THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE LEARNING TO PLAY THE GUITAR #GUITARSEEKH #GUITARBASICS
Updated: Jan 26, 2019
This blog post is about the most basic things one needs to know before learning the guitar.
Firstly, knowledge of guitar anatomy and the functions of different parts of the guitar are very essential. This is the picture of an acoustic guitar and labeled are the different parts –
Most parts of an electric guitar and acoustic guitar are similar, except Pick-Ups, pick-up selector and tone/volume controls which are present in an electric guitar. Below is an image of an electric guitar –
There are various components of learning the guitar which are used almost in every stage of playing the instrument. These components are- 1) Music Theory
2) Guitar Technique
3) Chords 4) Scales 5) Ear training 6) Sight Reading 7) Repertoire
Music Theory - In music theory, we try to understand why certain things work in music and why certain things don’t work in music. Basic topics such as Concept of pitch, intervals, harmony (when we play multiple notes together), key signature, scale harmony, chord theory, circle of fifth are very important to understand music.
One of the most frequently asked questions from aspiring musicians is, “Is music theory essential?” The answer to this question is, it totally depends on what kind of musician one wants to become.
Guitar Technique – Guitar technique is one of the most important parts of learning the guitar. Some basic techniques that are used to play the guitar are –
Left Hand technique Right Hand technique Alternate Picking Sliding Hammer On Pull-Off Bending
There are certain advanced techniques that are used while playing music styles such as rock, pop and metal – Tapping, Sweep Picking, String Skipping, Economy Picking, Vibrato, Double Stops.
Chords – Chords can be best defined as “a group of notes played together.” The most basic type of chords that we start with is open chords, following which we learn bar chords, suspended chords, diminished chords, chord extensions, augmented chords etc.
Scales – A scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. The 12 notes of music get together to form a meaningful combination. If we choose the 7 notes out of the 12 (based on a specific rule), we get a major scale (this is also called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa in Hindustani music). Likewise, we have minor scale, minor pentatonic scale, major pentatonic scale, blues scale, harmonic minor scale, melodic minor scale and so on.
Rhythm – There are two very important terms that we often use in Hindustani music – Sur and Taal. Sur is the pitch and Taal is the rhythm. No music study is complete unless we understand rhythms. In western music, we study quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note, triplets and different combinations of it to understand how rhythms work in music. When we play chords to a particular rhythm, we call it strumming.
Ear training – It is the ability to listen to a piece of music and to be able to replicate it. There are various types of ear training - Melodic ear training – When we listen to a melody and understand the musical nuances in it and are able to play it back.
Harmonic ear training – When we listen to a set of chords and by listening to it we can figure out what chords are being played.
Rhythmic ear training – we listen to a set of rhythms and then can play it back.
Sight reading – It is the language of music. The ability to sight read helps you to interact with other musicians. It also helps you play music you’ve never heard before.
Last and the most important thing is repertoire.
Repertoire – Repertoire is learning of songs, learning of melodies, chords, popular riffs and various types of music styles.
To summarize it all, do check out the image below -
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