SAVE PAPER GUITAR COURSEWARE Grade 1 (3 Months) Name : Regn Dt : / / 20 Regn.No : AC20 - - ID No. : AC THE MUSIC NEVER DIES Ownership, Publication & Exclusive Distributorship By: Acoustica Gurgaon (A Venture of MEWO-ASR) mw365-acoustica@yahoo.com customer-service@acoustica.co.in mewo.official@yahoo.com Copyright 2011-15 by Acoustica Grade 1, 6 th Edition, Revised March 2012. NCR/ Gurgaon India NOT FOR SALE FOR USE BY STUDENTS OF Acoustica ONLY DISTRIBUTION TO 3 rd PARTIES IS STRICTLY RESTRICTED Mobile: +91-9654847144 www.acoustica.co.in +91-9711387943 Office: 0124-3220857 STC (Regn. No): CXMPS6475MSD001 Trademark Regn. No: 2248733; Porp-1313595 1
Preface & Acknowledgements This Guitar Learning courseware for Grade 1, has been specially designed while keeping in mind all the different individuals who are enthusiastic in music and are aspiring to learn the guitar. This book consists of years and hours of expertise and in Guitar playing and in teaching the same. Without study material even learning the guitar may not be very fruitful. We aim to teach our valued students each and every aspect of learning and playing the Guitar, also at the same time the essence of being self sufficient. Since no two people can learn at the same pace, we have structured this book in a way to fit anyone s and everyone s intellectual and physical capacity. Be it music or learning to play the guitar, it is not always that you need talent do achieve these thing. All you need is a willing heart, a patient mind and a keen listening ear. With these ingredients anyone can follow their passion in music. We thank everyone involved in the making of this courseware, and we also thank all our students and patrons who have supported us over time just by being a part of Acoustica and our Music community. We continually strive to bring to you the best quality of learning with minimum input but maximizing output. We sincerely hope that you enjoy your time at Acoustica and fulfill your thirst for music. Best of luck for your training & musical journey. Warm Regards, The Acoustica Team Varun Melroy Sharma HEAD TRAINER Acoustica & MEWO-ASR 2
KNOWING YOUR FRET BOARD Fig 1: Fret Board showing only Natural Notes on the Fret Board (1 st to 12 th Fret) Fig 2: Fret board showing all notes on the Fret Board (1 st to 12 th Fret) 3
MINOR SCALES Just like the 12 Major scales covered in the Basic Grade, we will have 12 minor scale. The Major scale formula was derived from the C Major Scale (C D E F G A B C) which had all natural notes; similarly the Minor Scale also has a formula that has been derived from the A Minor Scale which also has all natural notes:- i.e. A Minor Scale: A B C D E F G A. Since there are 12 notes in music, Therefore, just like we have 12 major scales, there will be a total of 12 minor scales (Out of which we have to derive the remaining 11 as we already have the Am Scale. Minor Scale Formula- The Minor scale formula is derived from the A Minor Scale which has all natural notes, as illustrated below. The formula is calculated by the distance between each consecutive note of the A Minor Scale. W represents a Whole Step or a Tone (T), and H represents a Half Step or Semitone(S). The distance between the notes in the scale will either be a Tone or a Semitone. W H W W H W W A B C D E F G A Hence we are left with W-H-W-W-H-W-W, which is the Minor scale Formula, and we will use it to derive all the other minor scales, i.e. Em Scale, Gm Scale etc. 4
MAJOR CHORD FORMATION Major chords are formed by using notes of a particular Scale, For example, if we want to form the C Major Chord, we use the notes of the C Major Scale. We take the 1 st, 3 rd and 5 th note of any scale with whose notes we will form the chord. Taking the C Major Scale again as an example: C D E F G A B C 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th Or, let s consider the same with all the sharps notes (accidental) included. C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th 9 th 10 th 11 th 12 th In this above case instead of taking the 1 st, 3 rd and 5 th notes from the scale we use the 1 st, 5 th and 8 th notes from all the notes from the C root note to the next C note with all the semitones in between. Hence we are left with the three notes that we found from either of the above two methods C, E and G, from which the C Major Chord is formed. Illustrated below is the chord diagram showing all the notes (and strings) played in it. 5
