Guitar Lesson Eight

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Guitar Lesson Eight - Music

Below is the first section of a violin exercise written by J. S. Bach that will teach you a lot about alternate picking, fingering and how a simple scale can be turned into music.

While you may find sections of this piece difficult to play at first, consistent practice will allow you to overcome any difficult spots. See below for a few things to watch out for.

Here is what this piece should sound like: Bach (769kb)

There are a few things that I want to draw your attention to:

1 - Pay attention to the key signature. One flat indicates that the key is F major or the relative D minor. The fact that measure 2 begins with a Dmin triad (D=R, F=b3, A=5 [review lesson 5]) indicates that the relative minor is being used.

2 - Notice that the time signature is 3/4 time. This may take a little getting used to. Most music today is in 4/4. (review lesson 4)

3 - The first measure of this piece is called a pickup measure (Don't ask me why.) A pickup measure is used to add one or more notes before the actual beginning measure of a song. This measure is played like this:

4 - In measures 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 16 and 25, you will notice the use of a "."(dot) next to certain notes. This is used to add half again as much value to a note. For example, in measure 4, the first note is a "dotted" eighth note. The dot is equal to half the amount of the note that it is used with, so a "dotted" eighth note is equal in length to an eighth note plus a sixteenth note.

5 - The TAB is provided to help you find the notes, but don't just blindly follow the TAB. You will never learn to read music by doing it that way. Also, you may find that some of the fingerings that I suggest seem awkward to you. Feel free to explore other possible fingerings.

6 - When it comes to playing something like this, you pretty much have to use whatever finger is available at any given time, but try to think in terms of hand position whenever possible. (review lesson 4)

7 - Work on this piece a few measures at a time instead of trying to digest it all at once.

8 - Begin with an up-stroke on the pickup measure and then proceed with strict alternate picking.

Now, don't just "kinda-sorta" go through this piece. There is a lot to learn here. Work on this piece until you have it memorized and can play it through with no mistakes. That is the way to learn.

This lesson is divided into five parts:

Theory Part I

Theory Part II

Technique - Left Hand

Technique - Right Hand

Music

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