Reading Music for the Guitar.
Notation for guitar has many written forms and styles, just as guitar
music covers a variety of musical forms and styles. Often the guitarist
must use interpretation to make musical sense out of what appears on the
page, because so many writers and arrangers write in an unspecific or general
manner, without a lot of specific detail.
Types of Notation
The most commonly used types of guitar notation are:
- Classical notation. This is written using a treble clef, but
actually sounds an octave lower than notated. This type of notation is
standard for classical guitar. It can be complex to read, especially when
writing both melody and accompaniment on one single staff. Lead guitar
lines are best notated this way.
- Chord diagram notation. Used primarily in popular music sheets,
a chord is shown in a six by six line grid. At the top is the chord symbol,
and dots, sometimes with finger numbers show the basic voicing of the chord.
Muted strings in this system are shown with an "x", and the fret
number is also shown. Often a slur mark is used to show simultaneous notes
played by the same finger.
- Slash notation. Commonly used for rhythm guitar, or to show
measures of comping, the measure is filled with the appropriate number
of slash marks for the given meter. Chord symbols are then written above
the slash marks, and change when the chord progression requires a new chord.
Sometimes the slash marks are connected to note stems, beams, or ties to
show a specific rhythm pattern or ensemble figure.
- Tablature. A system of notation without specific rhythm, tablature
was designed for players who cannot read music. The tab system for guitar
uses six staff lines instead of the standard five (one for each string)
and uses finger numbers to indicate the chord voicings or notes. The treble
clef of conventional guitar notation is replaced with the vertically written
word "TAB". As the system does not show rhythm, the player must
hear the music to learn it. Many publishers are printing tablature right
underneath traditional notation to address this problem.
Improvising Music on the Guitar.
The art of improvising music is the basis for most guitar solos. The
guitarist is literally creating an original melody usually based on scales,
chords, or the outline of a tune. There are as many styles of improvisation
as there are styles of music. As guitar players becomes fluent in the ability
to improvise, they begin to develop personal styles of improvisation that
among the best players are very distinctive. To learn more about improvisation,
listen to some of the recommended albums or CDs described on our recording page, or read the articles about these styles
of improvisation:
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