Guitar

GUITAR
by Wikibooks contributors
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of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by
the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and
no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License".
All images used in this book are either in the public domain or licensed under the
GFDL. Creators of GFDL images are given in the caption of each image.
Principal authors: Kef Li Eric Marcus X-Schecter (C) · Daniel (C) · GABaker (C) ·
NickPenguin (C) · Michael Hoffman (C) · Meemo (C) · Sameer Kale (C)
Cover: A guitar. Photo taken by PJ. (GFDL)
The current version of this Wikibook may be found at:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guitar
Contents
GETTING STARTED.......................................................................................5
Different Types of Guitars...................................................................................5
Anatomy of a Guitar.............................................................................................9
Buying a Guitar..................................................................................................12
Buying an Amplifier...........................................................................................21
PLAYING THE GUITAR..................................................................................26
The Basics..........................................................................................................26
Tuning the Guitar..............................................................................................27
Chords...............................................................................................................32
Double-stops and Power Chords........................................................................34
Scales.................................................................................................................36
Rhythm..............................................................................................................38
Tablature............................................................................................................40
Bass Guitar........................................................................................................42
ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES............................................................................44
Alternate Picking...............................................................................................44
Slides.................................................................................................................46
Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, and Thrills....................................................................48
Picking and Plucking.........................................................................................49
Tapping..............................................................................................................51
Harmonics..........................................................................................................53
Muting and Raking............................................................................................57
Bending and Vibrato..........................................................................................58
Tremolo Picking.................................................................................................61
Apreggios and Sweep Picking...........................................................................63
Slide Guitar........................................................................................................65
GENERAL GUITAR THEORY...........................................................................66
Lead Guitar and Rhythm Guitar........................................................................66
Learning Songs..................................................................................................68
Writing Songs....................................................................................................69
Improvising........................................................................................................70
How to Continue Learning................................................................................73
Harmonica and Guitar Combo...........................................................................74
APPENDICES.............................................................................................75
Alternate Tunings..............................................................................................75
Adjusting the Guitar..........................................................................................77
Stringing the Guitar..........................................................................................80
Chord Reference................................................................................................84
Philosophy........................................................................................................103
External Resources..........................................................................................105
Chapter
ABOUT THE BOOK....................................................................................108

History & Document Notes.............................................................................108
Authors & Image Credits.................................................................................109
GNU Free Documentation License..................................................................110
Introduction
The guitar is a very popular stringed musical instrument. This book is mainly
concerned with standard six-stringed acoustic or electric guitars; twelve string
guitars are also applicable in most cases. It is definitely not necessary to
understand music theory to read this book, although it can yield a deeper
understanding of the principles contained herein.
4 | Guitar
Different Types of Guitars
1 D IFFERENT T YPES OF G UITARS

live version • discussion • edit chapter • comment • report an error
Acoustic guitars
A coustic guitars are used in a variety of genres. Because of the long history of
the acoustic guitar, there are many different kinds; some kinds are rarely
considered guitars, such as the ukulele.The guitar is the most popular
instrument in today's society. The body of the guitar is large and hollow, allowing
the sounds to resonate and providing a natural means of amplification. The
sound of the acoustic guitar is characterized partly by a weak sustain, meaning
notes will fade after being struck. However, some master-built classical guitars
("concert guitars") feature very good sustain and excellent overall performance.
Acoustic guitars are often used in performance. When the performance is in a

personal setting or in an amphitheater an acoustic guitar can often be heard with
no amplification. In most other performance scenarios amplification is required
for the audience to be able to hear the guitar well. An acoustic guitar can be
amplified by placing an amplified microphone near (possibly within several
inches) the soundhole of the guitar or by installing an electric pickup in the
guitar. An acoustic guitar with an installed electric pickup is not considered an
electric guitar.
When we refer to acoustic guitars, we usually think of the 'flat top' guitar,
with a distinctive soundhole. They are usually bigger than classical guitars
(described below), and feature a somewhat thinner neck and metal (steel)
strings. They come in a variety of sizes, from the smaller 'parlour' and 'concert'
sizes, to the larger 'dreadnought' and 'jumbo' sizes with the most typical being
the 'dreadnought'. They have a distinctive warm (although sometimes metallic)
sound and can be strummed for playing rhythm in a wide range of popular music
genres, including country, pop and rock, or played 'fingerstyle' for country blues,
ragtime and folk. A plectrum or 'pick' can be used, for instance in the bluegrass
'flatpicking' style.
Unlike the electric guitar, the traditional acoustic guitar is not dependent on
any external device for amplification. The shape and resonance of the guitar
itself creates acoustic amplification. However, the unamplified guitar is not a
loud instrument; that is, it cannot "compete" with other instruments commonly
found in bands and orchestras, in terms of sheer audible volume. Many acoustic
guitars are available today with built-in electronics to enable amplification.
Electric guitars
The electric guitar is the workhorse of rock music, but has its uses in other
genres such as blues, jazz and pop music. While an acoustic guitar can be played
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Chapter 1
right off the rack, an electric guitar requires amplification (It is possible to hear
an electric guitar without amplification for the purposes of practicing, but it will
be much quieter than an acoustic guitar, and electric guitars are never played
this way in performances.) The sound of an amplified electric guitar is very
different from that of an acoustic guitar, even when no effects or distortion are
used - the pickups and amplifier define the guitar's sound to a large extent. Like
the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar has a poor sustain. However, amplification
and especially overdrive will increase the apparent sustain, and feedback can
allow a note to be sustained indefinitely, even for several minutes.
Many people who play the electric guitar wish to use the distortion and other
effects. This is covered in more detail in Anatomy of a Guitar.
Technically speaking an electric guitar is any guitar with an electromagnetic

pickup to amplify the sound created by the vibration of the strings. Electric
guitars come in a variety of shapes and sizes which are not always limited to the
acoustical qualities of the shapes and thus can be more comfortable to play.
Electric guitars are typically easier to play since the strings usually are much
thinner (the strings do not have to resonate as much as with an acoustic), and
are closer to the neck, requiring less force to press them down. The multitude of
variations amongst these guitars allow them to have a vast variety of different
tones. The two most popular basic shapes of electric guitar are the Stratocaster
style and the Les Paul style. Most electric guitars that are solid body create very
little sound on their own and therefore require an amplifier for all performance
purposes.
Solid Body guitars

The typical electric guitar is a solid body guitar. They are called solid body
because they are made from one solid piece of wood (or several pieces of wood
glued together) and have no soundhole or obvious body cavities. With no
apparent soundhole to project the sound they make very little sound on their own
and therefore require an amplifier for all performance purposes. It has to have
an amplifier not like other guitars. With out it, it would not be loud and make an
odd sound..
Archtop Guitars
An archtop guitar is typically a hollow body acoustic or electric guitar which
uses steel strings and has an arched top which creates unique resonance. The
hollow body archtop is a guitar whose form is much like that of a mandolin or
violin family instrument in that the body of the guitar is hollow. Archtop guitars
may be acoustic or electric and can look very similar, the only certainly
distinguishing feature being an electromagnetic pickup. Some solid body electric
guitars are also considered archtop guitars based strictly on their body shape
which includes an arched top although usually 'Archtop guitar' refers to the
6 | Guitar
Different Types of Guitars
hollow body form. Archtop guitars have been particularly popular in jazz music,
usually using thicker strings than acoustic guitars(the thicker strings add tone).
These are often louder than a typical dreadnought acoustic guitar. The electric
hollow body archtop guitar has a distinct sound among electric guitars.
Twelve string guitars

The twelve string guitar is usually an acoustic instrument, but electric twelve
string guitars exist, usually in the form of a double-neck guitar. Twelve string
guitars produce a more ringing tone, however, they are a bit harder to play and
maintain than the standard guitar and are usually confined to niche roles, and
are usually used strictly for rhythm. They are played in the same fashion as a six
string guitar, as the strings are paired together. Playing them is more difficult
than a six string guitar however, because the additional strings require more
pressure to depress. It is also more difficult to bend notes tunefully. They are
usually more expensive than your average acoustic or electric, and tend to wear
out faster due to the additional strain on the neck.
Steel guitars
The steel guitar is distinctive in being played horizontally, either across the
players knees or on its own legs. There are two main varieties of the instrument,
which is played using the metal slide, or 'steel', from which the guitar takes its
name. The steel is held in the left hand, when used by a right-handed player. The
two main variations are the lap steel guitar, which typically has six strings, and
the pedal steel guitar, which can have more - and sometimes two or even three
separate sets, each tuned differently. Pedals and knee levers are used to alter the
tuning on particular strings whilst playing which, along with the sliding action of
the steel, gives the pedal steel its distinctive voice, most often heard in country
music and western swing.
Resonator Guitars
Often mistakenly referred to as 'steel' guitars (some models have metal
bodies), the acoustic resonator guitar is distinctive in not having a regular
soundhole, but a large - usually circular - plate which conceals the resonator
cone. The cone closely resembles an audio loudspeaker, though made from spun
aluminium. The bridge of the guitar is connected either to the centre of the cone
or to the edge (by an aluminium 'spider'), and the strings' vibrations are thus
amplified and projected outwards through the perforated plate on the guitar's
top. The most common resonator guitars have a single cone, although the
original model (the tri-cone) has three. Resonators possess a loud, bright voice,
making them easily heard in a large room or in the open air. They are popular
with blues musicians, and country players. They can be played in the
conventional style, or with a metal or glass slide.
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Bass guitars
See the dedicated bass guitar page.
8 | Guitar
Anatomy of a Guitar
2 A NATOMY OF A G UITAR
B oth acoustic and electric guitars

share many parts in common. For
instance, they all have a body, neck,
fretboard, and headstock.
Body
The guitar's body is of utmost
importance: it provides the resonance
that shapes the tone of an electric or
acoustic guitar and provides the
volume (or heft) of an acoustic guitar.
It also may consist of:
flattop (or just top): The Anatomy of the Acoustic Guitar, by Decstuff
the "front" of the guitar. (GFDL)
treble/upper bout:
the (usually) smaller curved part closest to the strings.
base/lower bout:
the (usually) larger curved part behind the bridge.
waist:
the inwardly curved part between the two bouts.
Factors that affect a guitar body's tonal qualities include the type of wood,
the construction (whether layered or one-piece, hollow or solid-body), shape and
size, and more. However, a solid-body electric guitar's shape is mostly aesthetic
rather than functional.
Bridge
The bridge is found somewhere between the middle and bottom of the body.
Depending on the guitar, the strings may originate from the bridge or they might
simply be supported by it. Most electric guitars allow the bridge to be raised or
lowered, an adjustment necessary in setting up the guitar which may easily and
safely be performed by any guitarist. This is typically done by adjusting screws,
which are either thumbscrews which can be rotated with the fingers, or
traditional screws requiring a screwdriver.
Acoustic guitars usually have a bridge and saddle arrangement. The strings
originate at the bridge, usually held in by pegs. The strings then pass over a
saddle, a flat piece of material held on its side. The saddle can be made of many
materials, but the most common are either plastic or bone. Synthetic bone
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Chapter 2
substitutes are becoming more common.
Tremolo bar
The tremolo bar, also called the "tremolo arm," "whammy bar," or "vibrato
bar," is found on some electric guitars. It was popularized on the Fender
Stratocaster, and is now seen on many different models, including some hollow-
body electrics. Another popular type of tremolo bar is the Floyd Rose. Its base
will be located below the bridge. Pushing down on the bar will lower the pitch of
the strings, and pulling it up will raise the pitch. Rapidly pushing and releasing
(or pushing and pulling for exaggerated effect) will produce a modulation in
pitch, called vibrato. Vibrato is often confused with tremolo (modulation in
volume), hence the misnomer tremolo bar.
Neck
The neck of a guitar extends from the body. Some guitars may have it glued
on, which is a set neck, and some may have it bolted on. A few guitars are made
entirely of one piece of wood, or at the least, one piece of wood comprises the
neck and part of the body, up to where the bridge is located, with the sides
attached. Set necks are almost universal amongst acoustic guitars. The bolt-on or
screw-on neck is similarly common with electric guitars. Both acoustic and
electric guitars usually have a steel truss rod going through the neck. It
counteracts the pull of the strings on the neck, strenghtening it, and reducing its
curvature to an appropriate amount, also allowing for further adjustments if
needed. Classical guitars do not require a truss rod, because there is less tension
from their strings. Adjusting the truss rod is a step in setting up the guitar, but
only an experienced luthier are encouraged to perform this adjustment. There
have been several examples of alternative materials for the manufacture of
guitar necks, the most noteable being a carbon fibre composite, the neck being
the only structural requirement for string tension.
Fretboard
On the front side of the neck is the fretboard, or fingerboard. These are
commonly made of rosewood. On it will be a number of metal frets, usually 20 to
24. Strings are held down behind a fret to change the note a string will produce.
The first fret is the one nearest the nut (see below), unless there is one
immediately after the nut, which is called a "zero fret".
Nut
All strings pass through the nut at the end of the fretboard. It roughly divides
10 | Guitar
Anatomy of a Guitar
the fretboard and headstock. Its function is to maintain proper string spacing
and provide an endpoint for the string. On acoustic guitars, the nut and saddle
are usually made of similar material. Electric guitars commonly use plastic,
synthetics, and sometimes metal. As tremolo bars can cause tuning problems,
guitars equipped with them usually have some manner of locking nut, where the
strings are clamped down. Fender has recently introduced the roller nut, a nut
incorporating a system of ball bearings similar to a locking nut, but easier on the
strings.
Headstock (Head)
The headstock lies at the end of the guitar's neck. The major mechanical
purpose of the headstock is to support the tuning machines (tuners) which
terminate the strings of the instrument. A secondary purpose is identification;
many guitar makers use a distinctive headstock shape, perhaps with logo or
model information, or imitate that of a more well-known brand.
Amplifier and effects

The amplifier is not part of a guitar per se, but it is nevertheless absolutely
necessary in playing the electric guitar (except for very simple practicing) and
sometimes also used for accoustic guitar. The amplifier is often considered part
of the guitar in the sense that different amplifiers will give the guitar a different
sound. Many amplifiers have effects built in, especially distortion. The most
common kind of distortion is called overdrive. If the amplifier has a "lead"
channel, then turning up the pre-amplifier (or "pre-amp") will overdrive the
amplifier's tubes or transistors, causing the amplification not to be linear, but
adding a certain distortion to the sound. The higher it is, the more distortion
there will be. Turning up the pre-amplifier will, by definition, increase the
volume of the sound, so to compensate there is a "gain" knob, which can be
turned down to reduce the volume after overdrive. Heavy amplification can
result in dangerously loud sounds even on small 25-watt amplifiers, therefore,
when adjusting an unfamiliar system, one should turn down the gain knob all the
way, adjust the pre-amplification, and then pluck a string or chord on the guitar,
while slowly and carefully turning up the gain until it is at the desired level, then
plucking again to double-check. Distortion can also be provided by effects
pedals, and other pedals can apply effects such as chorus, reverb, wah-wah,
compression, or countless others. Sometimes these effects may be built directly
into the amplifier.
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3 B UYING A G UITAR
T here are two things that held true, whether you are buying a guitar or an
amplifier:
1. A guitar that doesn't get played is worthless at any price.

2. There are no such thing as bad tone; There are only tones that you may
not like.
A guitar is an excellent instrument for almost anyone. A difficult guitar is not

a good choice for a beginner. It takes dedication to learn and if the guitar is not
difficult for the player then it is easier to learn.
Whether you are buying a beginner guitar for yourself or a parent buying a
guitar for your beginner child it is not worth spending any money on a guitar
that the player won't enjoy.
What to look for (and what to look out for)

• Guitars meant for regular playing (non-resonator guitars, not meant for
slide playing) that have extremely high action (meaning, the strings are
uncomfortable to press down). This may be a sign that the neck is warped,
and, while this can be fixed, it can be costly and most players would want
to avoid buying a new guitar with too high a fretboard action.
• A guitar's intonation. Intonation is a guitar's relative harmonics

depending on the straightness of the neck, nut, bridge, and scale of the
frets. A player should usually try playing natural harmonics (played by
barely resting the finger over the string, not fretting it) on the guitar (12th
fret high e string) along with the lowest E string to check, the 5th fret
lowest E along with the open high e string, and finally, with natural
harmonics, 5th of low e to the 7th of a, 5th of a to 7th of d, 5th of d to 7th
of g. The guitar should be played from its first to last fret as well, to check
for fret buzzing, which is undesirable. (the guitar may have to be tuned
first, a guitar that is out of tune does not necessarily mean it has bad
intonation, perhaps it has just been sitting for a while and the strings have
went slack, also be aware of tone temperament)
• Stamp of Inspection. Even a guitar made in Indonesia can be a good

quality if it's inspected well.
•Read reviews on places like www.amazon.com, to foreshadow problems

down the road. Stick to the more well-known brands.
12 | Guitar
Buying a Guitar
What makes someone NOT love a guitar
• The player may not be comfortable with getting their hand around the
neck of the guitar. Almost against reason, a player with smaller hands will
likely prefer wider necks, because the wider space between the strings
allows more lenience when arching your fingers.
• A guitar that is difficult for the player to play is often a poor choice for
that person, and is almost always a poor choice for a beginner.
• High action on fret: makes for a steeper learning curve, but if you don't
mind that, they also allow you to play harder without buzzing out.
• Low action on fret: makes the string buzz a lot.
• Cracks/splits, bad joints: Need I say more?
Buying situations to avoid
Here are some "don't's". These may seem to provide a guitar at a very low
price which may seem like a good deal, but they will possibly provide you with a
difficult, damaged, or poor sounding guitar which is a bad deal at any price.
• Don't buy from a pawn shop (possible undetectable damage)

• Don't buy from any department store (difficult to play, damage easily,
don't last, poor sound)
• Don't buy from eBay (too many ways to get scammed out of a lot of
money)
• Preferably, don't buy from online shops, unless you can return it in 45
days. Even some very good makes may have some deviations, and even
good quality guitars from well established manufacturers may not suit the
player no matter how good they sound on paper—some people prefer wider
necks, while some prefer narrows necks. The only way to know whether it
is actually good is to play test them in the shop.
Acoustic guitar
There are basically two kinds of acoustic: classical guitar and steel-string
guitar.
Classical guitar typically employ nylon strings, and have a wider fretboard.
The peg box is also slightly different from a steel string guitar, which resembles
quite a bit of the peg box of a violin; the body is also smaller. The tone is more
mellower than the steel string guitar, and thus is much better for classical music.
Disadvantage is that classical guitar is slightly more difficult in string
maintenance, with the string needing to be settled in for a while.
Steel string-guitar, also known as folk guitar and dreadnought guitar,

typically have a much larger sound box, and thus make it louder. Disadvantage is
that the steel string also makes it hard to press, even in comparison to the
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classical guitar; picking is also harder on these, as it was better suited to use a
guitar pick to play. This is the typical guitar employed in blues, jazz, country, and
early rock.
Electric guitar
Tremolo bar (aka Whammy bar, Vibrato bar)
The purpose of a whammy bar is for dive bombs and other various guitar
tricks.
If it's your first guitar (or prefer ease of maintenance), avoid locking tremolos
(Floyd Rose); while it has superb bending capability and is capable of staying in
tune, it is very difficult to change strings (you need an allen key just to unlock
the top lock). The way to tell if it's a locking tremolo is to see if it has a set of
locks at the nut section. If you prefer to stay in tune, however, then you can try
Yamaha's "finger clamp" locking tremolo, which require no tools when setting up.
Even if it's a normal tremolo, it would be proper to ask whether it is suitable

for the player. Tremelo system, especially the strat-style and the floating bridge
design, can easily make the strings out of tune. Bigsby do not go out of tune as
much, but the only way to rarely go out of tune is to either use the Floyd Rose
tremolo or a hardtail (no tremolo)
Pickup
Then there's also the choice of pickups and pick up arrangement. Typically
they are
• Passive Single Coil (best for clean sounds, or slight overdrive, e.g.
Stevie Ray Vaughan)
• Passive Humbuckers (For rich, thick, naturally decaying distortion, e.g.
Dimebag Darrell)
• Active Humbuckers (For rich, thick distortion with long sustain e.g.
James Hetfield)
Single-coils are typically found on Strats and Strat copies, and provide a
bright, clean sound. Humbuckers, however, eliminate the hum induced from the
AC current, providing it a warmer and fatter sound; and unexpected
consequence of this is that it allows more overdriven gain, and thus is favored
among metal players. In a slight interesting irony, many archtop guitars (used
mainly by blues and jazz players) also use dual humbuckers. Active pick up are
those that either use battery or phantom power to provide enhanced sensitivity,
and thus have longer sustain.
Ultimately, however, both kinds of pickups are suitable for any kind of musics:
14 | Guitar
Buying a Guitar
some people use humbuckers for blues and jazz, while others may use the single
coil for the sound they prefer. (Besides, amplifier and effect pedals also change
the tone of the guitar)
To make it even harder to decide, there are different arrangements for

pickups:
• S-S - telecaster style

• S-S-S - Strat and and Strat copy
• S-S-H - "Fat strat", basically the pickup at the bridge is replaced by a
humbucker. A common choice for people who may like both the clean tone
and hum-free fat (and dirty) tone.
• H-H - Gibson Les Paul, and common humbucker arrangement.
• H-S-H - "super strat". Typically used for metal, such as Ibanez's Steve
Vai signature model.
• H-H-H - Gibson Firebird VII and Squier Deluxe Hot Rails Strat
Typically, there will be a pickup selector that allow you to choose which pick
up to use: 3 pick up guitar—commonly called strat-type— the pick up selection is
five ways
• neck
• neck-middle
• middle
• middle-bridge
• bridge pickup.
2 pickup system usually have a 3 way switch:
• neck
• Both
• Bridge
For humbuckers there could be either 3 ways (as mentioned above) or five
ways:
• neck
• neck at parallel (which produce a tone similar to single coil)
• both humbuckers
• both humbuckers, each in single coil mode
• bridge humbuckers
Since you are buying an electric guitar, you will also need to buy an amplifier;
read Here
"Special" guitars
In here, when I mean special guitars, I indicate, for example, bass guitar,
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Chapter 3
hollow body guitars, 12-string guitars, and numerous other special guitars such
as electric sitar (still play like a guitar)
As we mentioned, if the player is interested, than that's fine. However, there

are a few things have to keep in mind:
• Archtop (hollowbody and semi hollowbody) is heavier and larger, with

sometimes heavy guage string, giving the feel of an acoustic more than
electric solid body in terms of playing. Its tone, however, is still electric.
Due to the fact that it's electric, it is also suitable for rock music -- Seven
Nation Army by White Stripes is played on a hollowbody, and The Young
Brothers of AC/DC have played on Archtops on many of their songs. Do
note that it is prone to feedback.
• Bass guitar is much larger, with a 34 inch fret. If the player have a
small hand, it could be impossible for them to play. Also, bass is the
"straight man" of the band, requiring him to be able to keep rhytmn, and
do not do as much solo.
• 12 string guitar require additional dexterity due to the extra string
(player need to press two at the same time). Try playing Stairways on a
normal guitar first before trying on this
• On that note, Doubleneck Guitar is very heavy (you are wearing two
guitars). Also very expensive.
Many other special makes may have their pitfalls, such as difficulty in
maintaining, or very expensive. Luckily, most are of good quality productions.
I am not saying that beginners should stay away from archtops, or even bass -
just as I personally believe one can start on a chromatic harmonica. However,
there will be pitfalls that makes it difficult to play, which is what usually deter
learning.
Buying the guitar
Where to buy the guitar
In this day and age guitars are sold by many vendors. The place you choose
to acquire the guitar can be as important as any other choice you make. Acquire
(but don't steal) a guitar from these places:
•A trusted friend or relative - often a friend or relative who had a

beginner guitar but has since upgraded still has that beginner guitar. If
they recommend that guitar and will sell it for a good price then this is
ideal. Simply take this guitar to a local music store and have it
professionally 'set up'.
• A local guitar or music store that seems to have plenty of satisfied
customers. If you can find a deal on a guitar you are comfortable with from
16 | Guitar
Buying a Guitar
a store like this, go for it. If they tell you that they do 'set up' on their
guitars before they leave the store then this is a good buying scenario.
Look up 'musical instrument retail' in the phone book to find one of these
stores. Even a used instrument from a local store is a good idea.
More experience with buying guitars is required to buy in any other

scenarios.
• Online guitar superstores or mail-order guitars. The major difference

between these and a local store is that the player cannot hold the guitar in
their hands before they buy it. Just like some tall people cannot
comfortably drive a 1990 Honda Civic, some people's hands are bigger
than others. Luckily the necks of guitars come in all shapes and sizes. An
uncomfortable guitar is less likely to get played so contact a local music
store and try to find a similar guitar to try before you buy. If you must buy
without ever seeing the guitar, first verify that the business has a liberal
and long (preferably 45-day) return policy then cross your fingers and
order. If the return policy works well then if the guitar didn't fit you could
send it back for the cost of shipping.
• Pawn shops or eBay are not a good idea for buying a beginner's first
guitar. There are a myriad of problems that can arise from these situations
and, while good deals can still be found, unless you really know what you
are doing, it's not a good idea for a beginner guitar.
Buying a guitar for a beginner
The key to buying a guitar for a beginner is to get one that the player enjoys
and is excited about. If the player does not enjoy playing their guitar then it will
be more difficult to continue. They will get frustrated easier and give up easier.
Getting a guitar that the player will not be frustrated with will help naturally
encourage or allow the player to be the best they can be.
Acoustic or Electric?
Let the player decide, since if they don't enjoy the guitar it will be less likely
that they will play. For rock music an electric would be most appropriate.
An electric will typically be better for a beginner because it is easier to play

