One basic questions and two Sagreras V 1 questions

[Michael Moore]

Hi There

Three basic questions, Ive played for about three years on and off over last 15 years but I always used tab and never really got past the very basics before I started playing songs. So these are fairly simple Qs but are hard to get an answer on this specific questions online. If anyone can put me in the know It would be appreciated. Here goes.

1. I tune by ear from Bottom E and work my way down the strings, so I always work off the Bottom E. How do I know when string is tuned to E. Because I thought to myself I know Ive tuned the Bottom E into a D before, so I know the strings can tighten and go up the musical notes just as when I press on a fret and change note.

2. Sagreras. When I play a rest stroke using I,M,A, (not P). Is it always an upstroke. Example; Lesson 1 of Volume 1 Bar 8, he has me playing Index finger on 4th string open D coming to rest on A (I assume) Or, due to the stroke being where I thought the P thumb would of been used, is it the other way round, ie, 4th string open D struck and coming to rest on G, as if you were stroking string nail side going down.

3. When its not an open note how do I know which E or C for instance I play on the fret board as It does not tell you anywhere in staff. I cant seem to work that one out at all.

I suppose I'm making it harder by not having a couple of theory lessons but to be honest Ive learned more this week than I have in all my time playing on and off. Hoping to get my head around it.

Cheers
Mick

[Michael.N.]

1. You need a reference pitch. You can get them online, just search 'online Guitar tuner'.

2. Yes he is asking for rest strokes on the D string, so you come to rest on the A string. These are single notes. He is exercising the basic i, m fingers. That string may be played by the thumb, this can be at the discretion of the player. In this case I would just follow what Sagreras is asking for i.e. index, middle alternation using rest strokes.

3. You need to start learning the notes on the fretboard and (preferably) some music theory. It's not at all difficult. Just do a little bit each day. It then just becomes accumulative knowledge. After 6 months you will know a whole lot more than you do now. Enjoy the learning process.
Here's an online resource to get you started:

http://www.mymusictheory.com/

Start on Grade 1 lessons.

Just do a google search for 'Guitar fretboard notes'.

[Michael Moore]

Thanks Michael. regarding question 3, I have started learning the notes its just that I dont know which E he wants me to play when its not an open E. For instance, theres a few Es I could choose from like the E on 2nd fret D string or E on 5th fret B string. Do you know what i mean, He doesn't seem to express it anywhere on the staff.
I never gave tuning the E much thought because i could just sort of still work off the bottom string without it being an E, then still tune the rest in to sound right.

Cheers
mick

[Michael Moore]

Here's an online resource to get you started:

http://www.mymusictheory.com/

Start on Grade 1 lessons.

Just do a google search for 'Guitar fretboard notes'.

Perfect, thanks.

[NylonStrung]

regarding question 3, I have started learning the notes its just that I dont know which E he wants me to play when its not an open E. For instance, theres a few Es I could choose from like the E on 2nd fret D string or E on 5th fret B string. Do you know what i mean, He doesn't seem to express it anywhere on the staff.

With regard to which E you should play. The way I always tend to work it out is...if it's not an open E (signified by the 0 next to it, normally situated between the top two lines of the stave) but should be played on the 5th fret of the B string there should be a 2 inside a circle written underneath the note to show this. If it is E on the second fret of the D string then the note is normally situated on the bottom line of the stave (see Sagreras Book 1, Lesson 2 - 3rd bar). Basically, assuming the notes are in the first position, where they are on the stave denotes where they are played on the fret board. I hope that makes some sense...

....and now I await someone to tell me I got it wrong

[Michael Moore]

Of coarse. Can't believe I didn't clock that as I knew about the number in circle representing what string to play, thus narrowing my options to, say the E's on said string only.

Thanks

[Marko Räsänen]

...thus narrowing my options to, say the E's on said string only.

Your options will be limited to a single E, because each candidate* string only has one E note that is of the correct pitch. Others will be offset by an octave, and they will be marked in different locations on the staff. I just wanted to make sure that you understand that although the note names seem to keep repeating on the staff, the pitches of those notes are different from each other. Sometimes they are notated as E, e, e', e'',... other times as E2, E3, E4, E5. If the context does not require specifying octave, all of those can be simply marked as E.

*It is not possible to play every note on every string. But you can assume that the circled number will always represent a string where you can find the note of the correct pitch.