Jon Chappell

Step by Step / Updated 09-29-2023

Tuning a guitar to itself using the fifth-fret method is an important and useful guitar skill. The fifth-fret method is the most common type of relative tuning, and it's all you need if you're planning on playing by yourself. The fifth-fret method derives its name from the fact that you almost always play a string at the fifth fret and then compare the sound of that note to that of the next open string. You need to be careful, however, because the fourth fret (the fifth fret’s jealous understudy) puts in a cameo appearance toward the end of the process.

Video / Updated 08-11-2023

An arpeggio is a chord whose notes are played one at a time instead of simultaneously. It’s sort of the exploded view of a chord (kind of like the pictures you see in the owner’s manual to a piece of build-it-yourself furniture). It won’t surprise you that in Italian, the word arpeggio means “broken chord.” You use an arpeggio when some sort of chord is needed but you don’t want to plop the notes down all at once. Life would be pretty boring if all you could do with a chord is play all the notes all the time. So this is where arpeggios step in. They’re used as accompaniment, as improvisation devices, and as ways to break up scalar playing. (By scalar, we mean notes proceeding by steps, or consecutive letter names, with no skips in between.) After you memorize an arpeggio’s fingering pattern, simply move it up or down the neck to a different starting note to produce other major arpeggios. When you do this, the sound of the major chord stays the same. However, as you switch positions, the key, or letter name, of the arpeggio changes. Preparing to practice major arpeggios Playing major arpeggios prepares you for music with major chords — and, of course, for music that employs major arpeggios. With arpeggios you think in chords, but you play the notes separately. Bass players have to think in terms of chords and their individual notes. This exercise is good for guitarists, too, because you can play individual notes on the guitar (a melody thing) but use the chords of the song to tell you what notes to play (a chord and accompaniment thing). When you practice arpeggios, be sure to play them from low to high slowly, loudly, and deliberately at first to ensure you can play the notes cleanly. Then play them faster and lighter to produce the sound of arpeggios as they appear in real music. However, no matter how you play them, be sure to maintain your starting tempo and dynamic level (loudness) throughout each arpeggio. Major arpeggio pattern #1 The figure below shows an A major arpeggio in 5th position in both a neck diagram and in music and tab format. Notice that the first note in the music staff has a fingering indication (the small 1 to the left of the note head). This tells you to use the 1st finger of your left hand to play that note. Click here to download and print this arpeggio pattern. Major arpeggio pattern #1 includes two out-of-position notes (notes that don’t fall within the four-fret span defined by the position and that require stretches by the 1st or 4th finger to play). They occur on the 6th and 1st strings. To play these notes, stretch your 4th finger up (toward the bridge) to play the note that occurs one fret higher than the one you would normally play. Stretching between your 1st and 4th finger is a good physical exercise because it includes (and therefore expands) the in-between fingers. To help loosen your left hand, try playing just the first two notes of the arpeggio back and forth eight times slowly before you play the entire pattern. The following figure provides an exercise in rhythm using major arpeggio pattern #1. This pattern is in the key of F major in 1st position in ascending and descending eighth notes. Because it doesn’t take many notes to complete the pattern, you go through it twice. The pattern in this figure occurs in the lowest position, where the frets are widest, so you can use it as a good stretching exercise, too.