(meaning that the strings are easier to push down and pluck), so feelings of
success will come much sooner and frustration will be less likely. These things
are important for a beginner. However, if you start on electric, and decide you
want to move to acoustic, you have the rest of the learning curve ahead of you
anyway, so if you plan on using both, it might be a better idea to start off with an
acoustic.
If the player is excited about an acoustic guitar and feels they can overcome
the more significant learning curve (compared to an electric) then they will find
Wikibooks | 17
Chapter 3
in the future that playing an electric guitar will come much easier. (The acoustic
guitar's strings are more difficult to fret than those of the electric.) On the other
hand, the more significant learning curve on the acoustic may be enough to
frustrate the player and cause them to lose interest.
If you want to play metal or shred, stick with the electric, as an acoustic will
not work well with those styles.
If the guitar that they want is too expensive, there are always a more
affordable model of the same kind:
• Fender --> Squier

• Gibson --> Epiphone
• Ibanez: Anything with a "G" as a suffix is the cheaper model. For
example, GRX model is the cheaper version of their RG guitar.
Another way to tell what guitar should be bought is to see what kind of music
they are interested. Someone who like to listen to metal will probably dislike
classical guitar.
What else will you need?
Once you've chosen the guitar there are accessories the dealer will want to
sell you. You will probably need:
• Guitar strap to enable the player to play standing up (~$10USD)

• Some picks (Get at least 5, some thin for strumming and some thick for
playing individual notes.) (~$1;a local store will throw in some for free).
Though picks are not necessary for fingerpicking, it's best to give the
player options to see which one suit them
• A guitar stand to set the guitar on when its not being played, or a guitar
hanger to hang the guitar on the wall (each $10-$30USD)
• A tuner of some kind - preferably an electronic one with a built-in
microphone and guitar cable plug. (~$20USD) Especially important for
people without perfect pitch.
• A case or a gig bag - These are protection for the guitar. The case ($50-
100USD) is a hardshell case suitable for airline transportation and is an
excellent protection(if you get a case a gig bag is not required). A Gig Bag
($20-$50USD) is typically a thick padded(1-2" of padding) zipper bag in the
shape of the guitar which provides good protection and is necessary to
avoid large scrapes and dings, but a gig bag is not suitable for airline
transportation. If you are fine with the scrapes and dings, and/or you do
not plan on transporting the guitar often, a case might not be necessary.
• A string winder — very useful for changing strings. It's cheap (about $1
- 3 USD), so may as well as get them now.
• While you do not need guitar polish immediately, it can always be
useful; even the medicore Squier strat is an investment, and the best way
to make it work is to keep in maintain well.
18 | Guitar
Buying a Guitar
You won't need an extra sets of strings (~$5USD for acoustic, ~$10USD for
electric) at the time of purchase, but will be necessary soon after, since the
strings should probably be changed about every 2 months or 30 to 40 hours of
playing time (probably more often but that doesn't really matter as long as the
player is comfortable). Old strings will start to lose their tone and become brittle.
They will also show corrosion and discoloration. If you do not live that far away
from the guitar shop, it's best to buy them only when needed. However, changing
old strings is not an absolute necessity unless they break, so if your budget is
that tight, don't buy too many packs. Also, the difference between the cheaper
and more expensive strings is subtle at best, so as long as it is the right gauge,
you are good to go. I personally prefer the sound of old strings, as new ones
sound "tinny". Most people do not agree with me, however.
You won't need a humidifier unless your guitar is acoustic and quite valuable
(and a valuable guitar is probably not best for a beginner anyway)
Virtually all guitar dealers (like mattress or car dealers), mark up the price of
their products but their prices are negotiable (consider saying "I've been
thinking about this item what's your best price?"). Most of these accessories
(including a gig bag) can be thrown in for free. The hardshell case is usually an
exception. Don't forget to calculate the sales tax on top of all that. For example,
the Guitar Center near where I live will rarely if ever bring down the price for
the cheaper goods, but are more than willing to throw in extra accessories, and
sometimes will offer to set it up for you.
For electric guitar, the player have many options when practice; with a
special plug, player can even plug into a stereo, making amplifier slightly
needless. However, it does not sound as good; if you want to sound like your
favorite electric guitarist, however, an amplifier will obviously be neccessary.
Buying an electric guitar with no amplifier can be a way to get a player a good
guitar of the type they want without spending too much at first.
Another good substitute for an amplifier can be playing the guitar through a
mixer or computer's sound card (especially a good sound card, like those made
by m-audio), and there is some decent guitar effect software available that allow
amplifier modelling. Also, as mentioned in buying an amplifier article, you can
use a direct injection box to make amplifier modeling even mroe accurate. using
these modellers/direct injection box have an additional benefit in that they can
also be used with a standard amplifier as an effect unit.
All guitars require some maintenance over time since wood changes with
pressures and humidity.
This probably adds up to a large sum. However, there's a saving grace.

Whenever you buy a guitar from a guitar shop, you can usually get some of your
accessories for free with minimal or no haggling. Just tell a salesperson that you
want to buy a guitar, and he will probably start suggesting things he can throw in
for free, and if not, you can suggest some accessories yourself.
Wikibooks | 19
Chapter 3
Also, check out the beginner-packs. These include most things a beginner
would need to start off with, and you end up saving if you plan on buying those
things separately.
Ultimately, as mentioned before, the "totally bad" guitar are usually those
that a made bad and just play poorly. After that, intonation, features, etc. depend
on the personal taste of the player.
Buying a new guitar for someone who already plays
Unless you know very well what they want, buy the guitar with the person.
Players who played long enough know what they like and what they don't like. If
you really cannot figure their taste, the best option is to give them a gift
certificate.
Shopping
Examine your local options by looking up "musical instruments" in the phone

book and finding out which ones have guitars(electric or acoustic or both). It is
recommended to get the player to feel and play many guitars before buying.
There are so many varieties (57 varieties) that it's hard to know what's desired
even after playing many different guitars. Also remember (and this will be
obvious after visiting several shops) every single guitar is different so even if the
guitar is exactly the same make and model and color, it may play completely
different than the next. The way the shop or the manufacturer sets up the guitar
is related to this but is not the whole picture, and in some cases one guitar will
be great and another seemingly identical guitar will be a dud.
External links
• Wiki Guitar Buyers Guide
20 | Guitar
Buying an Amplifier
4 B UYING AN A MPLIFIER
Size and Wattage
Speaker configuration
S ome amplifiers, such as many 50 watts combo amps, or even MG15MSII

"Microstack" offered by Marshall, have 2 speakers, despite having basically
the same amplification circuit of its single-speaker siblings. Sometimes, such 2
speakers configuration may even use a smaller diameter speakers (eg: 2 x 10
inch instead of 1 x 12 inch).
One thing to keep in mind is that a multiple speaker configuration will create
phase cancellation., as well as producing frequencies from different speakers
that arrive at the ear at very slightly different point in time. The end result of
phase cancellation is that it creates a smoothing and rounding off effect, with a
slight blurring of the notes. This can give a feeling of a fat texture. Obviously, the
flipside is that it lose the tightness and definition of the sound.
Obviously, by having more speaker cones, it will have greater air moved: For
example, given the depth is approximately equal, a 2x10 have the surface area of
157sqin, while a 1x12 only have 113sqin. Also, it will have increase power-
handling capability, or more precisely, they split the amp output. Thus, given
same amplification head, a 2 speaker configuration will have louder volume, but
not as much power.
Types of Unit
DI Unit (including amp modelers)
Many so called Amp modelers and micro-amps, especially in regard to

Rockman, are actually DI Units. basically, these units transform the unbalanced,
high impedence signal from the guitar into a signal that can be used by the
headphone, or even connect directly to line-in or balanced mic-input, allowing
direct input of guitar to the mixing desk in a recording studio without losing the
tone and quality of an amp. Furthermore, the guitar oreinted amp modelers can
also be used as modelers or effect units that can be plugged into a guitar
amplifier to provide volume.
Another benefit of using a DI unit is that they are compact, while they can go
loud and getting that particular tone. This is particularly true for amp modelers
and "headphone amplifiers", as their embedded electronics frequently a very
Wikibooks | 21
Chapter 4
good approximation of a tube amp, and if you are going to hook up to a P.A.
system most of the time, these may provide a much better alternative, as they
are usually cheaper: The Behringer V-Amp 2, for example, is less than $100
dollars.
There are two kinds: one is an analog modeler, which is commonly used in
modeling amp (Amplifier that actually tries its best to emulate a certain tone
instead of just amping it), and digital computer modeling, such as Line6's POD
2.0. The benefit of using amp modeler is that it allows you to use such effects
even in recording, as well as a more easy to maintain equipment — true tube,
after all, is a nightmare to maintain.
What amp modelers and effect units does not do, however, is provide the
volume; for those, you will need to hook it up to a powerful amplifier, or a loud
P.A. system.
Combo Amps
Busking amps
In essence, they are practice amps that have a battery attached. Naturally,
that means they are gonna be more expensive. 15 watts on average, but
Pignose Hog 30 can go to 30 watts, while Crate's Taxi Series have some that
have 50 watts with 10 inch speakers. They will usually provide 6 to 10 hours
in one charge. Also, make sure they can take AC power in too when needed.
Do note that they are actually quite weak in terms of overdrive. On the other
hand, rock and metal music is not exactly busking music, either — soft and
light music that add to the atmosphere (usually a park or something) is
usually preferred, and thus, the watt amounts is usually enough. A good one
is Vox's DA5 (veyr tiny and small) and DA15, as they have modelling
processors for an approximation of a tube amp.
Small gig amplifiers

From 30 watts upward, these combo amplifiers the smallest package which
is considered suitable as a stand-alone amplifier for small gigs. The standard
is usually 50 or more watts of power and one 12 inch speakers, though some
manufactures may use less wattages of 30 and 40, while employing more
than one speakers. In better models, sound quality begins to approach levels
acceptable to professional musicians. Quality is always important, but
perhaps even more so in the case of the 1x12 combo - with a good one, you'll
prove the doubters wrong, but with one of the many duds, you won't be
taken seriously. The 1x12 is not a big amp, and if you want to bring it to a
serious audition or gig without enduring a storm of eye-rolling and
chuckling, it had better stand out from the crowd. These cost about 180 to
450 dollars.
22 | Guitar
Buying an Amplifier
Heads, Cabinets, and Stacks
When purchasing the two, make sure of the ohmage of the cabinet, and the
power rating for the head at that ohmage. Make sure the cabs RMS rating is
about the same as the head's power output at the ohmage of the cab. A head can
be solid-state or tube, the latter being less durable, but sounds better and is
more expensive. A good solid-state head costs 200 to 600 dollars and a good tube
head costs 500 to 1400 dollars. A cab in a half stack should be a 1x15, a 2x12, a
4x10 or a 6x10. These typically range from 250 to 650 dollars.
Tube vs Solid State
On the note of volume, a tube amp is in general louder, given the same watt;
a 5 watt tube amp can rival the power of the 30 watt solid state amp.
Tubes amps have a very organic tone and are sensitive to their input signal.
The harder you dig in with your pick, the more they tend to break up and distort.
The softer you strum, the warmer and breathier they appear to sound. Multiple
preamp gain stages can sometimes push an amp to the point where you do not
hear the pick attack on the string. Finding a balance where pick attack and
sustain are clearly articulated is the sign of a superior matched preamp and
power section. With a great tube amp, the subtle changes you make with your
pick and finger pressure can be heard so that you can create your own
identifiable style.
Modeling
Another solution is to use modeling amp with onboard effects, which is

basically a combination of a very clean power amplifier with the tone modeling
unit producing all the tone. Some may consider this as the swiss-army knife of
amplifier. The best of these amps can reproduce the sound of many other units
with passable accuracy, and you have instant access to those cool effects that
make even crappy guitarists sound good - delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, etc. With
enough effects, your little old grandmother can sound like a rock star. Okay,
that's an exaggeration, but if guys like me can sound good, you can too.
Another note to keep in mind is that solid-state amps have a fast attack time,
where the note is immediately present when strumming. Modeling amplifiers
seem to have a bit of a lag between your pick attack and the sound produced.
Tube amps have a compression that is dependent upon pick attack. Ultimately,
what sounds right depends on the player.
Physical size
Just because you can afford to have a very powerful amplifier (in both money
Wikibooks | 23
Chapter 4
and wattage) does not imply you should get said amplifier. A problem for a
traveling musician (especially those poor students that take public
transportation) is that, for a high wattage, you will have to pick up a big
amplifier that can be too cumbersome to carry, while a small enough amplifier
may be bad for gigging.
For example, if you live in a small partment (especially Japanese apartment),

you may have to get a smaller and weaker amplifier. Aside from obvious quieter
sound, the smaller physical space available may also make storing even a full
size 1x12 amplifier difficult.
In another example, Traynor's TRM30 (1 x 10" x 30w)and TRM40 (2 x 8" x

20w ) are both good audition amplifiers. However, the TRM30 is taller, while
TRM40 is wider. Furthermore, TRM30 is at 21 pounds, while the TRM40 is at 34
pounds, about one and a half times as heavy. Considering that a some people
may have to carry their entire recording setup — a laptop, effect units, guitar—
the slight difference in mass and dimension may makes the difference in the ease
of carry.
Typical features
Essential
•Input - where you guitar cable goes in

•Power button - turn it off and on
• Master Volume - on a tube amp, this could be the only knob that you
can touch, which in this case double as gain
An amplifier that only have these three is Epiphone's Valve Junior, seen as the
cheapest reliable tube amplifier.
Almost standard
• Gain — determines the amount of distortions. The higher it goes, the

more over drives it has. (And shattering your dreams: 11 doesn't mean it's
better than 10 of another amp, if both are turned to the max!)
• EQ / Tone - Used to control the tone of the sound. May have only 1 knob
(simply general tone), two (treble and bass), or even a 7 band EQ that not
control treble, midrange, and bass, but also other including prescene.
• Phone output — used to plug in headphone so you can practice in the
middle of the night.
• Channel selection — most modern solid-state practice amp have two
channels; one for clean signal, and one for a overdriven output
24 | Guitar
Buying an Amplifier
Other stuff
•Modeling - One way to solve the clipping problem in solid state amp is
the use of DSP modeling, which allows one to play tube-like overdriven
sound.
• Extra effects — some units have build in effects, such as reverb and
chrous, which can be easily controlled right on the panel by one or more
knobs
• Effect loop — can be a single plug (and need to be split), or seperate
plug as "effect send" and "effect return". Used for time-based effects (delay,
chrous, looping, phase shift, and flanging), as using the effect loop will
preserve the sound and effect of the amp.
• Line in, 1 or 2 — used to plug in external audio sources. they come out
without passing through the preamp, and thus just louder.
• Line out - used to connect to another power amplifier or PA system.
• Speaker out - connect to another guitar speaker. Typically only found in
head units, but some combo units have them too to make the output even
louder.
• Footswitch plug—allow the use of footswitch to control internal effects,
or may even select channel.
Tips
• For most beginners, a 15 watt amp will be more than enough for your
bedroom and small gigs.
Wikibooks | 25
Chapter 5
5 T HE B ASICS
T he purpose of this section is to show the most simple concepts of guitar.

Please make contributions.
Holding The Guitar

Sitting down: Sit up straight on a chair, with your feet on the ground. Place
the waist of your guitar on the right leg, keeping the guitar completely vertical
across its width. Rest your right upper arm on the side of the guitar so that it is
comfortable. Your arm should bend with your thumb resting on the sixth string
parallel to it. Your hand should cover the soundhole. On an electric, imagine a
soundhole and keep your hand where the soundhole would be. Take your fingers
of your left hand and rest it on the strings around the fifth fret. Place your right
thumb behind the fingers directly behind the neck. Your shoulders should be
relaxed. Now, lean forward slightly and relax. Most people without serious back
ailments should feel comfortable and should be able to stay in this position
without effort. If you are not, something is not right.
Using a Pick
Hold the pick in between your index finger and your thumb. Dont pinch it,
hold it like a gun trigger, with the pick flat in between the side of your index
finger and the bottom of your thumb. Your thumb should be in line with the first
segment of the index finger, with the pick firmly (but not tightly) between. When
you pick, your wrist should be straight, and when you strum, make sure to use
your forearm and not your wrist for strength. Your wrist should be loose enough,
but controlled, and you should strum with your forearm.
Using the Fretboard

Depress the guitar string firmly to the fretboard, close to the metal fret. If the
string is not depressed enough, the string will strike the frets when vibrating and
the note played will have a "buzzing" sound. If the string is depressed too hard,
not only will the pitch of the note be higher than desired, but also you will use a
lot of strength and get tired easily. You'll have to practice to get the right amount
of pressure.
26 | Guitar
Tuning the Guitar
6 T UNING THE G UITAR

S ound is caused by the disturbance of particles in the air, usually by

vibrations. The disturbance propagates through the air as a wave. When a
string is attached to two points, like the strings on a guitar, striking it causes it
to vibrate at a certain frequency which causes a soundwave of similar frequency.
The length, thickness and tightness of the string determine the frequency of
vibration and therefore the pitch of the note it produces. When a string is
plucked the string is stretched to set it in vibration. A shorter or tighter string is
harder to stretch and therefore vibrates faster than a longer or looser string. A
thicker string produces lower notes than a thinner string because the higher
mass of the thicker string is more difficult to set in motion. For this reason the
strings of the lower notes usually have extra metal cladding to increase their
mass.
There are many different ways to tune a guitar, but the most common is
called standard tuning, or E tuning. In standard tuning the strings should be
tuned to the notes EADGBe. This means that the thickest string should play the
low E note, and then the next thinner should play an A and so on, finishing with
the thinnest playing a high E. When the guitar is tuned, strumming all the strings
at once produces a chord. Chords are explained in greater depth in the chords
chapter.
Standard tuning is often represented visually like in the diagram below. Note
that the upper case E represents the thickest string, and the lower case e
represents the thinnest string, which means that the lowest string on the
diagram is the highest string on the guitar. This is meant to represent how the
guitar looks when a player looks down on it.
e|-----------------------|
B|-----------------------|
G|-----------------------|
D|-----------------------|
A|-----------------------|
E|-----------------------|
To adjust the pitch of a string, you twist the tuning peg. To adjust to a higher
pitch the string must be tightened, and to lower the pitch the string must be
loosened. When doing this, it is important to make sure you are turning the
correct peg for the string you are trying to tune. It is both confusing and
embarassing when you turn the wrong peg, often because you have to start all
over again.
Until you have developed your musical ability, it may be difficult to know
exactly what a particular note should sound like. Any guitar or music store will
sell tuning aids, such as tuning forks, pitch pipes and electric tuners. When
properly used, these allow you to precisely tune each string to the appropriate
Wikibooks | 27
Chapter 6
pitch. Almost every guitar player owns some sort of tuning aid, and new players
are encouraged to purchase one.
On the guitar neck, fingering each fret raises the pitch of the note a half-tone.
In an octave, there are twelve half-tones, which means that if you play any note,
the note 12 frets above that is twice as high in pitch. Any two notes are related
by a certain number of half tones, which is called an interval. The interval
between the low E string and the A string is called a fourth, which means that
the two notes are separated by five half-tones or frets. This relationship of a
fourth is the same for any string and the one below it, except for the G and B
strings. The note G is separated by only four half-tones or frets, which makes this
interval a third. Scales are explained in much greater depth in the scales
chapter. Information on general music theory, including scales and intervals can
be read in the Music wikibook.
Tuning by ear
Regular Tuning
Tuning by ear (also known as the fifth fret method) involves getting a single
string at the correct pitch, and then using that as a reference point to tune the
other strings. Because of this, a tuning aid is useful to ensure that the first string
is properly tuned. It is best to use the A as the reference string, because it lies in
the middle of the root notes of the most commonly played chords. A perfectly
tuned A string resonates at a frequency of 440 Hz.
To tune by ear, begin by hitting the A string, and then the low E string. Pick
the notes hard, and let the sound ring out, since the louder it is, the easier it is to
hear the difference between notes. Turn the tuning peg up or down to bring the
notes into unison When the notes are close together, you should be able to hear a
very fine oscillation between them. This should get slower when the notes are
closer together, and should disappear entirely when they are in tune. Your ability
to hear this oscillation is a skill that develops over time, and you should not
become quickly discouraged if it is at first difficult. Once the two notes have
been brought into unison continue onto the next string.
On the diagram below, each string has a number indicates the fret you play to
tune the string above it.
e|-------------------0---|
B|---------------0---5---|
G|-----------0---4-------|
D|-------0---5-----------|
A|---0---5---------------|
E|---5-------------------|
Also, when tuning it is always a good idea to tune the string upwards to it's
proper pitch. By just tuning down to a pitch, you introduce slack into the string
28 | Guitar
Tuning the Guitar
and it goes out of tune much faster. So if the string is too high, it is best to tune it
very low, and then back up to the correct pitch.
A good way to tell whether the string is perfectly in tune is to see if the other
string resonates to it. For example, if you wanted to make sure the A string is in
tune with the E, pluck the fifth fret of the E string (hard) and mute it. If the
strings are tuned perfectly, the A string should be ringing even after the E string
is muted, with little appreciable change in volume.
Harmonic tuning
Another, more advanced method of tuning is called harmonic tuning. In this

method of tuning, you use the harmonic tones of the strings to produce high
pitch sounds, and then use these to tune. Because the notes are of a higher pitch,
they are easier to tune because even minor changes in pitch are more easily
noticable. Rather than actually touching the string to a fret, simply touch the
string directly above the fret. Then, pluck the string and quickly remove your
finger. This should produce a high pitched ringing tone, known as a harmonic.
The easiest places on the string to produce a harmonic are on the 3rd, 5th,
7th, 9th and 12th fret. More information on why is available in the harmonics
chapter of this book. Because of the interval between the G and B strings is a
third, to tune the string harmonically you must use the low E string.
The diagram below shows the frets one must his to create the necessary
harmonics for standard tuning.
e|----------------------7*---|
B|------------------0---5*---|
G|-------------7*------------| * = Play a harmonic at this fret
D|--------7*---5*------------|
A|---7*---5*-----------------|
E|---5*-------------7*-------|
It is also be noted that this method will not provide perfect equal
temperament tuning. It is extremely similar, but a picky guitar player may prefer
the previous technique.
If there is a substantial difference in pitch when tuning via regular or

harmonic, the intonation on your guitar is off. The easiest way to tell, is to
perfectly tune your 12th fret harmonic with a tuner, and then fret at the twelfth.
If the 12th fret is not in tune, while the harmonic is, your intonation needs
adjustment.
Wikibooks | 29
Chapter 6
Using a Tuning Fork, Pitchpipe, or Keyboard
Tuning Forks
A tuning fork is a piece of U-shapes piece of metal that, when struck, emits a
particular tone. Tuning forks are good becuase, unless bent, they will always
emit the same note. The most common tuning forks resonate at either an A,
which at the frequency of 440 hertz, or C. Using a tuning fork is generally
reccomended for more advanced players.
To use a tuning fork, gently striking the it against the heel of your hand and it
will vibrate. Then, set the base of the fork against the body of the guitar. The
sound of the fork will then be amplified through the guitar, and you can use it to
tune your strings. It is important not to strike the fork against a hard surface, as
this may bend the fork out of tune.
If you are using an A tuning fork, then you should tune first to the harmonic
on A string. However, you can also use the 5th fret on the low E string, the 7th
fret of the D string, the 2nd fret on the G string, or the 5th fret on the high E
string. All of these frets produce an A, although some are in a higher octive.
Pitchpipes
A pitchpipe is much like a tuning fork, in that it only plays one note and that
note is used for tuning. To use a pitchpipe, you blow through the end like a
whistle. You can also purchase electronic pitchpipes, which emit notes through a
speaker. Some electronic tuners also have this feature.
Keyboard
Using a keyboard can help as it has all the necessary keys and never goes out
of tune. Strike the string and hit the key at the same time to recieve the
appropriate tension. It is preferable to own a pedal for the keyboard for this
approach.
Using an Electronic Tuner

