MM 3) ALFRED'S BASIC “= GUITAR METHOD ee THE MOST POPULAR METHOD ae Cae se OF PLAYContents ‘THE PARTS OF YOUR GUITAR . HOW TO HOLD YOUR GUITAR. «| ‘THE RIGHT HAND . ‘THE LEFT HAND HOW TO TUNE YOUR GUITAR TOA KEYBOARD... . GETTING ACQUAINTED WITI ‘THE FIRST STRING E . . . Playing with EF; G USI ‘THE SECOND STRING B. . - Two-String Rock a ‘Merry-Go-Round... . Beautiful Brown Eyes - Guitar Rock... . Jingle Bells. ‘THE THIRD STRING G ‘Au dair de la lune. Tiree String Rock Largo. . INTRODUCING CHORDS - Ghord Study No.1... . - Ghord Study No. 2... ‘THREE-STRING C CHORD. - Ode to Joy. Quarter Rest. Rock 'n' Rhythm ‘THREE-STRING G7 CHORD. Two-Chord Rock. . . . Love Somebody. i THREE-STRING G CHORD Rockin’ with G & C. Down in the Valley Oh, Susanna... =. ‘THE FOURTH STRING D. - Old MacDonald Hada Farm Hold Sign (Fermata). . Reuben, Reuben. . Common Time. - - Gwniz. . Bohemian Folk Song - Good Night, Ladies... Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two) . . - FOUR-STRING G & G7 CHORDS. - - Laughing Polka . . . THE FIFTH STRING A - Volga Boatmen ... +. Peter Gray Low-Down Rock. . Lebestrdum . . om. ease erases Ppegelindeotrat pce esa nce nce Mieco Boogie Style INTRODUCING HIGH A | Rockin’ in Darian Mode - The Riddle Song INCOMPLETE MEASURES... ‘Atisket, A-tasket. . 2 The Yellow Rose of Texas... ‘THE SIXTH STRING E. .. Down Low - Bottom to Top TEMPO SIGNS... Three-Tempo Rock. The Blue Danube Waltz... BASS-CHORD ACCOMPANIMENT . an-con (due 7 DYNAMICS . Echo Woltz. .. : SIGNS OF SILENCE. The Desert Song (Study in Counting) Echo Rock . She'll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain. FOUR-STRING C CHORD . Ties. ‘MORE BASS-CHORD ACCOMPAN! Chiapaneces. EIGHTH NOTES... ‘Hoppy Birthday to You . Eighth-Note Bounce. Walkin’ Bass Rock. - More Dynamic Signs Pochelbel’s Canon Annie's Song. . . SHARPS #, FLATS 5, AND NATURALS ¢ The Chromatic Scale... . Chromatic Rock . My Melancholy Baby Over the Rainbow... . FOUR-STRING D7 CHORD - . Four-Beat Blues... Amazing Grace - . ° Rockin’ the Bach. . - Buffalo Gals... - ‘THE MAJOR SCALE. . KEY SIGNATURES... - EIGHTH RESTS... 2.2.2 ‘Eighth Rest Exercise No.1... Eighth Rest Exercise No.2... Eighth Rest Exercise No. 3 Bill Bailey . La Bamba. DOTTED QUARTER NOTES | ‘Auld Lang Syne... Singin’ in the Rain. - : Toke Me Home, Country Roads. | CERTIFICATE OF PROMOTION . ook EN: o79ee2-0 IstNen:ono-noo-7s24 ook and (SBN. o7390-7909 ISIN: reo RoDHTOH Book and ND SEN: o7sae-t0000 Ist: so-ng0sase7 wo BN. o7s9e2-0 Ist: sreo- 79049589iz The Parts of Your Guitar The Acoustic Guitar The Electric Guitar Headstock Steel Strings and Nylon Strings ‘Steel strings are found on both acoustic and electric guitars. They have a bright and brassy sound. Nylon strings are usually found on classical and flamenco guitars. They have a mellow, delicate sound. Nylon strings are often easier for beginners to play because they are easier on the fingers than steel strings.How to Hold Your Guitar Hold your guitar in a position that is most comfortable for you. Some positions are shown below. When playing, keep your left wrist away from the fingerboard. This will allow your fingers to be in a better position to finger the chords. Press your fingers firmly, but make certain they do not touch the neighboring strings. Tilt the neck slightly up. Don't twist the body of the guitar to see the strings better. Sting with legs crossed. The guitar is strummed with the right hand. You may use a guitar pick or your thumb. Strum all chords in a downward motion unless otherwise indicated.4 The Right Hand To strum means to play the strings with your right hand by brushing q There are two common ways of strumming the strings. One is with a pick, and the other is