Chapter Two: Reading music and the left hand Reading music opens up a world of possibilities and wealth of material otherwise not available to a musician. While learning music by ear is an admirable and a fundamental ability, a guitarist can pick up a new piece of music much more quickly through reading, especially when the scores are complex. Scores convey information instantaneously and accurately. A study of the left hand first requires us to understand a little more about reading music. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 1
Reading music Note lengths breve) whole note (semi (minim) = 1/2 note = 1/4 note (crotchet) note (quaver) = 1/8 = 1/16 note (semi quaver) Pictured below are the note lengths on a staff in 4/4 time. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 2
Reading music The left hand plays all of the notes on the guitar s fingerboard, not just open strings. The example (below) shows all of the notes on a staff. From left to right the spaces of the staff spell the word FACE ; the staff lines can be recited as Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit and; put together the letters are EFGABCDEF. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 3
Reading music The two diagrams on this page show the notes of the first four frets of the guitar neck, also shown on a staff, which span two octaves (15 notes) from low F to middle F to high F. Ledger lines are added to the staff for the low notes. The middle F is counted twice to make two octaves. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 4
The left elbow The left elbow When you hold the guitar neck with your left hand all of the weight should drop to your elbow, and your elbow should hang loose both from your shoulder and wrist. The correct position of the elbow is to keep it tucked in but not too far. In other words, it should not be jutting out or pressed against your side. You should be able to play the guitar strings lightly with your finger tips. Sound is not generated by pressing against the string so much as by the weight of your arm. That weight is transferred to your finger tips. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 5
The left hand Pressing a string down with a left finger, let alone making a clean sound, can be tricky for the beginner guitarists. There is the added challenge of coordinating the right and left fingers as one finger plucks and the other applies pressure to the string. The first consideration is correct placement. The thumb should rest comfortably behind the guitar neck, roughly where the middle or index finger sits (depending on context). You should not need to press your thumb against the neck. Rather, when moving your hand up the neck your thumb should lift slightly and slide up acting as a guide to the fingers. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 6
The left hand Start with your left hand (LH) index finger and take things slowly. With your thumb roughly aligned with your index finger, raise your finger above the open bass E string and then lower it to the first fret. Your finger should now be pressing low F. Try not to press down too hard on the string. As you lift your finger off see if you can make a sound. Repeat this action several times. Next touch F lightly with your LH index finger and pluck the string with your right hand (RH) i m fingers. Add gradual pressure with your LH index finger until you get a clear sound. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 7
The left hand Try playing some of the other notes shown on the page 4 diagram of a guitar fingerboard, with your LH finger. Use the same principle of applying incremental pressure as the above example. The LH fingers are numbered 1 2 3 4 and are displayed as these numbers on the staff. We will refer to them in the text as F1, F2, F3, F4. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 8
The left hand The staff (below) tells us to play the low F note with F1 while plucking with i followed by low G with F3 while plucking with m, and so forth. The notes we have considered so far are called natural notes. In between natural notes are often placed sharps (#) and flats (b). The notes F and G are spaced two guitar frets a part. In between them is F# which is the same note as Gb. So if we play all three notes from F to G, they are F F# and G; if we play all notes from G to F, they are G Gb F. These notes are called chromatic notes. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 9
Reading music This next exercise deals with chromatic notes. It looks more confusing than it is in practise. All you are doing is playing the first and second notes on the first and second frets of the guitar. And you are doing this up and down the strings. So you play F F# F F# on E string; A# B A# B on A string; D# E D# E on D string etc with fingers F1, F2, i and m. Two-note theme The challenge in this short piece is to play the bass and treble note together at the beginning of each pair. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 10
The left hand Next is the tune Quiet reflections, preceded by some preparatory work. Before we begin we need to drill the arpeggios. Practise by planting p i m on open low E G B and play. Next lift and plant p i m on open D, B and E and play. Repeat this exercise several times. Then place F1 on E 2nd fret and hold for 4 bars while doing the same arpeggio exercise. Another section that needs separate practise is bar 13. G is played open except at bar 13, where F1 plays G, i plucks the open G, m the open B (see below). Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 11
Reading music F1 plays the melody and should therefore be heard above the arpeggios. F1 shifts up and down from the 2nd fret middle E, and 4th Fret F#. From bars 13 to 16 F1 shifts down from G (5th fret), F# (4th fret) to middle E (2nd fret). Try to play this section very quietly. Quiet Reflections Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 12
The left hand Adding the fourth finger F4. Play the following chromatic notes from low open E to high G and back. All four fingers are used. Note carefully the use of open (0) notes. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 13
Reading music Short and Sweet With Short and Sweet pay attention to the fingering. Notice how the LH finger numbering is now next to the notes. The tune should build in volume to the high A at the 4th bar and then die down. You will need to move your first finger from F on the 1st fret to G on the 3rd fret in bars 2-3. Bars 5-7 employ hammer offs, as indicated by the curved line joining the notes. Strike the first note of the hammer off and pull your finger down and off the string to sound the 2nd note. This will require separate practise. If you find this too difficult just play the notes normally. Try the above variation of the tune. Again, do not bother with the hammer offs if they are too hard. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 14
The left hand Winding down Winding down is a tune to end the chapter. Start with some vigour and build to the high B then decelerate as you get quieter and drift off. The fret markings are showing finger location, so in the 4th bar you play the F# note with F3 on the 4th fret. In bars 6-7 the signs 1----1 and 3----3 mean move that finger up to the next indicated fret. Musically, descending notes B - E (bars 1-5) are underlined and stressed. They form a strong counter melody and should be held down for 4 counts and brought out above the rest of the music. The top melody should be played quietly until bars 6-7, and then reach a loud crescendo. Beginner s Guitar Copyright 2012 Donald J Porter Fretted Music 15