Commence Lesson 4: Major Scale, New Song with New Strumming Pattern, and a New Tuning Method.
Good news everyone! You will be out of your beginner shell after this lesson and considered and intermediate level player. How exciting! Let's get to work.
The first page entitled "How to Read Chord and Scales Diagrams (continued)" is the 2nd and last page on how to read chord and scales. Print this sheet off and put it with the other sheets in your lesson book. The most important part of this sheet is the 3 scale guidlines section. Here's a more detailed explanation for each guideline:
1. Alternate Pick - this playing technique gets you to pluck the first note you play with a down stroke and the second with an up stroke and so on. I intentionally left the picking pattern off of the "Scales" sheet because this technique should be learned by using your brain and not rote muscle memory.
2. Keep fingers down until done with string - Leave your fingers pressing down all the notes on a single string in the major scale. It's ok to stop pressing and move them once you've played the last note on the string. For example, start the major scale by playing the 5th fret on the Low E string with the middle finger. Now keep the middle finger pressed down and play the 7th fret on the Low E string with the pinky. You can release pressure and move to the A string after you achieve a good sound.
3. Use the provided fingerings - Use the provide fingerings. i = index, m = middle, r = ring, and p = pinky
By now you've already looked at the "Scales" sheet and have begun playing the major scale. This is the only scale I'm asking you to work on right now. Ignore the secret code of w's and h's. Feel free to play around with the other scales as extra practice but work on mastering the major scale. Notice the tab for all the scales is upside down from chords. It is essential to learn both ways because sometimes you'll find both ways when looking at certain material. (or you'll only find the opposite of what you're used to) This is the only thing that I exclusively do with the Low E string on the bottom. I do it so you're forced to read and learn this way, not because I felt like being evil. Start with the middle finger on the 5th fret on the Low E string. Play each string starting with the furthest to the left note on the diagram and playing to the right. Move to the next string once you reach and play the last note on each string.
The next page entitled "Different Positions" shows where you can play the same note you play on the Low E string on the A string and so on. This skill is used for figuring out other places to play chords or single notes. Go back to "Notes on the Guitar" in Lesson 3 to refresh your memory of where notes lie on the fretboard. Use that page as an answer sheet to check yourself when finding different positions for notes. Notice that I also titled the "Different Positions" sheet "Fun Technique for Tuning" so lets see what that's all about. Tuning with difference tones is the bottom section of the page. Notes are measured in frequencies call Hertz (Hz). When you play the 5th fret on Low E, which is the note "A", the frequency of this note is 220. If you play the A string simultaneously you will probably hear a pulsing or waving sound. If you don't hear this sound then maybe you are perfectly in tune or the finger pressing the 5th fret down is touching the A string muting it. The 5th fret on Low E is the same A note that rings when the A string is plucked open. Since these two notes are the exact same note, if one rings at 220 Hz and the other rings at 223 Hz you will hear a sound that pulses 3 times per second, the difference tone. A difference tone is literally the difference between two notes in hertz.
Finally, a new song! Check it out here: "The Girl" - City and Colour
Start Listening at 2:15. Go back to your "Strumming Patterns" sheet from Lesson 3 and check out the Gallop Pattern. There is something not written on the strumming pattern sheet specifically dealing with the Gallop Pattern. Just play the bass note of the chord when you strum the first down stroke. Even though you're only playing a single string on the first stroke you should still move your hand across the guitar in one motion. Check out the new chords: G and Em (E minor). Now listen to the song and try and play along once you're confident in your strumming.
- Chris Spence
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