Virtual Star Guitar Lesson 2
We are now going to continue our G Major scale on the 5th string. The 5th string is the next string down from the 6th string we were playing on in the last chapter. The finger positions that make up the G Major scale on the 5th string are very similar to the finger positions on the 6th string. In fact, you will use the same fingers and frets, but you will do this on the 5th string. Let’s take a look at the notes on the 5th string as they appear on the guitar neck.
See how similar this looks to the notes on the 6th string?
It is basically exactly the same as playing the G major scale on the 6th string except we will play on the 5th string.
G Major Scale – The 4th Note
Let’s give it a try. Here is the tab for the 1st note on the 5th string.
As we learned in the last chapter, the tab diagram gives us all of the information we need to play a particular note. What is this diagram telling us? That’s right. We will play this note by placing our 1st finger on the 3rd fret on the 5th string and then picking the note and holding it for 4 beats.
Let’s break the tablature down one more time just to make sure you understand how to read the guitar notation. After this, I will go into less and less detail and assume that you understand how to read basic tablature. When we add anything new to the notation, I will go into detail on those new items until I think you have seen them enough to have learned what they mean.
Ok, back to our tab diagram above. We know we will play the note using our 1st finger because of the number 1 in the little circle under the note. We know we will put our 1st finger on the 3rd fret because of the number 3 on the diagram. We know we will place our finger on the 5th string because it is the 5th line on the diagram which represents the 5th string. Finally, we know we will pick and hold the note for 4 beats because the note on the treble clef is a whole note and whole notes get 4 beats.
Here is the guitar neck diagram again showing only the 1st note.
Other than using a different string, it is played exactly the same as the 1st note on the 6th string you learned in the previous chapter.
Let’s try it now with a drum beat. We will play the note a few times as depicted with this tab.
(Click to enlarge)
Give it a try along with me. As in the previous chapter, there will be a 4 beat intro before we actually start playing. Ready?
Audio Example C2_1:
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Here is a video of me playing along with the track so you can get an idea of what it should look like when you are playing it properly. Give it a try with me if you like.
Video Example C2_1:
That sounds pretty good. Are you ready to try it by yourself? Here is the same drum track without my guitar. Try it now.
Audio Example C2_2:
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G Major Scale – The 5th Note
How did you do? Is it getting easier to understand? Let’s try the next note of our G Major scale on the 5th string. The tab for this note looks like this:
As you can see from the diagram, this note is played by placing your 2nd finger on the 5th fret on the 5th string and then picking and holding the note for 4 beats. Here is the guitar neck diagram for this note.
This should all be making more sense to you now. We are going to play this note just like in the previous chapter, but on the 5th string.
Ready to try it with a drum beat? We will play the note a few times as depicted with this tab.
(Click to enlarge)
Give it a try along with me.
Audio Example C2_3:
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Here is a video of me playing along with the track so you can get an idea of what it should look like when you are playing it properly. Give it a try with me if you like.
Video Example C2_3:
Ok, good. Go ahead and give it a try by yourself. Are you getting the hang of it?
Audio Example C2_4:
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G Major Scale – The 6th Note
There is one more note to learn on the 5th string for our G Major scale. It is played like this.
You will put your 4th finger on the 7th fret on the 5th string and then pick and hold the note for 4 beats. Here is the guitar neck diagram for this note.
Here is a picture of me playing the note on my guitar.
Let’s try it now with a drum beat. We will play the note a few times as depicted with this tab.
(Click to enlarge)
Give it a try along with me.
Audio Example C2_5:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here is a video of me playing along with the track so you can get an idea of what it should look like when you are playing it properly. Give it a try with me if you like.
Video Example C2_5:
That sounds pretty good. Are you ready to try it by yourself? Here is the same drum track without my guitar. Try it now.
Audio Example C2_6:
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Excellent. I think we are ready to try an example using each of the three notes we have learned on the 5th string. Since you should be familiar with guitar tab notation by now, I am going to let you figure out the example below by yourself. It is very similar to an example we had in the last chapter. Study the diagram for a minute until you think you understand what to play.
