First things first, If you don't already understand Tablature, you are too far in... BACK UP. There are lots of places online to learn how to read tab. This walkthru will not teach tab. Allthough, you will not really need tab much anymore and will likely view it in a totally different light after reading this walkthru.
This walkthru will not replace PRACTICE, as has been pointed out by the forum resident professional guitarists. You will still have to blister your fingertips and all but bathe and sleep with a guitar to get anywhere. This will simply make it easier to understand and take all the hype away. Kinda like Jeet Kun Do (sp)(look it up!).
This walkthru is going to go REALLY fast. Print it out so you can go back over the info. It is alot of little bits of info that all combine for some serious know how!
Now that all that is out of the way, Let's get straight to business. Get your axe (guitar speak for guitar, and much easier to type than "guitar"). The two dots on the same fret... Fret number 12. That is where the neck starts over, one octave higher. So, for the purposes of this walkthru, and learning the axe in general, we will only worry about the bottom half of the neck (Weirdly enough, this is the half CLOSEST to the tuning head) Frets one thru eleven.
There are only 7 letters to the musical alphabet. A,B,C,D,E,F,and G. That is all. You hear band guys say it all the time "You are playing that in G right?" Or in the movies... "Allright boys, in the key of C, come in soft and follow my lead". If you look at the chart that goes with this, you will notice the patterns. the musical alphabet repeats itself over and over and over and over.
Let's look at the bottom string (big E) If you strike this string open, it is an "E" note. If you pinch the first fret, you get an "F" note The second fret will give you an "F" sharp, or "G" flat. these two notes are the same. One notes "sharp" is the next note up's "Flat". The exceptions to this rule are B/C and E/F (SEE CHART). There is no such note as B sharp or C flat... and there is no such note as E sharp or F flat. Knowing this, it is fairly simple to map out each individual fret's note. Remember, each fret is half a step.
A Chord is simply put, A group of notes played together to form one single note. There are two ways to play the axe really. Picking, and strumming. when you are picking, you are playing the notes individually on one string at a time. When strumming, you form a chord to play a fuller sounding version of the same notes.
Primary chords. "E" and "A". Best friends. Brothers. All you ever need to know about chord makin 101! No, seriously. Check this out... middle finger, first fret, G string. Cmon guys, let's get serious here. Middle finger, first fret G STRING ON THE GUITAR. ring finger second fret A string, and pinky second fret D string. STRUM ALL 6 STRINGS. That is the "E" chord. same fingering, slide up 1 fret, and bar your index finger on 1st fret, This is "F" chord (First fingering of the "E" positioning (the previous chord, the head took care of the bar for us), slide up two frets, "G" chord. The whole time this is all going on, back and forth up and down, you are holding the "E" Positioning. You can follow the chart, and this "E" positioning and quickly learn ANY SONG IN EXISTENCE. that simple. Notice each chord is named after the first note struck.
Now for the Primary "A"... D,G,and B strings, ring finger mash all three strings on 2nd fret. Strum all but the top string. Welcome to "A". From here, slide up one fret and bar with the index on first fret bottom 5 strings and ring finger third fret D,G, and B string still, This is the "A" positioning. The note you are playing now is A sharp (or B flat). move up one fret and it is B chord. two more frets is C chord. See a pattern here? You can apply the "A" positioning to any chord in any song.
Next is 3 chord progression. Look back at your chart. The little scribble of tab on the bottom section, that is indexing a three chord progression. Use the positionings above (E and A). use the dots to represent the index position. I wrote that little bit of tab and it isn't actually tab. The top string on the little diagram is the top string on your axe. so you play index on first fret, then slide into "A" positioning for the lower dot, and slide up two frets for the solo dot. Make sense? LOTS of songs use 3 chord progression... G,C, and D chords together. A,D, and E together. F, B flat, and C together. the song Louie Louie is a prime example... Pick it out. you can do it. GGG, CC, DDD, CC OVER AND OVER.
Now we are going to kick it up a notch. Relative minors are the next step to making songs. It is 3 chord progression with a weirdo. To find the relative minor, you must first know what "Key" you are playing in. Normally the First Chord of the piece. For example, in the 3 chord progression of A,D, and E, you would be playing in the key of "A". Knowing this, you make the E position to form the A chord. Three frets down (Index on 2nd fret, still in E positioning LIFT YOUR MIDDLE FINGER) strum all 6 strings. The lifting of the middle finger makes that note a Minor. That is the Relative minor for that specific progression. Now combine everything you have learned. Make the E positioning, find a 3 chord progression, and add the relative minor. ALOT of the music of the 50's and 60's uses this pattern. Try G, E minor, C, and D.
Next is 4 chord progression. This simply offers a different sound and a different range of chords that sound good together. Take your three chord progression without the minor. G,C, and D would be a 3 chord... throw in the A and now it is a 4 chord progression. To find the 4th chord in a 4 chord progression. Determine the "Key", and move two frets up from that chord. You can use this info combined with the "A" and "E" positioning and follow anybody playing just about anything.
For some REAL spice, play with the 4 chord, and throw in the relative minor for even more possibilities.
AND FINALLY!!!! The scales. study and PRACTICE the blues scales (there are twomain ones) and the pentatonic (12 main ones of these). The scales are just what notes sound good together when picked out. These are what you study to learn to play lead guitar and solos and all the mind bending stuff you hear on the radio.
And that's it. I told you it was simple. Now you just gotta put it to work and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.... Oh yeah, i forgot to mention one thing.......
PRACTICE.
