In this lesson, we are going to quickly review and improve our notation a bit. First we started out by learning the names of each string.

Low E, A, D, G, B, High E

Where we used E for our notation of the low E string and H for our notation of the high E string, so as not to become confused when speaking of the low and high E strings respectively.

Next, we wrote numbers after the string names, to indicate which fret we were playing on an indicated string. For example,

E7 : Which means to play the 7th fret on the E string
A11 : Which means to play the 11th fret on the A string
B2 : Which means to play the second fret on the B string
etc., etc., etc.

Then, to indicate which finger we want to use for each note being played, we introduced

i = index finger
m = middle finger
r = ring finger
p = pinky

And from here, we simply wrote the indicated symbol for the finger being used to fret the note, as in the following examples.

E2i : Which meansplay the second fret on the low E string with your index finger.

A3m : Which means play the 3rd fret on the A string with your middle finger etc. etc. etc.

If we add one more piece of information to our notation "u" for up strokes and "d" for down strokes, we have a more complete form of notation that tells us which direction in which to pick the string we are playing. For example, we might have,

A7id, D9ru

Which means, first place your index finger on the 7th fret of the A string and pick with a down stroke and then place your ring finger on the 9th fret of the D string and use an up stroke when playing that note. Remember, we play notes in order from left to right, in standard reading order. At first the notation we are using might seem a little awkward, but the more you practice reading and writing using this notation, the easier and more intuitive it gets. In fact, when I want to learn a song or finger exercise, I sit down and type out the song using this notation so that I can have a copy for my notes for later use. Often, when I am writing out notes for my own personal use, I will drop the convention of indicating which finger to use to hold a fret down or which direction to stroke the string. And over time, you will drop that convention too. You will get so used to knowing from practice which finger to use and which direction to move your pick in that you simply won't need to be reminded. But, for now, I want to keep with this notation in order to help you develop a solid foundation for gaining a sense of finger placement and pick movement when playing guitar.


Corey J. Bray