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Thinking Like A Guitarist. This is a continuation of the the mini-series I’m writing on beginner guitar. This lesson will get us acquainted with the fundamentals of playing the instrument.

In our first lesson we became familiar with what the instrument is, now it’s time to take a look at how we can use it.

The guitar is one of the most versatile instruments, as it can take on almost any shape, just by being passed from the hands of one musician to another. It is capable of blazing leads, and calming accompaniment, and suitable for almost any style. The guitar’s ability to harmonize itself (play more than one note at a time) makes it unique, rivaled only by the piano and few other instruments. But unlike any other instrument, it gives a player freedom to reach out and touch the notes, to control the vibration in a direct manner, simply by placing your fingers on the strings.

We can break down guitar playing into 2 main categories.

Playing Single Notes
Often called solo, or lead playing

Playing Multiple Notes
Often called rhythm playing, or comping, or “Chords”

And, while both types of playing can be done separately, it is also common to combine them, playing single notes part of the time, and then adding in multiple notes. As you might recall from one of my other lessons “Playing The Right Notes” harmony and melody are actually very much inseparable.

Actually playing the instrument.

Let’s examine the neck of a guitar:

Do you notice a natural grid which is formed from the intersection of the frets and the strings? It is this grid which makes learning the instrument a very simple task, but at the same time makes truly mastering the instrument quite difficult. So it’s a good thing we’re in the learning stage!

Naming systems:

So now that we have a grid we need to label our grid lines. After doing so, finding notes on the guitar should become as simple as playing battleship.

Frets:
Frets are given numbers starting at the nut of the instrument (near headstock) and continuing towards the bridge.

It’s important to note that these numbers correspond to fret positions and not the actual frets themselves as the instrument is played by placing your finger on a string directly BEHIND a fret, and not on top of it. Thus a fret position is the space between two frets.

Open frets:
It is also possible to have an “open” fret position. This simply means that a string can be played without touching it. Hence the term “open.” The open fret position has a fret position number of zero (0), so when you see 0 it means that you should play the string without touching it at all.

Strings:
The second axis on our grid is that of the strings. Strings are given letter names that correspond to their specific concert pitch. The lowest pitched (thickest) and highest pitched (thinest) strings are tuned to the pitch “E”. The second to lowest (second to thickest) string is the “A” string, the third to lowest (third thickest) string is the “D” string, the third to highest (third thinest) string is the “G” string, and the second to highest (second thinest) is the “B” string.

To simplify:
In order from lowest pitch to highest pitch the strings are labled:

E, A, D, G, B, E

Application:

So now to locate the correct note to be played on the guitar we can speak in a very geographical manner.

Examples:

To play the note “C” place your finger on the “G” string (third to highest pitched) on the 5th fret. (Only pick the string which your finger is on!)

To play the note “G” you can place your finger on the Low “E” String on the 3rd fret.

Beginner Guitar pt 1: Guitar Anatomy

Beginner Guitar pt 3: Tuning

Beginner Guitar pt 4: Chord Diagrams

Beginner Guitar pt 5: Reading Tab (still to come)

more articles by Tyler Oakleaf

• Notes of Fretboard Diagram
• Like our lessons? Take a poster!
• The Big Picture
• Chord Soloing & Chordal Embelishment 1
• Good Things…
• “Making It” In Music
• Practice Progression