1 Parts of the guitar

To insure that there is no confusion when we talk about the guitar, it is important that we understand the names for the major components of a guitar. Illustration 1 (below) shows the side and back view of the guitar, the parts of the guitar that are in physical contact with the player. The body of most acoustic guitars has a narrow section in the middle called the Waist." This narrowing is patterned after other stringed instruments such as the violin and is designed to help amplify the sound out the sound hole and for the ease of playing. The two widenings in the body at the top and bottom are called the bouts. The "upper bout" is above the waist below where the neck connects to the body, and the lower bout is at the bottom of the guitar. The Heel or neck joint is a reinforcing section where the Neck joins together with the Body of the guitar just above the Upper Bout. The Strap Button often is also the electric plug socket for amplified acoustic guitars and is located at the bottom of the guitar on the Side below the Lower Bout.

The Side The Heel Strap Button The Back The Waist The Neck Fret Marks

The Body

Lower Bout

Upper Bout

Illustration 2 (on page 9) describes the business end of the guitar known as the head or the head-piece. This is where the tuning mechanisms are located. Beginning at the top are the vertical Posts that the strings wind around, the Pegs or Tuning Key for tuning the guitar, below the Post is The Nut that aligns the strings as they run over the Neck of the guitar. Along the top of the Neck is the Fretboard (AKA the Fingerboard), named after the Fret Wires and Fret Spaces (called simply the Frets). To prevent confusion, we will refer to it primarily as the Fingerboard in this book. The strings end on the face of the guitar body in the Saddle. The saddle contains the Bridge, (which along with the Nut), determines the height of the guitar strings above the guitar neck, this is called the playability or action of the guitar. (Strings that are low and close to the fretboard are said to have better action and playability than a guitar with strings that are higher above the frets and require more effort to press down against the fretboard.) For most acoustic guitars, the strings terminate where the bridge pins attach the strings to the guitar saddle. Some guitars however have raised tailpieces, metal assemblies where the strings end above the Face of the guitar, particularly on steel resonator guitars such as the Dobro, or the Pedal Steel guitars common to country-western music. Illustration 3 portrays the head from a side view, with fret marks on the left side of the neck facing up to the guitarist. Inlays or Fret Marks designate where key frets (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th) are located. Illustration 4 (also page 11) once more shows the front of the guitar, known as the Face or Soundboard, where the Sound Hole, Pick Guard and Bridge are located.

1.1

The Guitar Components

The Head or Headstock
TUNING POSTS
The top of the Guitar Neck is called the

TUNING KEYS OR

Pegs

Inlays or Position Markers

1 Fret
st

FRETBOARD or FINGERBOARD
The

NUT

The metal Bars / Wires are called the FRETS

3rd Fret
The space between the Fret Bars is simply called

5th Fret

the

FRET

7th Fret

The

NECK

The

BRIDGE

The

SADDLE

Bridge PINS

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SOUND HOLE

THE WAIST

PICK GUARD

ROSETTE

The Heel SOUNDBOARD Or FACE

STRAP BUTTON

SADDLE (Bridge & Bridge pins)

Illustration 4 - Guitar Body

Fretboard Note Chart

GUITAR STRINGS
If you are having a hard time remembering what the string names are, here are acronyms to help you memorize and remember:E A D G B E. Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears But my personal favorite is; Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie!

FINGERBOARD NOTES
What notes can you play on the Guitar? It all depends on how much you practice! Actually, the chart on the left shows all the notes located on the Guitar Fretboard or Fingerboard. Combining Chords and adding individual notes creates new combinations. Many times, you may come across a chord with a slash followed by another note, such as D/F# or G/D (illustration 5). Whenever you see the slash, always look to see what unplayed/unfingered note it may be referring to. Lets use G/D as the example. To make this chord you simply play a regular G chord but add the extra D note to the chord. So how do you know which note to add? The normal G chord is comprised of the notes G, B, D, G, B, G. The 1st D note is already played; an open note of the D string. The only D note unplayed is D on the third fret of the B string. Now look at the D/F#. You play a D chord but add the F# note. The normal D chord is comprised of E, A, D, F#. There are only two choices, F# on the E string in the 2nd fret or F# on D string 4th fret. Since the typical D chord does not use the A string, the only note it can refer to is F# on D string. Remember, if the chord is too difficult to play or does not sound right, you can always ignore the slash note and play it as a regular chord. Chord names can also be very confusing because some chords can have more than one fingering position for the same chord! An example is Am7, (illustration 6). One chord is formed using only the C and E notes, while the other version utilizes C, A, E and G to form the same chord. However the Am7 formed using C & E notes is also correctly labeled C6/A or G6sus2sus4/A. Confusing? Sorry but chord names are not set in stone, unless the song comes with its own chorditure, which note to add where, can become a guessing game.

Illustration 5

illustration 7 illustration 6 Music theory can be confusing and difficult. When choosing chords, I have learned that the simplest solution is usually the best.