Now I'm going to teach you the names of the parts of the guitar and your different fretting fingers, so that we're both speaking the same language.
There are three main sections: Headstock, Neck, Body.
Let's start with the headstock. These are tuners. This is the nut.
Now for the body: Soundhole. Soundboard. Bridge. Saddle. Bridge pins. Strap button.
And the neck. These metal strips are technically called frets, but I call them fret wires. The fret wires are imbedded in the fretboard, this thin sheet of rosewood glued to the flat part of the neck. The spaces between the fret wires are what we commonly call the fret. So when you put your finger on the first fret, you actually do it in the space between the nut and the first fret, not on top of the fret wire.
Let's review the parts. "What's this?"
--Soundhole
--Bridge
--Tuners
--Nut
The frets are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Fret markers, these dots, help you find frets quickly. The 12th fret on your guitar probably has two fret markers. Get to know your 12th fret well. That way, if you have to find, say, the 10th fret, you can just count down from 12 instead of counting all the way up from the 1st fret.
The strings are numbered too. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Notice that we're counting from the string closest to the floor on up. This may seem backwards to you. Think of it this way: 1 is the smallest number in the series, and it corresponds to the thinnest string. 6 is the biggest, and it's the fattest string.
One note about the terms high and low. When we talk about the guitar, these terms refer to pitch, not altitude. Pitch is how high or low a sound is: High pitch, low pitch (sing). So what's the highest string on the guitar. This one is farthest from the ground, but this one is the highest-sounding string. So the 1st string is the highest string. Likewise, the closer we fret notes to the body of the guitar, the higher the notes sound. So this is going higher up the fretboard, this is lower.
And finally, your fretting fingers get numbered, too: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Let's practice finding notes on the fretboard.
--Put your first finger on the first string, first fret.
--Put your first finger on the 4th string, 3rd fret.
--Put your third finger on the 6th string, 5th fret.
Alright, you'll get a lot more practice as you start playing some actual music, so let's get going.
How's it going?
Are you loving the lesson? Confused? Have a suggestion? I'd love to hear from you.