MINOR CHORD FORMATION Minor Chord formation is very similar to the Major Chord formation but with a slight change. In the Major chord formation we saw that the chord was formed with the 1 st, 3 rd and 5 th note of that major scale. Similarly for minor chords we take the 1 st, Flat 3 rd (3 rd b), and the 5 th note, again of the respective Major scale. Consider the A Major Scale, A B C# D E F# G# A 1 st 2 nd Flat 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th Where the 3 rd note is C# and its flat is C, which is the required note. S instead of C# we use C, because we need the flat of the 3 rd note. Hence the note that will form the A Minor Chord will be A, C and E. Again, like the major scale formation let us consider all the accidental notes in between the A Major Scale, so we have; A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th 9 th 10 th 11 th 12 th So here we have the 1 st, 4 th and the 8 th note as the required, that is, A, C and E. The formation of the A Minor chord is shown in the Chord diagram below with all the notes (and string) played in it. 6
MAJOR 7 TH CHORD FORMATION Seventh chords are very common chords. Much of jazz is based upon 7 th progressions. The seventh note is one of the notes that really define the sound of the chord. It s one of the strongest notes. A seventh chord can be major, minor, augmented or diminished. Remember that the 3 rd is the note that determines whether it is major or minor. As far as use of 7 th chords, the 7 th is used a lot in jazz and in country music. It s a fun loving chord. And it s better for rhythm than melodic use. Normal 7 th chords are also known as Dominant 7 th Chords, eg: G7 is nothing but G Dominant 7 th Chord. G7 and G Maj7 are different Chords. Now the major 7 th is decidedly jazzy. It has a very soft, soft jazz feel. And it s pretty. It tends to work better melodically than the 7 th. The Major 7 th chord formula is: 1 3 5 7 The 7 th chord formula is: 1 3 5 Flat 7 G A B C D E F# G 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th And the 7 th note is F#; hence the required notes for G Maj 7 are G, B, D, and F#. If we consider all the sharps (Accidental) notes in the scale; G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th 9 th 10 th 11 th 12 th Again we have G, B, D and F#, that we got using the 1 st, 5 th, 8 th and 12 th note. Hence the chord formed is shown as below; 7
Scales with sharp Key Signatures: Sharp key signatures consist of a number of sharps between one and seven, applied in this order: F C G D A E B. A mnemonic device often used to remember this is Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. The key note or tonic is immediately above the last sharp in the signature. For example, one sharp (F ) in the key signature of a piece in a major key indicates the key of G major, the next note above F. (Six sharps, the last one being E (an enharmonic spelling of F ) indicate the key of F major, since F has already been sharped in the key signature.) C Maj 0 sharps G Maj 1 sharp F D Maj 2 sharps F, C A Maj 3 sharps F, C, G E Maj 4 sharps F, C, G, D B Maj 5 sharps F, C, G, D, A F Maj 6 sharps F, C, G, D, A, E C Maj 7 sharps F, C, G, D, A, E, B This table shows that each scale starting on the fifth scale degree of the previous scale has one new sharp, added in the order given above. Scales with flat Key signatures: Flat key signatures consist of one to seven flats, applied as: B E A D G C F (same as the order of sharps, but reversed.) The reverse mnemonic device is then used in the flat keys: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father. The major scale with one flat is F major. In all other flat major scales, the tonic or key note is indicated by the second to last flat. In the major key with four flats (E), for example, the penultimate flat is A, indicating a key of A major. C Maj 0 flats F Maj 1 flat B B Maj 2 flats B, E E Maj 3 flats B, E, A A Maj 4 flats B, E, A, D D Maj 5 flats B, E, A, D, G G Maj 6 flats B, E, A, D, G, C C Maj 7 flats B, E, A, D, G, C, F In this case each new scale starts a fifth below (or a fourth above) the previous one. 8
