Hai Dua - Guitar cover by CiKU

Our very own student ciku who has been learning for over an year now..

Check out his cover of hai dua and feel free to share feedback.

http://youtu.be/vmgIgBpC2_U

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Beginner's Practice Routine

Follow the beginner's practice routine and improve your guitar skills

Beginner's Practice Routine

9. Practise Schedule (Beginners)

It might be a Herculean task at the start. ( "Finger exercises"  You might be wondering ..Did you come looking for this on this site )

However , The finger exercises are a very important step and the building block for a good guitar player. A few minutes a day can help you build strong fingers!!

If you practice since the start you can play the scales and chords which much ease which we would cover later !

Recommended Time : A minimum of 30 minutes for over a month .

Practice daily in order to strengthen your fingers and move them all over the fretboard while practicing the exercise as in the previous lesson.

Also I would prefer using a Metronome when you practice! 

A Metronome is a device which produces beats at a certain time interval.

The settings can be customized . 

Set the metronome at a single beat of 4 counts and tempo at 50-55 bpm ( for beginners).

Try to strike the note at the same time as the beat and develop a rhythm.

Always remember to be accurate .

Speed would automatically build up once you are accurate !!

Note : You might develop calluses on your finger tips but that's perfectly fine ..Once your tips become strong to the abrasion it would pain no more!! 

Keep rocking ! and watch this space for the next lesson !

-- Rahul ( No. 9811861892)                                                                                                        INDEX

8. Let's Do Some Playing (Exercise-1)

Now that we are aware of the fretboard , we will do some exercises to stretch our fingers and strengthen them before we do some more theory lessons.

In Order to play good , one must go for the basic principle behind playing , 
ACCURACY & then SPEED.. 

To Develop Accuracy we must make sure that we Play each note as per desired, that means the sound should be clear and should not fade away in between .. and when we develop accuracy , we work on speed by increasing our tempo gradually.

For this I have a The following Finger Exercise to begin with ..
The STRING NUMBERS denote the STRING to be played and

The FRET NO.( in horizontal) denotes the FRETS to be played on each string.

Directions For Playing Accurately : 
 
1. HOLD THE GUITAR & THE PICK as mentioned in the previous posts.
2.MAKE SURE THE FRET IS PRESSED THE RIGHT WAY... finger should be pressing the string just above the so that the right tone could be produced.
3.DON'T REMOVE YOUR FINGER AS SOON AS YOU PICK THE STRING...let the string ring and sound fade on its own
4.START at 60bpm and go up til 80bpm initially and then to 120bpm.
5.PRACTICE WELL and PRACTICE DAILY ....even as less as 15minutes of practice is great unless you follow the right way ..
Remember ..
If the technique is right , the effort put is less and you can always get more output with your playing.. 

- Rahul                                                                                                                             INDEX

7. IDENTIFYING THE FRETBOARD

Now that we have understood the basics of playing the guitar, let’s get started with the first steps to playing guitar …
Well the FUNDAMENTALS is what I focus on …

So we will be studying how to identify the fret board so that later on we can easily know the note we are playing …

To identify the fret board we must know the STANDARD TUNING or THE A440 TUNING…
The STANDARD or the A440 TUNING is the notation assigned to each string when played open (meaning no fret is pressed on the fret board)...
In this tuning the strings when played open have the respective tone:

e string (1st) - e (i.e. the first string should be tuned to an e note)
B string (2nd) - b (i.e. the first string should be tuned to an b note)
G string (3rd) - g (i.e. the first string should be tuned to an g note)
D string (4th) - d (i.e. the first string should be tuned to an d note)
A string (5th) - a (i.e. the first string should be tuned to an a note)
E string (6th) - e (i.e. the first string should be tuned to an e note)
So if we plot the fret board now it will be

You mite be amazed by the grid arrangement of all the notes , however this is really simple as we just follow the sequence starting from the first note on each string….

START WITH THE C NOTE (IN BLUE) SO THAT WE CAN REMEMBER EACH NOTE ONE BY ONE AND THEREFORE REMEMBER ALL OF THE FRETBOARD, THE SEQUENCE OF NOTES WHICH I FOLLOW IS TO REMEMBER
C , G ,D , A , E , B , F # , C# , G# , D# , A# ,F……
It means u should know all the positions where each of these notes are placed on each string. and should practice playing them each…

The above sequence is helpful when we do the CIRCLE OF FIFTHS...and we would thus see the position of each note and their interrelationship….

