Mnemonic Devices for the Guitarist
Created | Updated Mar 20, 2003
Six-String Style
Admirable guitarists, like Hendrix, Clapton, Slash, and Reba McIntyre, make their jobs look so easy! Yet, in picking up a guitar, you might discover yourself overwhelmed(even if you have had piano lessons as a child). Here are a few strategies for understanding the six-stringed music-demon. Once you aren't afraid, well, you'll have gained the confidence to carry off the poise and style of the greats!
Memorization of the Strings
Easter Bunnies Get Drunk After Easter(EBGDAE, the names of the strings from first to sixth)
Memorization of the Notes on the Treble Staff
The Spaces:
FACE(spell the names of the spaces on the treble staff)
The Lines:
Every Good Boy Does Fine
Every Great BEATLE Did Fab
Visual Aids
One researcher recommends that guitarists make their own Circle of Fifths. This will be a wheel designed to automatically line a musician up with chords that relate to one another-- every key signature can be at your fingertips!!!
He writes:
It is worth every guitarist's while making one. Get a piece of card and cut out a disc about 6 inches(15cm) across. Divide it into twelve, like a clock face.
Write the chord names around the outside in the following order:
C G D A E B F# C# Ab Eb Bb F and back to C
Am Em Bm F#m C#m Abm Ebm Bbm Fm Cm Gm Dm and back to Am
Now what do you do with it? You will quickly find that all your favorite chords are clustered around one point on this disc. If you're playing C, you'll use C along with F on its left and G on its right... To play in a different key, just put a different chord at the top. The pattern of left and right will be the same.
Our Circle of Fifths researcher encourages guitarists to experiment to get a feel for where all one's favorite chords are.
Other Supplemental Aids
There are a million guitar chord books out there. After seeing the magic of the Circle of Fifths, you might want to get a chart to show you how to play a C, F, and G(the most common chords in rock and roll).
Although guitar diagrams abound, they are easy to read, and well-organized within Hal*Leonard's "Incredible Chord Finder"... Some guitar teachers require that all of their students purchase personal copies. Not crowded with too much information, it is an easy-to-use, valuable resource.
In it you'll find three different positions for each chord, so that you won't be forced to leap from the ninth fret to the second(although this might look cool and impressive, a great rock and roll guitarist knows that he does best to preserve his energy for other theatrics!)
Find Your Chords, and Treat Them Well
After a week or two of practice, you should feel confident enough to search the internet for some music to work on. Keep in mind that these pages tend to be written in tablature(if you are unfamiliar with it, give this entry a look over:Power Chords for the Electric Guitar)
Here are a few online resources to get you started:
Ultimate-Guitar.com
