A String Notes: Guitar Lessons

Video Transcript

"Okay, now we are going to learn notes on our A string. The A string is the fifth string up. One, two, three, four, five. This is the open A. If you do it with your pick, you want to pick the string that's second from the top (A). We're going to have the same fingering that we had for the D string on the A string. A, then our second finger plays the note B. Our third finger plays the note C. (sings out the notes he is playing). Now this can be difficult because the A string is pretty high up. Look how much I'm bending my wrist. I'm keeping my thumb in the same place. I really have my hands almost on top of the fret board. A, B, C, B, A. To read these in musical notation, our open A is two ledger lines down. These are called ledger lines, because they are added extra lines. When we get out of this range we have to use these. So, think two ledger lines down for A, below the first extra ledger line for B, on that extra ledger line for C. We have the octave open A, and this octave on the second part of the G string (that A). We have the octave of B (on the A string second fret) and open B. We have the octave of C on the first fret of the B string C. So they sound like this (singing the notes and playing). So, don't get those confused when you're reading the notes. Remember that if they are below that line for the A string, they're going to be on this low A."