BIG MR. C Big Mr. C is a tune based on the G Major Scale, Music and Words arranged by Fletcher C for learning guitar at the beginner s level in Grade 1 under the genre Rock n Roll. 9
COUNTRY STYLE This Country style playing piece has been designed by the Senior Trainers of Acoustica Guitar School, especially for students to get a good idea about country style/rhythm of guitar playing. 10
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ETUDE 3 Etude-3 is a classical piece composed by the senior guitarists of Former Guitar Geekz in 2009 and was copyrighted by the organization. 12
HOTEL CALIFORNIA Hotel California was originally composed by the Eagles as a Single in early 1977. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The Eagles original recording of the song features Henley singing the lead vocals and concludes with an extended section of electric guitar interplay between Felder and Joe Walsh. This is a simplified version of the song. 13
Le Siffler Le Train Le Siffler Le Train is a French song that when translated means I hear the Train Whistle which is the soundtrack of a French Movie, and this song is the original version of 100 Miles which we are so familiar with. 14 COMPILED AND DESIGNED BY VARUN MELROY
TAKE A LOOK AROUND (MI-2 THEME) The soundtrack Take a look around of the movie Mission Impossible 2 is the third single by the metal band Limp Bizkit from their third album Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. This is a simplified version of the same for beginners in Grade 1. 15
ROCK N ROLL Rock n Roll is a simple rock n roll lick that was composed by the Senior Trainers of Former Guitar Geekz in the year 2009 to be included as a part of the Grade 1 Curriculum. 16
SOCHA HAI Socha Hai is the soundtrack of the famous Bollywood Movie Rock On that was released in 2008, written by Farhan Akhtar, the offspring of famous Singer/Lyricist/Composed Javed Akhtar. 17
CIVIL WAR (INTRO) Civil War is a song by the hard rock band Guns N Roses, which originally appeared on the 1990 album Nobody s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal. It is a protest song on war, referring to all war as 'civil war' and that it only "feeds the rich while it buries the poor." 18
KAL HO NA HO Kal Ho Na Ho is the title song of the Bollywood Movie Kal Ho Na Ho that was released in the year 2008; Music Director is Mr. Shankar Ehsan Eloy. 19
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NOTES COMPILED AND DESIGNED BY VARUN MELROY 25
GRADE 1 COURSE COMPLETION INTERNAL CERTIFICATE This is to Certify that, has completed the Guitar Course GRADE 1 at Acoustica School Of Rock n Roll. Start Date, Completion Date, & the grade awarded for GRADE 1 is. Syllabus/Courseware for G1 covered the following topics/methods: a) Revision of All Basic Theory (Initial Grade), Major Scales & Chords, b) At least 2 Octaves of all Major Scales. c) Minor Scales, its Formula, & their Octaves. d) Minor Pentatonic Scales, Formation and Patterns in at least 2 Octaves. e) Staff Notations Continued, Key Signatures, & Table Of Sharps & Flats, & Rules. f) 10 Tunes/Melodies/Songs from the Courseware book based on all theory. g) Monthly Assessment, Theory & Practical. h) A few extra Songs apart from the Courseware. Some taught for playing experience and some taught to the students at their request, of their choice. There is no fixed limit to the number of extras learnt. Extra tunes/songs covered: i) Final Examination after completion of Course, for eligibility to Grade2. PERFORMANCE OF BASIC GRADE EXAMINATION Theory : /40 Practical : /40 Internal : /20 (Based on Class Performance and Assessments) Total : /100 EXTENTION OF COURSE (Yes/No) :- Duration of Extension :- Reason/Remarks/Comments :- Students Signature Trainers Signature Authorization/Stamp Dated: / / 26