Welcome, Begin, and Whole Notes
Lesson 1Author : Chris Colby van Scyoc
Last Updated : September, 2024
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LEARN
WELCOME, BEGIN, AND WHOLE NOTES
Written Materials for This LessonNOTE: I suggest that you download the Written Materials for each lesson and, if possible, print the pages so you can put them on your music stand, make notes, and make reference to them.
Fretting Hand - Mute all strings
Strumming Hand - Strum all strings, Downstroke
Welcome to the Joy of Jamming! I'm so glad you are here. When you decided to learn to play guitar, you wanted to make a sound. Well, we are going to start our musical journey with a thud. We are going to learn how to mute all the strings. This is a very important technique. Most times we'll call these "thuds" - scratches or clicks. No matter what we call them, we will use this technique all the time. Finally, we learn about whole notes. Whole notes get four beats per measure. Learn how to count bars of four. It's easy. Say, "One, two, three, four" and repeat for years. Someday, counting bars of four (and feeling bars of four) will be as natural as breathing, blinking, dreaming, and smiling.
Mute All Strings
- E (6th) string (Low) = mute
- A (5th) string = mute
- D (4th) string = mute
- G (3rd) string = mute
- B (2nd) string = mute
- E (1st) string (High) = mute
PLAY
Play #1
Play #2
Written: Ex. 1
Tempo - 72 BPM
Play #3 Written: Ex. 1
Play #4 Written: Ex. 1
Even faster... Play #5 Written: Ex. 1
Play #6 Written: Ex. 1
Play #7 Written: Ex. 1
PPlay #8 Written: Ex. 2
Play #9 Written: Ex. 2
JAM!
JAM #1
PLEASE NOTE: If a JAM Song is not available. It's ok. You can move on to the next lesson.
Review: What We Know!
- Whole Notes
- Downstroke
- Counting bars (measures) of four. Also known as 4/4 ("four, four time")
- Muting all the strings with the fretting hand
- Playing on beat one of every measure (the first beat of each measure)
- Playing in time
- Now: Let's build upon this! Fantastic!
Next Lesson - Half Notes