[deekay]

Hi, I'm DK, and I just started taking guitar lessons... I know the string names and how to strum a bit, the notes and everything... but I don't know what Tabs are... could someone please help me?

Thanx!

[deekay]

COol, I just found this topic in the forum...."HOW TO READ AND WRITE GUITAR TABLATURE
A GUIDE TO TABLATURE NOTATION".... I think that's all I needed to know

[deekay]

I just knocked into another obstacle in my musical life..... how do I read this....
Gsus2 Dsus4 Bm Em
?

[dadfad]

I just knocked into another obstacle in my musical life..... how do I read this....
Gsus2 Dsus4 Bm Em
?

They're just variations on the common "open chords" (simple chords played near the nut using some strings left open) like C, A, G, E, and D. Here are some ways to hold them.

Gsus2 = 300033; 300233 or 3442XX
Dsus4 = X00233
Bm = X24432 or XX4432 or even just XXX432 or XX0402
Em =022000

And of course there are other ways to hold them around the neck depending on the voicing of the chord you want to use. Chord construction is probably the most important part of learning to play. More important than first learning just scales, etc. Anyway, welcome to GTU.

[Craig61]

I remember when we had the tabs for songs on here there were two tabs that had every guitar chord on them. Any chance we could get something like that posted on here again if it is not already somewhere?

[dadfad]

[Craig61]

Thanks dadfad. I have a link to harmony central I will try to find it on there. I like the piano chords along with it.

[dadfad]

I'm glad it helped. It should be clearer direct from HC's site. I have a better really good, clear, comprehensive img of chords saved somewhere but I couldn't find it so I used that one instead. (My saved-stuff is getting so large it's getting hard to find some things sometimes.)

[deekay]

They're just variations on the common "open chords" (simple chords played near the nut using some strings left open) like C, A, G, E, and D. Here are some ways to hold them.

Gsus2 = 300033; 300233 or 3442XX
Dsus4 = X00233
Bm = X24432 or XX4432 or even just XXX432 or XX0402
Em =022000

And of course there are other ways to hold them around the neck depending on the voicing of the chord you want to use. Chord construction is probably the most important part of learning to play. More important than first learning just scales, etc. Anyway, welcome to GTU.

Thanx dadfad! The mist has been lifted....

[dadfad]

Glad it helped a bit. Here's a quick theory-thing to go along with it (Theory is important, but it also can be boring and tedious. I believe in just giving it in short doses, as it applies.) You probably know there are seven notes in any notes major-scale (Do-Re-Mi-etc, etc + Do again. 7+1) Also between most of them is a sharp or flat note. They total eleven notes, and then back to the starting note (the Tonic) an octave higher. This correlates to the frets on a guitar from Open (Tonic) to the 12-fret (Tonic an octave higher). Each fret distance is called a half-step. Going up a guitar-neck on any string starting with the Open-Tonic note the divisions to find the notes of the major-scale (Do-Re-Mi...etc) are: Whole-step (2 frets); whole-step; half-step; whole-step; whole-step; whole-step; and then a half-step will take you to the Tonic-Octave on the 12-fret.

Each of those notes (major-scale notes of the Do-Re-Mi scale) can be numbered 1 through 7 (Do=1; Re=2; Mi=3; Fa=4; etc, etc). And, as shown by the whole and half steps going up a string above, there are sharp or flat notes between some of them.

A major-chord is made up of three notes: The 1, 3 and 5 notes of its major-scale. As you hold a major chord on the guitar you are holding a combination of 1st, 3rd and 5th notes. Let's use E as an example. The major scale for E is...

CODE

(This is the 6th-string on a guitar, starting with the
open-string E and frets 1 through 12. Here is the major scale of E)

||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--

E.....F#......G#...A.......B......C#......D#...(E again an octave higher)
1.....2.......3....4.......5......6.......7....(8)

As you hold an E chord, like 022100, you are holding a combination of 1, 3 and 5 notes from E's major-scale.

E 022100 = E B E G# B E

Different places on the neck of holding an E-chord might give you a different sequence or combination and maybe in a higher octave, but it will always be a combination of those three notes.

(You might already know everything I just said above. If so I apologize, but if you didn't it's necessary.)

Now, those chords you asked about above. Suspended chords and minor chords. All that means is this:

A suspended chord will be a major chord (1st, 3rd, 5th) where you remove the 3, and in it's place you will substitute ("suspend") either a 2nd (sus2) or a 4th (sus4) note.

A minor-chord is even easier. You take the major-chord 1, 3, 5 and "flatten" its 3 by one half-step (one fret lower in pitch). Using the E-chord as an example again...

E Major Chord 022100 = E B E G# B E

...G# is its 3rd. So you flatten that G# note by a half-step (one fret). Instead of holding 022100, you now hold 022000, flattening that G# note into a G. So Em is 022000.


Anyway, that's how you find those two kinds of chords. Suspendeds and minors. And of course all the other chord-types (like 7ths, or augmenteds, diminisheds, etc, etc. Have similar formulas for making them or figuring them out or where to find them. I just went over those in your topic.

As long as you can find the three notes of a major-chord, using those rules you can then find where that major-chord or how a related chord is made or held anywhere on the neck.

