Table Of ContentGuitar Course Prelims 27/11/13 12:46 Page 1
ULTIMATE
THE
Guitar
C O U R S E
Rod Fogg
ZERO TO
HERO
IN A
LESSON A
DAY
Guitar Course Prelims 5/12/13 18:37 Page 2
CONTENTS
On the CD 4
Introduction 5
Section One: Getting Started 6
A division of Book Sales, Inc. Getting in tune; sitting and standing; which hand goes where 6
276 Fifth Avenue Suite 206 Ex 1 The open strings; notation; tablature; barlines; pulse;
New York, New York 10001 time signatures; 4/4 time 7
Ex 2 Open-string picking; half notes, quarter notes, and
RACE POINT PUBLISHING and the distinctive Race
eighth notes; upstrokes and downstrokes; tempo and
Point Publishing logo are trademarks of Quayside
beats per minute 8
Publishing Group, Inc.
Ex 3 Notes on top two strings; numbering fret hand fingers
and left-hand technique; introducing sharps 10
Ex 4 Picking strings one and two; introducing dotted half
© 2014 by Outline Press Limited
notes; sharps last for the whole bar 12
Ex 5 Blues on the E and B-strings; ties; double stops; the
12-bar blues, three choruses on the backing track;
This 2014 edition published by Race Point Publishing by
downstrokes on downbeats, upstrokes on upbeats 14
arrangement with
Ex 6 String crossing, top three strings; “Let ring…” and
Outline Press Limited
“…sim” 16
2A Union Court, 20-22 Union Road,
Ex 7 Notes on the G-string; sharps and flats; whole steps
London SW4 6JP, England
and half steps 18
www.jawbonepress.com
Ex 8 Note values and rests 19
Ex 9 Blues on the top three strings with rests 20
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be Ex 10 G chromatic scale 22
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, Ex 11 Octaves; playing two strings simultaneously 23
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, Ex 12 Melody for first position notes, top three strings; playing
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior “in position” 24
written permission from the publisher. Ex 13 ‘Shadow Walk’ and all the notes so far 26
Section Two: The Lower Strings 28
EDITOR John Morrish Ex 14 The D, A, and E-strings; staccato signs; muting open
DESIGN Paul Cooper strings 28
Ex 15 Notes on the D-string; working out notes beyond the
fourth fret 30
ISBN-13: 978-1-937994-33-4
Ex 16 Swamp-rock on the D, G, and B-strings; lead-in bars;
Digital edition: 978-1-62788-199-9 repeat signs and first- and second-time bars; the
Softcover edition: 978-1-93799-433-4 tremolo effect 30
Ex 17 Double stops on D and G-strings; downbeats, upbeats,
and syncopation 32
Printed in China
Ex 18 A-string notes 34
Ex 19 Surfing on the A-string; riffs, music in a key, playing in
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
the second position 34
Ex 20 Notes on the E-string; double octaves 36
www.racepointpub.com
Ex 21 ‘E-string Boogie’; sharps and naturals; ties; alternate
picking 36
Ex 22 ‘Rock’n’roll Rifferama’; key signatures 38
Guitar Course Prelims 27/11/13 12:46 Page 3
Section Three: Two Essential Scales 40 Section Seven: Seventh Chords 92
Ex 23 E minor pentatonic 40 Ex 56 Eight open-string seventh chords 92
Ex 24 E blues scale 41 Ex 57 Rhythm part to Exercise 2; Em, G, C, B7 94
Ex 25 Notes to the fifth fret and fifth-fret tuning 42 Ex 58 ‘Groovin’ Sevenths’; counting 16th notes 96
Ex 26 E blues scale solo; phrasing 44 Ex 59 Surf-style rhythm; using most of the chords 98
Ex 27 Blues on the bass strings 46 Ex 60 Four minor seventh chords and Am7-D7 groove 100
Ex 28 E blues scale solo version two; motifs 47 Ex 61 Major seventh chords: Gmaj7 and Cmaj7 102
Ex 29 ‘John Lee,’ E minor pentatonic Q & A; the Ex 62 A, Amaj7, D, Dmaj7 rock style 104
metronome 48
