/8 Meter - Ritardando - A Tempo

Lesson 5 : Tilzer 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' - Musical Pictures - Lyrics

Lesson 6 : Mozart 'A Little Night Music' - Rests - Staccato - Trill - Grace Note

Lesson 7 : Beethoven 'Fur Elise' - D Sharp - Crescendo - Diminuendo

Lesson 8 : Bach 'Bourree 1' - Harmony - Chords - D.C. al Fine

Chapter 9 - String Number 6 with Notes G, F, & E

Lesson 1 : G Third Fret - Triplets - Leaps - Poco a Poco - G Major Scale

Lesson 2 : F First Fret - F Major Scale - Changing Meter - Larghetto - Arpeggios

Lesson 3 : E Open - Minor Keys - A Minor Scale - Minor Scale Forms - D.C. al Coda

Lesson 4 : Bach 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' - Key of G Major - Simile

Lesson 5 : Traditional 'Scarborough Fair' - Composite Meter - Two Measure Repeat

Lesson 6 : Traditional 'Auld Lang Syne' - Key of F Major - B Flat

Lesson 7 : Beethoven 'Fur Elise' - Key of A Minor - G Sharp

Lesson 8 : Bach 'Bourree 1' - Two Part Form - Pedal Tone

Chapter 1 - Getting to Know the Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

Lesson 1: Headstock

The headstock is shaped and positioned for the proper alignment of the six tuning machines.

Headstock

The headstock on your guitar may look different than the one in this picture, but whatever the design, they are all made to work in a similar way.

Tuning Machines

Tuning machines are positioned around the outside edge of the headstock.

Tuning Machines

A tuning machine has four parts which work together to control and maintain the tension of a string.

Post

Extending from the face of the headstock, a post is a cylinder with a small eyelet for threading the string.

Posts

The string is wound around the post with enough wraps to create friction, so the string will not slip.

String Wraps

Spur Gear

The post passes through to the underside of the headstock where it is connected to a spur gear.

Post & Spur GearSpur Gear

The gears on your guitar may not be visible if they are encased.

Encased Gears

Worm Gear

The spur gear is meshed with a worm gear, which looks like a screw.

Worm Gear

With this arrangement of gears, the string may be adjusted, but it will not unwind itself.

Peg

Attached to the worm gear is the peg, which is made for your fingers to turn.

Pegs

You may have discovered that if you turn the peg, the worm gear turns, which turns the spur gear, which rolls the post.

Turning the peg one direction will roll up the string.

Gears in Cases

The way the guitar is made, if you roll up a string, what you are really doing is pulling on the string and making it tighter, and as the string gets tighter, the pitch raises.

This means that when you pick the string, the note will sound higher.

Worm & Spur Gears

If you turn the peg the other direction, you will unroll the string, and the string will loosen, which lowers the pitch, so when you pick the string, the note will sound lower.

Because the strings of the guitar are tensive, it's possible to over tighten and break a string, so take care when turning the pegs.

On a standard guitar, there are six strings, and each string is attached to its own tuner, so you can adjust the tension of each string individually.

Standard Acoustic Guitar

We'll be getting back to the headstock and working with the tuning pegs later in the upcoming chapter on tuning.

Lesson 2: String End Points

The strings of the guitar are numbered for convenience of reference.

String Reference Points

The big string is string number six, and the string adjacent is string number 5, and the strings follow, 4, 3, 2, until reaching the little string, which is string number 1.

The strings hover above the neck and the body and are stretched over two end points.

String End Points

The Nut

The nut is the stopping point for the string that is next to the headstock.

The nut has grooves to better hold the strings in place.

The Nut

If you pick a string so that it wobbles about and produces a tone, you can see that the string is not vibrating past the nut over the headstock area.

However, if you touch the string anywhere over the neck, your hand will dampen the string and the tone will stop sounding.

So the string is cut off at the fixed point where it passes over the nut.

The Saddle

The saddle is the stopping point for the string at the other end, where the string passes over the body and finally connects to the bridge.