Electronic tuners are a quick, accurate, and precise method of tuning. A
tuner can be used in two ways, either through a built in microphone which
detects sound, or by directly jacking in an electric guitar. When a note is played,
the tuner determines the note you are playing, and then represents visually how
sharp or flat the note is. Most models use a combination of lights and a display
screen to indicate the tone of the note.
30 | Guitar
Tuning the Guitar
Electronic tuners can be easily drowned out by background noise when you
do not jack directly into them. Because of this, they are best used in a quiet
environment.
Factors to Consider While Tuning

Modern instruments use equal temperament tuning, and the guitar is no
exception. Older methods of tuning have the problem of certain intervals
sounding out of tune, while others did not. Advances in guitar manufacture has
solved some of these issues, but they are still extremely sensitive to their
environment. When the guitar experiences a change in humidity, the amount of
moisture in the wood changes, causing it to either expand or contract. Likewise,
both the wood of the guitar and the metal strings expand and contract due to
changes in temperature. Extreme changes in humidity or temperature can
damage your guitar, so you should treat it with proper care. Some structural
aspects of the guitar, like the next, fretboard or truss rod, can be adjusted. See
the Adjusting the Guitar appendix.
Guitars can be temperamental. If you tune in a room with a set temperature

and humidity, then take the guitar into another room that is hotter/colder and/or
more/less humid, some guitars can go out of tune. This is because when wood is
introduced into an environment where the humidity is different the wood will
either absorb moisture or release moisture. When wood does this it swells or
contracts in reaction to a high humidity environment or a low humidity
environment respectively. This is most apparent in the neck and fretboard of a
guitar and truss rod adjustments may need to be made accordingly. See
adjustments in the appendices for more information. Additionally the metal
strings act in a similar fashion but instead due to temperature, the cooler it is the
more they contract and the hotter it is the more they expand. It is best to let the
guitar acclimate itself in the room in which it will be played then make
adjustments and re-tune it.
When fresh strings have been put on a guitar, they will often fall out of tune
very easily. This is because after having been put on the guitar, the strings still
have a lot of slack. It will take time to work all the slack out of the string, but the
process can be sped up somewhat. After the strings have been put on, loosen
them a fair bit and then bend the string gently. Turn the tuning peg up, and then
bend the string again. After this, strum chords enthusiastically for a few minutes
and tune again. Most of the slack should be gone from the strings, and the guitar
should stay in tune.
Wikibooks | 31
Chapter 7
7 C HORDS
A chord is a combination of notes played simultaneously. The name of a chord

is determined by its root note, and the relationship between the root note
and the chord's other notes. A root note is usually the lowest note in a chord, but
this is not always the case. Chords may be strummed or picked through.
Beginners will find strumming much easier, and picking is examined in more
depth in the Picking and Plucking chapter. Traditionally, a chord is defined as
three notes played together. Because of this, double-stops and power chords are
not kinds of chords, but kinds of intervals.
While chords are primarily used for rhythm guitar, basic chord knowledge is
important for lead playing as well. The lead parts of many songs often require
the use of chords, and in certain styles of playing, chords can make up the lead
part entirely. Additionally, many lead patterns revolve around arpeggios, which
are chords with their notes played in sequence, rather than together. For more
information on arpeggios, see the Arpeggio and Sweep Picking chapter.
Chords are easy to play, but to understand why they sound how they do and
why certain chords work better together than others, it is important to
understand scales. While it is not necessary to have prior knowledge of scales to
find this section useful, prior understanding of scales will definitely improve
one's understanding of chords. It is recommended that before reading this
section, one should familiarise themselves with general music theory first.
Different Kinds of Chords

Major Chords use the first, third and fifth note of the major scale. They are
bright and happy sounding chords.
Minor Chords use the first, third and fifth note of the minor scale. They sound
dark and melancholy.
Seventh Chords adds a seventh note (seven notes from the root on a major or
minor scale) to the given chord. They sound slightly dissonant, and directs the
focus of the progression to what follows it.
Sixth Chords adds a sixth to the chord. It does not sound dissonant like a
seventh chord, because the sixth note is a major third below the root of the
octave.
Suspended Chords removes the third from the chord, replacing the note with
a second or a fourth. The guitar part in John Lennon's "Happy Christmas" uses
suspended chords.
32 | Guitar
Chords
Barre Chords are chords you make while pressing all the strings down with
your index finger. Barring is an important technique and greatly opens up the
depth of the instrument.
Appendix
Full list of fingering positions for standard tuning
Wikibooks | 33
Chapter 8
8 D OUBLE - STOPS AND P OWER C HORDS

T he double-stop is the next step up from single notes. They are used in all
kinds of music, from country to heavy metal, and by both lead and rhythm
guitarists. Heavy overdriven guitar uses them almost exclusively in the form of
power chords.
A double-stop is two notes played at the same time. (This term is exclusive to
stringed instruments; for instance, one cannot play a double-stop on a clarinet,
while one can play a double-stop on a violin or piano.) Perfect fourths (e.g., C-F)
and perfect fifths (e.g., C-G) and are the most consonant kind of double-stop, not
counting unison and octave double-stops. For this reason, they are often called
power chords, especially in the context of overdriven guitar.
This diagram shows the hand positioning for a G5/D power chord:
EADGBE
xx00xx
1 ......
2 ......
3 ......
4 ......
5 ......
The top row shows open strings (shown as the number zero here; non-textual
diagrams usually use a circle), and strings which are not played (shown as the
letter 'x'). Each row below that indicates a fret (numbered for clarity). However,
this diagram has no fretted strings. Therefore, to play this double-stop, simply
strike the middle two strings as open.
Here are three fingerings for a G5 power chord:
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE

---xxx ---xxx ---xxx
1 ...... 1 ...... 1 ......
2 ...... 2 ...... 2 ......
3 1..... 3 1..... 3 1.....
4 ...... 4 ...... 4 ......
5 .34... 5 .33... 5 .44...
These are all the same notes at the same frets, just different fingerings. The
numbers indicate the number of finger to use. Finger #1 is the index finger, #2
the middle finger, #3 the ring finger, and finger #4 is the pinky finger. The
thumb is not used except while fingerpicking and we will not worry about it yet.
To strike this chord, arrange your fingers as shown: index finger on the third fret
of the sixth string, and one or two fingers on the fifth fret of the fifth and fourth
strings. The second and third fingerings are often more versatile but they are
more difficult for the beginner to play. Which fingering is correct depends on
both the player and the situation. For now, any fingering will do.
34 | Guitar
Double-stops and Power Chords
Omitting the sixth string's note makes this the same G5/D chord as before:
the strings will have the same pitch. However, it may sound a bit different,
because the strings have different tension. In general, the guitar's thinner
strings will have a brighter, more ringing sound. The G5 chord is named such
because its root (lowest) note is G and its second note, D, is a fifth apart. (Its
third note is also G.) The G5/D is called such because it is also a G5 chord, but
has D as its bass note. If it were interpreted as a D chord, it might be a D4,
following the same logic — however, because it is a kind of suspended chord, it is
called a "D suspended fourth", or Dsus4. Which name fits depends entirely upon
the context, but its use as a G5/D is far more common.
Now another variation of the G5:
EADGBE
--xxxx
1 ......
2 ......
3 1.....
4 ......
5 .3....
Like the G5/D, this double-stop is obtained from removing a note from the full
G5 power chord. When played with overdrive, all three of these chords sound
remarkably alike, though not identical. Without overdrive they become more
distinct.
This is the full G5 chord, although power chords are usually considered to
have only two or three notes:
EADGBE
--00--
1 ......
2 ......
3 1...22
4 ......
5 .4....
This is a hard fingering for the beginner and is only given as an example. The
A and D strings are in unison, that is, they sound the same note. If the D string
were instead fretted at the fifth fret (as in our second example), then the middle
two strings would be in unison. Any number of these strings can be omitted, and
as long as there are at least two notes, and one is a D and the other a G, it is
some kind of G5 chord.
Wikibooks | 35
Chapter 9
9 S CALES
Easy scales to get you going
I would recommend starting off by learning the minor pentatonic, which is the
single most popular scale for solos in western music. Most guitarists know this
shape of the pentatonic scale by heart.
It can be used for pretty much anything, so learn it well!
This shape can be moved up and down the fretboard for play in any key (like
all scale shapes that aren't open).
This is in A:
The numbers represent the fret numbers. The numbers in parentheses

represent the optional Blue Note which, as the name suggests, give a bluesy kind
of vibe to your playing. However, it is not actually part of the Minor Pentatonic
scale, only very often added for extra colour.
e |--5--------8--
B |--5--------8--
G |--5-----7-(8)-
D |--5-----7-----
A |--5-(6)-7-----
E |--5--------8--
This is the basic shape, just learn it starting with the bottom E-string, one
note at a time.
Once you have learned the shape by heart, practice playing the scale at different
places on the fretboard. This is essential - and start early on, or else familiar
shapes will seem unfamiliar at different places on the fretboard.
Once you've mastered that, try the harmonic minor scale, a harder scale by
far, but definitely satisfying over some minor chords. It gives you a rather
"middle-eastern" kind of sound.
Again written in A
But the shape works in any key, just move the shape up or down the neck:
e |--4--5-----7--8--
B |-----5--6--------
G |--4--5-----7-----
D |--------6--7-----
A |-----5-----7--8--
E |-----5-----7--8--
36 | Guitar
Scales
This looks a little more complicated, and is certainly more difficult to get to
sound nice, but when you have mastered it it will sound great!
There are many different scales: 7 modes of the major scale, three different
forms of the minor scale, the blues scale above, the pentatonic scale, the whole
tone scale, the diminished scale and some scales that originated in Spain and
India. There are also very interesting scales from eastern music. It is possible to
create your own scales by altering another as you wish, or completely coming up
with your own. Remember, most of the scales were built musically, not randomly,
using ideas such as a cycle of perfect fifths for the major scale.
Wikibooks | 37
Chapter 10
10 R HYTHM
G ood rhythm is almost essential to good guitar, and probably the simplest to
understand. Let's start with some terms:
Beat
Measure
Time signature
All measures consist of a number of beats. You see the beats with the time
signature, for example, 4/4. However, 4/4 is known as common time, and has
special notation.
4/4 means that there are four beats in the measure, and that a whole note
consists of four beats. Here are the other notes:
whole note
half note
quarter note
eigth note
sixteenth note
and so on.
A whole note consists of the number of beats in the bottom half of the time
signature, in this case 4. So, each whole note consists of four beats. Each half
note is two, quarter note is one beat, etc. There are other possible signatures,
3/4, 2/4, 6/8, 7/4 are the common ones.
To apply what we have read, let's pull out the most basic of progressions,
where we will play G and D in alternate measures, with a 4/4 time signature.
It will look like this(each measure separated by a pipe and each beat denoted
with a dash):
G D
|- - - - |- - - -|
v v v v v v v v
The "v" from now on denotes a downstroke and a "^" denotes an upstroke.
Here. you are playing a downstroke on each beat (each tick of the metronome)
and nothing in between. Some people find it easier to practice this without
38 | Guitar
Rhythm
playing any chord, and muting all the strings. Try that too.
Let's do some upstrokes now.
G D
|- - - - |- - - - |
v^v^v^v^ v^v^v^v^
Here, you are downstroking on the tick (intuitively called the 'downbeat') and
upstroking in between the ticks ( the upbeat. A good way to do this is to count
your beats, "one-and two and three and four" going down on the numbers and up
on the ands. Most strumming patterns you can here this going on, but slightly
more complicated. Make sure you are going down on downbeats and up on
upbeats. A lot of people who start playing tend to not follow this, and it mixes up
your rhythm badly. If you keep to this pattern, even with more complicated
patterns, you will not lose track of the beat.
If you listen to the above pattern, it will start to sound boring. But it is the
basis of all other patterns. When you hear a more complicated pattern, most
likely the player is missing some strums. Like this:
G D
|- - - - |- - - - |
v^v^v^v^ v^v^v^v^
Wikibooks | 39
Chapter 11
11 T ABLATURE
I t is important for the guitarist to learn both tablature and standard notation.
Each has its advantages, and each conveys information the other does not. For
this reason, many guitar songbooks feature both standard notation and
tablature; some even feature a "tab-staff" variant, where rhythm notation is
combined with tablature.
Instead of describing the notes that are played, tablature describes how they
are played: which strings and which frets. For instance, here is the very first
song:
A demonstration of tablature, by Furrykef (presumed GFDL)
This is a very simple song. The top line represents the first string, which you
will recall is the high E string. The spaces between the lines are not used. Each
number on a line represents a fretted note on that string. The number zero is an
open string, the number one is the first fret, and so on. Try playing the tune.
Take as much time as needed and do not worry yet about the timing.
Of course, print-quality sheet is impossible to write with plain text. Even

when images can be used, they are often inconvenient: they take up more space
and not everybody can write them. For this reason, there is a very informal and
loose standard of "Internet tablature", using only ASCII characters. For example,
the above tune would be written:
e---0-1-3-5-3-1-0----|-----------------||
B------------------3-|-1---------------||
G--------------------|-----------------||
D--------------------|-----------------||
A--------------------|-----------------||
E--------------------|-----------------||
This version contains less information. Without the standard notation (staff),
rhythm can only be suggested by spacing, or less commonly by adding symbols
above each note, such as Q for quarter note. Much Internet tablature does not
even contain bar lines; timing must be discerned by listening to the original
piece.
40 | Guitar
Tablature
(On the other hand, "tabs" are much more convenient than standard notation
for conveying a specific finger positioning, precisely. Especially with alternate
tunings, this is a clear advantage.)
There are hundreds of tabs for popular music freely available at the On-Line
Guitar Archive (OLGA). These can serve as an excellent starting point for
beginning guitarists.
TabWiki also has hundreds of free tabs and allows you to add and edit them
as well for continual improvement.
Wikibooks | 41
Chapter 12
12 B ASS G UITAR
B ass guitars have similar design features to other types of guitar but scaled
up: thicker strings, longer neck and larger body, etc. This allows lower notes
to be created when the strings are tuned to a playable tension. They are
sometimes categorized as guitars but are also occasionally categorized as a
separate instrument. Although there are many variations, the standard bass
guitar has four strings tuned EADG, one octave lower than the bottom four
strings of a guitar in standard tuning. Although the bass guitar can be played like
an oversized guitar, it also draws much inspiration from double basses and the
instrument has a vocabulary of playing styles and music all of its own.
Slapping And Popping

One of the distinguishing features of the bass guitar is the slap style. It is
typically distinct to the bass guitar, although it has been used on acoustic guitars
by skilful players.
Slapping is accomplished by percussively striking the string - usually E or A

on a standard tuned 4-string bass - with the left hand side of the thumb (for a
righthanded player). This is done towards the neck of the bass. The thumb is
then pulled away as quickly as possible, to create a distinct, fretty noise.
Popping is accomplished by curling the fingertip of the index or middle finger

under the string - usually the D or G string. The string is then plucked to create a
similar sound to slapping on the thicker strings. This is, again, performed
towards the neck of the bass.
• Slap Bass Tutorial Video (Free)
Next is a simple combination of right hand slapping and popping with left
hand hammer-on to create an enhanced, motor slap sound.
The first clip is a very slow version with simple chart showing each note of
the lick. Use the control buttons on the Flash applet to play and pause the clip:
• Hammer-On Slap Technique Video A (Free)
The second clip is the same simple lick run at regular speed with simple chart
showing each note of the lick. Use the control buttons on the Flash applet to play
and pause the clip:
• Hammer-On Slap Technique Video A (Free)
42 | Guitar
Bass Guitar
Different Basses
The standard bass is a 4 string bass, tuned EADG (low to high). Other
variations of this tuning include DADG and CGCF. These lower tunings are often
used in metal and heavier music, as it gives the possibility of creating lower
sounds, but also the strings hit off of the fretboard creating a rattly noise.
To achieve a clear tone on notes lower than standard tuning, it is strongly

recommended to buy a 5-string bass, which is tuned BEADG (low to high). The
fifth string is thicker and so can be tuned lower whilst still being relatively tight.
The notes are always symmetric along the fretboard.
Wikibooks | 43
Chapter 13
13 A LTERNATE P ICKING
A lternate picking is used to play much faster, and much more precisely, than
you could do with just downstrokes or fingerpicking. The basic idea is that
you do a downstroke and when you bring the pick back again you touch the
string again with an upstroke. Got it? It doesn't sound too hard, but it will take
some time to master it really fast. Ideally, you will subconciously decide whether
to alternate pick or not, depending on the underlying rhythm.
Use whichever method feels best for you. Only the top of your pick should be
seen and touch the string. That way, it costs you less strength. Your movement
should only come from your wrist, not from your whole arm.
Maybe you start with simply alternate picking the lower e string. Get faster
and faster, until you've reached your maximum. That's how fast you could play at
the moment, but it will take some time to synchronize both of your hands, so you
can read
B|--------------------------------------------------------------1--2--3--
4------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------1--2--3--
4---------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------1--2--3--
4------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------1--2--3--
4------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-1--2--3--
4-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-4--3--2--
1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------4--3--2--
1----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------4--3--2--
1------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------4--3--2--
1---------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------4--3--2--1--2--3--4--
5------------------|
Play this down again and up the whole neck.
Or simply fret a chord and pick it with alternate picking.
Here are some other exercises I found helpful:
E|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4------|
44 | Guitar
Alternate Picking
A|---------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4--------------|
E|-1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4----------------------------------------------|
And so on. Finally, I've got two licks for you. The first one is Highway Star by
Richard Blackmore:
e|-5--5--6--8--5--5--6--8--5--5--6--8--5--5--6--8-|-5-5--6--8--5--5--6--8--5--5--6--8--5--5--6--
8-|-6--6--8--10--6--6--8--10-- and so on
The second riff combines palm muting and alternate picking. You find riffs
like this in many metal songs, this example is taken from Metallica's One:
E|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------2---------------2---------------2---------------2--3---|
A|-------------2---------------2---------------2---------------2--3---|
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-0-0--------|
Palm mute the open notes.
Wikibooks | 45
Chapter 14
14 S LIDES
T he slide is one of the simplest guitar techniques. There are two kinds of
slides: shift slides and legato slides. In a shift slide, a note is fretted, then the
fretting finger slides up or down to a different fret, and the string is struck again.
A legato slide differs in that the string is struck only for the first note.
Guitar Slide, by Furrykef (presumed GFDL)
The first slide pictured is a shift slide; the second is a legato slide. A few
tablature writers do not distinguish between the two slides, using only shift slide
notation. The abbreviation "sl." for slide may be omitted. When sliding from a
higher fret to a lower fret, the slanted lines are usually changed to have a
downward slope instead of an upward slope, to emphasize the sliding "down". It
is possible to slide up from an open string, but this often does not sound as clean
because this requires a hammer-on at the first fret (or for really fast slides, a
higher fret) before sliding up. Likewise, it is possible to slide down to an open
string but it requires a pull-off at the first (or some other) fret.
In Internet tablature, a slide from the third fret to the fifth might be written
like any of these:
3/5
3>5
3>s>5
3s5
Internet tablature rarely distinguishes between the two kinds of slides.
Less commonly, tablature can instruct the guitarist to "slide into" or "slide out
of" a note. In printed tablature, they are notated identically except, in the case of
slide-into, the first note is omitted, and in the case of slide-out-of, the second
note is omitted. In other words, the note slides in from nowhere, or out to
nowhere. It simply tells the guitarist to quickly slide from or to an arbitrary
point, usually only a few frets away.
Good sliding keep the new note audible, while keeping the note in tune. If you
don't press the string hard enough, you mute the string or buzz it on the frets.
46 | Guitar
Slides
Too hard and the string bends out of tune. The latter does not happen often, but
sounds awful and should be avoided.
Wikibooks | 47
Chapter 15
15 H AMMER - ONS , P ULL - OFFS , AND

