Why do we want everything to be easy? 🙂
Anyway, let’s focus on learning the notes on the guitar fretboard. This is one of the must-have skills. Music is all about the notes. If you don’t know the notes you don’t know how to play. Period.
Today I want to show you a lesson by Mike P Hayes (The Guitar Coaching Guy & the Express Guitar System). The lesson is about open position notes on the 5th string.
Guitar Lessons – How to Learn Open Position Notes on the Fifth String (It’s Quick and Easy)
There are two ways of learning the notes on the guitar fretboard they are the lateral (across the strings) and linear (along the strings) systems; when the guitarist is learning to play notes in the open position they are learning notes in a lateral fashion.
Most guitar systems tend to favor one method of learning over the other, personally I recommend learning to play your music both ways.
Our focus today is on learning the notes on the fifth string in the open position.
The name of the open fifth string is “A”.
A–0— string 5
For the moment we are only interested in learning the names of the natural (non sharpened and flattened notes), so we will move past the note on the fifth string, first fret (A#/Bb) and go directly to the note on the second fret, the note “B”
B–2— string 5; second fret
The note next to “B” on the fifth string is the note “C”, since no sharpened or flattened note exists between the notes “B” and “C” the note “C” will be found on the fifth string; third fret.
C–3— string 5; third fret
Review: fifth string notes
A–0— string 5 (open)
B–2— string 5; second fret
C–3— string 5; third fret
Now would be a good time to start our lateral practice by combining the notes on the first, second, third and fourth strings together with the notes we have just learned on string five.
Lateral note system in the open position.
Step 1. play the notes on the fifth string
A – B – C
Step 2. play the fourth string notes
D – E – F
Step 3. combine the fifth and fourth string notes.
A – B – C – D – E – F
Can you see we are already playing a section of our music alphabet; the notes on the fourth string pick up where they finished on the fifth string.
Step 4. play the third string notes
G – A
combine these two notes with the previous strings.
A – B – C = fifth
D – E – F = fourth
G – A = third
Notice how our musical alphabet continues as a big musical loop as we move across the strings; remember when we arrive at the end of our musical alphabet we start all over again
Step 5. play the second string notes
B – C – D
You know what to do next… combine all the strings you have learned so far.
A – B – C = fifth
D – E – F = fourth
G – A = third
B – C – D = second
Step 6. play the first string notes
E – F – G
Continuing our lateral approach of learning the guitar combine all five strings you have studied.
A – B – C = fifth
D – E – F = fourth
G – A = third
B – C – D = second
E – F – G = first
The more you practice and review your notes the more confident you will be playing your guitar.
And now I’d like to invite you to get free access to my “How To Remember 1,000 Songs” eCourse. You can download the course for free at: http://www.guitarcoaching.com
You’ll learn about hit song templates, easy chords, simple scales, red hot rhythms, and successful practice strategies in text, audio and video.
Shoot me a comment on what do you think about this.
Comments by Carlos
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Thanks for commenting, Olaf :)