Section Eight: Arpeggios And Chords With Added Notes 106
Section Four: Blues Rhythm 50 Ex 63 Sweep or alternate picking arpeggios 106
Ex 30 Vamp on E5 and E6 50 Ex 64 Arpeggios and pedal notes 108
Ex 31 E vamp with muting; E major key signature 52 Ex 65 Slash chord arpeggios; pull-offs and slides 110
Ex 32 Vamp on A with muting; A major key signature 53 Ex 66 Slash chords, rhythm part 112
Ex 33 Blues rhythm in E; the 12-bar sequence 54 Ex 67 Low arpeggios 114
Ex 34 Vamp on D with muting 56 Ex 68 Extended chords and added-note chord sequences;
Ex 35 12-bar vamp on A, straight feel 56 noting down chords 117
Ex 36 12-bar vamp on A, swing/shuffle feel 58
Section Nine: Bar Chords And Movable Chords 118
Section Five: The Theory Pages 60 Ex 69 Two-note and three-note five chords 118
1. Major scales 60 Ex 70 Bar chords and added notes; dynamic signs 120
Ex 37 C major scale 60 Ex 71 G blues with movable chords 122
Ex 38 G major scale 61 Ex 72 ‘Jimmy or Jimi?’ rhythm track; learning the lower two
Ex 39 Key signatures and major scales for sharp keys 62 strings 124
Ex 40 Key signatures and major scales for flat keys 63
2. Intervals 64 Section Ten: Back To Soloing 126
Ex 41 Intervals in the major scale 64 Ex 73 G minor pentatonic, shape one, two octave 126
Ex 42 Intervals outside the major scale 64 Ex 74 G blues scale, shape one, two octave 127
3. Chord building 1, triads 66 Ex 75 Solo on shape one with vibrato 128
Major, minor, augmented, and diminished triads 66 Ex 76 G minor pentatonic, shapes two and three 130
4. Chord building 2, chords in a key 68 Ex 77 G blues scale, shapes two and three 131
Ex 43 C major in triads 68 Ex 78 G blues solo, shapes one, two, and three; bends 132
Ex 79 G minor pentatonic, shapes four and five 134
Section Six: Chords 70 Ex 80 G blues scale, shapes four and five 135
Ex 44 E major chord; strumming 70 Ex 81 G blues scale solo, using all five shapes 136
Ex 45 E and A majors moving; chord grids 71 Ex 82 Major pentatonic scale explained 136
Ex 46 A, D, and E; naming chords 72 Ex 83 G major pentatonic solo 138
Ex 47 A, D, and E strumming; accent symbol 74 Ex 84 ‘Jimmy or Jimi?’, rock guitar solo 140
Ex 48 C and G strumming; shifting between chords 76 Ex 85 Am-D7 groove with solo 142
Ex 49 ‘Minor Mishap’; Am, Dm, and Em 78
Ex 50 ‘Low Strum, High Strum’; G, Em, C, D, Dsus 80 Complete notes of the guitar 144
Ex 51 ‘Low Strum, High Strum’ with bassline 82 Spellings of common chords 144
Ex 52 All the major chords plus Dsus4 84
Ex 53 Adding a bassline and dynamics; crescendo and
decrescendo marks 86
Ex 54 C and G with root and fifth bassline; finding root and
fifth 88
Ex 55 C and G bassline with hammer-ons; using a capo 90
Guitar Course Prelims 27/11/13 12:46 Page 4
THE ULTIMATE GUITAR COURSE
ON THE CD
CD01 Ex 1 The open strings and tuning notes. CD39 Ex 38 G major scale.
CD02 Ex 2 Open-string picking. CD40 Ex 41 Intervals in the C major scale.
CD03 Ex 2 Open-string picking, backing track. (Also backing track CD41 Ex 42 Intervals outside the C major scale.
for Ex 6, and Ex 12: see Ex 57 for the notation and tab.) CD42 Ex 43 C major in triads.
CD04 Ex 4 Picking strings one and two, E and B-strings, lead. CD43 Ex 44 E major chord, strumming.
CD05 Ex 4 Picking strings one and two, backing track. CD44 Ex 45 E and A majors, moving.
CD06 Ex 5 Blues on the E and B-strings. CD45 Ex 47 A, D, and E, with accents.
CD07 Ex 5 E blues backing track, three choruses. (Also backing CD46 Ex 48 C and G, strumming.
track for Exercises 9, 28, 29, 30 ; see Ex 33 for the CD47 Ex 49 Am, Dm, Em: ‘Minor Mishap.’
notation and tab.) CD48 Ex 50 ‘Low Strum, High Strum.’