T RILLS
H ammer-ons and pull-offs are two closely related techniques. They are used
to play legato, that is, in a smooth manner, and are also used to help the
guitarist to play faster. They are most commonly used in electric guitar work, but
can be used in acoustic tunes as embellishments.
The hammer-on
Strike an open E on the first string. While the note is still ringing, quickly and
firmly press a finger on the third fret. If done properly, a G note should be
sounding. This is called "hammering on" the string. Without electric
amplification, the hammer-on tends to make the sound quieter — a lot quieter if
one hasn't practiced it! (Although, because the strings are closer to the
fingerboard, hammer-ons are easier to execute on an electric guitar, they are
used extensively by acoustic guitarists as well.) The hammer-on can just as easily
be played with fretted notes: just play the note normally and hammer onto
another (higher-numbered) fret on the same string.
The pull-off
The pull-off is the opposite of the hammer-on. Hold the E string on the third
fret. Strike the string and, while the note is still ringing, release the fretting
finger. If done properly, the G should be followed by an open E. Like the hammer-
on, this tends to make the sound quieter. To help alleviate this, a slight sideways
motion of the finger while pulling off will add extra vibration to the string,
preserving the volume. It is very hard for a beginner to accomplish, and the
sideways movement helps greatly.
A pull-off looks like this:
D|---7p5--5p4--4p2--2p0--|
The trill
A trill is two alternating notes, such as an A and A#. Only the first note is
struck; the rest are rapidly hammered-on and pulled off
48 | Guitar
Picking and Plucking
16 P ICKING AND P LUCKING

T here are three common ways of playing the guitar. Using a pick (also called a
plectrum) is probably the most popular way to play the guitar. However,
surprisingly, using a pick is not for everyone. Some people will claim, for
instance, one cannot play rock without a pick. This is not true! Any genre can be
played with or without a pick, from country to death metal. (The lone exception
is classical guitar, which is invariably played without a pick.) The following may
help the player decide what is right for him or her.
Using a pick
The primary advantages of the pick are speed, its ease of striking large
chords and, because the fingernails and fingertips are not involved, the player's
nails and fingertips will remain intact. Furthermore, use of a pick makes a louder
and brighter sound. Its primary disadvantage is its imprecision, making muting
strings necessary. Also, if the player wishes to switch to the tapping style, he or
she must get the pick out of the way, for example, by tucking it between the
fingers, or by using the middle finger to tap.
Strumming and fingerpicking

Players wishing not to use a pick may try strumming. This is accomplished by
holding the picking hand's index finger to the thumb, much as one might hold a
pick, and striking the strings with the index fingernail. Anything in this book
written for a pick can just as easily be played by strumming.
Another style, readily available to the strummer, is fingerpicking. This usually

means plucking or striking the strings with the fingernails or fingertips. Most
classical guitarists alter the shape of their picking hand fingernails for the
purpose of producing a desired sound. Fingernails in non-classical fingerpicking
are not necessary at all.
Fingerpicking is surprisingly easy on an electric guitar, which is strange

because fingerpicking is often regarded as an acoustic style. The player may hold
his or her picking hand's pinky finger against the right edge (left edge on a left-
handed guitar), and if it is held straight and steady, this technique may be used
to brace the hand. This technique is called anchoring, and is frowned upon by
some players. It is possible on acoustic guitars by using the bridge similarly, but
this is not as effective as it will deaden the sound. Classical guitarists never
anchor while playing.
Wikibooks | 49
Chapter 16
Tapping
Tapping was popularized by Eddie van Halen. For some people, such as
Stanley Jordan, it is an entire style of playing, but for most guitarists, it is simply
a special solo technique. Furthermore, playing tapping style is very different
from the other two styles.
Another Type of tapping so to speak is using harmonics to change

notes....look up Erik Mongrain and you will see a great example of this.
50 | Guitar
Tapping
17 T APPING
T apping is the short name of fretboard tapping or finger tapping: the act of
tapping the fingers against the strings in order to produce sounds, rather
than striking or plucking the strings. Specifically, it usually refers to two-handed
tapping, that is, tapping involving both the left and right hand. It is not clear who
discovered tapping, but it was certainly popularized, but not discovered, by
Eddie van Halen. Van Halen was listening to "Heartbreaker" by Led Zeppelin,
and he was quite inspired by the solo, which contained a variation of tapping.
This is arguably the song that pushed Van Halen to popularize and use "tapping"
frequently. A rather different kind of independent two-handed tapping, which is a
whole playing method rather than a technique, was discovered by Harry
DeArmond and named "The Touch System" by his student Jimmie Webster.
Another method of independent tapping was discovered by Emmett Chapman,
where the right hand comes over the fretboard and lines up with the frets like
the left. Therefore this book dubs the three kinds of tapping Interdependent
tapping and The Touch System", and the "Free Hands Method."
Interdependent tapping
Interdependent tapping is by far the most common type of tapping. It is
generally used as a lead guitar technique, most commonly during solos; however,
a small number of songs are entirely tapped. The player's picking hand leaps out
to the fretboard and begins to tap the strings with the fingers. However, one
must get the pick out of the way in order to tap. Some players do this by sticking
the pick between their fingers; others simply use the middle finger to tap. The
Van Halen technique of getting rid of the pick is done by moving the pick into the
space between the first and second joints of his middle finger.
Eruption by Eddie Van Halen is a good example of this technique.
The Touch System

As mentioned before, this is a whole playing style and a whole book could be
written about it. The first musician to play this way was pickup designer Harry
DeArmond in the 1940's, who used tapping as a way to demonstrate the
sensitivity of his pickups. While each hand could play it's own part, DeArmond
held his right hand in the same orientation as conventional guitar technique. This
meant the ability of that hand to tap scale-based melody ines was limited. He
taught his approach to Gretch Guitars employee Jimmie Webster, who wrote an
instruction book called "The Touch System for Amplified Spanish guitar."
Webster made a record and travelled around demonstrating the method. Even
though it inspired a few builders (Dave bunker, for example), the Touch System
was limited by the lack of eqaul movements for the right hand and never caught
Wikibooks | 51
Chapter 17
on.
The Free Hands Method

In 1969 Emmett Chapman, who had no previous knowledge of DeArmond,
Webster or any other tapping guitarists, discovered that he could tap on the
strings with both hands, and that by raising the neck up could align the right
hand's fingers with the frets as on the left, but from above the fretboard. This
made scale-based melody lines just as easy to tap in the right hand as the left,
and a new way of playing a stringed instrument was born. Chapman redesigned
his home-made 9-string guitar to support his new playing method, and began
selling his new instrument (The Chapman Stick) to others in 1974. In 1976
Chapman published his volume of collected lessons he used for teaching
guitarists and Stick players as "Free Hands: A New Discipline of Fingers on
Strings."
It has been popularised by players such as Tony Levin, Nick Beggs, John
Myung and Greg Howard, and is currently experiencing a surge in popularity
due to the internet.
Stanley Jordan became famous in the 1980s for using the same method on
the guitar. Jordan discovered the method independently after Chapman did, was
signed to Blue Note Records, and released several successful albums.
The method that Chapman invented and Jordan also used allows complete
self-accompaniment and counterpoint, as on piano.
52 | Guitar
Harmonics
18 H ARMONICS
H armonics are fun sounds to produce. They can be quiet and bell-like, as on
an acoustic guitar, or they can be loud and squealy, as on an overdriven
electric guitar.
List of natural harmonics

These will be explained shortly.
• 12th fret: octave above open string

• 7th or 19th fret: Octave plus a perfect fifth above open string
• 5th or 24th fret: Two octaves above open string
• 4th, 9th, or 16th fret: two octaves plus four semitones above open
string
There are more harmonics than these, but these are the easiest to produce
and the most audible. They are ordered from lowest to highest in pitch.
Natural harmonics
Natural harmonics are the easiest to produce. A good place to begin is the
12th fret of the first string. With your fretting hand, lightly touch the finger
against the string directly above the 12th fret. Do not hold it down, just touch it.
Then strike it with your picking hand, and immediately release the string with
your fretting hand. If executed properly, the result should he a high-pitched,
ringing E (on a standard tuned guitar). It will be the same note as pressing
against the fret will produce. Try it again at the 7th, 5th, and 4th frets, as in the
list of natural harmonics: each will produce even higher sounds, much higher
than can be produced on the guitar without using harmonics! However, each will
also be quieter, so the higher harmonics may be nearly inaudible without
overdrive.
A good example of natural harmonics is in the song Imperium by Machine

Head, clear 5th fret harmonics can be heard enforcing the low drop B tuning.
Pinch harmonics
A.K.A. Artificial Harmonics (though there is really nothing artificial about
them). This is an advanced technique and was popularized by Billy Gibbons and
many others as early as the 1970s including many Heavy Metal artists. These
harmonics follow the same principles of physics as a natural harmonic, the
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Chapter 18
difference being how the harmonic is produced. In this case a note is struck in a
downwards motion with the pick and in the same motion the string is
touched(one might really say brushed) with the edge of the thumb that is holding
the pick. Or one can do it with the edge of the index fingernail, followed by the
pick.
Pinch harmonics are most effective and audible using an electric guitar with
overdrive or distortion and in some cases these harmonics are virtually inaudible
using a clean(not distorted or overdriven) electric guitar or an acoustic. It can
sound good when used properly even without much overdrive(Billy Gibbons is
the master of low overdrive Pinch Harmonics) but it's not always clear or
detectible. Use overdrive or distortion for best results especially while learning
and practicing this technique.
With regards to difficulty: this technique, although rewarding, is mostly

rewarding only in advanced situations (soloing and intense expressive riffing). It
is difficult enough to easily frustrate a beginner and some intermediate players
and since there are so many more rewarding and useful techniques worth
spending time on as a beginner(scales, soloing, blues, riffing, strumming
patterns), this technique is only recommended for intermediate or advanced
players.
As mentioned above these harmonics are produced by striking a note with

the pick and touching the string with the picking thumb. Grip the pick so that the
tip barely peeks out between your fingertips(this is why they are called "pinch"
harmonics). It's easier when you are fretting a note with the left hand so try
fretting a note (perhaps the 5th fret on the 4th(D) string), and plucking the string
just below the neck pickup pole pieces (maybe 1/8" toward the bridge from the
pole pieces). With luck the artificial harmonic will ring, but if not don't despair.
The position of the plucking along the length of the string is one of the most
important parts of this technique. While with regular picking the position of the
picking along the string can make slight variations in the sound of the note,
when executing pinch harmonics the right position is vital and tiny positional
differences can make entirely different harmonics. So try adjusting the picking
hand just millimeters up and down the string around the area of the pickups.
Try imagining the pick and your picking thumb plucking the string at the
same time although the thumb is really just brushing past it. Consider it to be
really one motion. Try thinking of your thumb and the pick as one entity and
instead of picking straight down, pick down and a little bit(millimeters) out away
from the face of the guitar so your picking motion is a sort of 'letter J' out from
the face of the guitar and so the thumb brushes past the string and remember
that the thumb should only touch the string for an instant just like the pick does.
This technique requires practice. Try executing pinch harmonics while

fretting different notes and by striking the string in slightly different places all
around the pickup area of the guitar. Many kinds of harmonic ringing sounds
may be produced.
54 | Guitar
Harmonics
Without a pick, this technique may be simulated by plucking the string with
the fingertip and lightly touching it with the fingernail, but this is even trickier
and not very useful in practice.
These harmonics, as opposed to natural harmonics, end up being much more

practical to use while playing and when mastered can be used boldly like Zakk
Wylde making the harmonic part of the riff, or subtly and possibly unintentionally
to add color and character to the notes or chords while playing almost anything.
Pinch harmonics can easily and effectively be combined with other

techniques, such as bending or vibrato.
To hear pinch harmonics in action check out the following:
• Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzmosis(and several other albums) features many

different examples of pinched harmonics in various solos.
• In the movie Rock Star at the beginning, the lead guitarist in Blood
Pollution (the Steel Dragon cover band) is "not hitting the squeal". The
squeal they're speaking of is a pinch harmonic.
• One of the best examples of a bend and a pinch harmonic is Judas
Priest's Lochness off the album Angel of Retribution at about 1:10.
• In System of a Down's hit song BYOB it is the first bend in the chorus
(Every bodys going to the party) part. It is the only PH in the song, so listen
carefully
Don't despair if you can't get harmonics as clear as Judas Priest or Zakk
Wylde, they've got equipment made just for making sounds like that. They both
have expensive high gain amplifiers and their guitars are equipped with pickups
that are naturally very good at pinch harmonics. Some pickups amplify pinch
harmonics better than others (some pickups hardly amplify them at all). Judas
Priest and Zakk Wylde both play guitars with EMG humbuckers, which are some
of the hottest pickups and some of the best at amplifying pinch harmonics. Hot
pickups(EMG, Duncan JB, Duncan Live Wire, Bill Lawrence 500XL, etc.) do an
excellent job of picking up pinch harmonics. Once you've practiced at home, ask
to try out a guitar with "hot pickups" and a "high gain" amplifier at the local
guitar shop if you want a taste(warning: it's easy to get spoiled/hooked!).
Tapped harmonics
This technique, like tapping itself, was popularized by Eddie van Halen.
Tapped harmonics are an extension of the tapping technique. The note is fretted
as usual, but instead of striking the string, the string is tapped at one of the frets
listed in the natural harmonic list. Do not hold the string down with the tapping
hand, just bounce the finger lightly on and off the fret. This technique can be
extended by fretting a note, then tapping relative to the fretted note. For
instance, hold the third fret, and tap the fifteenth fret, for the twelfth fret
harmonic, because 12+3=15.
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Chapter 18
Other techniques
A final technique is a sort of combination between the natural and tapped
harmonic techniques. Fret the note normally, and place the picking hand index
finger on a natural harmonic relative to the fretted note (just as in tapped
harmonics). Pluck the string with another finger and release the index finger,
just as if producing a natural harmonic.
• Ditch the Guitar Pick
56 | Guitar
Muting and Raking
19 M UTING AND R AKING

Muting
M uting a string is simple: with the fretting hand, touch the string with a
finger, but do not press it down, and strike the string. It is usually best to
do this where a harmonic will not result, but strings can be muted at harmonics
for special effect. In tablature, muted notes are marked with an "x" instead of a
fret number.
Palm muting
Palm muting may or may not make the pitch of the string discernable. Very
lightly rest the palm of the hand on or near the bridge, then fret and strike
strings normally. Palm-muted notes are sometimes notated the same way as
muted notes when the pitch is not discernable; otherwise fret numbers are given
normally and the muted notes are marked "P.M." in tablature.
The Palm Muting Technique
The idea is not to mute the strings, but to dampen them, so that the notes are
still clear, but with less sustain. To start, hold your guitar like you normally
would, but let your palm brush against the strings, near the bridge. Remember to
"let" the strings brush against your palm, not putting any force on the strings.
The closer to the bridge, the more forgiving it is. As you get better, try adjusting
the amount of muting by keeping your palm at different distances from the
bridge.
Raking
Raking is not a kind of muting, but a technique for applying it. It is vaguely
related to sweep picking, but instead of an arpeggio, the result is usually a single
percussive-sounding note. (However, sweep picking is sometimes incorrectly
notated as a rake in tablature, and sloppy sweep picking may accidentally
become a rake.) Between two and four strings are struck, only one containing
the desired note and the rest muted. Rakes may be notated in various ways; the
most common way is to add muted grace notes, possibly adding the word "rake"
to the tablature for clarification.
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Chapter 20
20 B ENDING AND V IBRATO

B ending and vibrato are two related effects which help give extra "life" to
notes, especially sustained notes, by changing their pitch. The techniques
are not commonly used on the acoustic guitar or general rhythm playing.
However, they are extremely important to many styles involving distorted guitar,
e.g., rock or metal, even when playing rhythm (though, in that case, bends and
vibratos are usually embellishments). Bending or an equivalent effect is not
possible on all instruments; the piano, for example, cannot have notes that
change in pitch. This is one reason why it is important to know how to bend:
because you can!
Bending
Bending is exactly as it sounds: bending the string to the side by pushing it
(towards the sixth string) or pulling it (towards the first string), often while a
fretted note is ringing. The first three strings are normally pushed, and the
others are normally pulled. This is particularly important on the first and sixth
strings, as you do not want the string to fall off the fretboard. Whether the string
is pushed or pulled, the note will be raised in pitch.
Many aspiring guitarists cannot bend properly. The sound of a bend is more
important than how it is actually executed or how it looks, but a bad bending
technique usually leads to a bad sound. Your favorite guitarist might bend using
just his or her fingertips and you might be inclined to copy this — don't! Your
hands can sound every bit as good as your hero's without copying his or her
technique. There are two keys to bending properly: proper thumb positioning,
and bending with the proper muscles. Do not keep your thumb behind the neck,
where it usually is, but bring it up perpendicular to the neck (a position that is
normally incorrect, but not in the case of bending). Keep the fingers firm. Do not
bend your fingers, but push or pull with your forearm. You will hardly see your
forearm move, possibly just see a couple of muscles flex. It will feel awkward at
first, but if you can bend with the thumb in the proper position and without
bending the fingers, you are probably doing it correctly.
Many guitarists will have trouble bending more than 1/4 step (half a
semitone) or perhaps 1/2 step (one semitone) with only one finger, especially on
frets close to the nut and on the thinner strings. It is much easier to bend with
more than one finger, for instance, with the index finger on the first or second
fret and the ring finger on the third, and pushing or pulling with both fingers in
order to bend at the third fret. More fingers may be used if this is not enough. It
should be possible to bend at least a full step (the pitch difference of two frets)
this way.
58 | Guitar
Bending and Vibrato
Pre-bending
Bending, whether by pushing or pulling the string, raises the tension in the
vibrating portion of the string, and thus always raises the pitch of the note. This
means it is easier to slide up rather than down in pitch. To create the impression
of bending down, the guitarist uses a technique called pre-bending, that is,
bending before the string is struck, then releasing the bend (either gradually or
quickly, depending on the intended effect).
Bend and release

The ideas of bending and pre-bending can be combined for a "bend and
release", that is, striking a note, bending it up, then releasing it as you would
with a pre-bend. This will often be perceived as a "bounce" in pitch, especially if
played quickly. The reverse is also possible: pre-bend, release, and bend.
Repeatedly and steadily bending and releasing is called vibrato.
Vibrato
Players of many instruments, including the human voice, use vibrato to help
add expression to sustained notes. Vibrato is performed by rapidly bending the
string back and forth, causing a modulation in pitch; therefore, all of the
information above about bending applies here. A small, subtle vibrato might not
require the assistance of other fingers; the fretting finger should be sufficient.
The vibrato bar

The effects of bending and vibrato can be produced in a completely different
way by manipulating the guitar's vibrato bar (often called a tremolo bar after Leo
Fender misnamed it) if the guitar has one. However, using the vibrato as a
substitute for fretting-hand bending is not good practice; it is best used for very
heavy bends or vibratos. It is more difficult to be subtle with a vibrato bar, and it
is usually a bit out of the way for the picking hand to reach, making it harder to
use. In short, while in some cases which style of bending or vibrato is used is a
matter of taste, the two techniques are not interchangeable and are used for
different effects.
Bass Runs
Bass runs are particularly nice sounding. For example if one wants to change
from a C chord to an Am chord, they could do a nifty bass run.
--C chord-- --Am Chord--
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Chapter 20
E A D G B E E A D G B E E A D G B E
=========== ==> =========== ==> ===========
| 3 2 | 1 | | 2 2 | 1 | | | 2 2 1 |
60 | Guitar
Tremolo Picking
21 T REMOLO P ICKING
What is Tremolo Picking?
T remolo means a modulation in volume; in the context of stringed

instruments, usually refers to repeatedly striking or bowing a single string in
a steady rhythm, especially the fastest rhythm the player can maintain. (This
technique is particularly common on the acoustic mandolin.) In guitar literature,
this is called tremolo picking, and one of the few places the term "tremolo" is
consistently used "correctly" in guitar literature (whose convention usually
reverses tremolo and vibrato). This technique has nothing to do with a "tremolo
bar" (really a vibrato bar) or a "tremolo" effects box.
How to hold the Pick

Tremolo picking, though appearing hard at first, is actually quite easy. It is
merely alternate picking at a faster speed. To start off, a pick makes tremolo
picking much easier and is highly recommended when attempting it, but even
though most people find tremolo picking much easier with a pick, it is possible
without a pick. The best way to hold your pick is between your thumb and the
side of the first knuckle of your pointing finger, but if you feel more comfortable
holding it another way, such as with your thumb and middle finger then go
ahead.
Grip
An important aspect of tremolo picking that many beginners fail to realise is
that you must have a relaxed grip on the pick, as when you try to pick when
holding the pick tensely, you will find that the pick hits the string harder
therefore making it harder to pass through the string, causing it to sound sloppy.
Maintaining a relaxed grip becomes harder when playing faster, but you will get
used to it.
Things to Remember
When tremolo picking make sure you use your whole forearm and not just
your wrist, as this will make it much easier to pass through the string. Also,
when you pick the string, make sure your hand doesn't go to far away from it, as
this will slow you down. The impact from hitting the string usually forces your
hand to leave the string, but after practice, avoiding this will become easier.
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Chapter 21
62 | Guitar
Arpeggios and Sweep Picking
22 A RPEGGIOS AND S WEEP P ICKING

T he word arpeggio (ar-peh-jee-oh) is Italian for, roughly, "like a harp", as it is

a common technique for playing chords on the harp. To play an arpeggiated
chord on the guitar, simply strum or pick the chord slowly, one string at a time,
such that the ringing of each string is distinct. Arpeggios occur in all kinds of
music, from classical to metal.
Sweep picking is a more specialized technique, occurring most often in

metal. It involves playing a fast arpeggio with a special technique: when
switching from one string to the next, mute the note currently ringing by lifting
the fretting finger. A sweep can become a rake if notes are muted incorrectly.
Rakes can sound nice, but they are not sweeps. Remember only 1 note can ring
out at a time or it won't sound good. It takes practice and it helps to start slow
and build up speed.
Below is example tablature of sweep picking:
This is not the only way to notate sweeps. Small sweeps can be indicated with
grace notes or even the arpeggio notation with the word "sweep" (or, less
correctly, "rake") written above.
In a more classical approach, arpeggios must follow a distinct pattern of

notes depending on the chord/scale we're playing. This is similar to playing
chords note-by-note on a piano (not on a guitar).
The basic chords (the major and minor triads) are composed of three tones:
the first, the third and the fifth note of the scale (major or minor, depending on
the chord type).
For instance, the C major scale is: C D E F G A B. So, according to the 1-3-5
principle, the C major triad consists of C, E and G. Note that the C major chord
on a guitar also consists only of these three notes but they are not always in the
1-3-5 order. Now, while playing "classical arpeggios", you would not just pick
around the chord randomly but you would play C, E, G, then C, E, G an octave
higher, etc. This is what is called an arpeggio scale. You can play around it, up
and down with complete freedom or just use the 1-3-5 pattern as a bass line. This
method can also be used with more complex chords (sus4, maj7, etc.) but then it
follows a pattern different from 1-3-5 structure, depending on the chord type. In
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Chapter 22
all, this is a very simple but effective method for composing.
While playing guitar, this might not appear as interesting as picking "full" six-
string chords but it can be used to give your music a classical edge. It also has a
more lead quality to it than using full chords and requires more skill. Playing fast
arpeggios like these is sometimes used in metal music with very satisfactory
results. The "classical arpeggios" are in no way better than the "harp like chords"
and it is ultimately up to the player/composer to choose what is best for the song
in question.
64 | Guitar
Slide Guitar
23 S LIDE G UITAR
A slide is a metal/glass/ceramic tube which fits over a finger (most commonly

the ring finger or little finger, but any will work). If you wish to experiment
with slide guitar, but do not have a slide, objects ranging from lighters and glass
bottles to sections of metal pipe and batteries can work just as well, and in some
cases provide entertainment and stage presence to a performance. Do not press
the string down. The slide rests on the string, not enough to give fret buzz, but
enough to stop the string buzzing against the slide. Some players will lightly
deaden the string behind the slide with a trailing finger to stop any unwanted
vibrations.
Practice getting a crisp note without sliding first. Because the slide rests on
the strings, the slide playing a single note should be directly above the fret, not
behind it as with the fingers. Usually the slide guitarist keeps the slide moving
backwards and forwards slightly at all times.
A common technique found in slide guitar is playing fingerstyle as opposed to

the use of a pick or plectrum. The benefits of fingerstyle playing includes the
ability to more easily pick the desired strings, while using the other fingers to
dampen the other strings from undesired vibration.
Slide guitar is often played in open chord tunings, Open G and Open D being
the most common, but playing slide in standard tuning can add a new dimension
to your playing.
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Chapter 24
24 L EAD G UITAR AND R HYTHM G UITAR

