EXCERPT 1

This book's purpose it to help a student learn the notes on each string of the guitar. There are some definite right and wrong ways to approach this goal. If you are a beginner at trying to read music on the guitar you will find it most challenging. The guitar is unique in that there are so many places to play the same note. For example, the guitar is one of the few instruments that has five middle C's. Example One shows a middle C on the treble clef. Example two shows the five places this note can be found on the guitar.

You can easily see that this can present a problem for a guitarist. Just to play one note a decision has to be made on which string to use.

To further complicate things the guitar is a transposing instrument sounding one octave below the written note. Therefore if you see a middle C written on the staff you will play the C on the 3rd fret of the A string (see example 3).

Therefore you can see that you are sounding a pitch an octave below any written note when you read guitar music. Many composers do not realize this so you will many times encounter a situation where you have to transpose your part up or down an octave. Just to recap a little, you have 5 actual middle C's pitches on the guitar (see example one) but because the guitar is transposed down one octave you only have one middle C that you play when you read a part written for guitar.

Students find this concept to be quite confusing. Therefore here is one more example. If you are reading a part written for guitar it has been transposed. If you see a C written on the third space of the treble clef you can play this note in five places on the guitar. In reality you are sounding a middle C but your middle C pitch is written on the 3rd space of the treble clef when you are reading guitar music.