CD08 Ex 6 String crossing, top three strings. (Backing track CD03.) CD49 Ex 51 ‘Low Strum, High Strum,’ with bassline.
CD09 Ex 9 Blues tune on top three strings. (Backing track CD07.) CD50 Ex 52 All the majors, plus Dsus4.
CD10 Ex 10 G chromatic scale. CD51 Ex 53 Major chords with bassline and dynamics.
CD11 Ex 11 Octaves G – D – A. CD52 Ex 54 C and G with root and fifth bassline.
CD12 Ex 12 Melody for first position notes, top three strings. CD53 Ex 55 C and G with hammer-on bassline.
(Backing track CD03.) CD54 Ex 58 ‘Groovin’ Sevenths.’
CD13 Ex 13 ‘Shadow Walk’: all the notes so far. CD55 Ex 60 Am7 D7 groove.
CD14 Ex 13 ‘Shadow Walk’: backing track. CD56 Ex 61 Gmaj7, Cmaj7, Am7, D7.
CD15 Ex 14 The lowest three strings, D, A, and E, CD57 Ex 62 A, Amaj7, D, Dmaj7, rock style.
CD16 Ex 14 The lowest three strings, backing track: also Ex 46. CD58 Ex 63 Sweep or alternate picking arpeggios.
CD17 Ex 16 Swamp-rock on the D-string. CD59 Ex 64 Arpeggios and pedal notes.
CD18 Ex 16 Swamp-rock on the D-string, backing track. CD60 Ex 65 Slash chord arpeggios: pull-offs and slides.
CD19 Ex 17 Double stops on the G and D-strings (Backing track CD61.)
CD20 Ex 17 Double stops on the G and D-strings, backing track. CD61 Ex 66 Slash chords, rhythm part
CD21 Ex 19 Surfing on the A-string. CD62 Ex 68 Added-note chord sequences.
CD22 Ex 19 Surfing on the A-string, backing track. CD63 Ex 69 Two-note and three-note 5 chords.
CD23 Ex 21 E-string boogie. CD64 Ex 70 Bar chords and added notes.
CD24 Ex 21 E-string boogie, backing track. CD65 Ex 71 G blues with movable chords: three choruses.
CD25 Ex 22 ‘Rock’n’roll Rifferama’ on A. (Backing track for Ex 75, Ex 78, Ex 81.)
CD26 Ex 23 E minor pentatonic. CD66 Ex 72 ‘Jimmy or Jimi?’ rhythm track.
CD27 Ex 24 E blues scale, shape one. CD67 Ex 73 G minor pentatonic, shape one.
CD28 Ex 26 E blues scale, solo. (Backing track CD07.) CD68 Ex 74 Blues scale, shape one in G.
CD29 Ex 27 E blues scale, solo on bass strings. CD69 Ex 75 Solo on shape one in G, including slides and vibrato.
(Backing track CD07.) CD70 Ex 76 G minor pentatonic, shapes two and three.
CD30 Ex 28 E blues scale solo, version two. (Backing track CD07.) CD71 Ex 77 G blues scale, shapes two and three.
CD31 Ex 29 ‘John Lee,’ E minor pentatonic, question and answer. CD72 Ex 78 Solo with shapes one, two, and three:
CD32 Ex 30 Blues vamp on E. introducing bends.
CD33 Ex 31 Blues vamp on E, with muting. CD73 Ex 79 G minor pentatonic, shapes four and five.
CD34 Ex 32 Blues vamp on A, with muting. (For Ex 33 see CD07.) CD74 Ex 80 G blues scale, shapes four and five.
CD35 Ex 34 Blues vamp on D, with muting. CD75 Ex 81 G blues solo, all five shapes. (Backing track CD65.)
CD36 Ex 35 Straight 12-bar in A, muted. CD76 Ex 83 G major pentatonic solo. (Backing track CD48.)
CD37 Ex 36 Swing 12-bar in A, muted. CD77 Ex 84 ‘Jimmy or Jimi?’ solo. (Backing track CD66.)
CD38 Ex 37 C major scale. CD78 Ex 85 Am-D7 groove, with solo (Backing track CD55.)