L ead guitar and rhythm guitar are mildly confusing terms, especially to the
beginner. Of course, a guitar should almost always follow some sort of
rhythm, whether loose or tight. And many times guitars are very prominent, like
a lead part, but still not really a lead. And sometimes the lead guitar doesn't even
play a lead part! How to untangle this mess?
The distinction is somewhat arbitrary. Many bands in contemporary music

feature two guitarists. The Beatles are a particularly famous example. The sort of
contribution to the band's sound they make are usually fundamentally different.
Leads are characterized partly by guitar solos: any guitar playing a solo is a lead.
Perhaps a more accurate description is a lead part contributes more to melody
than to accompaniment, having few or no chords but still following a chord
structure. However, the distinction gets fuzzy as often a lead player will add
some chords, and in some cases a guitar part may double as melody and
accompaniment (especially power-chord riffs, commonly found in rock and
metal).
In bands with two guitarists, usually one would specialize in "lead" and the
other in "rhythm". Some bands feature a single guitarist who can act as either, by
either assuming one role at a time or, in a recording studio, overdubbing a lead
track over a rhythm track. For example, the band Dire Straits has been in both
situations: in the early days, David Knopfler played rhythm while Mark Knopfler
played lead. Then David left, and Mark usually played both parts on studio
albums, while hiring another guitarist to play rhythm for live shows. Some
guitarists reached such technical proficiency, that they were able to play both
parts "simultaneously". A famous example of this techinique is Jimi Hendrix,
particularly on songs such as Little Wing or Voodoo Child (Slight Return).
Another explanation of the difference between lead guitar and rhythm guitar
is that they are two different parts of a band that happen to be played by the
same instrument. That is, rhythm guitar is part of the underlying rhythm section
(bass, drums, and [at times] piano, for example), while lead guitar is a solo voice
like vocals (lead), piano (lead), etc.
Lead guitar
Very often, a lead guitar part is played by an electric guitar with moderate to
heavy distortion. For this reason, many amplifier manufacturers refer to their
distortion channel as a lead channel. The more powerful sustain is one reason
why, as with shredding and tapping, techniques typical of guitar solos tend to
come out much more cleanly. Bending and vibrato tend to be employed,
sometimes heavily or with great emphasis, to shape the musicality of a lead
guitar part. Of course, many of these ideas may still be transferred to acoustic
66 | Guitar
Lead Guitar and Rhythm Guitar
guitar.
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is characterized by sounding "chordy," that is, playing mostly
chords in patterns. It can just as easily be electric or acoustic, clean or distorted.
Technique is less about expressiveness of individual notes, but about choosing
good chords or chord voicings that enrich the overall sound, which may add its
own expressive tone to the music.
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Chapter 25
25 L EARNING S ONGS
Y ou can learn songs easily if you have sheet music for the song you are trying
to learn (e.g., tab books, PowerTabs,Guitar Pro). At first, you have to figure
out the parts you want to play (rhythm guitar or lead guitar), then try playing the
song part by part. When learning a song, it is recommended that you have a
drum-machine or metronome in order to remain within rhythm.
If the song is too fast, play it with a slower tempo — extremely slow if need
be. When you can play it flawlessly, increase the tempo until you begin to
stumble. Repeat until you can play the song at a rate you are content with.
Songs can also be learned "by ear", with no sheet music. This can be done in
a variety of ways, for instance first transcribing the sheet music for yourself, or
by simply picking up the instrument and trying to match what is played.
Knowledge of music theory is particularly helpful for this method.
A program such as GuitarVision (Pay) or a site such as ActionTab.com will

allow you to play along with an on-screen guitar fretboard. The fretboard shows
you where to place your fingers while a MIDI file of the song plays.
There are many free song tabs as well as beginner guitar lessons at
ilearnmusic.com
68 | Guitar
Writing Songs
26 W RITING S ONGS
W here the songwriter is also a guitar player, or even a multi talented player
of several instruments, it is worth the effort to first invent a melody form
with a string or chord sequence around which your song will be focused. Song
writing for the popular vote requires a 'hook' as it is known. The hook may be
simply a melodic structure, but is perhaps preferably a mix of the melody
coupled with a clever line of words.
For instance, in the well known 'Danny Boy' or 'Derry Air' as it is sometimes
called, the 'hook' is found where the melody appears to try to surge forward into
the chorus and the words "But come ye back" accompany that surge in chord
progression.
The reverse process, putting music to words, is a lot more difficult and is also
less successful in most formats.
But there are certain cases where putting music to words is a better option...
for instance, a rhyming poem or free verse with a regular meter can easily be
made a song. Basic chords lend themselves well, the I - IV - V progression and iv
- IV - V - I chords work.
For more details, read Writing Effective Songs.
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Chapter 27
27 I MPROVISING
I mprovisation, or improv, boils down to having a basic knowledge of music

theory and some moderate amount of talent or skill. Musicians often have jam
sessions where friends play anything that tickles their fancy. It can be done in
any situation, but for our purposes we will consider mostly the context of
improvisation within a jam session.
Improvising 101
Since the guitar is a fretted string instrument it is possible to play either
single ("lead") notes or chords ("rhythm") on it.
There is also a basic approach to improvising which is more simple than

playing over a chord accompaniment. It also predates Western tuning systems
and chords. It is produced by playing a moving melody on one higher-pitched
string, while leaving a lower note ringing on another "open", or lower-pitched
(unfretted) string. The static bass note is referred to as a "pedal tone". The lower
note drones or stays the same and the upper note moves, creating both simple
harmonic and melodic motion. Traditional instruments which have fewer strings
and a smaller range than the guitar use this technique. It can be heard in many
musical styles in both Eastern and Western musical traditions including those
with guitar.
This technique can be found both within Western tuning systems which use
12 semitones per octave as well as beyond in more complex Eastern tuning
systems. Therefore before attempting to improvise a solo over a chord
progression or a series of chords in a particular key, it is useful to practice
playing simple melodies on one (upper) string to familiarize your ear with the
intervals, or distances between those fretted notes and a static open, un-fretted
(lower) string below it which is sounding simultaneously. Another advantage of
this is that with each pair of notes you play, different intervals are sounded. Your
ear begins to detect these and this is a basic form of ear training.
Staying in the right key

Suppose you are playing in a jam session as a lead guitarist and are playing
with a rhythm guitarist. When playing with two guitars that are improvising you
will have your rhythm guitarist play a set run in a certain key. For example, the
rhythm guitarist might be playing a three chord blues riff in the key of B minor.
You can often figure out the key that is being played by ear based on the first
chord played. If you were to play a small solo, you should stick to a B minor scale
such as the B minor blues scale. Any style of scale — modal, pentatonic, etc. —
can be used and each one will give a different flavor to your improvisation. For
70 | Guitar
Improvising
example, the Phrygian mode has traditionally been the "Spanish scale".
Listen
The key to improvisation is to listen to the interplay of the rest of the
instruments, and to add to that whatever sounds best. This is, unfortunately, a
very neglected practice among beginning musicians, and, really, musicians of all
stripes in general.
A common tendency, especially among those who have just begun to get a
solid foundation in scale theory and technique, is to noodle around aimlessly on
the fretboard with little or no regard for the shape of the song that is being
played or the structure of the arrangement. This is a mistake, and it leads to
music that no one wants to listen to; worse yet, it does nothing to develop the
musician who plays it.
Listen to the music that is being played around you. Add to it only when it is
necessary. You should begin to hear the lines that you want to play before you
play them. What you are shooting for here is something akin to the old koan
about sculpting: the figure is already in the marble, and you are just trying to
release it.
It is also important to make sure that you do not take up too much "space" in
the arrangement, which is to say, do not play so loudly that other instruments
must fight to be heard. This is especially a problem for rhythm guitarists in jam
sessions, who must be careful not to drown out soloists.
Well-known Improv Bands

• The Grateful Dead
• Throbbing Gristle
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• Led Zeppelin
• King Crimson
• Can (band)
• Phish
• moe.
• Particle
• The Disco Biscuits
• Widespread Panic
• Cream
• Dave Matthews Band
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Chapter 27
External Link
• Musical improvisation
72 | Guitar
How to Continue Learning
28 H OW TO C ONTINUE L EARNING
• Watch others play. Notice what they have to pay attention to and what
seems like magic.
• Practice arbitrary scale runs. Go up and or down 3 or 4 notes and then
move up the scale with the same interval.
• Jam up with friends who are better than you as frequently as possible
• Get some friends along who are at the same skill level and form a band
of your own
• Play some serious air-guitar. This will make you think about where your
hands would be positioned when playing the notes, as well as giving you a
chance to develop your stage presence, without having to focus on
technique.
• Listen to your favorite music and try to envision what the guitarist is
doing to make the notes come out as they do.
• Listen to different music. It may open your mind to techniques and
phrasing you never imagined using before. It may also expand your musical
library. Pick any genre you're not familiar with. Get a feel for the timing
and note choice. Into classical? Try bluegrass. Headbanger? Pick up some
jazz or blues. Then move on to your hero's heros. Find out what musical
influences got Jimmy, Jimi, B.B., or C.C. primed for stardom.
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Chapter 29
29 H ARMONICA AND G UITAR C OMBO

A common and novel way of playing harmonica is through self-accompaniment

with a guitar. Whether this sounds good is often up to debate, but if done
properly, will definitely provide entertainment to both the ears and the eyes.
Obviously, to play both instruments, one would need a way to hold a

harmonica while the hands chord and strum the guitar. This is done by the
harmonica holder, which goes around the neck, allowing the harmonica to be
always in front of your mouth. However, there are a few things to keep in mind
of:
• Instead of moving the hamronica as proper, you will now move the head
in order to play the proper notes. Thus, the movements will be more
awkward, and often slower.
• Hand-related effects, such as hand vibrato, will be unavailable. Also,
due to the lack of hands, there will be no additional resonance from the
cupped hands.
Furthermore, since one is actually multitasking, it's best to know how to play
both instruments individually very well, in order to spend less time on thinking
each notes and chords.
Like playing the blues, the harmonica will usually be played on 2nd position
(of course one can try other positions). Often, the guitar provide the chord, while
the harmonica provide the melody notes. This is because guitar usually have a
much lower octave range than the harmonica; furthermore, guitar can play any
notes (and thus chords) it wants. Harmonica, being on higher ranges, penerate
better than guitar's sound, making it better for melody. Still, this should not
forbid one to inverse the role, as long as it sound pleasing
It is possible to play chromatic harmonicas with a guitar. This can be done

with the following:
•Valved Diatonic or XB-40

• Tombo S-50. Problem is that this is difficult to find in North America.
• Take off the mouthpiece of a straight tuned chromatic harp. However,
one may need to make sure the body's edge is smooth
• Use the handless chromatic; essentially a special mouthpiece that move
up and down between the rows, controlled by the movement of the head.
74 | Guitar
Alternate Tunings
30 A LTERNATE T UNINGS
M any guitar players use different tunings apart from the standard tuning.
Use of nonstandard tunings is rare in classical guitar, but less rare in blues
guitar. They are common enough, and their tonal effects interesting enough, that
casual and serious guitarists alike may want to try them out.
Most alternate tunings involve downtuning ("dropping") strings. Uptuning the

strings is less common, partly because it increases tension on the neck. Strings
can even snap if tuned up too high!
A few bands, especially Sonic Youth, are noted for rarely or never using
standard tuning.
Dropped D (DADGBE)
The most common alternate tuning is the dropped D (or "drop D") tuning. The
lower E string is tuned down to a D. This tuning allows one to play power chords
on the fourth, fifth and sixth strings with only one finger, and of course allows for
lower bass notes. Used commonly in heavy metal, but also in nearly every other
form of guitar music.
Double Dropped D (DADGBD)

Similar to Dropped D above, for this tuning just drop both 'E' strings a full
tone. Neil Young often tunes his guitars this way.
Open D (DADF#AD)
Open D, like all open tunings, produces a major chord (in this case, D major)
when all strings are strummed. Drop the sixth, first, and second strings down
two semitones, and the third string one semitone. It is also called "DAD-fad" after
its notes. Uses the same chord shapes as Open E but is easier on a guitar neck as
the strings are detuned lessening the tension.
Chord shapes in Open D
Here are some handy chord shapes:
G/D: (020120) Em7/D: (022120)
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Chapter 30
DADGAD
DADGAD (pronounced as a word: "DAD-gad"), one of the most versatile
tunings, is named after the tuning of its strings. The sixth, second, and first
strings are dropped two semitones to D, A, and D. Strumming all the strings open
forms a Dsus4 chord; fretting the second fret of the third string (or muting the
third string) produces a D5 chord, or D power chord. Most songs for DADGAD
are in D major, or in G major with a capo at the fifth fret.
Open E (EBEG#BE)
Used by Cat Stevens and a popular choice for slide guitarists. Strumming in
the open position yields a Emajor chord. You can easily play any chord by barring
across the neck at different fret positions. This does however have some
disadvantages; mainly that it is slightly more difficult to play minor chords. Some
artists overcome this by tuning to EBEGBE. This allows both minor and major
chords to be played easily. Because tightening the strings more than is intended
can break the strings or put unneeded stress on the neck, many players opt to
tune in Open D and put a capo on the second fret; the result is the same.
Open G (DGDGBD)
Another common open chord tuning - popular with slide guitarists. Tune the
1st and 6th strings down to D, and the 5th string to G. Keith Richards uses this
tuning extensively after 1968. (See Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women, Start Me
Up) He also removes the bottom 1st string because the root of the chord is on
the 2nd string in Open G. Sometimes referred to as "Spanish Tuning".
Chord Shapes
Uses the same chord shapes as Open A. C/D: (002010)
FA#D#G#CC
The tuning used probably exclusively by Placebo. It suits singers with a
higher-than-average voice.
More information
Alternate Tuning Guide for Contemporary Folk Music
76 | Guitar
Adjusting the Guitar
31 A DJUSTING THE G UITAR

M any beginning or even intermediate guitarists are unaware that their guitar
should be "set up". The adjustments described in the adjustment
subsections below (along with restringing and tuning) are called a "set up".
What difference does a set up make?

When a guitar is set up properly:
• the guitar will feel and sound its best

• all the strings will sound with exactly the notes they are supposed to
• all notes will sound correct when played at each fret up and down the
neck
• the guitar will be as easy as possible to play
• strings will break less frequently.
If a guitar plays easily and sounds its best then it's easy for the player to feel
successful.
When a guitar is not set up properly:
• the guitar may not feel or sound quite right

• some notes may sound correct while some others may sound sharp or
flat
• the guitar may be difficult to play
• strings will break more often
• damage could be occurring to the instrument unbeknownst to the
player
When to Set Up?
When a guitar is brand new and fresh from the factory it may or may not have
had these adjustments done. As a rule, a guitar should be set up when first
purchased(used or new) and again when switching string gauges. Consider
getting a set up anytime the guitar sounds or feels different than it used to.
Perhaps after a guitar travels (altitude changes, pressure changes, and humidity
can affect the wood in the guitar) and just like changing oil in a car it is a good
idea to get a set up every now and then for maintenance purposes (perhaps twice
a year).
Poor set up may be obvious to a player or it might not. In some cases the
guitar may be unplayable because it hasn't been set up. A maladjusted guitar can
cause strange quirks, for instance frets near the bottom of the neck being too
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Chapter 31
sharp, or can even cause damage (e.g., by using .012 gauge strings on a nut
designed for .009 strings, and the tension messes up the nut), and it can easily
frustrate the player when their playing is perfectly correct yet things still don't
sound right.
In particular if your guitar ever becomes difficult for you to play, a set up will
probably help.
It is not absolutely required to set up a guitar, but it is nonetheless a good

idea, especially if the guitar is to be taken to the stage. Some people never get
their guitar set up. Some get their guitar set up even when nothing previously
seemed wrong with it, then find such a dramatic change in the guitar's
playability and sound that they wish they had set it up sooner.
How to get a Set Up
These adjustments should generally be done by a professional, qualified

repair person. They require precision instruments, some hard to find tools, a
steady hand, quite a bit of time and know-how.
Virtually all musical instrument stores will be able to perform a professional

set up. Some will do the job better than others. Call a local music store and ask
them "Do you do set ups for electric (or acoustic) guitars and how much would
you charge?". Getting a set up will probably cost from $30 to $75 USD.
Adjustments
Adjusting action at the bridge
This is a simple adjustment that can usually be performed without

professional assistance. The bridge saddles should be lowered if the string action
is too high, that is, the strings are too far up off the fretboard. In some cases it
may be desirable to raise the saddles for a higher string action.
Most electric guitars have two small screws on the saddle which can be used
to raise or lower the saddle. Some saddles have screws that can be rotated using
the fingers; others require an allen key. Lower the saddles too much and the
strings might rattle against certain frets (this may or may not be inconsequential
on an electric guitar; listen through an amplifier). In more extreme cases,
pressing a string against one fret might actually fret the string against a
different fret, usually the one under the intended one. In both cases, filing the
frets might alleviate the problem if the saddle really should be that low.
Otherwise, simply raising the saddle a small amount on the side with the
problem should be fine.
78 | Guitar
Adjusting the Guitar
Filing frets
Filing frets should only be done by a qualified repair person and only to
correct problems with frets buzzing or strings being presssed at the wrong fret
(see "adjusting action at the bridge", above).
Filing the nut
Filing the nut should only be done by a qualified repair person and is used to
reduce pressure at the nut to allow a heavier gauge of strings to be used. It may
not be necessary if the new strings are detuned lower (e.g., when switching from
.009's to .010's, the nut will need no adjustment if the guitar is tuned to Eb-Ab-
Db-Gb-Bb-Eb instead of E-A-D-G-B-E).
Neck/truss rod adjustment
This particular adjustment has been known to ruin guitars when performed
incorrectly, so here referral to a professional repair person is highly
recommended. A guitar will need a truss rod adjustment if the neck is not
straight. One way to check the straightness of the neck is to play 12th and 19th
harmonics on the low and high strings. After sounding each harmonic, fret the
note there and play it again: it should be exactly the same pitch. If it is not, the
neck may be in need of adjustment. However, this may be indicative of an
intonation problem as well, which can be fixed without the aid of a repair person;
see below. If adjusting the intonation does nothing for you, give the guitar to a
repair person.
Adjusting intonation
You may notice each string on the bridge sits in a "saddle". Depending on
your setup, you might notice the saddles may be in different positions: some
might be pushed forward and others might be pushed back, sometimes slightly.
The positioning of the saddle effectively changes the length of the vibrating
string. Tune the guitar to concert pitch with the aid of an electronic tuner,
making sure the open strings are perfectly in tune. Play the 9th and 12th fret
harmonics, then play the fretted notes. If the fretted notes are sharp, the string
is too short and the saddle needs to be pushed back toward the base of the
bridge. If the note is flat, the string is too long and the saddle needs to be pushed
up toward the nut. Repeat this procedure for each string. Adjusting the
intonation should be done every few months or at least twice a year.
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Chapter 32
32 S TRINGING THE G UITAR

A side from the physical shape of the guitar body, strings are the most
important thing for determining the sound of a guitar. New strings sound
bright and full, while old strings tend to sound dull and dead. Many guitarists
believe that strings should be changed regularly, not just when they break. This
is because sweat and dirt corrode the strings, and over time this degrades their
sound quality. Other guitarists believe that new strings sound much worse than
old ones, feeling that a string's tonal quality only improves over time. Individual
string quality may vary drastically from string to string.
When one breaks a string, all of the strings should be changed at once. This
is especially true if the newer string is of a different brand or gauge. The string's
manufacturing process, thickness and age all affect its tone, and one new string
being played with a bunch of old strings can make your guitar sound strange.
Players should be advised that guitars are usually set up for a particular gauge of
string. The guitar will still function fine with a different gauge of strings,
however for optimal sound, the guitar may need to be adjusted. See the chapter
on adjusting the guitar for more details.
Because there are several different types of guitar, and each type is designed
differently, each type has its own method of stringing.
Different Types of Strings

Each type of guitar uses its own type of strings. Strings are specifically
designed for a type of guitar to give it a particular sort of sound. The differences
between string types affect the guitar's tone, and it is not recommended to use a
set of strings not made for your guitar. Not only would the result not sound good,
but attempting to string a guitar with the wrong kind of strings would be both
difficult and frustrating. In some cases, it may even damage the instrument.
The most common type of guitar is the six string acoustic. A set of acoustic
strings has four bronze wound strings and two silvered steel strings, the steel
ones being the thinnest and highest pitched. A twelve string acoustic has the
same set of strings as a six string acoustic, but there are also six other silvered
steel strings. A classical guitar has three bronze wound strings and three strings
made out of nylon, which are the higher pitched. An electric guitar's strings are
similar to an acoustic guitar's, except the strings are made of nickel instead of
bronze and steel. There are four wound strings and two nickel strings.
Gauges and Brands of Strings

