How to Read Octaves in Guitar Sheet Music
Players of most instruments have to read only one note at a time, but guitar music can have up to six notes written at a time. In order to be able to read six notes at once, a player must first learn to read one- and two-note figures. One of the easiest ways to learn to read two notes at a time is to play octaves. Learning to recognize octaves in a piece of music and developing the proper technique to play them will make reading two notes at once seem much easier.
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Instructions
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Open a piece of guitar sheet music and locate two of the same notes stacked on top of each other. These are octaves. The example used shows several different notes written in octaves.
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Place the index finger of your non-dominant hand on the lower note of the octave, then place the ring finger on the higher note. If the octaves occur on the upper three strings, you can use your pinky in place of the ring finger to make the stretch easier..
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Pluck or strum the notes with the fingers of your dominant hand or a pick. Keep the other strings from ringing as the octaves are being strummed by resting the middle finger of your non-dominant hand over any unused strings.
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Play two octaves in a row on the same string sets, as in the music shown. Keep the fingers of your non-dominant hand in position when sliding between the two different octaves. Developing this technique will make reading octaves quicker and easier.
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Play two octaves in a row on different string sets, as in the music shown. Keep the fingers of your non-dominant hand as close to the strings as possible when moving to an octave on a different string set. Developing this technique will make reading octaves quicker and easier.
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Tips & Warnings
Avoiding tablature and chord charts will make reading guitar notation much easier.