4
Guitar Course Prelims 27/11/13 12:46 Page 5
INTRODUCTION
The Ultimate Guitar Course gets you playing in your very first lesson and takes
you on a step-by-step journey through to advanced soloing techniques. We
begin at the very beginning, assuming no prior knowledge. The exercises
progress smoothly so that both beginners and more experienced players can
soon find their level and start to make satisfying progress. Each exercise builds
on what has gone before, presenting new material in a sensible and
systematic way and including all the necessary information for complete
understanding. Also, the music is fun and sounds like the real thing—the sort
of music a guitar player would actually want to play.
Some guitar books begin with pages and pages of music theory before you
get to play a note. That is not what happens here. Music theory is important,
but in this book it is introduced step-by-step, where it is needed and where it is
most useful. Explanations are detailed and thorough and, most of all, the
course is extremely practical. Advice is included on left- and right-hand
technique and there are also explanations of how to achieve the sounds you
hear on the CD. With chord and scale diagrams, notation, tablature, and
pictures, you will find the book visually stimulating and musically inspiring.
Now let’s get playing!
Rod Fogg
London 2013
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Guitar Course Section 1 JM 27/11/13 14:53 Page 6
THE ULTIMATE GUITAR COURSE
SECTION ONE
GETTING STARTED
Getting in tune
Before playing any music, the most important thing is to get your guitar in tune. Track 1 on the CD will
give you notes you can tune to, but it is far easier to use a modern electronic tuner. Some you plug
your electric guitar into, or you can use the sort that clips to the headstock of the instrument and picks
up its vibrations. Or, if you have a smartphone, you can probably download a free guitar tuner app; I
have one on my Android phone and I use it all the time.
With the guitar plugged in, turn your tuner on and play each string, one at a time. Make
adjustments at the tuning peg (follow the string back to the peg to make sure you are turning the right
one) until the tuner indicates that the pitch is correct, usually with a needle pointing to the centre or
with a display that changes color. Check that the tuner displays the letter name of the string you are
tuning; if the guitar is new the strings may well be below their correct pitch and need several turns
before they are in tune. If you begin to get erratic readings from your tuner, it may be that the battery
needs changing.
On the left is a tuner
with a jack for you to
plug your guitar into. It
also has a built-in
microphone. The string
is recognized
automatically, and the
guitar is in tune when
the green light in the
center is lit, or when
the electronic needle
points directly
upwards.
On the right is a clip-on
tuner that senses the
vibration of the guitar
strings. The display
changes color when Sitting, standing, and which hand goes where
the guitar is in tune.
Follow the string you Most performing on the electric guitar is done standing up, but to put in the hours necessary to
are picking back up achieve guitar-god status it will probably be best to practice sitting down. In either case it is best for
the neck and across
your hands if you keep the guitar neck pointing upwards; somewhere around 45 degrees is best.
the nut (the block of
Whatever you do, don’t let it drop below horizontal. You will need a guitar strap that can be adjusted
bone or plastic that
keeps the strings in to the correct length. Imagine that the weight of the guitar is being carried by the whole of your back,
position) to make sure rather than just your shoulder.
you are turning the
For most guitarists, the left hand holds down the strings on the fingerboard and the right hand
right tuning peg.
plays the strings down near the bridge with a pick. Left-handed people often opt to do this the
opposite way around, using a purpose-built or converted left-handed guitar. But there is no reason
why any one hand should be better at fretting than picking, so if you are a left-handed beginner you
might as well learn to play right-handed. The advantage is that when you go to your local guitar store
you will find plenty of right-handed guitars, but very few left-handed instruments. Also, if you need to
borrow a guitar at a friend’s house or a jam session, and you’ve learned to play left-handed, you’ll
probably find all the guitars are right-handed.
6
Guitar Course Section 1 JM 27/11/13 14:53 Page 7
SECTION ONE GETTING STARTED
To avoid confusion, throughout this book we will
refer to the hand holding down the strings as the “fret
hand,” and the hand doing the strumming and
picking as the “pick hand.” As you’ve probably
gathered, the exercises are intended for electric
guitar played with a pick, but most of them will
convert quite readily to a steel-string acoustic or
maybe even to a nylon-string guitar. If you don’t want
to use a pick, you can try using the thumb and fingers
of the picking hand to pluck the strings: this is known
as “fingerstyle.” Some of the exercises, particularly in
the later stages of the book, are intended to be
played this way. Study the two pictures below and get
used to holding the pick in this way, balanced lightly
between thumb and index finger. Then listen to CD
track 01 and take a look at Exercise 1.
