Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Essential Skills for the Guitarist: Master Core Techniques Needed to Play Guitar Using Proven Methods, 2nd Edition
    Essential Skills for the Guitarist: Master Core Techniques Needed to Play Guitar Using Proven Methods, 2nd Edition
    Essential Skills for the Guitarist: Master Core Techniques Needed to Play Guitar Using Proven Methods, 2nd Edition
    Ebook175 pages56 minutes

    Essential Skills for the Guitarist: Master Core Techniques Needed to Play Guitar Using Proven Methods, 2nd Edition

    By Dana Wright

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Written for both beginners and more experienced players, Essential Skills for the Guitarist presents a set of core techniques every guitarist needs to know to play in almost any musical situation.

    Instead of focusing on a particular style of music, the focus is on learning a set of fundamental skills for playing the guitar and for music in general. While it’s not a blues or rock guitar book, the skills gleaned from this book will greatly help you to play music in these styles, or any other styles you wish to play. Knowing how to read music is not required.

    Topics covered include learning the notes on the fretboard, intervals, major scales, open chords, barre chords, as well as tips for practicing. For anyone who’s been playing guitar for a while but find themselves stuck and unsure of how to put it all together, this book is for you.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDana Wright
    Release dateJan 18, 2018
    ISBN9781370344260
    Essential Skills for the Guitarist: Master Core Techniques Needed to Play Guitar Using Proven Methods, 2nd Edition
    Author

    Dana Wright

    Dana Wright has been teaching and performing throughout Massachusetts and New England for over 20 years. Originally from Southborough, Dana began studying guitar at age 14. He later graduated Magna Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee he was awarded the Professional Music Achievement Scholarship for outstanding progress.

    Related to Essential Skills for the Guitarist

    Related ebooks

    Music For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      200 WAYS To Be A Better Player

      Aug 23, 2019

      While there is much pleasure to be had in owning guitars, which are undeniably beautiful things, nothing will enhance your enjoyment of the instrument more than learning how to play it a little better each day. The clue is in the name: it’s an instru

      44 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Learn To Read Music!

      May 5, 2021

      Okay, so we’ve all heard the joke. ‘How do you make a guitarist stop playing? Stick a piece of music in front of him!’ As amusing (or not!) as this may be, it’s true that there are many of us that don’t read music at all. And while this is no great d

      26 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mitch Dalton

      Jul 27, 2022

      Mitch Dalton
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      2022 Guitar Workout

      Mar 21, 2022

      2022 Guitar Workout
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Keyboard Correlations

      Feb 7, 2023

      Keyboard Correlations
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Frank Gambale

      Mar 9, 2022

      Frank Gambale
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      10 Things Every Novice Guitarist Needs To Know…

      Feb 11, 2022

      Nobody ever finishes learning the guitar. You could be a master classical guitarist and a novice at blues; or you might be a virtuoso with a pick but uncertain with fingerstyle. Still, some essential skills let you play in a huge variety of situation

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Future Of Guitar

      Jan 3, 2020

      The Future Of Guitar
      18 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      2020 Guitar Workout

      Jan 21, 2020

      2020 Guitar Workout
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      25 Easy Guitar Lessons

      Dec 20, 2019

      25 Easy Guitar Lessons
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Rockabilly Licks

      Dec 15, 2021

      Brought to you by… Rockabilly is a term that describes the melting pot of styles that emerged as one of the earliest offshoots of rock and roll music in the early 1950s. Rock and roll had emerged in the US during the late 1940s, and itself was a mixt

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      50 Licks Of The Legends

      Aug 28, 2019

      Welcome to this giant feature that celebrates issue 300 of Guitar Techniques magazine. I first became a contributor back in issue 137 and couldn’t in my wildest dreams have foreseen enjoying being part of over 150 issues covering many of my favourite

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Play Like… David Gilmour

      Apr 5, 2023

      Play Like… David Gilmour
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ultimate Sweep Picking

      Aug 26, 2020

      If there was ever a technique that’s both feared and revered, its sweep picking. Sweep picking gets some bad press, and to some it’s written off as nothing more than ‘show boating’, or for playing the soundtrack to Super Mario. But sweep picking has

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Hot Country! 30 Great Licks Nashville style...

      May 6, 2020

      Country guitar is one of those styles that turns the heads of guitarists no matter which genre they specialise in. Indeed, when I was a teenage metalhead 30 years ago it was the chicken pickin’ of Zakk Wylde and Steve Morse that drew me to it. Over s

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Art of Voice Leading

      Oct 22, 2019

      AT THE BEGINNING of every guitarist’s musical journey, you learn a set of open “cowboy” chords and barre chords — a few major, minor and 7th shapes that set you on your way to playing every song in an “easy guitar” songbook. But where do you go after

      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      60 Years Of Legato

      Jan 12, 2022

      60 Years Of Legato
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Melodic-Harmonic Framework, Part 1

      Apr 6, 2021

      IN A LEAD guitarist’s world, so much attention is given to scale patterns that it’s no wonder the topic of arpeggios is often put on the back burner. That’s unfortunate, as these little three-and four-note wonders — triad- and 7th-chord arpeggios, re