The two most common gauges for the high E string in electric guitars are
80 | Guitar
Stringing the Guitar
.009 inches and .010 inches (these measurements appear to be used often even
in countries using the metric system). Often a whole set of strings is referred to
by the gauge of the high E string, e.g., "nines" or "tens" for .009 and .010 gauges
respectively. The beginning guitarist is recommended to start with .009s; many
professionals also use this gauge, so many guitarists never "outgrow" it.
Three of the best and most popular brands of guitar strings for both acoustic
and electric guitar are currently Ernie Ball, D'Addario, and Elixir. Ernie Balls and
D'Addarios are much cheaper than Elixirs, but Elixirs will keep their bright tone
for months (which is why they are higher-priced). But Elixirs can break as easily
as any other strings, so they are perhaps best left to people who have been
playing a long time and rarely snap strings. The difference between the other
two brands is a matter of taste; try them both.
Stringing Acoustics
Twelve String Acoustic
It has the same principal to the sixth string. But every two strings were tuned
with the same sound *(RDT)
Classical Guitar
To unstring a classical guitar one method is:
Loosen the string by turning the tuning peg, then at the bridge push the
string back into the hole a little, this will loosen the "knot" enough to unknot and
pull the string out of the hole. Then feed the string around the peg loop by loop
until the last hoop which is inserted through the hole in the peg is available,
push the string out of the loop, then pull the loop out of the hole.
To string a classical guitar one method is:
Reverse of the unstringing. Bend about an inch of string at one end to form
an open loop, push that through the peg hole, wrap the other end of the string
around the peg and through the loop, then pass it down the guitar body to the
bridge and into the hole there. Loop back to the neck (about two or three inches)
and twist back around the string, then you can put two or three twists in which
should end up on top of the bridge, pull the string from the middle of the guitar
to draw the twists taut. Then wind the peg to tighten the string. You should take
it easy when tuning up for the first time to give the string time to "settle in", you
may also find that the string may go out of tune easily for a day or two as it beds
in.
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Chapter 32
Stringing Electrics
The first thing you need to do when stringing an electric guitar is to take off
the old strings. To do this, turn the tuning peg to decrease tension, until the
string is completely unwound from the peg. In most cases, the string is bent at
the end where it was inserted, to insure that it would stay during tuning. Unbend
the string, then pull it out of the peg hole and slide it out of the bridge at the
bottom end of the guitar. Some people string one at a time to make sure the neck
sustains tension, or they just take all of the strings off at the same time.
For the 6th string (the low E), take the string out of the package and insert
the end through the bridge of the guitar. Pull it all the way through until the ball
at the end of the string stops it from being pulled further. This is optional: Make
a kink in the string to insure that it will not slip away from the turning of the peg,
(usually about one or two inches from the peg). Wind the string around halfway
and insert the end through the hole. Pull the string to add tension, so the string
will stay around the peg during tuning. Turn the tuning peg to increase tension
until the string is around the desired pitch, to make certain it will stay on
properly. Check that the string is in the notch in the nut and the bridge, if it is
not, decrease tension on the string until you can move it into the notch, tune it
back up. Do this for the rest of your strings and you are done!
Another method:
String the low E and other strings as mentioned. Align the tuning peg's hole
with the direction of the string and slip it through the peg in the direction of the
headstock. Facing the guitar with the headstock to your right, pull the string taut
with your left hand.
With your opposite thumb and forefinger, twist the string in an "s" at the
twelfth fret so that it touches both sides of the twelfth fret. You will have to let
some of the string out to do this. This method tells you the optimum length of the
string to wind around the tuning peg.
Hold the string with your right hand below the tuning peg so that the pointy
end is sticking out the other side. Slowly tighten the peg so that the string is
winding on the INSIDE of the headstock -- inside right for E A D, and inside left
for G B E. Allow the string to wind once underneath itself, and then wrap it over
top of itself the rest of the way. Make sure you hold tight as you go so that there
is little slippage later.
If possible, hold the string with your right thumb and middle finger while
regulating the pressure on the string with your right index finger.
Tips
• Note that taking off all strings at once is not recommended if you have:
82 | Guitar
Stringing the Guitar
1. a floating tremolo system (e.g. Floyd Rose II), which can be difficult to
get the tremolo angle back to the right level when restrung;
2. a bridge which is not fixed (one that will just fall off when the strings
are removed)
• Try not to bend the string in the same place excessively otherwise the
string will break at the bend
Twelve String Electric
Online Resources
• Cyberfret's tutorial - Perhaps the most common way to string the guitar.
Covers acoustic and electric.
• Alan Horvath's tutorial - A different way to string the guitar. Covers
acoustic, electric, and classical.
• Uncle Tim's How To String A Guitar - How to string a guitar so it never
falls out of tune.
• Shredaholic's Tips For Stringing Guitars Other useful tips and
observations on stringing electric guitars.
• [1] Detailed guide to stringing an electric bass guitar
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Chapter 33
33 C HORD R EFERENCE
Open Chords
O pen chords are frequently played on acoustic guitars. They tend to sound
"richer" than corresponding barre chords. An open chord is any chord that
has one or more strings sounded without being fretted.
Open Major Chords
A Major Chord
EADGBE
x0---x
1 ......
2 ..123.
3 ......
B Major Chord
EADGBE
x--x--
1 ..x...
2 .x...x
3 ......
C Major Chord
EADGBE
x--0-0
1 ....1.
2 ..2...
3 .3....
D Major Chord
EADGBE
xx0---
1 ......
2 ...1.2
3 ....3.
E Major Chord
EADGBE
0---00
1 ...1..
2 .23...
3 ......
84 | Guitar
Chord Reference
F Major Chord
EADGBE
xx----
1 ....11
2 ...2..
3 ..3...
G Major Chord
EADGBE
--00--
1 ......
2 .1....
3 2....3
Open Minor Chords
A Minor Chord
EADGBE
x0---0
1 ....1.
2 ..23..
3 ......
B Minor Chord
EADGBE
xx----
1 ......
2 .....1
3 ....2.
4 ..34..
D Minor Chord
EADGBE
xx0---
1 .....1
2 ...2..
3 ....3.
4 ......
E Minor Chord
EADGBE
0--000
1 ......
2 .23...
3 ......
4 ......
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Chapter 33
Bar Chords
B Major Chord
EADGBE
x-----
1 ......
2 .1<---
3 ......
4 ..234.
B Minor Chord
EADGBE
x-----
1 ......
2 .1<---
3 ....2.
4 ..34..
F Major Chord
EADGBE
------
1 1<----
2 ...2..
3 .34...
4 ......
F Minor Chord
EADGBE
------
1 1<----
2 ......
3 .34...
4 ......
Chord Reference
Many of the common guitar chords are given below. The numbers indicate
the fingering fret position for each chord.
A or Amaj [0 0 2 2 2 0] (Db E A) : major triad

A or Amaj [0 4 x 2 5 0] (Db E A) : major triad
A or Amaj [5 7 7 6 5 5] (Db E A) : major triad
A or Amaj [x 0 2 2 2 0] (Db E A) : major triad
A or Amaj [x 4 7 x x 5] (Db E A) : major triad
A #5 or Aaug [x 0 3 2 2 1] (Db F A) : augmented triad
A #5 or Aaug [x 0 x 2 2 1] (Db F A) : augmented triad
A/Ab [x 0 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/B [0 0 2 4 2 0] (Db E A B) : major triad (altered bass)
A/B [x 0 7 6 0 0] (Db E A B) : major triad (altered bass)
86 | Guitar
Chord Reference
A/D [x 0 0 2 2 0] (Db D E A) : major triad (altered bass)

A/D [x x 0 2 2 0] (Db D E A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/G [3 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E G A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/G [x 0 2 0 2 0] (Db E G A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/G [x 0 2 2 2 3] (Db E G A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/Gb [0 0 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/Gb [0 x 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/Gb [2 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/Gb [x 0 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
A/Gb [x x 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
A5 or A(no 3rd) [5 7 7 x x 5] (E A): root and 5th (power chord)
A5 or A(no 3rd) [x 0 2 2 x 0] (E A) : root and 5th (power chord)
A5 or A(no 3rd) [5 7 7 x x 0] (E A) : root and 5th (power chord)
A6 [0 0 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : major triad plus 6th
A6 [0 x 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : major triad plus 6th
A6 [2 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : major triad plus 6th
A6 [x 0 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : major triad plus 6th
A6 [x x 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : major triad plus 6th
A6/7 [0 0 2 0 2 2] (Db E Gb G A) : major triad plus 6th, minor 7th
A6/7 sus or A6/7 sus4 [5 5 4 0 3 0] (D E Gb G A) : sus4 triad plus 6th, minor 7th
A6/7 sus or A6/7 sus4 [x 0 2 0 3 2] (D E Gb G A) : sus4 triad plus 6th, minor 7th
A7 or Adom 7 [3 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E G A) : major triad, minor 7th
A7 or Adom 7 [x 0 2 0 2 0] (Db E G A) : major triad, minor 7th
A7 or Adom 7 [x 0 2 2 2 3] (Db E G A) : major triad, minor 7th
A7(#5) [1 0 3 0 2 1] (Db F G A) : minor 7th, sharp 5th
A7/add11 or A7/11 [x 0 0 0 2 0] (Db D E G A) : major triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
A7sus4 [x 0 2 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
A7sus4 [5 x 0 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
A7sus4 [x 0 0 0 x 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
Aadd9 or A2 [0 0 2 4 2 0] (Db E A B) : major triad plus 9th
Aadd9 or A2 [x 0 7 6 0 0] (Db E A B) : major triad plus 9th
Aaug/D [x x 0 2 2 1] (Db D F A) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Aaug/G [1 0 3 0 2 1] (Db F G A) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Ab or Abmaj [4 6 6 5 4 4] (C Eb Ab) : major triad
Ab #5 or Abaug [x 3 2 1 1 0] (C E Ab) : augmented triad
Ab/A [x x 1 2 1 4] (C Eb Ab A) : major triad (altered bass)
Ab/F [x 8 10 8 9 8] (C Eb F Ab) : major triad (altered bass)
Ab/F [x x 1 1 1 1] (C Eb F Ab) : major triad (altered bass)
Ab/Gb [x x 1 1 1 2] (C Eb Gb Ab) : major triad (altered bass)
Ab/Gb [x x 4 5 4 4] (C Eb Gb Ab) : major triad (altered bass)
Ab5 or Ab(no 3rd)[4 6 6 x x 4] (Eb Ab): root and 5th (power chord)
Ab6 [x 8 10 8 9 8] (C Eb F Ab) : major triad plus 6th
Ab6 [x x 1 1 1 1] (C Eb F Ab) : major triad plus 6th
Ab7 or Abdom 7 [x x 1 1 1 2] (C Eb Gb Ab) : major triad, minor 7th
Ab7 or Abdom 7 [x x 4 5 4 4] (C Eb Gb Ab) : major triad, minor 7th
Abdim/E [0 2 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/E [0 2 2 1 3 0] (D E Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/E [x 2 0 1 3 0] (D E Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/E [x x 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/Eb [x x 0 4 4 4] (D Eb Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/F [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/F [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim/F [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Abdim7 [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Abdim7 [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Abdim7 [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Wikibooks | 87
Chapter 33
Abm [x x 6 4 4 4] (Eb Ab B) : minor triad

Abm/D [x x 0 4 4 4] (D Eb Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Abm/E [0 2 1 1 0 0] (Eb E Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Abm/E [0 x 6 4 4 0] (Eb E Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Abm/E [x x 1 1 0 0] (Eb E Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Abm/Gb [x x 4 4 4 4] (Eb Gb Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Abm7 [x x 4 4 4 4] (Eb Gb Ab B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Absus or Absus4 [x x 6 6 4 4] (Db Eb Ab) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Absus2/F [x 1 3 1 4 1] (Eb F Ab Bb) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Adim/Ab [x x 1 2 1 4] (C Eb Ab A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Adim/E [0 3 x 2 4 0] (C Eb E A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Adim/F [x x 1 2 1 1] (C Eb F A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Adim/F [x x 3 5 4 5] (C Eb F A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Adim/G [x x 1 2 1 3] (C Eb G A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Adim/Gb [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Adim7 [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Am [x 0 2 2 1 0] (C E A) : minor triad
Am [8 12 x x x 0] (C E A) : minor triad
Am/B [0 0 7 5 0 0] (C E A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/B [x 3 2 2 0 0] (C E A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/D [x x 0 2 1 0] (C D E A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/D [x x 0 5 5 5] (C D E A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/Eb [0 3 x 2 4 0] (C Eb E A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/F [0 0 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/F [1 3 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/F [1 x 2 2 1 0] (C E F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/F [x x 2 2 1 1] (C E F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/F [x x 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/G [0 0 2 0 1 3] (C E G A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/G [x 0 2 0 1 0] (C E G A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/Gb [x 0 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am/Gb [x x 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Am6 [x 0 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : minor triad plus 6th
Am6 [x x 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : minor triad plus 6th
Am7 [0 0 2 0 1 3] (C E G A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Am7 [x 0 2 0 1 0] (C E G A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Am7(b5) or Ao7 [x x 1 2 1 3] (C Eb G A) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Am7/add11 or Am7/11 [x 5 7 5 8 0] (C D E G A) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Amaj7 or A#7 [x 0 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab A) : major triad, major 7th
Amin/maj9 [x 0 6 5 5 7] (C E Ab A B) : minor triad, major 7th plus 9th
Asus or Asus4 [0 0 2 2 3 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Asus or Asus4 [x 0 2 2 3 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Asus or Asus4 [5 5 7 7 x 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Asus or Asus4 [x 0 0 2 3 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Asus2 or Aadd9(no3)[0 0 2 2 0 0] (E A B) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Asus2 or Aadd9(no3)[x 0 2 2 0 0] (E A B) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Asus2 or Aadd9(no3)[x x 2 2 0 0] (E A B) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Asus2/Ab [x 0 2 1 0 0] (E Ab A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/C [0 0 7 5 0 0] (C E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/C [x 3 2 2 0 0] (C E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/D [0 2 0 2 0 0] (D E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/D [x 2 0 2 3 0] (D E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
88 | Guitar
Chord Reference
Asus2/Db [0 0 2 4 2 0] (Db E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)

Asus2/Db [x 0 7 6 0 0] (Db E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/Eb [x 2 1 2 0 0] (Eb E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/F [0 0 3 2 0 0] (E F A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/G [3 x 2 2 0 0] (E G A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/G [x 0 2 0 0 0] (E G A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/G [x 0 5 4 5 0] (E G A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/Gb [x 0 4 4 0 0] (E Gb A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus2/Gb [x 2 4 2 5 2] (E Gb A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Ab [4 x 0 2 3 0] (D E Ab A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/B [0 2 0 2 0 0] (D E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Bb [0 1 x 2 3 0] (D E A Bb) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/C [x x 0 2 1 0] (C D E A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/C [x x 0 5 5 5] (C D E A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Db [x 0 0 2 2 0] (Db D E A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Db [x x 0 2 2 0] (Db D E A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/F [x x 7 7 6 0] (D E F A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/G [x 0 2 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/G [x 0 0 0 x 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [0 0 0 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [0 0 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [2 x 0 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [x 0 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [x x 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [x 5 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Asus4/Gb [x 9 7 7 x 0] (D E Gb A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
B or Bmaj [x 2 4 4 4 2] (Eb Gb B) : major triad
B #5 or Baug [3 2 1 0 0 3] (Eb G B) : augmented triad
B #5 or Baug [3 x 1 0 0 3] (Eb G B) : augmented triad
B/A [2 x 1 2 0 2] (Eb Gb A B) : major triad (altered bass)
B/A [x 0 1 2 0 2] (Eb Gb A B) : major triad (altered bass)
B/Ab [x x 4 4 4 4] (Eb Gb Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
B/E [x 2 2 4 4 2] (Eb E Gb B) : major triad (altered bass)
B/E [x x 4 4 4 0] (Eb E Gb B) : major triad (altered bass)
B5 or B(no 3rd) [7 9 9 x x 2] (Gb B): root and 5th (power chord)
B5 or B(no 3rd) [x 2 4 4 x 2] (Gb B): root and 5th (power chord)
B6 [x x 4 4 4 4] (Eb Gb Ab B) : major triad plus 6th
B7 or Bdom 7 [2 x 1 2 0 2] (Eb Gb A B) : major triad, minor 7th
B7 or Bdom 7 [x 0 1 2 0 2] (Eb Gb A B) : major triad, minor 7th
B7/add11 or B7/11 [0 0 4 4 4 0] (Eb E Gb A B) : major triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
B7/add11 or B7/11 [0 2 1 2 0 2] (Eb E Gb A B) : major triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
B7sus4 [x 0 4 4 0 0] (E Gb A B) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
B7sus4 [x 2 4 2 5 2] (E Gb A B) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
Baug/E [3 x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Baug/E [x x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Bb or Bbmaj [1 1 3 3 3 1] (D F Bb) : major triad
Bb or Bbmaj [x 1 3 3 3 1] (D F Bb) : major triad
Bb or Bbmaj [x x 0 3 3 1] (D F Bb) : major triad
Bb #5 or Bbaug [x x 0 3 3 2] (D Gb Bb) : augmented triad
Bb b5 [x x 0 3 x 0] (D E Bb) : flat 5th
Bb/A [1 1 3 2 3 1] (D F A Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Bb/Ab [x 1 3 1 3 1] (D F Ab Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Wikibooks | 89
Chapter 33
Bb/Ab [x x 3 3 3 4] (D F Ab Bb) : major triad (altered bass)

Bb/Db [x x 0 6 6 6] (Db D F Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Bb/E [x 1 3 3 3 0] (D E F Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Bb/G [3 5 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Bb/G [x x 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Bb5 or Bb(no 3rd)[6 8 8 x x 6] (F Bb): root and 5th (power chord)
Bb5 or Bb(no 3rd)[x 1 3 3 x 6] (F Bb): root and 5th (power chord)
Bb6 [3 5 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : major triad plus 6th
Bb6 [x x 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : major triad plus 6th
Bb6/add9 or Bb6/9 [x 3 3 3 3 3] (C D F G Bb) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
Bb7 or Bbdom 7 [x 1 3 1 3 1] (D F Ab Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Bb7 or Bbdom 7 [x x 3 3 3 4] (D F Ab Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Bb7sus4 [x 1 3 1 4 1] (Eb F Ab Bb) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
Bbadd#11 [x 1 3 3 3 0] (D E F Bb) : major triad, augmented 11th
Bbaug/E [2 x 4 3 3 0] (D E Gb Bb) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Bbdim/C [x 3 x 3 2 0] (C Db E Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bbdim/D [x x 0 3 2 0] (Db D E Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bbdim/G [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bbdim/G [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bbdim/Gb [2 4 2 3 2 2] (Db E Gb Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bbdim/Gb [x x 4 3 2 0] (Db E Gb Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bbdim7 [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Bbdim7 [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Bbm [1 1 3 3 2 1] (Db F Bb) : minor triad
Bbm/Ab [x 1 3 1 2 1] (Db F Ab Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bbm/D [x x 0 6 6 6] (Db D F Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bbm/Gb [x x 3 3 2 2] (Db F Gb Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bbm7 [x 1 3 1 2 1] (Db F Ab Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th
Bbmaj7 or Bb#7 [1 1 3 2 3 1] (D F A Bb) : major triad, major 7th
Bbmaj9 or Bb9(#7) [x 3 3 3 3 5] (C D F A Bb) : major triad, major 7th plus 9th
Bbsus2 or Bbadd9(no3)[x x 3 3 1 1] (C F Bb) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Bbsus2/G [x 3 5 3 6 3] (C F G Bb) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Bbsus4/Ab [x 1 3 1 4 1] (Eb F Ab Bb) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bdim/A [1 2 3 2 3 1] (D F A B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/A [x 2 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/A [x x 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/Ab [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/Ab [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/Ab [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/G [1 x 0 0 0 3] (D F G B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/G [3 2 0 0 0 1] (D F G B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim/G [x x 0 0 0 1] (D F G B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Bdim7 [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Bdim7 [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Bdim7 [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Bm [2 2 4 4 3 2] (D Gb B) : minor triad
Bm [x 2 4 4 3 2] (D Gb B) : minor triad
Bm [x x 0 4 3 2] (D Gb B) : minor triad
Bm/A [x 0 4 4 3 2] (D Gb A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bm/A [x x 0 2 0 2] (D Gb A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bm/G [2 2 0 0 0 3] (D Gb G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bm/G [x x 4 4 3 3] (D Gb G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Bm7 [x 0 4 4 3 2] (D Gb A B) : minor triad, minor 7th
90 | Guitar
Chord Reference

Bm7 [x x 0 2 0 2] (D Gb A B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Bm7(b5) or Bo7 [1 2 3 2 3 1] (D F A B) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Bm7(b5) or Bo7 [x 2 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Bm7(b5) or Bo7 [x x 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Bm7/add11 or Bm7/11 [0 0 2 4 3 2] (D E Gb A B) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Bm7/add11 or Bm7/11 [0 2 0 2 0 2] (D E Gb A B) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Bmaj7/#11 [x 2 3 3 4 2] (Eb F Gb Bb B) : major triad, major 7th, augmented 11th
Bsus or Bsus4 [7 9 9 x x 0] (E Gb B) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Bsus or Bsus4 [x 2 4 4 x 0] (E Gb B) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Bsus2 or Badd9(no3)[x 4 4 4 x 2] (Db Gb B): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Bsus2 or Badd9(no3)[x x 4 4 2 2] (Db Gb B) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Bsus2/E [x 4 4 4 x 0] (Db E Gb B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/A [x 0 4 4 0 0] (E Gb A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/A [x 2 4 2 5 2] (E Gb A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/Ab [0 2 2 1 0 2] (E Gb Ab B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/Ab [0 x 4 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/Ab [2 2 2 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/Db [x 4 4 4 x 0] (Db E Gb B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/Eb [x 2 2 4 4 2] (Eb E Gb B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/Eb [x x 4 4 4 0] (Eb E Gb B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/G [0 2 2 0 0 2] (E Gb G B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Bsus4/G [0 x 4 0 0 0] (E Gb G B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
C or Cmaj [0 3 2 0 1 0] (C E G) : major triad
C or Cmaj [3 x 2 0 1 0] (C E G) : major triad
C or Cmaj [x 3 2 0 1 0] (C E G) : major triad
C or Cmaj [x 3 5 5 5 0] (C E G) : major triad
C #5 or Caug [x 3 2 1 1 0] (C E Ab) : augmented triad
C b5 [x x 4 5 x 0] (C E Gb) : flat 5th
C/A [0 0 2 0 1 3] (C E G A) : major triad (altered bass)
C/A [x 0 2 0 1 0] (C E G A) : major triad (altered bass)
C/B [0 3 2 0 0 0] (C E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
C/B [x 2 2 0 1 0] (C E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
C/B [x 3 5 4 5 3] (C E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
C/Bb [x 3 5 3 5 3] (C E G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
C/D [3 x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : major triad (altered bass)
C/D [x 3 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : major triad (altered bass)
C/D [x x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : major triad (altered bass)
C/D [x x 0 5 5 3] (C D E G) : major triad (altered bass)
C/D [x 5 5 5 x 0] (C D E G) : major triad (altered bass)
C/F [x 3 3 0 1 0] (C E F G) : major triad (altered bass)
C/F [x x 3 0 1 0] (C E F G) : major triad (altered bass)
C5 or C(no 3rd) [x 3 5 5 x 3] (C G): root and 5th (power chord)
C6 [0 0 2 0 1 3] (C E G A) : major triad plus 6th
C6 [x 0 2 0 1 0] (C E G A) : major triad plus 6th
C6/add9 or C6/9 [x 5 7 5 8 0] (C D E G A) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
C7 or Cdom 7 [x 3 5 3 5 3] (C E G Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
C7sus4 [x 3 5 3 6 3] (C F G Bb) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
C9(b5) [0 3 x 3 3 2] (C D E Gb Bb) : diminished 5th, minor 7th, plus 9th
Wikibooks | 91
Chapter 33
Cadd9 or C2 [3 x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : major triad plus 9th

