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Musicians and DJs  » Learn To Play Guitar Sheet Music part 2

Learn To Play Guitar Sheet Music part 2

In my previous article I suggested ways to develop a command

over the guitar fretboard. Usually when you are playing your

first guitar sheet music melodies you will have to learn the

notes in the first position on the guitar. To have a good grasp

of these notes on the guitar I suggest that you learn them

slowly and with concentration. I usually begin by teaching the

notes on the first string like E on open string, F on fret 1 and

G on fret 3. On string two you'll find B on open string, C on

fret 1 and D on fret 3. With these notes you can play the song

Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Using the previous notes the melody can be played as follows:

E D C D E E E - D D D - E G G - E D C D E E E - E D D E D C

I hope you recognized the melody. This kind of music notation

doesn't give any hints as to how the rhythm is to be played but

presupposes that you already know the melody. Traditional

classical guitar sheet music notation shows both the notes and

the way they are supposed to be played.

My dad was the only guitar tutor in the town where I lived and

he taught mostly classical guitar playing. His young students, I

was one of them, learned those first guitar pieces very fast

because he used a system similar to tablature showing the frets

and strings to play, along with the sheet music. Tablature

wasn't common back then when playing classical guitar sheet

music. I remember somebody remarking that his system prevented

the children from learning to sight read sheet music. His reply

was that if somebody really wants to learn the notes they will

anyway. I agree with that and I have found that if a pupil is

not motivated learning guitar sheet music they will not advance

in this area whether they play with or without tablature.

What has fingers to do with guitar playing? The answer is

obvious. Quite a lot. A more important question is if the

fingers you choose to use can have a bearing upon your guitar

playing. Left hand fingerings are numbers on the sheet music

indication which finger you are suggested to use when playing a

specific note. Usually when playing the first pieces on the

guitar on the first frets it can be a good idea for you to play

the notes on the first fret with the index finger, notes on the

second fret with the middle finger, notes on the third fret with

the ring finger and notes on the fourth fret with your little

finger.

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What then are the left hand fingering advantages? Can't you play

every melody with your left index finger and forget about all

this fingering stuff? Well, of course you can play melodies with

your index finger but your progress will be very limited beyond

just playing easy melodies. You'll have to move your left hand

all the time as you change frets and, most importantly, when

reading sheet music, you'll have to look at the guitar fretboard

all the time instead of looking at the sheet music which means

that it will be hard to sight read music.

To summarize this guitar article, I could say that the important

thing when learning to play the notes on the guitar is to make a

conscious effort to learn the notes and not to work on to many

notes at the same time.

About the author:

Peter Edvinsson is a guitarist, pianist, composer and educator.

He is also the proud owner of the website capotastomusic.com

with free printable sheet music, guitar tablature and bass

tablature and learn to play guitar, piano and other instruments

resources for musicians and music students. Visit his website

and download easy free guitar sheet music and guitar tablature

sheet music! http://www.capotastomusic.com