And here's a simple little rule for knowing how to find a note's (any note's) 1, 3 and 5. (Somebody told me this over forty years ago, and it's helped me a zillion times since). You know the old folk-tune "Michael Row the Boat A'Shore Hallelujah?" (Hopefully you know it. ) Anyway, the first three sylables of that tune "... Mi--chael--row--", correspond with the 1, 3, and 5 notes of the major-scale. Take any note anywhere on the fret-board, and use that first note as "Mi--" and then the next two notes sung "--chael--row" will be its 3 and 5. Knowing those notes, you now can use that information to locate that major-chord anywhere else on the board or (by using the change necessary to form a minor, sus, augs, etc, etc) you can create that new chord wherever you want.


Like I said, learning a bit of theory as you go is important, but it should be (i/m/o) learned in small doses. And never any more than you need for where you're at as a musician at that point. Anymore is boring and hard to get a handle on anyway. That way, eventually you'll know a lot and it's relatively painless. Hopefully all that junk above will help you out a little.

[deekay]

Hi,
I got a few doubts after reading that...

CODE

(This is the 6th-string on a guitar, starting with the
open-string E and frets 1 through 12. Here is the major scale of E)

||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--

E.....F#......G#...A.......B......C#......D#...(E again an octave higher)
1.....2.......3....4.......5......6.......7....(8)

Doubt #1: So the major scale of B would be something like:

CODE

(my version of the major scale of B - could be wrong????)

||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--

B.....C#......D#...E.......F#......G#......A#...(B again an octave higher)
1.....2.........3......4.......5.........6........7.....(8)

and similarly for all the other strings?

Doubt#2:

As you hold an E chord, like 022100, you are holding a combination of 1, 3 and 5 notes from E's major-scale.

E 022100 = E B E G# B E

A suspended chord will be a major chord (1st, 3rd, 5th) where you remove the 3, and in it's place you will substitute ("suspend") either a 2nd (sus2) or a 4th (sus4) note.

Esus2 would be a F#(the second note on the E major scale) instead of a G# being played?
Esus4 would be an A#(the fourth note on the E major scale) instead of a G# being played?
How would they look like in E 022100 form? Because I'm totally confused on how to place the fingers for that

[dadfad]

Hi,
I got a few doubts after reading that...

CODE

(This is the 6th-string on a guitar, starting with the
open-string E and frets 1 through 12. Here is the major scale of E)

||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--

E.....F#......G#...A.......B......C#......D#...(E again an octave higher)
1.....2.......3....4.......5......6.......7....(8)

Doubt #1: So the major scale of B would be something like:

CODE

(my version of the major scale of B - could be wrong????)

||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--

B.....C#......D#...E.......F#......G#......A#..(B again an octave higher)
1.....2......3.....4.......5.......6.......7...(8)

and similarly for all the other strings?

Yes, that is correct. That's the B major-scale. And the same applies to the other strings as well.

Doubt#2:

As you hold an E chord, like 022100, you are holding a combination of 1, 3 and 5 notes from E's major-scale.

E 022100 = E B E G# B E

A suspended chord will be a major chord (1st, 3rd, 5th) where you remove the 3, and in it's place you will substitute ("suspend") either a 2nd (sus2) or a 4th (sus4) note.

Esus2 would be a F#(the second note on the E major scale) instead of a G# being played?
Esus4 would be an A#(the fourth note on the E major scale) instead of a G# being played?
How would they look like in E 022100 form? Because I'm totally confused on how to place the fingers for that

Yes, the Esus2 would have an F# in place of the G#. A few simple ways to hold one would be 022X02, 022XX2, 222X00, 222X02, etc. You need to omit the G# note (XXX1XX) and add an F# note (either or both of 2XXXX2).

On the Esus4 you made a mistake. The 4th-note would be an A instead of an A#. So you need to again remove the G#-note (XXX1XX) and add an A-note (which could be any one or more of theses notes 50X2X5) A few examples of an Esus4 would be 022200, 522200 (or 5222XX), 022255, etc.

It looks like you understand it. That was just a simple error regarding the A# instead of the A. Once you see some of the shapes involved in making a certain chord, you can simply remember those shapes and begin to use them for similar chords of a different Tonic. For example the Esus4 022200 (or 0222XX). Knowing that shape, by using a barre-chord (starting with the index finger across the entire neck on any fret) you could move that shape up three frets for a Gsus4 355533 (or 3555XX). Or move it up five frets for an Asus4 (577755 or 5777XX), etc.

And the same with any chord or different voicings of chords. Once you become familiar with certain basic shapes, and a bit familiar with the fretboard itself, you can begin moving these shapes around into any tonic you wish. The more you try to do it, the easier it will become with time, and that is the key to learning to be able to play just about anything anywhere you wish in any key on the guitar. It takes a bit of time and practice, but the more you get into it the easier it becomes.

A couple of years ago I did a lesson-post at this site. I think it was called something like "Un-caging the CAGED System" or something like that (I'll try to find it and link it here.). In it I tried to explain how the basic "open" major chords C, A, G, E and D could be related linearly all up the entire neck by using those five chord-shapes. Once a guitarist is familiar with doing that, and then by making the little changes necessary to change chord-voicings (for example where we omitted the 3rd and added the 4th to make a -sus4 chord) it becomes possible to work with just about any chord anywhere on the fret-board.

I believe learning chord structure is the most important part of really learning to play. Anyone can just follow notes on a tab-line to play a lead or whatever, but once a guitarist understands chord structure, then he can play anything he wants and use that knowledge to be able to create his own lead-work or understand the lead-work of others. There becomes a logic behind them instead of just numbers on a tab-line.

Anyway, I've rattled on enough! I'll try to find that lesson and link it here.

Link: "Un-Caging The CAGED System"