(Click to enlarge)
Got it? Ok, give it a try along with me.
Audio Example C2_7:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here is a video of me playing along with the track so you can get an idea of what it should look like when you are playing it properly. Give it a try with me if you like.
Video Example C2_7:
How did you do? Were you able to get an idea in your head of what the tab was telling you to play before you actually heard the example? I don’t expect you to actually hear in you head exactly what the music sounds like just from looking at the tab, but you can get a basic idea of what it is going to sound like.
When I look at the tab diagram above, I know that starting with the first note, each note after that is going to sound higher and higher until I reach the 3rd note. After I reach the 3rd note, the notes will sound lower and lower until I am back where I started. I can tell this visually from the tab because visually the notes appear to go up on the tab diagram and then appear to go down. Make sense? Are you ready to try it by yourself?
Here is the same drum track we just played without my guitar. Try it now.
Audio Example C2_8:
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Excellent! We have just finished learning the notes that make up the G Major scale on the 5th string. Here is the guitar neck diagram of our G Major scale example so far on both the 6th and 5th strings.
Putting The 6th And 5th Strings Together
Are you ready to put the 6th and 5th string notes together now? Here is a tab example utilizing everything we have learned so far. Give it a quick look and try to visualize what it may sound like.
(Click to enlarge)
This example may seem a bit overwhelming at first due to all of the notes, but actually it is not that difficult. We are going to start with the 1st note we learned on the 6th string and continue in order playing the three notes we learned on the 6th string followed by the three notes we learned on the 5th string. We will then play backwards until we get back to the 1st note on the 6th string that we started with. Give it a try along with me.
Audio Example C2_9:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here is a video of me playing along with the track so you can get an idea of what it should look like when you are playing it properly. Give it a try with me if you like.
Video Example C2_9:
That sounds pretty good. Are you ready to try it by yourself? Here is the same drum track without my guitar.
Audio Example C2_10:
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The Half Note
So far we have been using whole notes for all of our practice examples. Music is not made up of just whole notes though. It is time that we added a few more types of notes. The next type of note following a whole note is called a half note. It looks like this:
If a whole note gets four beats, how many beats do you think a half note gets? That’s right. A half note gets half as many or two beats. So before where we counted 1-2-3-4 when we were playing our notes and chords, we will now count 1-2, 1-2. Got it? Let’s try a tablature example using half notes.
(Click to enlarge)
Give it a try with a drumbeat along with me.
Audio Example C2_11:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here is a video of me playing along with the track so you can get an idea of what it should look like when you are playing it properly. Give it a try with me if you like.
Video Example C2_11:
It goes a little faster when you are playing half notes doesn’t it? You may need to practice this one a few times to keep up. The more you play it, the easier it will get.
Melodic Example
Playing scales is necessary to learn which notes to play, but they can get a bit boring. Let’s try a fun example that does not just go up and down the scale. Take a look at the following tablature. Notice that we are still playing all of the notes that are in our scale, but we have mixed the notes up to have more of a melody. Note also that there is a combination of whole and half notes.
(Click to enlarge)
Are you ready to try this one together? Remember, every single note is one that you have already learned. We are just mixing them up into a melody or solo.
Audio Example C2_12:
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Your First Solo
Now we are going to try something a bit different. I am going to play some chords and I want you to play the solo above over the chords I am playing. I will be the rhythm guitar and you will play the solo. Here is what it should sound like with both guitar parts playing.
Audio Example C2_13:
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Are you ready to try it by yourself? “Ladies and gentleman. Friends and fans. Featuring on the solo guitar. It’s…” It’s you! Go ahead and give it a try or two.
Audio Example C2_14:
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Awesome. How did you like playing your first solo? We are going to learn to play more and more solos as we progress through the lessons and our first chords await us right around the corner. Are you ready? Let’s move on to the 4th string.
Continue on to Lesson 3…
View the Virtual Star Guitar lesson index…
Do you have any questions or comments on this lesson? If so send me an email and I will respond shortly. rbrewer@myguitaruniversity.com