[Scott324]

Hi, my name is Scott, and I just bought a guitar yesterday for the first time. I'm trying to teach myself how to play from information I find on the net and of course practicing every day. I've found a few sites that seem to be pretty decent. I started, knowing absolutely nothing about guitars and I still don't know much, but I'm slowly starting to get the hang of reading chords online but it seems like some sites show them differently then others.

For example cyberfret.com shows this as E minor



While all-guitar-chords.com shows it like this....



The second one I think I'm reading correctly but the first picture kind of throws me off a bit...

Also can someone explain to me what the R inside the circles means? And why there are circles behind the first fret?

Many thanks,

Scott

[Nater11]

Hi, my name is Scott, and I just bought a guitar yesterday for the first time. I'm trying to teach myself how to play from information I find on the net and of course practicing every day. I've found a few sites that seem to be pretty decent. I started, knowing absolutely nothing about guitars and I still don't know much, but I'm slowly starting to get the hang of reading chords online but it seems like some sites show them differently then others.

For example cyberfret.com shows this as E minor



While all-guitar-chords.com shows it like this....



The second one I think I'm reading correctly but the first picture kind of throws me off a bit...

Also can someone explain to me what the R inside the circles means? And why there are circles behind the first fret?

Many thanks,

Scott

When you play an Em chord, your fingers shoud be as follows-

6th String(fattest string, closest to your head)-- Leave this string open. dont touch it, and be sure not to mute it.
5th String(right below the 6th string)-- Put your middle finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
4th String(as follows)-- Put your ring finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
3rd String(" ")-- Leave it open
2nd String(" ")-- Leave it open
1st String(closest string to the floor)-- Leave it open


Notice the 2 black dots are on the 2nd fret. and at the very bottom, it tell you what fingers are recommended. 0 means open. and your fingers 1-4 are pointer through pinky. (dont worry about the thumb quite yet)

The "R" inside the circles simply stands for "ROOT". It doenst mean anything at this point, whenever you see a R somewhere in the chord chart dont think to much of it. You'll learn about it soon enough, but it may be best not to confuse you at the beginning stages. And, the circles behind the 1st fret just show that the string is played as is, and isnt fretted down.

Welcome to GTU! Most of us here know exactly what you are going through right now, but just keep at it. It'll come a lot easier than you think. If you are really serious about getting better, might I suggest getting a teacher to help you, preferably 1 on 1. Hope that helps Scott, feel free to ask any more questions you might have

[Scott324]

When you play an Em chord, your fingers shoud be as follows-

6th String(fattest string, closest to your head)-- Leave this string open. dont touch it, and be sure not to mute it.
5th String(right below the 6th string)-- Put your middle finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
4th String(as follows)-- Put your ring finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
3rd String(" ")-- Leave it open
2nd String(" ")-- Leave it open
1st String(closest string to the floor)-- Leave it open


Notice the 2 black dots are on the 2nd fret. and at the very bottom, it tell you what fingers are recommended. 0 means open. and your fingers 1-4 are pointer through pinky. (dont worry about the thumb quite yet)

The "R" inside the circles simply stands for "ROOT". It doenst mean anything at this point, whenever you see a R somewhere in the chord chart dont think to much of it. You'll learn about it soon enough, but it may be best not to confuse you at the beginning stages. And, the circles behind the 1st fret just show that the string is played as is, and isnt fretted down.

Welcome to GTU! Most of us here know exactly what you are going through right now, but just keep at it. It'll come a lot easier than you think. If you are really serious about getting better, might I suggest getting a teacher to help you, preferably 1 on 1. Hope that helps Scott, feel free to ask any more questions you might have

Thank you Nater, that was a big help. So it seems that the main difference between the two pictures is the orientation of the fretboard? The first one is how the frets appear as if the guitar were standing vertically, and the second is if you are looking at the front of the guitar horizontally with the sound hole to your right?

This post has been edited by Scott324: 08 July 2007 - 04:26 PM

[AC DC Fan]

I suggest www.justinguitar.com its a great place to find some scales, chords, and other good practice/teaching material.

