Don't Fret The Guitar
by Joel Bourque

Remember when you were learning the alphabet in school? You probably learned the way I did, the song; “A B C D E F G H I J K eleminnow P Q R S ....so on and so on.” Ironically there is no catchy little song to help you learn the musical alphabet. Last month I  introduced you to the musical alphabet and gave you some homework. I want to elaborate on this exercise to show you the importance of learning the neck of the guitar.

Quick review: The musical alphabet is made up of 12 notes: A, A#, B,C, C#,D,D#,E, F,F#, G, G# (#=sharp) or A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab(b=flat). The notes with sharps or flats after them are called accidentals. There are no accidentals between the notes B and C and E and F. That's pretty much all you need to know. Let's relate this to the guitar.

The guitar has six strings: E(6th), A(5th), D(4th), G(3rd), B(2nd),E(1st). Start on the 6th string, which is the thickest string. If this string is played open (not using your fretting hand on the neck) it is an E note. If you press down on the 1st fret on the 6th string, it's F, 2nd fret, F#, 3rd fret,G and so on. You should also practice this exercise with flats: Open string, E, 1st fret, F,2nd fret Gb, 3rd fret, G,4th fret,Ab and so on. Keep going until you arrive at the next E note, which is one octave higher in pitch, which is on the 12th fret.

The 6th string of the guitar is important because it holds the “root” note of many barre chords. If you've been reading these articles, you know I'm always talking about open chords. These chords are used by just about everyone who plays guitar. More advanced players use “barre” chords. A barre chord is a movable chord shape. Playing these chords requires you to fret all 6 strings with one finger to create a barre on the fretboard. Learning to play barre chords is the first hurdle beginning guitarists face. However once you get these chords under your fingers, it will open up a whole new way of playing. The first barre chord you should learn is a major chord. Google “major barre chords” Find F major, it will be a barre chord rooted on the 1st fret,F, on the 6th string. Learn it, Love it, Live it. So now you learned 1 new chord, right? Wrong. You've just learned 12 new chords. Just as you can move up the neck with single notes, you can move up the neck with these barre chords.

Suppose you needed to play an F# major. All you have to do is scoot up that F major up 1 fret. The root of the F# major chord is the F# note on the 6th string. So if you know the notes up and down the neck, you now your chords up and down the neck. This allows you to play chords that have no open positions such as F#, G#, Bb and Eb. Pretty cool, huh?

Barre chords will make life much easier when you're learning songs. If you master open chords and barre chords, you will never come across a song you can't play. That's where you want to be. Keep making noise,eat all you veggies and play more guitar. I'm going to start something new. At the end of each column,I'll mention a guitar player who I think you should check out. This month, Danny Gatton. Cheers!