Below left:The pick is held against the thumb by the index
finger and points directly at the strings.
Below right:If you get it right, the thumb will be pointing
along the strings and the index finger pointing at the guitar.
Above left:A good
strap is essential. One
that doesn’t slide
around is best.
Above right:A strap
can still be useful to
keep the guitar up at
the best angle even
when sitting down to
play.
Exercise 1: The open strings, staves, tablature, and pulse
We write music on a stave. The top stave in Exercise 1 has five lines and is for standard musical
notation, which is not unique to guitar, but can be read and played by other musicians such as
violinists or pianists. The bottom stave has six lines and is for a system unique to fretted instruments,
known as tablature or “tab.” Each line represents a string and numbers are used to indicate
which frets to play. The lowest line is your lowest sounding string and the top line is your highest
T H E O R Y
sounding string. In this case the zeros represent the open strings: the sounds the guitar
Musical sounds are
produces without any help from the fret hand. So the object of the exercise is to play all the
named after the first
open strings starting with the lowest sounding and ending with the highest sounding. Just let
seven letters of the
the pick fall gently from one string to the next with a relaxed downward movement of your
alphabet: A B C D E F G.
picking hand. We call this a downstroke—not difficult, but we’ve got to start somewhere. There are more than
If you take a closer look at the notation stave, you will see that notes can be written on the seven notes on the guitar,
lines or in the spaces, and that we add extra lines, called ledger lines, to accommodate low so after G we begin again
notes that do not fit on the stave. We have also added the names of the open strings of the on A. We will return to
guitar: E A D G B E. Try playing along with the CD track. It begins with four clicks: count 1 – 2 this in more detail later.
– 3 – 4 and then begin. You can hear the click carrying on in the background. Keep counting
the clicks so that you play the next note at the right time. Each one of the notes last for four
clicks and is known as a “whole note.” That makes each click a “quarter note.” We’ll see what they
look like in the next exercise.
7
Guitar Course Section 1 JM 27/11/13 14:53 Page 8
THE ULTIMATE GUITAR COURSE
The music is divided up by vertical lines every four beats; these are known as bar lines. There are
six bars in this piece of music and, as in most rock music, there are four beats to a bar. (Sometimes
a bar is also called a “measure” but we’re sticking to bar in this book.) At the start of the piece there
is this sign: 4/4. We call that a time signature. The top number tells us how many beats there are in
the bar, and the bottom number tells us they are quarter notes; so that means four quarter notes to a
bar in this exercise.
The clicks in the background introduce the idea of “pulse,” the steady background beats that
underlie virtually all music.
EXERCISE1 CD TRACK 01
4 w
w
&4 w
w
w
w
G B E
D
A
E
0
0
⁄ 0
0
0
0
Exercise 2: Half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes
≤
In Exercise 2 we are working on developing some faster movements with the pick. Listen to CD track
02 and check out the music on the page opposite.
In the notation stave the first four bars introduce a
1 ≥
new kind of note—the half note. Each one of these T H E O R Y
D Upstroke sign
lasts for two beats, so counting four beats to a bar At the start of the exercise you will see
C
we would play on beats one and three. Can you q =85. This “tempo marker” sets the overall
figure out which note you have to play? The zeros speed of the piece of music at 85 beats per
on the top line of the tab stave and the notes in the minute or bpm. “Rock” gives you an idea of
Downstroke sœign top space of the notation stave tell you to play the the style of the piece.
J open high E-string.
Now let’s take a look at the next four bars. These
also introduce another new kind of note, the quarter note. There are four of these in every bar, one on
each beat. This time we are starting to move across the guitar, using the B-string and the G-string. All
Singleœ eighth nœote these notes should be played with the pick, using downstrokes. You can see the sign we use for a
downstroke in between the staves in the first bar of the exercise.
Beamed eighth notes PRO TIP Low and high: In music, terms like low and high always refer to
the pitch of the music, so the “low” end of the guitar is near the nut on
the first few frets, where the lowest notes are found. If you read “go up
one fret” it means go one fret higher in pitch. This would mean moving
your hand one fret nearer the bridge and therefore nearer the floor. You
might have noticed that we have two E-strings. The high E-string is the
highest sounding one, nearest the floor, and the low E-string is the lowest
sounding one, nearest the ceiling. Just remember that low and high
always refer to the pitch of the note.
8