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
1."Sharp" is notated as #
2."Flat" is notated as b
3.If a letter name is followed by a sharp(#), the note is one fret higher than the fret you'd normally play that letter name on. Example: you'd play G on the third fret, sixth string. You'd play G# on the fourth fret sixth string.
4.If a letter name is followed by a flat(b), the note is one fret lower than the fret you'd normally play that letter name on. Example: you'd play D on the tenth fret, sixth string. You'd play Db on the ninth fret sixth string.
5.F# = Gb, G# = Ab, A# = Bb, C# = Db, D# = Eb
6.The note name on the 12th fret of any string is always the same as the open string.
7.Memorize the open string name, and several more note names and locations on both the sixth and fifth string. This will make finding all other notes much quicker.

6. HOLDING A PICK

Hopefully, you've found, bought or borrowed a guitar pick. If not, you'll need to buy yourself some. Don't be stingy, go and pick up at least 10 of them - guitar picks are easy to lose (they often don't cost more than 10 to 30 rs at the max).


You can experiment with different shapes and brands, but I highly recommend medium gauge picks to start; ones that aren't too flimsy, or too hard.The following documentation explains how to hold, and use a pick.

When reading, keep in mind that your "picking hand" is the hand which is nearest to the bridge of the guitar, when sitting in the correct position.

1. Open your picking hand, and turn the palm to face you.

2. Close your hand to make a very loose fist. Your thumb should remain beside your index finger.

3. Rotate your hand until you are looking at it's profile, with your thumb's knuckle facing you.
·With your other hand, slide your guitar pick between your thumb and index finger. The pick should be approximately located behind the knuckle of the thumb.
·Be sure the pointed end of the pick is pointing directly away from your fist, and is protruding by about a half an inch. Hold the pick firmly.
·Position your picking hand over the soundhole of your acoustic guitar, or over the body of your electric guitar. Your picking hand, with thumb knuckle still facing you, should hover over the strings.
·Do not rest your picking hand on the strings or body of the guitar.
·Using your wrist for motion (rather than your entire arm), strike the sixth (lowest) string of your guitar in a downward motion. If the string rattles excessively, try striking the string a bit softer, or with less of the pick surface.
·Now, pick the sixth string in an upwards motion.
·Repeat the process several times. Try and minimize motion in your picking hand: one short picking stroke downwards, then one short picking stroke upwards. This process is referred to as "alternate picking"
·Try the same exercise on the fifth, fourth, third, second, and first strings.

Tips:
1. Holding the pick in this manner will invariably feel awkward at first. You will initially have to pay special attention to your picking hand whenever you play guitar.
2. Try and create fluidity in your alternate picking. Your downstrokes should sound virtually identical to your upstrokes

5. HOLDING A GUITAR

Now, that we know about the basic parts of a guitar, it's time to get our hands dirty, and start learning to play it. Get yourself an armless chair, and take a seat. You should be sitting comfortably, with your back against the back of the chair. Slouching significantly is a no-no; you'll not only end up with a sore back, you'll develop bad habits on the guitar.

Now, pick up your guitar, and hold it so the back of the body of the instrument comes in contact with your stomach/chest, and the bottom of the neck runs parallel to the floor.
The thickest string on the guitar should be the closest to your face, while the thinnest should be closest to the floor. If this isn't the case, turn the guitar the in other direction. Typically, a right-handed person will hold the guitar so the headstock points to the left, whereas a left-handed person will hold the guitar so the headstock points to the right. (NOTE: to play the guitar as a lefty would, you will need a left-handed guitar.)

When playing the guitar sitting down, the body of the guitar will rest on one of your legs. In most styles of guitar playing, the guitar will rest on the leg farthest away from the headstock. This means, a person playing the guitar in a right-handed fashion will typically rest the guitar on his/her right leg, while someone playing the guitar in a lefty manner will rest it on their left leg.
(NOTE: proper classical guitarist technique dictates the exact OPPOSITE of the above, but for this lesson, let's stick to our initial explanation)