Cadd9 or C2 [x 3 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : major triad plus 9th
Cadd9 or C2 [x x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : major triad plus 9th
Cadd9 or C2 [x x 0 5 5 3] (C D E G) : major triad plus 9th
Cadd9 or C2 [x 5 5 5 x 0] (C D E G) : major triad plus 9th
Cdim/A [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Cdim/Ab [x x 1 1 1 2] (C Eb Gb Ab) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Cdim/Ab [x x 4 5 4 4] (C Eb Gb Ab) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Cdim/D [x 5 4 5 4 2] (C D Eb Gb): diminished triad (altered bass)
Cdim7 [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Cm [x 3 5 5 4 3] (C Eb G) : minor triad
Cm [x x 5 5 4 3] (C Eb G) : minor triad
Cm/A [x x 1 2 1 3] (C Eb G A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Cm/Bb [x 3 5 3 4 3] (C Eb G Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Cm6 [x x 1 2 1 3] (C Eb G A) : minor triad plus 6th
Cm7 [x 3 5 3 4 3] (C Eb G Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th
Cmaj7 or C#7 [0 3 2 0 0 0] (C E G B) : major triad, major 7th
Cmaj7 or C#7 [x 2 2 0 1 0] (C E G B) : major triad, major 7th
Cmaj7 or C#7 [x 3 5 4 5 3] (C E G B) : major triad, major 7th
Cmaj9 or C9(#7) [x 3 0 0 0 0] (C D E G B) : major triad, major 7th plus 9th
Csus or Csus4 [x 3 3 0 1 1] (C F G) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Csus or Csus4 [x x 3 0 1 1] (C F G) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Csus2 or Cadd9(no3)[x 10 12 12 13 3] (C D G): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Csus2 or Cadd9(no3)[x 5 5 5 x 3] (C D G): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Csus2 or Cadd9(no3)[x 3 0 0 3 3] (C D G) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Csus2 or Cadd9(no3)[x 3 5 5 3 3] (C D G) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Csus2/A [x 5 7 5 8 3] (C D G A): sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/A [x x 0 2 1 3] (C D G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/B [3 3 0 0 0 3] (C D G B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/B [x 3 0 0 0 3] (C D G B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/E [3 x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/E [x 3 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/E [x x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/E [x x 0 5 5 3] (C D E G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/E [x 5 5 5 x 0] (C D E G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus2/F [3 3 0 0 1 1] (C D F G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/A [3 x 3 2 1 1] (C F G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/A [x x 3 2 1 3] (C F G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/B [x 3 3 0 0 3] (C F G B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/Bb [x 3 5 3 6 3] (C F G Bb) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/D [3 3 0 0 1 1] (C D F G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/E [x 3 3 0 1 0] (C E F G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Csus4/E [x x 3 0 1 0] (C E F G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
D or Dmaj [x 5 4 2 3 2] (D Gb A): major triad
D or Dmaj [x 9 7 7 x 2] (D Gb A): major triad
D or Dmaj [2 0 0 2 3 2] (D Gb A) : major triad
D or Dmaj [x 0 0 2 3 2] (D Gb A) : major triad
D or Dmaj [x 0 4 2 3 2] (D Gb A) : major triad
D or Dmaj [x x 0 2 3 2] (D Gb A) : major triad
D or Dmaj [x x 0 7 7 5] (D Gb A) : major triad
D #5 or Daug [x x 0 3 3 2] (D Gb Bb) : augmented triad
D/B [x 0 4 4 3 2] (D Gb A B) : major triad (altered bass)
92 | Guitar
Chord Reference

D/B [x x 0 2 0 2] (D Gb A B) : major triad (altered bass)
D/C [x 5 7 5 7 2] (C D Gb A): major triad (altered bass)
D/C [x 0 0 2 1 2] (C D Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/C [x 3 x 2 3 2] (C D Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/C [x 5 7 5 7 5] (C D Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/Db [x x 0 14 14 14] (Db D Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/Db [x x 0 2 2 2] (Db D Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [0 0 0 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [0 0 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [2 x 0 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [x 0 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [x x 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [x 5 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/E [x 9 7 7 x 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad (altered bass)
D/G [5 x 4 0 3 5] (D Gb G A): major triad (altered bass)
D/G [3 x 0 2 3 2] (D Gb G A) : major triad (altered bass)
D5 or D(no 3rd) [5 5 7 7 x 5] (D A): root and 5th (power chord)
D5 or D(no 3rd) [x 0 0 2 3 5] (D A): root and 5th (power chord)
D6 [x 0 4 4 3 2] (D Gb A B) : major triad plus 6th
D6 [x x 0 2 0 2] (D Gb A B) : major triad plus 6th
D6/add9 or D6/9 [0 0 2 4 3 2] (D E Gb A B) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
D6/add9 or D6/9 [0 2 0 2 0 2] (D E Gb A B) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
D7 or Ddom 7 [x 5 7 5 7 2] (C D Gb A): major triad, minor 7th
D7 or Ddom 7 [x 0 0 2 1 2] (C D Gb A) : major triad, minor 7th
D7 or Ddom 7 [x 3 x 2 3 2] (C D Gb A) : major triad, minor 7th
D7 or Ddom 7 [x 5 7 5 7 5] (C D Gb A) : major triad, minor 7th
D7sus4 [x 5 7 5 8 3] (C D G A): sus4 triad, minor 7th
D7sus4 [x x 0 2 1 3] (C D G A) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
D9 or Ddom 9 [0 0 0 2 1 2] (C D E Gb A) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
D9 or Ddom 9 [2 x 0 2 1 0] (C D E Gb A) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
D9 or Ddom 9 [x 5 7 5 7 0] (C D E Gb A) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
D9(#5) [0 3 x 3 3 2] (C D E Gb Bb) : augmented 5th, minor 7th plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [0 0 0 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [0 0 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [2 x 0 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [x 0 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [x x 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [x 5 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Dadd9 or D2 [x 9 7 7 x 0] (D E Gb A) : major triad plus 9th
Daug/E [2 x 4 3 3 0] (D E Gb Bb) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Db or Dbmaj [4 4 6 6 6 4] (Db F Ab) : major triad
Db or Dbmaj [x 4 3 1 2 1] (Db F Ab) : major triad
Db or Dbmaj [x 4 6 6 6 4] (Db F Ab) : major triad
Db or Dbmaj [x x 3 1 2 1] (Db F Ab) : major triad
Db or Dbmaj [x x 6 6 6 4] (Db F Ab) : major triad
Db #5 or Dbaug [x 0 3 2 2 1] (Db F A) : augmented triad
Db #5 or Dbaug [x 0 x 2 2 1] (Db F A) : augmented triad
Db b5 [x x 3 0 2 1] (Db F G) : flat 5th
Db/B [x 4 3 4 0 4] (Db F Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
Db/Bb [x 1 3 1 2 1] (Db F Ab Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Db/C [x 3 3 1 2 1] (C Db F Ab) : major triad (altered bass)
Db/C [x 4 6 5 6 4] (C Db F Ab) : major triad (altered bass)
Db5 or Db(no 3rd)[x 4 6 6 x 4] (Db Ab): root and 5th (power chord)
Db6 [x 1 3 1 2 1] (Db F Ab Bb) : major triad plus 6th
Db7 or Dbdom 7 [x 4 3 4 0 4] (Db F Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th
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Chapter 33
Dbaug/D [x x 0 2 2 1] (Db D F A) : augmented triad (altered bass)

Dbaug/G [1 0 3 0 2 1] (Db F G A) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/A [3 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E G A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/A [x 0 2 0 2 0] (Db E G A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/A [x 0 2 2 2 3] (Db E G A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/B [0 2 2 0 2 0] (Db E G B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/Bb [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/Bb [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/D [3 x 0 0 2 0] (Db D E G) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim/D [x x 0 0 2 0] (Db D E G) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Dbdim7 [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Dbdim7 [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Dbm [x 4 6 6 5 4] (Db E Ab) : minor triad
Dbm [x x 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab) : minor triad
Dbm [x 4 6 6 x 0] (Db E Ab) : minor triad
Dbm/A [x 0 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dbm/B [0 2 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dbm/B [x 4 6 4 5 4] (Db E Ab B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dbm7 [0 2 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Dbm7 [x 4 6 4 5 4] (Db E Ab B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Dbm7(b5) or Dbo7 [0 2 2 0 2 0] (Db E G B) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Dbmaj7 or Db#7 [x 3 3 1 2 1] (C Db F Ab) : major triad, major 7th
Dbmaj7 or Db#7 [x 4 6 5 6 4] (C Db F Ab) : major triad, major 7th
Dbsus2 or Dbadd9(no3) [x x 6 6 4 4] (Db Eb Ab) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Dbsus4/Bb [x x 4 3 2 4] (Db Gb Ab Bb) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Ddim/B [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ddim/B [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ddim/B [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ddim/Bb [x 1 3 1 3 1] (D F Ab Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ddim/Bb [x x 3 3 3 4] (D F Ab Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ddim/C [x x 0 1 1 1] (C D F Ab) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ddim7 [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Ddim7 [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Ddim7 [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Dm [x 0 0 2 3 1] (D F A) : minor triad
Dm/B [1 2 3 2 3 1] (D F A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/B [x 2 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/B [x x 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/Bb [1 1 3 2 3 1] (D F A Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/C [x 5 7 5 6 5] (C D F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/C [x x 0 2 1 1] (C D F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/C [x x 0 5 6 5] (C D F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/Db [x x 0 2 2 1] (Db D F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm/E [x x 7 7 6 0] (D E F A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Dm6 [1 2 3 2 3 1] (D F A B) : minor triad plus 6th
Dm6 [x 2 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : minor triad plus 6th
Dm6 [x x 0 2 0 1] (D F A B) : minor triad plus 6th
Dm7 [x 5 7 5 6 5] (C D F A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Dm7 [x x 0 2 1 1] (C D F A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Dm7 [x x 0 5 6 5] (C D F A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Dm7(b5) or Do7 [x x 0 1 1 1] (C D F Ab) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Dm7/add11 or Dm7/11 [3 x 0 2 1 1] (C D F G A) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Dmaj7 or D#7 [x x 0 14 14 14] (Db D Gb A) : major triad, major 7th
Dmaj7 or D#7 [x x 0 2 2 2] (Db D Gb A) : major triad, major 7th
Dmin/maj7 [x x 0 2 2 1] (Db D F A) : minor triad, major 7th
Dsus or Dsus4 [5 x 0 0 3 5] (D G A): no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Dsus or Dsus4 [3 0 0 0 3 3] (D G A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Dsus or Dsus4 [x 0 0 0 3 3] (D G A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Dsus or Dsus4 [x x 0 2 3 3] (D G A) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Dsus2 or Dadd9(no3)[5 5 7 7 x 0] (D E A): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
94 | Guitar
Chord Reference
Dsus2 or Dadd9(no3)[x 0 0 2 3 0] (D E A): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad

Dsus2 or Dadd9(no3)[0 0 2 2 3 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Dsus2 or Dadd9(no3)[x 0 2 2 3 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Dsus2 or Dadd9(no3)[x x 0 2 3 0] (D E A) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Dsus2/Ab [4 x 0 2 3 0] (D E Ab A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/B [0 2 0 2 0 0] (D E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/B [x 2 0 2 3 0] (D E A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Bb [0 1 x 2 3 0] (D E A Bb) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/C [x x 0 2 1 0] (C D E A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/C [x x 0 5 5 5] (C D E A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Db [x 0 0 2 2 0] (Db D E A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Db [x x 0 2 2 0] (Db D E A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/F [x x 7 7 6 0] (D E F A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/G [x 0 2 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/G [5 x 0 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/G [x 0 0 0 x 0] (D E G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [0 0 0 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [0 0 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [2 x 0 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [x 0 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [x x 2 2 3 2] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [x 5 4 2 3 0] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus2/Gb [x 9 7 7 x 0] (D E Gb A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/B [3 0 0 0 0 3] (D G A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/B [3 2 0 2 0 3] (D G A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/C [x 5 7 5 8 3] (C D G A): sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/C [x x 0 2 1 3] (C D G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/E [x 0 2 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/E [5 x 0 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/E [x 0 0 0 x 0] (D E G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/Gb [5 x 4 0 3 5] (D Gb G A): sus4 triad (altered bass)
Dsus4/Gb [3 x 0 2 3 2] (D Gb G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
E or Emaj [0 2 2 1 0 0] (E Ab B) : major triad
E or Emaj [x 7 6 4 5 0] (E Ab B) : major triad
E #5 or Eaug [x 3 2 1 1 0] (C E Ab) : augmented triad
E/A [x 0 2 1 0 0] (E Ab A B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/D [0 2 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/D [0 2 2 1 3 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/D [x 2 0 1 3 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/D [x x 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Db [0 2 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Db [x 4 6 4 5 4] (Db E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Eb [0 2 1 1 0 0] (Eb E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Eb [0 x 6 4 4 0] (Eb E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Eb [x x 1 1 0 0] (Eb E Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Gb [0 2 2 1 0 2] (E Gb Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Gb [0 x 4 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E/Gb [2 2 2 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : major triad (altered bass)
E11/b9 [0 0 3 4 3 4] (D E F Ab A B) : major triad, minor 7th, flat 9th, plus 11th
E5 or E(no 3rd) [0 2 x x x 0] (E B) : root and 5th (power chord)
E5 or E(no 3rd) [x 7 9 9 x 0] (E B) : root and 5th (power chord)
E6 [0 2 2 1 2 0] (Db E Ab B) : major triad plus 6th
E6 [x 4 6 4 5 4] (Db E Ab B) : major triad plus 6th
E7 or Edom 7 [0 2 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th
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Chapter 33
E7 or Edom 7 [0 2 2 1 3 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th

E7 or Edom 7 [x 2 0 1 3 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th
E7 or Edom 7 [x x 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th
E7/add11 or E7/11 [x 0 0 1 0 0] (D E Ab A B) : major triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
E7/b9(b5) [0 1 3 1 3 1] (D E F Ab Bb) : diminished 5th, minor 7th, flat 9th
E7sus4 [0 2 0 2 0 0] (D E A B) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
E9 or Edom 9 [0 2 0 1 0 2] (D E Gb Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
E9 or Edom 9 [2 2 0 1 0 0] (D E Gb Ab B) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
Eadd9 or E2 [0 2 2 1 0 2] (E Gb Ab B) : major triad plus 9th
Eadd9 or E2 [0 x 4 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : major triad plus 9th
Eadd9 or E2 [2 2 2 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : major triad plus 9th
Eb or Ebmaj [x 1 1 3 4 3] (Eb G Bb) : major triad
Eb or Ebmaj [x x 1 3 4 3] (Eb G Bb) : major triad
Eb or Ebmaj [x x 5 3 4 3] (Eb G Bb) : major triad
Eb #5 or Ebaug [3 2 1 0 0 3] (Eb G B) : augmented triad
Eb #5 or Ebaug [3 x 1 0 0 3] (Eb G B) : augmented triad
Eb/C [x 3 5 3 4 3] (C Eb G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Eb/D [x 6 8 7 8 6] (D Eb G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Eb/Db [x 1 1 3 2 3] (Db Eb G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Eb/Db [x 6 8 6 8 6] (Db Eb G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Eb/Db [x x 1 3 2 3] (Db Eb G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Eb/E [x x 5 3 4 0] (Eb E G Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Eb5 or Eb(no 3rd)[x 6 8 8 x 6] (Eb Bb): root and 5th (power chord)
Eb6 [x 3 5 3 4 3] (C Eb G Bb) : major triad plus 6th
Eb7 or Ebdom 7 [x 1 1 3 2 3] (Db Eb G Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Eb7 or Ebdom 7 [x 6 8 6 8 6] (Db Eb G Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Eb7 or Ebdom 7 [x x 1 3 2 3] (Db Eb G Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Ebaug/E [3 x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Ebaug/E [x x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Ebdim/B [2 x 1 2 0 2] (Eb Gb A B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ebdim/B [x 0 1 2 0 2] (Eb Gb A B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ebdim/C [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Ebdim7 [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Ebm [x x 4 3 4 2] (Eb Gb Bb) : minor triad
Ebm/Db [x x 1 3 2 2] (Db Eb Gb Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Ebm7 [x x 1 3 2 2] (Db Eb Gb Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th
Ebmaj7 or Eb#7 [x 6 8 7 8 6] (D Eb G Bb) : major triad, major 7th
Ebsus2/Ab [x 1 3 1 4 1] (Eb F Ab Bb) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Ebsus4/F [x 1 3 1 4 1] (Eb F Ab Bb) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Edim/C [x 3 5 3 5 3] (C E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Edim/D [3 x 0 3 3 0] (D E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Edim/Db [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Edim/Db [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Edim/Eb [x x 5 3 4 0] (Eb E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Edim7 [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Edim7 [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Em [0 2 2 0 0 0] (E G B) : minor triad
Em [3 x 2 0 0 0] (E G B) : minor triad
Em [x 2 5 x x 0] (E G B) : minor triad
Em/A [3 x 2 2 0 0] (E G A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/A [x 0 2 0 0 0] (E G A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/A [x 0 5 4 5 0] (E G A B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/C [0 3 2 0 0 0] (C E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/C [x 2 2 0 1 0] (C E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/C [x 3 5 4 5 3] (C E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/D [0 2 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
96 | Guitar
Chord Reference

Em/D [x x 0 12 12 12] (D E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/D [0 x 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/D [x 10 12 12 12 0] (D E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/Db [0 2 2 0 2 0] (Db E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/Eb [3 x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/Eb [x x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/Gb [0 2 2 0 0 2] (E Gb G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em/Gb [0 x 4 0 0 0] (E Gb G B) : minor triad (altered bass)
Em6 [0 2 2 0 2 0] (Db E G B) : minor triad plus 6th
Em7 [0 2 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Em7 [x x 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Em7 [0 x 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Em7 [x 10 12 12 12 0] (D E G B) : minor triad, minor 7th
Em7(b5) or Eo7 [3 x 0 3 3 0] (D E G Bb) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Em7/add11 or Em7/11 [0 0 0 0 0 0] (D E G A B) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Em7/add11 or Em7/11 [0 0 0 0 0 3] (D E G A B) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Em7/add11 or Em7/11 [3 x 0 2 0 0] (D E G A B) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Em9 [0 2 0 0 0 2] (D E Gb G B) : minor triad, minor 7th plus 9th
Emaj7 or E#7 [0 2 1 1 0 0] (Eb E Ab B) : major triad, major 7th
Emaj7 or E#7 [0 x 6 4 4 0] (Eb E Ab B) : major triad, major 7th
Emaj7 or E#7 [x x 1 1 0 0] (Eb E Ab B) : major triad, major 7th
Emaj9 or E9(#7) [0 2 1 1 0 2] (Eb E Gb Ab B) : major triad, major 7th plus 9th
Emaj9 or E9(#7) [4 x 4 4 4 0] (Eb E Gb Ab B) : major triad, major 7th plus 9th
Emin/maj7 [3 x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : minor triad, major 7th
Emin/maj7 [x x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : minor triad, major 7th
Emin/maj9 [0 6 4 0 0 0] (Eb E Gb G B) : minor triad, major 7th plus 9th
Esus or Esus4 [0 0 2 2 0 0] (E A B) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Esus or Esus4 [x 0 2 2 0 0] (E A B) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Esus or Esus4 [x x 2 2 0 0] (E A B) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Esus2 or Eadd9(no3)[7 9 9 x x 0] (E Gb B): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Esus2 or Eadd9(no3)[x 2 4 4 x 0] (E Gb B): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Esus2/A [x 0 4 4 0 0] (E Gb A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/A [x 2 4 2 5 2] (E Gb A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/Ab [0 2 2 1 0 2] (E Gb Ab B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/Ab [0 x 4 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/Ab [2 2 2 1 0 0] (E Gb Ab B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/Db [x 4 4 4 x 0] (Db E Gb B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/Eb [x 2 2 4 4 2] (Eb E Gb B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/Eb [x x 4 4 4 0] (Eb E Gb B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/G [0 2 2 0 0 2] (E Gb G B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus2/G [0 x 4 0 0 0] (E Gb G B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/Ab [x 0 2 1 0 0] (E Ab A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/C [0 0 7 5 0 0] (C E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
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Chapter 33
Esus4/C [x 3 2 2 0 0] (C E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)

Esus4/D [0 2 0 2 0 0] (D E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/D [x 2 0 2 3 0] (D E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/Db [0 0 2 4 2 0] (Db E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/Db [x 0 7 6 0 0] (Db E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/Eb [x 2 1 2 0 0] (Eb E A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/F [0 0 3 2 0 0] (E F A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/G [3 x 2 2 0 0] (E G A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/G [x 0 2 0 0 0] (E G A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/G [x 0 5 4 5 0] (E G A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/Gb [x 0 4 4 0 0] (E Gb A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Esus4/Gb [x 2 4 2 5 2] (E Gb A B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
F or Fmaj [1 3 3 2 1 1] (C F A) : major triad
F or Fmaj [x 0 3 2 1 1] (C F A) : major triad
F or Fmaj [x 3 3 2 1 1] (C F A) : major triad
F or Fmaj [x x 3 2 1 1] (C F A) : major triad
F #5 or Faug [x 0 3 2 2 1] (Db F A) : augmented triad
F #5 or Faug [x 0 x 2 2 1] (Db F A) : augmented triad
F/D [x 5 7 5 6 5] (C D F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/D [x x 0 2 1 1] (C D F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/D [x x 0 5 6 5] (C D F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/E [0 0 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/E [1 3 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/E [1 x 2 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/E [x x 2 2 1 1] (C E F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/E [x x 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/Eb [x x 1 2 1 1] (C Eb F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/Eb [x x 3 5 4 5] (C Eb F A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/G [3 x 3 2 1 1] (C F G A) : major triad (altered bass)
F/G [x x 3 2 1 3] (C F G A) : major triad (altered bass)
F5 or F(no 3rd) [1 3 3 x x 1] (C F): root and 5th (power chord)
F5 or F(no 3rd) [x 8 10 x x 1] (C F): root and 5th (power chord)
F6 [x 5 7 5 6 5] (C D F A) : major triad plus 6th
F6 [x x 0 2 1 1] (C D F A) : major triad plus 6th
F6 [x x 0 5 6 5] (C D F A) : major triad plus 6th
F6/add9 or F6/9 [3 x 0 2 1 1] (C D F G A) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
F7 or Fdom 7 [x x 1 2 1 1] (C Eb F A) : major triad, minor 7th
F7 or Fdom 7 [x x 3 5 4 5] (C Eb F A) : major triad, minor 7th
Fadd9 or F2 [3 x 3 2 1 1] (C F G A) : major triad plus 9th
Fadd9 or F2 [x x 3 2 1 3] (C F G A) : major triad plus 9th
Faug/D [x x 0 2 2 1] (Db D F A) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Faug/G [1 0 3 0 2 1] (Db F G A) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Fdim/D [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Fdim/D [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Fdim/D [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Fdim/Db [x 4 3 4 0 4] (Db F Ab B) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Fdim7 [x 2 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Fdim7 [x x 0 1 0 1] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Fdim7 [x x 3 4 3 4] (D F Ab B) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Fm [x 3 3 1 1 1] (C F Ab) : minor triad
Fm [x x 3 1 1 1] (C F Ab) : minor triad
Fm/D [x x 0 1 1 1] (C D F Ab) : minor triad (altered bass)
Fm/Db [x 3 3 1 2 1] (C Db F Ab) : minor triad (altered bass)
Fm/Db [x 4 6 5 6 4] (C Db F Ab) : minor triad (altered bass)
Fm/Eb [x 8 10 8 9 8] (C Eb F Ab) : minor triad (altered bass)
Fm/Eb [x x 1 1 1 1] (C Eb F Ab) : minor triad (altered bass)
Fm6 [x x 0 1 1 1] (C D F Ab) : minor triad plus 6th
Fm7 [x 8 10 8 9 8] (C Eb F Ab) : minor triad, minor 7th
Fm7 [x x 1 1 1 1] (C Eb F Ab) : minor triad, minor 7th
Fmaj7 or F#7 [0 0 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad, major 7th
98 | Guitar
Chord Reference
Fmaj7 or F#7 [1 3 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad, major 7th

