| In my previous article I suggested ways to | | | | agree with that and I have found that if a pupil is |
| develop a command over the guitar fretboard. | | | | not motivated learning guitar sheet music they will |
| Usually when you are playing your first guitar | | | | not advance in this area whether they play with |
| sheet music melodies you will have to learn the | | | | or without tablature. |
| notes in the first position on the guitar. To have a | | | | What has fingers to do with guitar playing? The |
| good grasp of these notes on the guitar I | | | | answer is obvious. Quite a lot. A more important |
| suggest that you learn them slowly and with | | | | question is if the fingers you choose to use can |
| concentration. I usually begin by teaching the | | | | have a bearing upon your guitar playing. Left hand |
| notes on the first string like E on open string, F on | | | | fingerings are numbers on the sheet music |
| fret 1 and G on fret 3. On string two you'll find B | | | | indication which finger you are suggested to use |
| on open string, C on fret 1 and D on fret 3. With | | | | when playing a specific note. Usually when playing |
| these notes you can play the song Mary Had A | | | | the first pieces on the guitar on the first frets it |
| Little Lamb. | | | | can be a good idea for you to play the notes on |
| Using the previous notes the melody can be | | | | the first fret with the index finger, notes on the |
| played as follows: | | | | second fret with the middle finger, notes on the |
| E D C D E E E - D D D - E G G - E D C D E E E - | | | | third fret with the ring finger and notes on the |
| E D D E D C | | | | fourth fret with your little finger. |
| I hope you recognized the melody. This kind of | | | | What then are the left hand fingering advantages? |
| music notation doesn't give any hints as to how | | | | Can't you play every melody with your left index |
| the rhythm is to be played but presupposes that | | | | finger and forget about all this fingering stuff? |
| you already know the melody. Traditional classical | | | | Well, of course you can play melodies with your |
| guitar sheet music notation shows both the notes | | | | index finger but your progress will be very limited |
| and the way they are supposed to be played. | | | | beyond just playing easy melodies. You'll have to |
| My dad was the only guitar tutor in the town | | | | move your left hand all the time as you change |
| where I lived and he taught mostly classical guitar | | | | frets and, most importantly, when reading sheet |
| playing. His young students, I was one of them, | | | | music, you'll have to look at the guitar fretboard |
| learned those first guitar pieces very fast | | | | all the time instead of looking at the sheet music |
| because he used a system similar to tablature | | | | which means that it will be hard to sight read |
| showing the frets and strings to play, along with | | | | music. |
| the sheet music. Tablature wasn't common back | | | | To summarize this learn to play guitar sheet |
| then when playing classical guitar sheet music. I | | | | music article, I could say that the important thing |
| remember somebody remarking that his system | | | | when learning to play the notes on the guitar is to |
| prevented the children from learning to sight read | | | | make a conscious effort to learn the notes and |
| sheet music. His reply was that if somebody really | | | | not to work on to many notes at the same time. |
| wants to learn the notes they will anyway. I | | | | |