Video / Updated 08-09-2023

Guitarists use power chords — built on the lowest notes of a regular open-position or barre chord — in rock music to create a low sound. Power chords are easier to play than are their full-version counterparts and don’t contain a major or minor quality to them, so they can stand in for either type of chord. Plus, they’re loads of fun to play! Although a power chord consists of only two different notes that are always five steps apart, such as A–E or C–G, the actual chord that you play may involve more than two strings, because you may be doubling each of the notes that make up the power chord. Power chords come in two varieties: Open-position: The following figure shows the most common open-position power chords — E5, A5, and D5. These chords are merely the two or three lowest notes of the simple open-position E, A, and D chords. Movable: Movable power chords are simply the two or three lowest notes of the movable barre chords. Movable power chords are either E-based or A-based. The following figure shows the F5 and Bb5 power chords that you play at the first fret, but you can move these chords to any fret. For the most part, the two- and three-string power chords are interchangeable. Although for some situations, such as playing in the Chuck Berry style, the two-string version is preferable. In rock music (and even in some pop music), guitarists often substitute power chords for full chords to enable the vocal part to stand out more from the music. You can hear this kind of power chord sound in old songs such as “Johnny B. Goode” and “Peggy Sue.” The following figure shows the power chords that you use to produce this kind of sound. Play this progression by using either two- or three-string power chords. The > symbol is called an accent. It tells you to play those notes a little louder than the others. This forms a rhythmic pattern that gives a song a certain flavor, such as a Latin flavor, a Bo Diddley flavor, a polka flavor, or even a tutti-frutti flavor. Hard-rock and heavy-metal guitarists use power chords with distortion to create a heavy or ominous sound. They achieve this mood by playing low notes with distortion. The distorted tone they use really limits them to power chords, because full chords (chords with more than two different notes in them) can sound like mud with heavy distortion. The following figure illustrates a typical heavy-metal riff using both movable and open-position power chords. If you have an electric guitar and an amp or effect device that enables you to overdrive it, use distortion while practicing this progression. You can use either the two- or three-string version of the power chords.

Video / Updated 08-09-2023

You can use hammer-ons to add articulation to your guitar playing. Articulation refers to how you play and connect notes. Articulation gives your music expression and enables you to make your guitar talk, sing, and even cry. As you start to incorporate articulation in your playing, you begin to exercise more control over your guitar. You’re not merely playing “correctly” — you’re playing with individual style. A hammer-on is a left-hand technique that enables you to play two consecutive ascending notes by picking only the first note. The hammer-on derives its name from the action of your left-hand finger, which acts like a hammer striking the fretboard, causing the note of that fret to sound out. This technique makes the connection between the notes sound smooth — far smoother than if you simply pick each note separately. An open-string hammer-on (or just hammer, for short) is the easiest kind to play and is shown in the following figure. In tab (and standard) notation, the letter H with a slur (a curved line) indicates a hammer-on. (The slur connects the first fret number, or note, of the hammer-on with the last, and the H appears centered over the slur. If two Hs appear over the slur, the hammer-on involves three notes.) Pick the open G string (the 3rd string) as you normally do. While the open string is still ringing, use a finger of your left hand (say, the first finger) to quickly and firmly strike (or slam or smack, as you prefer) the second fret of the same string. If you bring your finger down with enough force, you hear the new note (the second fret A) ringing. Normally, your left hand doesn’t strike a fret; it merely presses down on it. But to produce an audible sound without picking, you must hit the string pretty hard, as though your finger’s a little hammer coming down on the fretboard. The following figure shows a hammer-on from a fretted note on the 3rd string. Use your first finger to fret the first note at the fourth fret and strike the string; then, while that note’s still ringing, use your second finger to hammer down on the fifth fret.