The Saddle

If you pick a string, you can see that the string does not vibrate past the saddle where it connects to the bridge.

So the string is cut off at the fixed point where it passes over the saddle.

Because of these two end points, the strings are actually fixed at a certain length between the nut and the saddle.

Lesson 3: Neck

If you look at the guitar neck from the side, you might see a difference in the color of the finish work.

Neck Side View

The color difference is showing that the guitar neck is made from two pieces of wood which are glued together.

The thin piece of wood on the top or face of the neck is called the fretboard, and the fretboard extends past the neck over the body of the guitar.

Fretboard Top View

Frets

Laid into the fretboard are special pieces of metal wire called frets.

A fret is set so that it crosses or is perpendicular to the strings.

The frets are numbered for convenience of reference; the nut on the guitar, which acts like a fret, is called fret number 0.

The first fretwire past the nut is fret number 1, and the frets follow, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...

As we move closer to the body of the guitar, the fret numbers get higher.

Frets

Using the Frets

Find the first string on your guitar, which is the little string, and pluck it, so that it vibrates and produces a tone.

Now follow the first string up to fret number 5, and using your index finger, press down on the string so that it comes into contact with fret number 5.

Your finger should be placed just behind the fretwire, and you should be pressing with your fingertip.

Using the Frets

Now pluck the string again and listen to this new tone.

If you compare the tones by playing one, then the other, you may realize that the open string sounds lower in pitch, and the tone played at the fifth fret sounds higher in pitch.

When you press down just behind fret number 5 and make the string come into contact with the metal fretwire, you are actually changing the stopping point of the string.

The original stopping point was the nut, and the new stopping point is the fifth fret.

Hold down the first string on fret number 5 again and pluck the string, and this time look at the string's vibrations.

Fret Number 5

The string is only vibrating from fret number 5 to the saddle, and the part of the string which is in between your index finger and the nut is not vibrating.

So the reason that the note you are holding on fret number 5 sounds higher, is that the string has been made shorter, and the shorter you make a string, the higher the pitch will be.

You can experiment by holding down notes on different frets.

As you make the string shorter or longer, listen for the changes in the pitch.

Lesson 4: Body

Acoustic Guitars

The body of an acoustic guitar is a hollow box with a face, side, and back, so that it is nearly completely enclosed.

Acoustic Guitar Body

Sound Hole

The only opening on the body is a hole that is positioned at the end of the fretboard and underneath the strings.

This opening is called the sound hole.

It is traditional to include some ornamentation or decoration around the sound hole; this design is called a rosette.

Sound Hole

Pick Guard

Some guitars include a plastic guard, which is set to the side of the sound hole.

This piece of plastic, which acts as a protective barrier between the guitar pick and the body, is called a pick guard.

Pick Guard

If a player accidentally hits the guitar body with the pick, instead of scratching the wood, the pick, which is also plastic, will slide over the pick guard and cause no damage.

The Bridge

The bridge is made to keep the strings elevated above the body and the neck of the guitar, so the strings may freely ring without obstruction.

Elevated Strings

The bridge also holds the saddle in place and includes some way of fastening the strings.

The Bridge

In this guitar model, the string ends are held in place with pegs; your guitar may be similar or may have a different design for fastening the strings.

Electric Guitars

The body of an electric guitar is solid and is usually made from a single block of wood.

Pick-ups

Instead of a sound hole, an electric guitar has an electro-magnetic pick-up, which is placed under the strings and between the fretboard and the bridge.

Some electric guitars have only one pick-up, where others may have up to three.

Pick Guard

Some electric guitars include a pick guard, which may serve two purposes.

It protects the body of the guitar from accidental scratching and may also cover router cavities that the maker used to run wires, knobs, and switches.

Electric Guitars - Pick-ups & Pick Guard

Bridge

The bridge of an electric guitar usually has separate saddles for each string, instead of a single saddle bar.

The bridge may also function as a tremolo system and include a bar for changing the string tension, which raises or lowers the pitch.

Bridge