Learning The Notes On The Fretboard

One of the great challenges of learning the guitar is that the logic of the notes on the neck isn’t easily apparent. By contrast, think of the layout of a piano keyboard. Low notes are on the left, high notes on the right. Move from one white key to the next and move up or down through the musical alphabet. Skip a key and you skip a letter. To find a sharp or flat, replace a white key with the adjacent black one. It’s very clear and simple, strictly linear.

On the other hand, a scale fingering on guitar is actually quite random. 

How many notes per string? 

When do you change strings? 

Why do the fingerings change so much from one scale to another, and why are there so many of them? The challenges this presents are enough to intimidate some people away from learning to play melody or “lead”. But fortunately, there IS logic to the guitar neck. 

It’s more complex than the layout of a keyboard, but there’s actually a direct relationship.

The notes on every string of the guitar are linear, in the sense that we progress through the scale as we move along the string.

So moving from an open string up the neck is like moving along a keyboard from left to right. Note that “up” in this sense means rising in pitch, moving away from the headstock. The frets divide the string up into a series of half-steps, just like the white and black keys of the keyboard. To play a chromatic scale, start with the open string and simply move along the string from one fret to the next. This is like striking every key of the keyboard in sequence from left to right.

The piano, of course, has a wider range than the guitar. A full 88-key keyboard spans just over seven octaves, while the average guitar will reach a little below four. (An octave is the distance between a given note and the next higher or lower note with the same letter name). Some electric guitars go all the way up to 24 frets to complete that fourth octave. A single string has a total range of just under 2 octaves, but the frets above the 12th are used fare less often and rarely on the bass strings. So for the most part, the average skilled player is working within an octave-plus on each string.

LEARN THE MUSICAL ALPHABET FIRST

Learning the musical alphabet is not learning how to read music but it's important if you want to learn notes across the fretboard and being able to tune your guitar.

Explore by playing simple melodies on a single string.

The first lesson I would often give a young child would be to play a simple melody by sliding a finger along the first string.

Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are 2 good tunes for this exercise.

Great Beginners Guitar Book 

http://learnguitarcafe.com/guitar-mastery

I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn the guitar from home

http://learnguitarcafe.com/guitar-mastery

5 Tips For Finding a Guitar Teacher In Nelson Bay

Here are 5 points to keep in mind as you start your search for a guitar instructor in Nelson Bay

1. A terrific guitarist does not automatically mean an excellent instructor.

2. Do they play or perform professionally as well as teach guitar ?

3. Do they provide various teaching programs - you may have concepts concerning the type of songs you know and want to expand on

4. If you are a beginner guitarist you will certainly want to find an instructor who has patience. 

5. How long have they been teaching guitar and do they have some official certifications.

Guitar instructors typically build up expertize in specific genres as they like certain styles. Others may be session players and have recording experience and understand the importance of being versatile and are in some cases multi-disciplined in numerous styles. Consider the genre of songs  you want to learn and look for a teacher that has actually specialized in that genre or style.

As a newbie you will probably make lots of mistakes nd your trainer will certainly have to describe some things several times. Be ready to do some routine practice; most guitarist's who play well or professionally has played and performed for many hours. But when your starting out 20-30 minutes every day will serve  you well and you will find minutes become hours 

It is always a pleasure to collaborate with a patient guitar teacher and this is important for most people, specifically beginners. Dont be afraid to ask questions in the lessons and ask about a practice schedule 

Guitar teachers set their own prices but the award rate in Australia is over $60 an hour.

Click here for more information about guitar lessons in Nelson Bay 

How to Practice the Guitar and How a Guitar Teacher Can Help

Here is an interesting article I found on practice and how a teacher can assist in your studies. There are some interesting points throughout- please read on...

"The guitar is a musical instrument that can take a lifetime to master. A typical guitar player will set out a goal and when she meets the goal, will have already set out a new goal.

The biggest obstacle for any new guitar player is losing her belief in her ability and not seeing the bigger picture. Learning the guitar can take a lifetime and no system exists to learn the guitar quickly (although many books claim to teach you to master the guitar in 7 days or less).

Breaking the practice time down into bite size chunks will help you get the most out of your practice session and ultimately help you to achieve your goals quicker. Getting the right guitar tutor will help you also.

There are things a guitar student can do to make learning the guitar easier and enjoyable.

The first thing the student should do is find a guitar teacher that she feels comfortable with. The guitar teacher should have the same interests in music as her, there is no point in having a teacher who does not share the same musical interests as you as the guitar lessons will take you on a wild goose chaise and ultimately this could discourage you from practicing.

The teacher should be punctual and turn up to class on time and give you her full attention. Any less and you have found the wrong teacher! You are paying for lessons and you deserve the best.

The teacher who you choose should also provide you with all of the paper work and keep each lesson progressing from the last one, beware of teachers who jump from one idea to another! This is only going to lead to bigger confusion later on.

The teacher should set you homework to practice at home. Practice should be split into sections to make learning easier and more fun, let's have a look at some of the things you can If you split your session into six equal parts a typical thirty minutes practice session can be broken down into smaller sections lasting 5 minutes each. This will help to make practicing less tedious at the early stages. The sections that I recommend practicing are: "

For the rest of the article click the link below

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_F_Greco

For guitar lessons in the Port Stephens area contact Nelson Bay Guitar