This post has been edited by AC DC Fan: 08 July 2007 - 09:02 PM

[jones991]

When you play an Em chord, your fingers shoud be as follows-

6th String(fattest string, closest to your head)-- Leave this string open. dont touch it, and be sure not to mute it.
5th String(right below the 6th string)-- Put your middle finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
4th String(as follows)-- Put your ring finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
3rd String(" ")-- Leave it open
2nd String(" ")-- Leave it open
1st String(closest string to the floor)-- Leave it open


Notice the 2 black dots are on the 2nd fret. and at the very bottom, it tell you what fingers are recommended. 0 means open. and your fingers 1-4 are pointer through pinky. (dont worry about the thumb quite yet)

The "R" inside the circles simply stands for "ROOT". It doenst mean anything at this point, whenever you see a R somewhere in the chord chart dont think to much of it. You'll learn about it soon enough, but it may be best not to confuse you at the beginning stages. And, the circles behind the 1st fret just show that the string is played as is, and isnt fretted down.

Welcome to GTU! Most of us here know exactly what you are going through right now, but just keep at it. It'll come a lot easier than you think. If you are really serious about getting better, might I suggest getting a teacher to help you, preferably 1 on 1. Hope that helps Scott, feel free to ask any more questions you might have

Thank you Nater, that was a big help. So it seems that the main difference between the two pictures is the orientation of the fretboard? The first one is how the frets appear as if the guitar were standing vertically, and the second is if you are looking at the front of the guitar horizontally with the sound hole to your right?

yeah, just think of it like this, the thick black line at the left (or the top) of the fretboard is the nut. (the nut is the white/ivory block by the head of the guitar that the strings run through)

[Scott324]

When you play an Em chord, your fingers shoud be as follows-

6th String(fattest string, closest to your head)-- Leave this string open. dont touch it, and be sure not to mute it.
5th String(right below the 6th string)-- Put your middle finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
4th String(as follows)-- Put your ring finger on the 2nd fret, and press down.
3rd String(" ")-- Leave it open
2nd String(" ")-- Leave it open
1st String(closest string to the floor)-- Leave it open


Notice the 2 black dots are on the 2nd fret. and at the very bottom, it tell you what fingers are recommended. 0 means open. and your fingers 1-4 are pointer through pinky. (dont worry about the thumb quite yet)

The "R" inside the circles simply stands for "ROOT". It doenst mean anything at this point, whenever you see a R somewhere in the chord chart dont think to much of it. You'll learn about it soon enough, but it may be best not to confuse you at the beginning stages. And, the circles behind the 1st fret just show that the string is played as is, and isnt fretted down.

Welcome to GTU! Most of us here know exactly what you are going through right now, but just keep at it. It'll come a lot easier than you think. If you are really serious about getting better, might I suggest getting a teacher to help you, preferably 1 on 1. Hope that helps Scott, feel free to ask any more questions you might have

Thank you Nater, that was a big help. So it seems that the main difference between the two pictures is the orientation of the fretboard? The first one is how the frets appear as if the guitar were standing vertically, and the second is if you are looking at the front of the guitar horizontally with the sound hole to your right?

yeah, just think of it like this, the thick black line at the left (or the top) of the fretboard is the nut. (the nut is the white/ivory block by the head of the guitar that the strings run through)

Thanks for the advice guys.

[dadfad]

And welcome to GTU.

[Scott324]

And welcome to GTU.

Thanks to everyone, I really like that justinguitar.com site. He explains everything slowly and answered little questions that I had and even a few questions I never thought to ask. It seems easier to understand his site them some of the others. Thanks for the heads up and the warm reception folks.

This post has been edited by Scott324: 09 July 2007 - 04:41 PM

[Scott324]

I have a BOSS TU-80 Tuner/Metronome and I always seem to have a hell of a time trying to tune my sixth string. Do I just have a crappy tuner, or does it just really get THAT far out of tune, to where the tuner doesn't seem to pick it up?

It keeps reading it as 7b or just doesn't seem to pick it up at all.

Another thing about this tuner that I thought I'd figured out but just wanted to confirm was when the digital hand goes past the 0 that means I need to loosen the string, and when it doesn't make it to the 0 then I need to tighten the string, correct? I've had it in tune before, and that's how I did it then so I would assume so, but I just wanted to make sure.

Thanks again folks.

[Nater11]

I have a BOSS TU-80 Tuner/Metronome and I always seem to have a hell of a time trying to tune my sixth string. Do I just have a crappy tuner, or does it just really get THAT far out of tune, to where the tuner doesn't seem to pick it up?

It keeps reading it as 7b or just doesn't seem to pick it up at all.

Another thing about this tuner that I thought I'd figured out but just wanted to confirm was when the digital hand goes past the 0 that means I need to loosen the string, and when it doesn't make it to the 0 then I need to tighten the string, correct? I've had it in tune before, and that's how I did it then so I would assume so, but I just wanted to make sure.