with your fingers. Strumming with a Pick Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger. Hold it firmly, but don't squeeze it too hard Strum from the 6th string (the Important: Strum by mostly moving your wrist, not just your arm. Use as little motion as possible. Start as close to the top string as you can, and never let your hand move past the edge of the guitar. Strumming with Your Fingers Decide if you feel more comfortable strumming with the side of your thumb or the nail of your index finger. motion is the same with the thumb or finger ast is when using the pick. Strum from the 6th string (the thickest, lowest-sounding string) to the 1st string (the thinnest, highest-sounding string).The Left Hand Proper Left Hand Position Leaming to use your left hand fingers starts with a good hand position. Place your hand so your thumb rests comfortably in the middle of the back of the neck. Position your fingers on the front of the neck as if you are gently squeezing a ball between them and your thumb. Keep your elbow in and your fingers curved. Keep elbow in and fingers curved. arch your Postion fingers as H you are gently squeezing wrist slightly so your fingertips can more ‘a ball between your fingertips and thumb. Place ‘casly come down on top ofthe strings ‘the thumb under the fingerboard opposite the and finger. Placing a Finger on a String When you press a string with a left hand finger, make sure you press firmly with the tip ‘of your finger and as close to the fret wire as you can without actually being right on it. Shor fingernails are important! This will create a clean, bright tone.How to Tune Your Guitar to a Keyboard ‘The six stings of the guitar are the same pitches as the six notes shown eens Mes Perl illustration: FRET 1 FRET 2 FRET 3 STRING: 6 5 4321 Tuning the Guitar to Itself Tune the 6th string to Eon the keyboard. if no keyboard is available, approximate E as best you can and proceed as follows: Press Sth fret of 6th string to get pitch of 5th string (A). Press Sth fret of Sth string to get pitch of 4th string (D).. Press Sth fret of 4th string to get pitch of 3rd string (G).. Press Ath fret of 3rd string to get pitch of 2nd string (B).. Press Sth fret of 2nd string to get pitch of Ist string (E).. Tuning with the CD or DVD 3" To tune while listening to the CD or watching the DVD, listen to the directions and match each of your strings, to the corresponding pitches. How to Read Chord Diagrams Fingering diagrams show where to place the fingers of your left hand. Strings not played are shown with dashed lines. The number within the cirde indicates the finger that is pressed down. How to Use an Electronic Tuner An electronic tuner is a handy device that can help keep your guit You pick each string one at a time, and the tuner guides you to the exact pitch the string should be in order for it to be in tune. Until your ear becomes more experienced, an electronic tuner can be extremely useful.Getting Acquainted with Music Musical sounds are indicated by symbols called notes. The value is determined by their color (white or black) and by stems or flags attached to the note head Br taePd The Staff The notes are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet (A-C), endlessly repeated to embrace the entire range of musical sound. The name and pitch of the note is determined by its position on five horizontal ines and the spaces between, called the staff. ae "ath SPACE 3rd LINE ‘3rd SPACE 2nd LINE 2nd SPACE 1st LINE Ast SPACE [—— Notes on the lines —— [Notes in the spaces — i = = = ¢ £ zs £ E G B D F A c E Measures Music is divided into equal parts called measures, or bars. One measure is divided from another by a bar line. (_ measure ——l_— measure ——! Clefs During the evolution of musical notation, the staff had from 2 to 20 lines, and symbols were invented to locate certain lines and the pitch of the note on that line. These symbols are called clefs. for guitar is written in the G clef, or ireble clef. Ih, the Gothic letter G was used on a four-line staff to establish the pitch of G. 6 This grew into the modem notation = ona veline stat8 The First String E 60} F Dashed line means string is not to be played. Use only down-strokes indicated by m. The symbol o over a note means open string. Do net finger. GOTO NEXT LINE A PPP ict. WITHOUT STOPPING. ee eee o-9 9-9 Play slowly and evenly. ] (Measure number) PLAYING with E, FE, G oy" a omom mee. 5 DOUBLE BAR LINE USED 70 SHOW THE 5 END OF THE PIECE “Though no photo is shown for the open string, the fingers of the LH should remain slightly above the string to be ready to play the correct fret when needed. The thumb should also remain in its proper position.More oy ‘ Left hand fingers: When playing from the Istto the 3rd fret, keep the 1st finger down. Only the G will sound, but when you go back to F, your playing will sound smoother. 5 3 | ti ° 1 gai ie wate KEEP 1st FRIGER DOWN mcg Faces Stitt More oy . Left hand fingers: Place as close to the fret wires as possible without actually touching them. . | KEEP tet FINGER DOWNise only the tips—keep them curved. lace on the back of the neck opposite the 1st and 2nd fingers. 5 | tu Sound-Off: How to Count Time Four Kinds of Notes d d de QUARTER NOTE HALF NOTE DOTTED HALF NOTE WHOLE NOTE ‘ONE COUNT TWO COUNTS THREE COUNTS: FOUR COUNTS © 2 2 CONT: 1 2 8 4 © CONT) «20 3 4 COW 1k cor; 2 39 4 Time Signatures Each piece of music has numbers at the beginning called a time signature. These numbers, tell us how to count time. ‘The TOP NUMBER tells us how many counts are in each measure. The BOTTOM NUMBER tells us what kind of note gets one count. FOUR COUNTS TO A MEASURE 4 4 A QUARTER NOTE GETS ONE COUNT THREE COUNTS TO A MEASURE 3 1 4A A QUARTER NOTE GETS ONE COUNT Important: Go back and fill in the missing time signatures of the songs you have already leaned.12 The Second String B «ey NOTES YOU'VE LEARNED SO FAR Ist String ° (H0LD 1 Down) Two-Strinc Rock boy" AMerry-Go-Rounp ey" BeautiFuL Brown Eyes ey" Beau - ti - ful, beau - ti - ful brown eyes, smil = ing right in - to my heart But now where are those beau - ti - ful brown eyes? Why must we be so. far a - __——part?.4 Gurtar Rock ©" If you have a teacher or a guitar playing friend, the chord symbols above each staff may be used toplay a duet (two players). These chords are not to be played by the student. TeacHeR Gf ff tc & = SS eS ey Jineie Bets (oy*" Jin ~ gle bells Jin = gle bets Jingle all the way! F c Db G7 Ob, what fun it is to ride a one horse 0 - pen sleigh! c Jin - gle bellst Jin - gle bells! Jin - gle all the way! F c G Oh what fun it is to ride a one horse 0 - pen15 ALOUETTE oy TEACHER: C G Traditional French-Canadian A : lu - co - te, gen - tille A = lou - t-te. A= low = et = te, je - te plu - me - rai. Je - te plu-me - mi la téte, je - te plu- me - rai latte, Et latte, et la tate, A = lou - ett’, A - lou - ett’, oh, ___ oh!, A = lu - et = te, gentile A -lou - e& - te. A + lu - ct - te je - te plu- me - mai16 The Third String G or" NOTES YOU'VE LEARNED SO FAR 2nd Sting 1st String AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE (03*" TEACHER: G pb? G pb? G D7 Turee-Strinc Rock or" TEER: G a Larco ey (from The New World Symphony) Antonin Dvorak c a c 7 Am Dm G7 c F Em F Em F F Em OF Em F c Gr c Ey Am) Dm_sG? c se zt re ote Fe |18 Back To THE ’50s ©" TEACHER: G G Repeat Signs The double dots inside the double bars indicate that