Mike Op Music Series Samples

Welcome to the Mike Op Music Series Sample page. Here you can find free text, video, and audio based music lessons for guitar, banjo, and mandolin. This will be a constantly growing collection of free music lessons and articles. Many of the lessons posted here are samples of extensive instructional series which are available for purchase. I hope that you find the lessons informative and enjoyable. Please don't hesitate to post comments or questions. Feedback is welcome and encouraged. Enjoy! Mike

The Basics: Reading Tablature

Guitar tablature is a specific type of notation using diagrams and numbers to represent the placement of fretting hand fingers at particular points on the guitar neck. Tablature consists of numbers placed on a stave of six horizontal lines. 

Each horizontal line represents one of the guitar strings. The line at the bottom of the staff is string 6, low E, the thickest string. The line at the top of the staff is string 1, high E, the thinnest string. 

String 1 E (thin)     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

String 2 B              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

String 3 G              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

String 4 D              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

String 5 A              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

String 6 E (thick)   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Numbers placed on the staff indicate the frets at which the left-hand fingers are placed. 0 indicates an open (unfretted) string.  Tablature is read sequentially from left to right.

--1-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------3---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------7---------------------------------------------

--------------------------------0-----------------------------------------------------------

-------------------5------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------0-------------------------------

Tablature may also indicate the sounding of multiple notes (chords) simultaneously. In this case, the numbers are stacked vertically across the staff.

--0-----------3-----------2------------------------------------------------------------------

--2-----------0-----------3------------------------------------------------------------------

--2-----------0-----------2------------------------------------------------------------------

--2-----------0-----------0------------------------------------------------------------------

--0-----------2-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------3-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tablature is limited in that it only indicates where the strings are fretted. It does not indicate which fingers to use to play particular notes. Nor tablature generally indicate rhythm and note duration.

The Basics: Reading Chord Diagrams

Chord diagrams are a notation indicating the placement of the fretting hand fingers at particular strings and frets. There are two common ways to write a chord diagram. The most common way is to arrange the diagram so that the strings are represented by vertical lines. However, I use chord diagrams with a horizontal orientation to provide consistency with the tablature notation. 

In horizontal chord diagrams, such as those used throughout this series, the line at the bottom of the chart is string 6, low E, the thickest string. The line at the top of the chart is string 1, high E, the thinnest string. The frets are represented as the columns in between two vertical lines. Unless otherwise indicated, the column to the left is fret 1, and the frets go up in number from left to right.

Dots on the grid indicate the placement of the fretting hand fingers. For example, a dot on the second line from the top in the second column represents string 2, fret 2. A 0 to the left of a horizontal line indicates an open (unfretted) string. An X to the left of a horizontal line indicates a string that is not played. 

Chord diagrams indicate groups of notes that are played simultaneously. 

The chord diagrams above are the same three chords shown above in stacked tablature.