Learn To Play Guitar Sheet Music part 1

By: Peter Edvinsson

Why is it so hard for many guitarists to read sheet music on the
guitar?

Probably the answer is easy. They haven't done anything about
it. An old used tyre can stand leaned against the wall of a car
garage for thousands of years. Why? Nobody has thought about
moving it. Could it be that easy also with playing guitar sheet
music? I think so. Sometimes we consider ourselves poor sight
readers or not able to read guitar sheet music at all and we
think this is part of our personality. Every person who wants to
learn to read guitar sheet music notation properly has already
taken the first step towards changing that condition, just like
you have done by reading this article.

Climbing the "Reading Guitar Sheet Music" mountain starts with
step one

Surprised? Well, I have been teaching guitar playing for many
years and I have found that learning to play guitar is like many
other activities. People, not you of course, often want to start
from another position than from where they are. I would like to
suggest that we approach the sight reading assignment from two
directions. First by learning to find our way around the guitar
and learning the notes on the fingerboard.

Make a string safari on your guitar

With the conventional tuning on your guitar you will have the
note E on the first open string. I guess you are aware of the
fact that you can find the same note on the second string too.
If you don't know on what fret you will find it you can listen
your way through the frets on the second string until you'll
find the note that sounds the same as the first string. Now I
will be frank and tell you that E on the second string is on the
fifth fret. Maybe you have already found that out. E on the
third string is on the ninth fret. Practice to play E on these
different places and jump back and forth until you can find the
frets without effort.

How to proceed learning the guitar fretboard

In a similar way you can invent small exercises on you guitar
fretboard like playing all E's on all six strings until you can
play them with ease or finding all C's and play them
consecutively like a picking exercise or as an exercise for your
right hand fingers.

Knowing the notes on the guitar fingerboard will be a great help
for you, not only when playing guitar sheet music but also when
you are playing by ear or improvising a solo.

About the author:
Peter Edvinsson is a guitarist, pianist, composer and educator.
He is also the proud owner of the website capotastomusic.com
with free sheet music and resources for musicians and music
students. Visit his website and download easy free guitar sheet
music and guitar tab sheet music! http://www.capotastomusic.com