Article / Updated 07-31-2023

Slide guitar may have become a stylistic choice over fretted guitar out of necessity by players who didn't have the skills or patience to fret the guitar and found it easy to slide a smooth, rounded object over the strings to achieve a similar effect. But for the greatest blues practitioners, such as Charlie Patton, Sylvester Weaver, Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, and Robert Johnson, slide guitar was an unparalleled mode of expression evocative of the human voice as well as the wail of train whistles — a sound near and dear to country blues guitarists. But whatever its origin, slide guitar is a staple of the acoustic blues guitar sound unlikely to ever be imitated by synthetic, digital means. The tools that let you slide Early, rural-dwelling slide players used anything they could find to produce the slide effect. The edge of a pocket knife, a length of pipe, a section of bone from a ham or beef shank, and a medicine bottle were among some of the top "tools" used, but the most popular and effective was a broken bottle neck (which was filed or fired to eliminate the sharp edges). Because the bottle neck was probably the most popular, slide blues guitar is sometimes called bottleneck guitar. These days, you acquire your slippery weapon of choice by selecting from the pre-packaged slides in the display case at the music store. Metal and glass tubes are the two most common styles (though prepared bottlenecks are available, too) and come in various diameters to fit different-sized fingers. Metal slides, especially those made from brass, are heavier (they have more mass), bolder-sounding, and provide better sustain, but they're more difficult to master. Glass slides are light and have a rounder, mellower tone. Sliding technique Many Delta players combined slide technique with fretting, often playing the melodic portions with the slide while their fretting fingers played chordal figures or kept the bass line going. This technique dictated wearing the slide on the fourth finger (the pinky). Follow these steps to perfect your slide technique: Slide an object like a glass or metal tube over a left-hand finger (usually the third or fourth). Rest the slide on the strings (not pressed down), directly over the fret wire. Resting the slide on the strings and playing over the fret (instead of behind it as you do when fretting) takes a little finesse, but eventually, your intonation (the ability to play pitches in tune) and tone (the right pressure that produces rattle-free sustain) will improve. Change pitch by gliding the slide along the string. This process produces a smooth, continuous change in pitch (sometimes called a glissando, or portamento, which is more correct). At first, your slide playing may sound clangy and rattly as you move the slide around. You can improve your sound by using one of two techniques: • Dampening (or muting), which involves placing your unused left-hand fingers lightly on the strings behind the slide (toward the nut) • Employing right-hand palm mutes Slide guitar is physically easy in one sense — you just drag a slide over the strings and instantly hear the effect, right? Well, it can be difficult to get sliding under control to play in tune and keep the accompanying buzzing and rattling artifacts to a minimum. Slide guitar doesn't require left-hand strength the way normal acoustic guitar playing does, but it does require finesse! Focus on intonation first, rhythm second, and dampening third.

Article / Updated 05-26-2023

A slide is a guitar articulation technique in which you play a note and then move your left-hand finger along the string to a different fret. This technique enables you to connect two or more notes smoothly and quickly. It also enables you to change positions on the fretboard seamlessly. The name of this technique, slide, gives you a pretty good clue about how to play it. You slide a left-hand finger up or down a string, maintaining contact with it, to arrive at a new note. Sometimes, you connect two notes (for example, you slide from the seventh fret to the ninth), and sometimes you connect a note (at a given fret) with an indefinite pitch (you produce indefinite pitches by picking a string while you gradually add or release finger pressure as you’re sliding). Many different types of slides are possible: Slides connecting two notes with a slur: The following figure shows a slur (curved line) along with the slanted line, which indicates that this is a legato slide. This means that you don’t pick the second note. Play the first note at the ninth fret normally, holding the note for one beat. At beat 2, while the string is still ringing, quickly slide your left-hand finger to the twelfth fret, keeping full finger pressure the whole time. This action causes the note at the twelfth fret to sound without you picking it. Slides connecting two picked notes: The following figure notates a slide without a slur; you do pick the second note. Play and hold the ninth-fret note for a beat; then, at beat two, slide up to the twelfth fret — maintaining full finger pressure as you go — and strike the string with the pick just as you arrive at the twelfth fret. If you play the slide in this figure slowly enough, you produce what’s known as a glissando. A glissando is an effect that you hear on harps, pianos, and guitars, wherein all the notes between the two principal notes sound. Ascending immediate slide: An “ascending immediate slide” is a quick slide, not in rhythm, that serves to decorate only one note. It isn’t something that you use to connect two different notes. In the example shown in following figure, you slide into the ninth fret from a few frets below. Start the slide from about three frets below the target fret (the sixth fret if the ninth fret is your target), using minimal finger pressure. As your finger slides up, gradually increase your finger pressure so that, as you arrive at the target fret, you exert full pressure. Strike the string with the pick while your left-hand finger is in motion, somewhere between the starting and target frets (the sixth and ninth frets, in this example). Descending immediate slide: A “descending immediate slide” usually occurs after you hold a note for a while. It gives a long note a fancy ending. Pick the note that the tab indicates (the one on the twelfth fret in this case) in the normal manner. After letting the note ring for the indicated duration, slide your left-hand finger down the string, gradually releasing finger pressure as you go, to cause a fading-away effect. After a few frets, lift your finger completely off the string. Long slide: A long slide is simply a descending immediate slide that goes nearly all the way down the neck, releasing finger pressure (and finally removing your finger from the string) toward the end of the neck, as near to the nut as you want to go.