Thanks again folks.

If you've recently changed your strings it could be that, they all ways go hay wire for little while until you breakem in a little bit. Its not the tuner though. You'd really benefit from a pitch pipe, or this webpage though http://www.8notes.co....asp?sstring=e2 it'll help implant those 6 notes into your brain, and it'll be easier and easier each time.

Correctomundo on the 2nd part.

so hows ur playing coming along? learn any new tunes lately?

[Scott324]

Well I learned part of Johnny B. Goode and part of One hand in my pocket.. but I'm still not very quick at changing chords, but I feel like I'm progressing.

And thanks again for the advice.


EDIT: I forgot to mention, I didn't change the strings.. but the guitar is relatively new.. could that be it?

This post has been edited by Scott324: 17 July 2007 - 10:45 PM

[Nater11]

Well I learned part of Johnny B. Goode and part of One hand in my pocket.. but I'm still not very quick at changing chords, but I feel like I'm progressing.

And thanks again for the advice.


EDIT: I forgot to mention, I didn't change the strings.. but the guitar is relatively new.. could that be it?

In that case, it may not be the strings, but how they are setup. Be sure to check for any bridge pins(the white tipped things near where your picking hand goes) that may be loose. There's also a chance that who ever strung the guitar at the store was an idiot, so double check that everything at the head is secured nice and tight

[Scott324]

Thanks, I'll do that.

This post has been edited by Scott324: 31 July 2007 - 06:21 PM

[Scott324]

Well I finally got my guitar back in tune today. I don't think anything was wrong with it, I think I'm just still so new at this I'm not really quite sure what I'm doing sometimes. LOL

Anyway, I was wondering if someone would be so kind as to explain how to read this to me. It's different then some of the tutorials I've been looking at and I'm afraid I don't quite understand what it means. Thanks again to everyone, you've all been a great help to me already.

[dadfad]

Those are pinches, done with the thumb and one finger (usually the index) or, if you use a pick, the pick (held between the thumb and index as usual) and another finger (often the pinky or ring) plucked simultaneously. Using a pick and one finger (often called hybrid-picking) sometimes takes a little getting used to. It's probably a little more common on an acoustic guitar to use the thumb and finger with no pick. Either way is okay depending on the rest of the tune. If it's all strumming then hybrid might be best. If there's a lot of individual and plucked-pair notes then pure fingerstyle might be best.

Anyway, that's what I think that tab means. The format/photo is a tiny tad off (and pinched note-pairs are supposed to be directly in line). If they aren't in line, but instead staggered a bit, like this (exagerated for clarity)...

CODE

----------------------------------
------3-------3------3----------
------------------------------
--0-------0------0----------
--------------------------
------------------------

...then it just means instead of piching them simultaneously, you would instead rapidly pluck one then the other allternating with your thumb and index (or pick and finger) as you go.

[Scott324]

Those are pinches, done with the thumb and one finger (usually the index) or, if you use a pick, the pick (held between the thumb and index as usual) and another finger (often the pinky or ring) plucked simultaneously. Using a pick and one finger (often called hybrid-picking) sometimes takes a little getting used to. It's probably a little more common on an acoustic guitar to use the thumb and finger with no pick. Either way is okay depending on the rest of the tune. If it's all strumming then hybrid might be best. If there's a lot of individual and plucked-pair notes then pure fingerstyle might be best.

Anyway, that's what I think that tab means. The format/photo is a tiny tad off (and pinched note-pairs are supposed to be directly in line). If they aren't in line, but instead staggered a bit, like this (exagerated for clarity)...

CODE

----------------------------------
------3-------3------3----------
------------------------------
--0-------0------0----------
--------------------------
------------------------

...then it just means instead of piching them simultaneously, you would instead rapidly pluck one then the other allternating with your thumb and index (or pick and finger) as you go.

Thanks dadfad, I found something explaining it here just after I posted, and then saw your post and the two helped me make some sense of it. Thanks for the advice once again.

[Scorp]

Hey Scott. First off, welcome to GTU. Secondly, if you haven't already figured it out, listen to what Dadfad tells you. That guy has forgotten more about playing guitar than you or I will ever know.

Good luck with your playing and never give up. It seems to me you have the right attitude and are keen to learn. Try to hang on to that. I think you'll find that you will make progress for a while and then sort of reach a plateau where you don't seem to get any better. Keep at it and you will begin to move forward again as long as you continue to challenge yourself.

Anyway, have fun and keep rockin'