everything between the double bars must be repeated. uRA Lee €*" Elvis Presley recorded this folk song in a modem version called “Love Me Tender! TEACHER: C D7 a? c c = F Fm c19 Introducing Chords A chord is a combination of harmonious notes. All notes except the whole note have a stem going up or down. When notes ate struck together as a chord, they are connected by the same stem. (Not to be played.) xxx An x above a string also means Chord Study No. 1 oy thot stings not ta be played. This exercise uses two-note chords on the open B and E strings. Play both strings together with one down-stroke. xxxe ——— Chord Study No. 2 ay" This exercise uses three-note chords on the open G, B and E strings. Learn the order of the strings thoroughly. Play with the wrist free and relaxed. Keep your eyes on the notes and not on the fingerboard.20 Three-String f C Chord s (HOLD C DOWN TO THE END OF THE ExERCIES) Ope To Joy ey (Theme from Beethoven's 9th Symphony) Ludwig van Beethoven TEACHER: C G’ Quarter Rest This sign indicates silence for one count. For a clearer effect, you may stop the sound of the strings by touching the strings, lightly with the heel of the right hand. Rock ’n’ Ruytam 60y** TEACHER: C lx wt21 G Three-String bay” xxx G7 Chord ‘ ¥. 4 (HOW FDOWN TO THE END) e 5 Two-Cuorp Rock oy" teaguen: C c aoc (REST) Love Somesopy (0;* Here is a song for you to sing while you play the accompaniment. The slanting line below r following a chord symbol (C / // G7 / / /) means to play the same chord for each line. Repeat the chord until a new: chord symbol appears. px C 4S Fs a 4s st c 4 4 ds a ss 4 sina: Love some-bod - y, — Uex 1 do, Love some =hod + now guess. who? ov ft @t tf ec h@ek et £4 Love some-bod - y have you guessed? Youre ‘the one that’ «=I dove best22 Three-String (oj** G Chord Rockin’ with G & C ey" 5 Down IN THE VALLEY Play this song as a guitar solo by playing the music, then sing the melody and accompany yourself by playing the chord line. px C fF Ss tf 4 of to Ltt GLK 44 SNG: Down in the val - ley, val- ley so low, ik wt £§ Ft t ##F# g kt F £ FF hang your head 0 - ver, hear the wind blow.23 Ou, SusANNA fo" " Stephen Foster rescues: G D G Oh, I came from A - la - ba - ma with a gui - tar on my knee; rm a a a> ma, my true love — for to see. It rained all night the day 1 left, the weath-er it’ was dry: the sun so hot I froze to death, Su - san - na don't you cry. Su - san- na, oh, dont you cry for me, Ive 22 come from A - la - ba-ma with a gui- tar on my — knee.24 The Fourth Stri ng D toy” NOTES YOU'VE LEARNED SO FAR ee 3d String _ 2nd Sting Ist String 2 + —— o—* & z FRET 1 FRET 2 FRETS Oxp MacDonatp Hap 4 Farm (0y*” TeActen: G c G pb? G25 Hold Sign (Fermata) 7\ This sign indicates that the time value of the note is lengthened to approximately twice its usual value. Reusen, REuBEN (0y"" TEACHER: F c Dm A c Dm Am BP F BP cl F G Wuiz s or moa Jd JD xn26 BOHEMIAN FOLK SONG oy 16 nen C G « Ge Not all guitar solos are played using one form of the three-note chords already leamed. The next two songs use various combinations of two- and three-note chords. Goop Nicut, Lapies (0)*” TEACHER: G bp?27 Daisy BELL or (A Bicycle Built for Two) Harry Dacre TEACHER: C 2 = HOLD FINGERS DOWN __ G c Am D a28 Four-String G & G7 Chords foS*” The three-note chords you have learned so far can be expanded to four-note chords, that sound fuller and richer. For the G and G7 chords, simply add the open 4th string. Gc ees a Here is an exercise using expanded four-string versions of the G and G7 chords. G @ c GLaucuine Poika €oS*" TEACHER: C 29 Dm c 2 “Two thin lines mean the end of a section.30 The Fifth String A ¢o*" NOTES YOU'VE LEARNED SO FAR 4th String 3rd Sting 2nd String _ Ist String 4 9 1 3 0 bp i Vo1Ga BoatMeN (ay** eACHER: Am Dm Am Dm Am F c G Am Dm Am31 Peter Gray (*" Texter: Am c Low-Down Rock (o,*"32 Liesestrium (* Franz Liszt Boosie Stvte ¢oy*" Am c D Am D c33 Introducing High A fo5** Rockin’ 1n Dortan Move (6S** socom 227 2 ae c bm c Dm jim z on DIS34 Tue Rwop.e Sonc toy" Play “The Riddle Song" in two ways: as a musically complete guitar solo, then as accompaniment while you sing. ‘Strum chords once each beat. This song may also be played as a duet with your teacher or guitar friend. rae 7 / Z ete. snc Gave my —_ love a cher = oy that has 0 stone, 1 gave omy love, chick = en that G a has no bone, I veo my_— lowe a c G that has no end, 1 c a gave my love a ba = by that's35 Incomplete Measures Not every piece of music begins on beat 1. Music sometimes begins with an incomplete measure called an upbeat, or pickup. if the pickup has just one beat, the last measure will have only three beats in 4 or two beats in j. \ 4a 4m 4a 4A pw WD WwW WLW a i i UPBEAT_| WHOLE MEASURE ‘WHOLE MEASURE ‘WHOLE MEASURE LAST MEASURE oP Aas 4 ee [TS Se | 2S ee |S A-tisket, A-tasKet (0j"" c pC Fr ¢ @ - a 2 - fe E 5 ee 5 — coun 4 I I I I Tue YELLOw Rose or Texas (03" TEACHER: G’ c G c c c36 The Sixth String E (y** Down Low boy” * Borrom to Tor oy" REVIEW BASS STRINGS SOLO STRINGS 6th Sting sth String 4th Sing SedStting nd String 4st Sing FRETS: 9 1 3 o 2 3 o 2 3 ° 2 o1 3 Oo 1 3.537 Tempo Signs The three principal tempo signs are Andante (slow), Moderato (moderately), Allegro (fast). Turee-Temro Rock oy" Play three times: Ist time Andante, 2nd time Moderato, 3rd time Allegro. woe sD) ) a ’ Tue Brut DANuBE WaLtz (oy* * Johann Strauss Allegro ‘ c G as iB == ge = , © o o Dm38 Bass-Chord Accompaniment ‘A popular siyle of playing chord accompaniments in {time breaks up the chord into a single note and a smaller chord. Play only the lowest note (called the bass note) on the 1st beat, then play the test of the chord on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats. The complete pattern is bass-chord-chord-chord. A variation of this repeats the bass note on the third beat: bass-chord-bass-chord. Cc G (variaton) bass-chord-chord-chord G7 bass-chord-bass-chord —C (Varstion) HOLD E DOWN. - — ~~ Can-Can (pueET) toy" ‘This song is a duet. The Ist and 2nd parts are to be played by the student. ‘The teacher may accompany the student by playing the 2nd part and vice versa. Follow this procedure on subsequent duets unless otherwise indicated. Note: The 2nd part is written in bass-chord-chord-chord style but can also be played in bass-chord-bass-chord style. Jacques Offenbach Allegro 539 Dynamics Signs showing how soft or loud to play are called dynamics. {he prindpal dyeamics are shown Feu oe Pp (piano) MG 'rez20-forte) (forte) soft moderately loud loud (fortissimo) very loud Ecuo WA.tz oy" Moderato40 Signs of Silence 2 quanrer Rest=1 count am =«HALF REST = 2 COUNTS ‘wr WHOLE REST = 4 COUNTS IN 4 TIME 3. COUNTS IN } TIME ‘Stop the sound of the strings by touching ‘them lightly with the heel of your hand. Tue Desert SONG oy" (Study in Counting) Moderato f4 Ecuo Rock (5"* Two tempo signs may be combined. Allegro moderato means “moderately fast” Allegro moderato racer ¢ JI) J) . fF 2 f al af P t Sue’Lt Be Comin’ ’Rounp THE MOUNTAIN oy" . Moderato TEACHER: c Kovew be com - in’ ‘round the moun - tain when she — comes. Gl ‘ She'll be com - in’ c round the —moun-tain when she comes. . She'll be com - in’ ‘ound the moun-tain, she'll be com - in’ ‘round the c G c 12 moun-tain, she'll be com - in’ ound the moun-tain when she comes.42 Four-St ig C Chord Pee The four-string C chord requires placing the 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th