Article / Updated 02-10-2023

“The First Noël” is a Christmas carol that you probably know, so you can use your familiarity with it to help ensure that you’re playing the song correctly on guitar — hitting the right pitches and in the correct rhythms. You use two major scale patterns to play “The First Noël”: major scale patterns #1 and #4, discussed elsewhere. To begin, put your hand in 2nd position (with your left-hand 1st finger hovering above the 2nd fret). Then place your left-hand 3rd finger (your ring finger) on the starting note F# at the 4th string, 4th fret. Now, you’re ready to play. Take a look at the following music. Notice that at bar 8 you switch positions, jumping up to 9th position between beats 2 and 3. Try to let that half note ring for as long as possible before making the jump, but don’t be late for beat 3! This mid-measure jump allows you to play the chorus of the second phrase an octave higher. The song doesn’t really do that, but this makes it more interesting. Plus it gives you a workout in different positions. After playing eight bars in the upper octave, shift your hand back to 2nd position at bar 16 to finish out the last eight bars. Note that the last bar, like the first pickup bar, is incomplete. It contains two beats, which allows it to even out the one-beat bar that starts the song. You can repeat the song by mentally stitching together the first bar and the last as if the whole song were a repeatable loop. The First Noël Click here to download and print this guitar tab.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-11-2023

Playing rock guitar starts with having a vocabulary of chords of different types, including basic, as well as barre forms (6th-string root and 5th-string root) and a few other movable types.

Video / Updated 11-09-2022

Open chords are chords that fall within the first four frets typically using open strings. They sound twangy because they include unfretted strings that are permitted to ring open. This chart represents 24 of the most useful open chords you use to play guitar:

Article / Updated 09-22-2022

You can use chord patterns to track chord progressions in the open position on the guitar, although doing so takes some extra work and requires that you identify the actual note name of each chord. To play in the key of G using common open chords, visualize the 6th string chord pattern starting on G at the 3rd fret and replace each barre chord with an open chord. Here’s how: Visualize the 1st barre chord, the I chord (G), but play an open G chord instead. Visualize the 2nd chord, the ii chord (Am), but play an open Am instead. Because there’s no open chord iii (Bm), play Bm at the 2nd fret of the 5th string close to the open position instead. Use common open chords to play chords IV, V, and vi (C, D, and Em). Play through all the chords forward and backward, calling out the numbers as you go. Follow along with your eye using the 6th string chord pattern even though you’re not using its barre chords. After you get the hang of playing like this in G, you can move the chord pattern and use open chords in other keys like F and A. When you do this, play open chords when you can and use the barre chords to fill in the rest, staying as close to the open position as possible. For example, in the key of F, you can play the Am, C, and Dm as open chords, but you have to use the barre chords to play the rest. In the key of A, you can play A, D, and E as open chords, Bm and C♯m at the 2nd and 4th frets of the 5th string, and F♯m at the 2nd fret of the 6th string. Do the same thing with the 5th string chord pattern starting in the key of C. In C, you can play all the chords as open chords except for F, which guitarists usually play as a partial barre chord when it’s paired with open chords. Move the chord pattern and use open chords in other keys; just remember to stay as close to the open position as possible when you need to fill in with barre chords.