Fmaj7 or F#7 [1 x 2 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad, major 7th
Fmaj7 or F#7 [x x 2 2 1 1] (C E F A) : major triad, major 7th
Fmaj7 or F#7 [x x 3 2 1 0] (C E F A) : major triad, major 7th
Fmaj7/#11 [0 2 3 2 1 0] (C E F A B) : major triad, major 7th, augmented 11th
Fmaj7/#11 [1 3 3 2 0 0] (C E F A B) : major triad, major 7th, augmented 11th
Fmaj9 or F9(#7) [0 0 3 0 1 3] (C E F G A) : major triad, major 7th plus 9th
Fsus or Fsus4 [x x 3 3 1 1] (C F Bb) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Fsus2 or Fadd9(no3)[x 3 3 0 1 1] (C F G) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Fsus2 or Fadd9(no3)[x x 3 0 1 1] (C F G) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Fsus2/A [3 x 3 2 1 1] (C F G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus2/A [x x 3 2 1 3] (C F G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus2/B [x 3 3 0 0 3] (C F G B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus2/Bb [x 3 5 3 6 3] (C F G Bb) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus2/D [3 3 0 0 1 1] (C D F G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus2/E [x 3 3 0 1 0] (C E F G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus2/E [x x 3 0 1 0] (C E F G) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Fsus4/G [x 3 5 3 6 3] (C F G Bb) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
G or Gmaj [x 10 12 12 12 10] (D G B): major triad
G or Gmaj [3 2 0 0 0 3] (D G B) : major triad
G or Gmaj [3 x 0 0 0 3] (D G B) : major triad
G or Gmaj [x 5 5 4 3 3] (D G B) : major triad
G or Gmaj [x x 0 4 3 3] (D G B) : major triad
G or Gmaj [x x 0 7 8 7] (D G B) : major triad
G #5 or Gaug [3 2 1 0 0 3] (Eb G B) : augmented triad
G #5 or Gaug [3 x 1 0 0 3] (Eb G B) : augmented triad
G/A [3 0 0 0 0 3] (D G A B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/A [3 2 0 2 0 3] (D G A B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/C [3 3 0 0 0 3] (C D G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/C [x 3 0 0 0 3] (C D G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/E [0 2 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/E [x x 0 12 12 12] (D E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/E [0 x 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/E [x 10 12 12 12 0] (D E G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/F [1 x 0 0 0 3] (D F G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/F [3 2 0 0 0 1] (D F G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/F [x x 0 0 0 1] (D F G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/Gb [2 2 0 0 0 3] (D Gb G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G/Gb [x x 4 4 3 3] (D Gb G B) : major triad (altered bass)
G5 or G(no 3rd) [3 5 5 x x 3] (D G): root and 5th (power chord)
G5 or G(no 3rd) [3 x 0 0 3 3] (D G) : root and 5th (power chord)
G6 [0 2 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : major triad plus 6th
G6 [x x 0 12 12 12] (D E G B) : major triad plus 6th
G6 [0 x 0 0 0 0] (D E G B) : major triad plus 6th
G6 [x 10 12 12 12 0] (D E G B) : major triad plus 6th
G6/add9 or G6/9 [0 0 0 0 0 0] (D E G A B) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
Wikibooks | 99
Chapter 33
G6/add9 or G6/9 [0 0 0 0 0 3] (D E G A B) : major triad plus 6th and 9th

G6/add9 or G6/9 [3 x 0 2 0 0] (D E G A B) : major triad plus 6th and 9th
G7 or Gdom 7 [1 x 0 0 0 3] (D F G B) : major triad, minor 7th
G7 or Gdom 7 [3 2 0 0 0 1] (D F G B) : major triad, minor 7th
G7 or Gdom 7 [x x 0 0 0 1] (D F G B) : major triad, minor 7th
G7/add11 or G7/11 [x 3 0 0 0 1] (C D F G B) : major triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
G7sus4 [3 3 0 0 1 1] (C D F G) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
G9 or Gdom 9 [x 0 0 0 0 1] (D F G A B) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
G9 or Gdom 9 [x 2 3 2 3 3] (D F G A B) : major triad, minor 7th plus 9th
Gadd9 or G2 [3 0 0 0 0 3] (D G A B) : major triad plus 9th
Gadd9 or G2 [3 2 0 2 0 3] (D G A B) : major triad plus 9th
Gaug/E [3 x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Gaug/E [x x 1 0 0 0] (Eb E G B) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Gb or Gbmaj [2 4 4 3 2 2] (Db Gb Bb) : major triad
Gb or Gbmaj [x 4 4 3 2 2] (Db Gb Bb) : major triad
Gb or Gbmaj [x x 4 3 2 2] (Db Gb Bb) : major triad
Gb #5 or Gbaug [x x 0 3 3 2] (D Gb Bb) : augmented triad
Gb/Ab [x x 4 3 2 4] (Db Gb Ab Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Gb/E [2 4 2 3 2 2] (Db E Gb Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Gb/E [x x 4 3 2 0] (Db E Gb Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Gb/Eb [x x 1 3 2 2] (Db Eb Gb Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Gb/F [x x 3 3 2 2] (Db F Gb Bb) : major triad (altered bass)
Gb6 [x x 1 3 2 2] (Db Eb Gb Bb) : major triad plus 6th
Gb7 or Gbdom 7 [2 4 2 3 2 2] (Db E Gb Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Gb7 or Gbdom 7 [x x 4 3 2 0] (Db E Gb Bb) : major triad, minor 7th
Gb7(#5) [2 x 4 3 3 0] (D E Gb Bb) : minor 7th, sharp 5th
Gb7/#9 [x 0 4 3 2 0] (Db E Gb A Bb) : major triad, minor 7th augmented 9th
Gb7sus4 [x 4 4 4 x 0] (Db E Gb B) : sus4 triad, minor 7th
Gbadd9 or Gb2 [x x 4 3 2 4] (Db Gb Ab Bb) : major triad plus 9th
Gbaug/E [2 x 4 3 3 0] (D E Gb Bb) : augmented triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/D [x 5 7 5 7 2] (C D Gb A): diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/D [x 0 0 2 1 2] (C D Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/D [x 3 x 2 3 2] (C D Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/D [x 5 7 5 7 5] (C D Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/E [x 0 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/E [x x 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim/Eb [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gbdim7 [x x 1 2 1 2] (C Eb Gb A) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Gbm [2 4 4 2 2 2] (Db Gb A) : minor triad
Gbm [x 4 4 2 2 2] (Db Gb A) : minor triad
Gbm [x x 4 2 2 2] (Db Gb A) : minor triad
Gbm/D [x x 0 14 14 14] (Db D Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm/D [x x 0 2 2 2] (Db D Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm/E [0 0 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm/E [0 x 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm/E [2 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm/E [x 0 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm/E [x x 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gbm7 [0 0 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gbm7 [0 x 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gbm7 [2 x 2 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gbm7 [x 0 4 2 2 0] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gbm7 [x x 2 2 2 2] (Db E Gb A) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gbm7(b5) or Gbo7 [x 0 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Gbm7(b5) or Gbo7 [x x 2 2 1 2] (C E Gb A) : diminished triad, minor 7th : half-diminished 7th
Gbm7/b9 [0 0 2 0 2 2] (Db E Gb G A) : minor triad, minor 7th flat 9th
Gbmaj7 or Gb#7 [x x 3 3 2 2] (Db F Gb Bb) : major triad, major 7th
Gbsus or Gbsus4 [x 4 4 4 2 2] (Db Gb B) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Gbsus2/Bb [x x 4 3 2 4] (Db Gb Ab Bb) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gbsus4/E [x 4 4 4 x 0] (Db E Gb B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
100 | Guitar
Chord Reference
Gdim/E [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)

Gdim/E [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gdim/Eb [x 1 1 3 2 3] (Db Eb G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gdim/Eb [x 6 8 6 8 6] (Db Eb G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gdim/Eb [x x 1 3 2 3] (Db Eb G Bb) : diminished triad (altered bass)
Gdim7 [x 1 2 0 2 0] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Gdim7 [x x 2 3 2 3] (Db E G Bb) : diminished triad, diminished 7th
Gm [3 5 5 3 3 3] (D G Bb) : minor triad
Gm [x x 0 3 3 3] (D G Bb) : minor triad
Gm/E [3 x 0 3 3 0] (D E G Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gm/Eb [x 6 8 7 8 6] (D Eb G Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gm/F [3 5 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gm/F [x x 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : minor triad (altered bass)
Gm13 [0 0 3 3 3 3] (D E F G A Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 9th and 13th
Gm6 [3 x 0 3 3 0] (D E G Bb) : minor triad plus 6th
Gm7 [3 5 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gm7 [x x 3 3 3 3] (D F G Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th
Gm7/add11 or Gm7/11 [x 3 3 3 3 3] (C D F G Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th, plus 11th
Gm9 [3 5 3 3 3 5] (D F G A Bb) : minor triad, minor 7th plus 9th
Gmaj7 or G#7 [2 2 0 0 0 3] (D Gb G B) : major triad, major 7th
Gmaj7 or G#7 [x x 4 4 3 3] (D Gb G B) : major triad, major 7th
Gsus or Gsus4 [x 10 12 12 13 3] (C D G): no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Gsus or Gsus4 [x 3 0 0 3 3] (C D G) : no 3rd but a 4th from a major triad
Gsus2 or Gadd9(no3)[5 x 0 0 3 5] (D G A): no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Gsus2 or Gadd9(no3)[3 0 0 0 3 3] (D G A) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Gsus2 or Gadd9(no3)[x 0 0 0 3 3] (D G A) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Gsus2 or Gadd9(no3)[x x 0 2 3 3] (D G A) : no 3rd but a 2nd from a major triad
Gsus2/B [3 0 0 0 0 3] (D G A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/B [3 2 0 2 0 3] (D G A B) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/C [x 5 7 5 8 3] (C D G A): sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/C [x x 0 2 1 3] (C D G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/E [x 0 2 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/E [5 0 0 0 3 0] (D E G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/Gb [5 x 4 0 3 5] (D Gb G A): sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus2/Gb [3 x 0 2 3 2] (D Gb G A) : sus2 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/A [x 5 7 5 8 3] (C D G A): sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/A [x x 0 2 1 3] (C D G A) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/B [3 3 0 0 0 3] (C D G B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/B [x 3 0 0 0 3] (C D G B) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/E [3 x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/E [x 3 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/E [x x 0 0 1 0] (C D E G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/E [x x 0 5 5 3] (C D E G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/E [x 5 5 5 x 0] (C D E G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
Gsus4/F [3 3 0 0 1 1] (C D F G) : sus4 triad (altered bass)
External links
• http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/chord-finder-guitar/chordbot.html
Over 1800 guitar chords
Wikibooks | 101
Chapter 33
• http://www.guitarwiki.com/index.php/Guitar_Chords Much bigger list of

chords at GuitarWiki.com
• http://www.guitarconsultant.com/guitarchords.html
• http://www.guitarnotes.com/guitar/notes2/ultimate11.shtml
• http://www.chordgenie.com Chord finder on your mobile phone for
standard and alternate tunings
• http://www.zworkbench.com/products.html - cool guitar chord
reference for your cell phone
• http://wikiguitar.net/index.php?title=Chord_Dictionary - Visual chord
reference.
102 | Guitar
Philosophy
34 P HILOSOPHY
T he basics of guitar can be learned by doing. Finding your 'own style' of

playing, and understanding how to interface that style musically with others
is something that may take some figuring out. This book is about the Philosophy
of Guitar, understanding what the guitar player is expected to do, and know and
contribute to a band.
New categories
•Guitar:What is music about? - 'Fitting in' musically and spiritually with
others.
The act of playing music is for the most part about playing with other people.
One can listen to music with others, but these days, music tends to be a more
personal thing. Headphones and closed cars make for isolated private spaces
where we can enjoy music without irritating or being irritated by others.
The guitar at its essence remains a social instrument - from its earliest days
where it was called a lute, and before then a harp - the multi-stringed portable
instrument was made for public hearing. The musicians job then was to
ingratiate themselves with their public. The pleasing sounds of happy music may
have provided the means by which court jesters and troubadours could sing
lyrics that were less than happy - sorrowful, romantic, or critical. Words alone
can be too dry, and draw the ire of an unhappy listener.
• Playing solo
• Playing with others
• Communication - a priority
• Tone and Volume issues
• Listening to others
• Reading - using simple or detailed guides
• Guitar/Philosophy
• Being useful and versatile
• Ways to break out of the rut
• Learning, experimentation, doing things differently
• Guitar/Tone and volume

• What is tone?
• Equipment only offers choices of tones - not the right tone
• Fitting your tone to others, environment
• Electric - amps, effects
• Controlling preamp and power-tube distortion and volume
• Acoustic - micing, feedback
Wikibooks | 103
Chapter 34
• Guitar/Tuning your ear, then your guitar

• Reference tuning - tuning to human voice
• Off tuning - using dissonance as a tool
• Using the capo and alternate tunings
104 | Guitar
External Resources
35 E XTERNAL R ESOURCES
Guitar resources
• Guitar War Online Guitar Competition. Guitarists from around the world
battle it out since 2000.
• TopGuitars.info - Guitars reviews Hundreds of guitar reviews and other
stringed musical instruments, guitar amps and guitar effects.
• GuitarWiki.com Wiki based guitar resource with lessons, chord library,
music theory, a gear section and tabs.
• Guitar section at About.com Lessons, a chords library and gear info
• Vintage Marshall Amp Mods
• Wiki Guitar Wiki Guitar site with tablature, lessons, resources, articles,
and forums.
• Ney Mello On Practicing & The Principles.
Guitar lessons
• Online Guitar Lessons Guitar Tricks 45 Guitar Instructors
• Online Guitar Lessons Reviews (Free) In-Depth reviews and User-
Reviews for online guitar courses.
• Free Online Guitar Lessons Guitar lessons
• The Online Guitar Directory Free online guitar lessons.
• Free Online Guitar Lessons Free video guitar lessons for kids & adults
• Free Shred Guitar Lessons
• Free Video Lessons Free Video Guitar Lessons - blue, rock and metal.
Beginner to Intermediate.
• Free Guitar Chords Free Guitar Chords eCourse with video. Basic and
bar chords.
• Free Guitar Chord Chart Learn to play just about any song, by learning
the basic guitar chords.
• Free Online Guitar Lessons Guitar lessons, chord charts, useful links,
and how to set-up your guitar.
• GuitarNationLive.com | Learn and Play Giutar Learn, play and master
your guitar with comprehensive guitar lessons. Topics range from complete
beginners to advanced.
• The Online Guitar Directory A human-reviewed and edited directory
listing guitar related links.
• Free beginner guitar lessons as well as tablature from the Beatles, Led
Zeppelin, and more....
• How To Play The Guitar in 30 Days
• Learn Your Favourite Song on the guitar
• Learn To Play Lead Guitar
• Free Jazz Guitar Lessons
Wikibooks | 105
Chapter 35
• Guitar Amp modeling Great information on Guitar amp software,

Presents, banks, settings and cabinet impulses.
• Guitar software for beginners to professionals
• Guitar effects software for PC
• Free Guitar Lessons
• More Free Guitar Lessons, plus player interviews
• "THE" Online Guitar Community
• UK Guitar Museum
• Guitar Tabs Axetopia has a good resource list and search .
• Guitar Tuning Tips has information on basic tuning, along with
alternative guitar tunings.
• GuitarGearHeads offers free lessons and professional reviews on guitar
equipment.
• WholeNote On-Line Guitar Community has tab, reviews, and interactive
lessons.
• Fret Wizard Guitar Lessons lessons and information for guitar
beginners
• Sight-Reading Rhythm Patterns offers rhythmic exercises for guitarists
(notes+MIDI)
Guitar tablature & chords

• - Guitar Chords Over 1800 guitar chords, organized by type of key. As
well 8 Chord Inversions for each chord
• Classical Guitar TabsClassical Guitar Tabs, Guitar Forum.
• Chord Chart Learn to play any song, by learning basic guitar chords
• Ultimate-guitar.com Over 200,000 guitar tabs, bass tabs and chords.
Also features lessons, columns, forums and news updates.
• Tablaunch.com An extensive database of guitar, bass, drum, tablature.
• Free beginner guitar lessons as well as tablature from the Beatles, Led
Zeppelin, and more.... (requires Windows software)
• Guitarboard.com has a guitar, bass and drum tablature archive. They
also have a more serious, not too busy forum
• Guitaretab.com has a large guitar archive without too many ads
• Guitarsrule.com Community web site for guitarists
• Olga.net was one of the first guitar tablature sites on the net!
• Tabcrawler.com is one of the early guitar sites and is quite popular
• www.power-tab.net Useful guitar tab editor named Powertab that lets
you play back the song as MIDI.
• Powertab Archive A collection of tab files for Powertab editor.
• All-Guitar-Chords.com gives many variations on different guitar chords.
• Guitar Chords Online lessons, charts, pictures, songs & chord finder.
• The Guitar Players Toolbox Site provides practical tools and information
on guitar chords, chord charts, and guitar playing.
• Guitar Chords and Scales Search and view chords and scales notes on a
guitar fretboard
• chordie an excellent guitar songbook website
106 | Guitar
External Resources
• mysongbook an extremely well kept listing of tabs of ALL genres

• Abc-tabs A lot of guitar tabs
• 911tabs.com A tab database.
Wikibooks | 107
Chapter 36
36 H ISTORY & D OCUMENT N OTES

Wikibook History
This book was created on 2004-01-01 and was developed on the Wikibooks
project by the contributors listed in the next section. The latest version may be
found at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guitar.
PDF Information & History

This PDF was created on 2007-07-15 based on the 2007-07-14 version of the
Guitar Wikibook. A transparent copy of this document is available at
Wikibooks:Guitar. The SXW source of this PDF document is available at
Wikibooks:Image:Guitar.sxw. The template from which the document was
created is available at Wikibooks:Image:PDF template.sxw.
108 | Guitar
Authors & Image Credits
37 A UTHORS & I MAGE C REDITS

Principal Authors
• Kef Li Eric Marcus X-Schecter is the esoteric pen name of the former
primary author of (er, contributor to) this book. He is, in his own words, not
entirely qualified to write this book: he is learning as much as the readers
are! He plays the electric guitar in the fingerpicking style exclusively, and
has written a small number of songs. He currently enjoys writing and
transcribing guitar tablature for the Power Tab Archive.
• Daniel made various minor contributions.
• GABaker, who has had a lot trouble tuning cheap guitars, contributed
to the section on tuning.
• NickPenguin redesigned the tuning page and created the Guitar
template.
• Michael Hoffman explained classic techniques for shaping distortion
tones and controlling distortion independently from listening volume, in the
Philosophy section.
• Meemo created and added much content to the different types of
guitars section and added the paragraph on stringing guitars, which
seemed important until he read the list of external tutorials...
• Sameer Kale Did a good bit of the Chords section a while ago, started
off the Rhythm section, along with adding a few bits to ther places. He
doesn't know why such a page as this exists, but does not want to be left
out.
All Authors
AdRiley, Akagu, Alexofaz, Alsocal, Aya, Az1568, Basswulf, BimBot, Bmonkey,
Brutulf, Businessdepot, Chesemonkyloma, ChrisSerrano, Chrono, Cspurrier,
Daniel, Daveamz, Decstuff, Derbeth, Dethomas, Dragontamer, Easyas12c,
Felipec, Furrykef, GABaker, Gavintlgold, Geocachernemesis, George Leung,
Hagindaz, Herbythyme, Ikana, Intermeddle, Jclee, Jechasteen, Jguk, Jimregan,
Jmcgarey, Johnd91711, Jomegat, Karl Wick, Kasperl, Kenlars99, Krischik,
Liblamb, Li, Lumpymusic, Lynx7725, MR.MAN, Mattb112885, MichaelSHoffman,
Michael Campbell, Mjchael, Mjk, Mkn, NickPenguin, Pandamel, Paul Donnelly,
PeterisP, Piyushs, Quartz25, Robert Harper, Sameerkale, Schaput, Siesta, Slide,
Stinky613, Stpfuel20, Theresa knott, Tigru, TrbleClef, Trogdor,
WarrenWilkinson, Water Bottle, Whiteknight, Withinfocus, Xania, Xerol, Yann,
Zoso
Image Credits
All images used in this book are either in the public domain or licensed under
the GFDL. Creators of GFDL images are given in the caption of each image.
Wikibooks | 109
Chapter 38
38 GNU F REE D OCUMENTATION

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110 | Guitar
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Chapter 38
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112 | Guitar
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114 | Guitar
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116 | Guitar
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ABOUT THE BOOK....................................................................................108

1 D IFFERENT T YPES OF G UITARS

Acoustic guitars are often used in performance. When the performance is in a

Technically speaking an electric guitar is any guitar with an electromagnetic

Solid Body guitars

Twelve string guitars

live version • discussion • edit chapter • comment • report an error

B oth acoustic and electric guitars

substitutes are becoming more common.

Amplifier and effects

live version • discussion • edit chapter • comment • report an error

1. A guitar that doesn't get played is worthless at any price.

A guitar is an excellent instrument for almost anyone. A difficult guitar is not

What to look for (and what to look out for)

• A guitar's intonation. Intonation is a guitar's relative harmonics

• Stamp of Inspection. Even a guitar made in Indonesia can be a good

•Read reviews on places like www.amazon.com, to foreshadow problems

What makes someone NOT love a guitar

Buying situations to avoid

• Don't buy from a pawn shop (possible undetectable damage)

Steel string-guitar, also known as folk guitar and dreadnought guitar,

Tremolo bar (aka Whammy bar, Vibrato bar)

Even if it's a normal tremolo, it would be proper to ask whether it is suitable

To make it even harder to decide, there are different arrangements for

• S-S - telecaster style

2 pickup system usually have a 3 way switch:

As we mentioned, if the player is interested, than that's fine. However, there

• Archtop (hollowbody and semi hollowbody) is heavier and larger, with

Buying the guitar

Where to buy the guitar

•A trusted friend or relative - often a friend or relative who had a

More experience with buying guitars is required to buy in any other

• Online guitar superstores or mail-order guitars. The major difference

Buying a guitar for a beginner

An electric will typically be better for a beginner because it is easier to play

• Fender --> Squier

What else will you need?

• Guitar strap to enable the player to play standing up (~$10USD)

This probably adds up to a large sum. However, there's a saving grace.

Buying a new guitar for someone who already plays

Examine your local options by looking up "musical instruments" in the phone

live version • discussion • edit chapter • comment • report an error

Size and Wattage

S ome amplifiers, such as many 50 watts combo amps, or even MG15MSII

DI Unit (including amp modelers)

Many so called Amp modelers and micro-amps, especially in regard to

Small gig amplifiers

Heads, Cabinets, and Stacks

Tube vs Solid State

Another solution is to use modeling amp with onboard effects, which is

For example, if you live in a small partment (especially Japanese apartment),

In another example, Traynor's TRM30 (1 x 10" x 30w)and TRM40 (2 x 8" x

•Input - where you guitar cable goes in

• Gain — determines the amount of distortions. The higher it goes, the

live version • discussion • edit chapter • comment • report an error

T he purpose of this section is to show the most simple concepts of guitar.