stiing. Ties A tie is a curved line that connects two or more notes of the same pitch. When two notes are tied, the second ones not played; rather, the value is added to the first note. Hold D for 5 beats. e Wuen THE Saints Go Marcuinc IN (DUET OR TRIO) oy" Allegro TEACHER a F ——43 “444 More Bass-Chord Accompaniments When a piece is in time, a popular style of chord accompaniment is bass-chord-chord. ‘The bass note is the note that names the chord (C for the C chord, G for the G and G7 chords, etc.). Usually, the bass note is also the lowest note in the chord. First play the bass note alone, then the rest of the chord on the second and third beats. iG bass - chord - chord G7 G 3 HoLDG — tf a chords repeated for two or more measures, an alternate bass note (another note in the chord) is used to get a greater variety of sound. @ S Alt. (Alt. bass-chord-chord —bass-chord-chord —_bass-chord-chord —bass-chord-chord = C CHIAPANECAS oe Mexican Handclapping Song ‘AkegO ae mf mf 2 “Altemate fingering.4546 Eighth Notes Fighth notes are black notes with a flag added to the stem: 4) or P. Two or more eighth notes are written with beams: J] orf’ f?, o (PFS. Each eighth note receives one half beat. an AM Ww - “ay @ Tas .23 eererers ‘WHOLE NOTE ‘2 HALF NOTES 4 QUARTER NOTES: ‘8 EIGHTH NOTES Use alternating < momo oA aVemVeaVvVeAyY down-strokes Mand up-strokes \/on eighth notes. cu 1 828 SR FR 1 82 eTR AB Happy Birtupay To You ey" Mildred J. Hill Moderato and Patty S. Hill GT c wl my "Pap py vin day 0 you Hap-py bith day to you Hap-py F mv ¢ G c ‘Ss birth - day dear ——__. Hap-py_ binh - day to you. (© 1995 rerowod 1662) Sumy Sitehard Musi, csion of Sunmy-irchard, ne Allright retard, Used by parmieson Eicutn-Notr Bounce 60)" Allegro moderato Fee mVRVeVRY Ace Vca7 WALKIN’ Bass Rock ©*" ‘Allegro moderato scien e o PV et. S More Dynamic Signs The sign ——— and the word crescendo both mean grow gradually louder. The sign ——— and the word decrescendo both mean grow gradually softer. PAcHELBEL’s Canon (0y"* Play as around. First player plays as usual, Second player begins when fist player getsto[A). a thal Slow and stately EACHER: C G Am Em F © F @ St e {4] 7 c s Am em : c : c c G Am Em F c F a48 Annte’s Sonc (63*" ‘This arrangement can be used several different ways: the Ist partis a self-contained guitar solo; the 2nd part can be used to accompany your singing. The student should lear both parts. John Denver Moderato G Am my up omy let F Em bm moun - tains in | spring drown in your —_| laugh the rain, your | arms, © 197 Chery Lane Music Pblshing Ca ne ‘etenavonal Coppi seczed Megs Reseed Sad by Permissn49 F G Am F Em bm Go back to the beginning G c {for 2nd verse. 9 HOLD Cand _50 Sharps 4, Flats b, and Naturals 4 The distance from one fret to the next fret, up or down, is a half step. Two haif steps make a whole step. HALF STEPS + NO FRET BETWEEN Pam L fo miolo £_whole_¢ Whole A Whole_B Step Step Step WHOLE STEPS - ONE FRET BETWEEN # ‘SHARPS raise the note a half step. Play the neat fret higher. b FLATS lower the note a half step. If the note is fingered, play the next fret lower. Ifthe note is open, play the 4th fret of the next lower string—except if that sting is G (Brd string), then play the 3rd fret. 4 NATURALS caneel a previous sharp or flat. When added within a measure, sharps. flats, and naturals are called accidentals. Abr line cancels a previous accidental in the measures that follow. The Chromatic Scale fo)" The chromatic scale is formed exclusively of half steps. The ascending chromatic scale uses sharps 8. The descending chromatic scale uses flats b. ASCENDING CHROMATIC SCALE 3.4 69 1 asring) (stra) (6 Sting) (String) 2, 1 43 te 3 (stig) (G Sting) (© sting) (Sting)