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      40 Blues Intros & Outros

      Jun 3, 2020

      What do Chuck Berry, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and countless others have in common? No, there isn’t a punchline: the answer is a knowledge of the basic blues format and the ability to blend it into their own cont

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      How To Be A Modern Guitarist

      Apr 2, 2021

      Back in 2019, we proclaimed in these very pages that, despite what some voices in the media were telling us at the time, the guitar was not over. The two years since have proved this beyond a shadow of doubt. In the past year alone, the guitar indust

      19 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Chord Clinic F Major

      Dec 3, 2021

      Chord Clinic F Major
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Blues Comping 101

      Jun 30, 2020

      IN A GUITARIST’S life, few things are as fun and gratifying as jamming out on a 12-bar blues progression with a friend, a band or even by yourself. And sure, the soloing part is a blast, but as with many different musical styles, your primary role in

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Pentatonic Puzzle Pieces

      Aug 27, 2019

      THINK OF A famous rock guitar solo and chances are the minor pentatonic scale lies at its foundation. For many of us, minor pentatonic was the first scale we ever learned to play. But a lot of guitarists rely on only one pattern or position for the s

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Blues Tips

      Oct 21, 2022

      Get to grips with the most important chord progression and you’ll always know where you are in any 12-bar blues jam The most common blues chord progression is the I-IV-V (one-four-five), so called because the chords are built upon the first, fourth a

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Essential Skills for the Guitarist

    5/5

    6 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Exercercises hepled to memorised the fretboard better, chords and intervals.

    Book preview

    Essential Skills for the Guitarist - Dana Wright

    In my 25+ years of teaching guitar I often encounter students who have been playing for a while but find themselves stuck. They may know a few chords, melodies, and parts of songs, but what they lack is the ability to put it all together .In addition, many amateur guitar players are unsure of what topics to work on to improve. Because of the internet, access to information has never been easier. A quick search will provide a myriad of information related to music and guitar playing. While it is great in one sense, it doesn’t always answer the question of how to learn to play the guitar and learn music in general, and which topics are most important to work on to have a solid foundation.

    Many guitar books available today only present information. What’s lacking is a step by step process by which you can process and absorb the information so that it becomes automatic. This book isn’t meant to be a comprehensive study of guitar playing. Nor does it focus on any style of music. While it’s not a blues or rock guitar book, the skills gleaned from this book will greatly help you to play music in these styles, or any other styles you wish to play. To some degree, learning to play guitar is a craft. Before you can even begin to play a song, you’ll need to get some basic skills together.

    Knowing how to read music is not required. However, you will need a basic understanding of chord symbols and strumming notation, which is included in this book.

    How this book is organized

    Each chapter will address a specific topic. Exercises for practicing are provided to learn the topic and get it under your fingers and in your brain. By using the tools and practice methods outlined in this book I’m confident you’ll improve your knowledge of the guitar and music in general.

    I suggest beginners work through the book from beginning to end. Intermediate players can simply skip to whatever topic they wish to focus on. Some chapters will require that you’ve already worked on earlier sections. In those cases, I’ll include prerequisites for each chapter where necessary.

    I sincerely hope you enjoy this book. Good luck and have fun!

    Flashcards introduction

    Some of the exercises in this book will require the use of flashcards. As a kid, I remember using flashcards at school. At the time, I didn’t think much of them. They were dry, boring, and the stuff they’re meant to teach wasn’t all that appealing to me (math, history, etc.). Years later I was surprised to discover that flashcards are an excellent way to learn guitar.

    Flashcards have many benefits. They’re inexpensive, easy to make, and portable. Flashcards also help you to know how long to practice a topic. Once you review the set of cards, you’re done with that topic for the day.

    Another benefit is, if you get interrupted, you can simply leave the cards as they are on the table and when you return you’ll know exactly where you left off. (That is, if you don’t have any small children or pets to disturb them).

    To make the flashcards for this book you’ll need a set of index cards. The 3 by 5-inch cards they sell in office supply stores work perfectly. You may already have them somewhere in your house. If you don’t have any index cards, and you really don’t want to spend any money, you can cut up pieces of paper into small squares. My suggestion however is to buy the index cards since they’re cheap and sturdy. Either way, get yourself a set of cards and something to write with. Pencil, pen, marker, crayons, etc.

    If you’re technically inclined you can use Anki. Anki is a free and open-source flashcard program that uses spaced repetition to determine which cards need more review and which don’t. For more information, visit https://apps.ankiweb.net.

    Navigation on the guitar

    Let’s discuss some naming conventions. The terms low and high on the guitar always refer to the SOUND, and not the location.

    Locations of the high and low E string

    Notice the HIGH string is closest to the floor, and the LOW string is closest to the ceiling.

    Directions on the guitar (going higher or lower)

    Learning the notes on the guitar

    Like many guitarists, I began learning to play by memorizing melodies and finger patterns on the guitar. I remember my first breakthrough was learning the

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1