As a beginner acoustic guitarist you’re probably wondering whether learning your songs from guitar tablature is as excellent as getting them from “real” sheet music. Learning to play acoustic guitar is a fantastic adventure which is sometimes spoilt a bit by the prospect of having to learn to read music. But for most acoustic guitar players, learning all the symbols and theory connected with musical notation is not really necessary.

Tablature for acoustic guitar has certain points giving it an edge over standard music notation. Really historians tell us that tablature was used to record musical compositions long before conventional notation. They don’t seem to have much thought how musicians attributed note values to compositions they has never heard played. Maybe it wasn’t an issue in the sixteenth century.

So what do you learn from tabs? Tablature shows diagrammatically where finger positions are indicated using numbers representing the guitar’s frets along horizontal lines representing the strings. The note G played on the first (thinnest) string is shown by the number 3 written on the top line of the tablature. Sometimes the person writing the tablature will group the notes together to show that they are all the same value but this is not a hard and quick rule.

Hammer-ons, string bends, pull-offs and other techniques are shown by symbols. Each tablature writer has his own thought of the best way to show how to play the music, and he usually includes a legend showing his symbols on each tab. With the aid of guitar tabs, you can learn new music quickly without going to the additional distress of learning conventional music notation.

Despite the fact that tempo and time signatures are not included, sometimes it’s simpler for the guitarist to pick up music from tablature. The ease with which you can learn to read tablature means that your progress on the guitar is not slowed by the need to cope with such things as the use of alternate tunings.

Another bonus is in the ease in sharing acoustic guitar music on the internet. Guitar tab is easily written on a computer by way of ASCII code, which makes it simpler to email or post on the web. Maybe when you get some guitar playing experience under your belt you could try writing some music down for yourself. A fantastic chance to see the difficulties facing composers for the guitar. Unfortunately debate over copyright issues has made posting guitar tab a small bit contentious, but you can still share tab privately by email.

A lot of guitar teachers proclaim the virtues of learning to read sheet music. Some even reckon you are not a “real” musician unless you can read “real” music. If you have a burning desire to follow a career in music then the versatility given you by the ability to read music will be a certain advantage. But if you look at playing music as a way of each individual expressing themselves in their own unique way, then how you write your music down is not one of the largest issues in your life!

To learn to play guitar is hard and simple at the same time. The guitar is a fascinating instrument. It is very hard to master in some areas but you will also find wells of simple to play but nice sounding treasures among the strings.

In this learn to play guitar article I will give some examples of simple to play guitar chords and progressions. I will use guitar tab to help you find the notes on your guitar.

In this article i will only use the first four strings on the guitar. In the guitar tab staff notation I will also use only the first four lines. The first string is the thinnest string on the guitar or the E-string.

The first guitar tab progression will be in the key of D. The chords of the progression is Dmaj7 and Em7. Here is the guitar tab:

1. –2—0—
2. –2—0—
3. –2—0—
4. –0—0—

The guitar chord progression above can be used as a small intro in a song in the key of D. It can also end a song or be used as a break between verses in a song. You can repeat the progression to make it last longer.

The next example will use the first chord and a Gm6 as the second chord. This small passage can also be used as an intro in a song if you like it:

1. –2—0—
2. –2—3—
3. –2—3—
4. –0—0—

The following example will use just one chord, the D chord and it will be went two frets up. When you go the chord up it will not be D anymore. It will change into a E7 or if you want E/D. This means that you play an E-chord with the note D as a bass note.

The chords in this guitar chord progression will be D and E7. Try it!

1. –2—4—
2. –3—5—
3. –2—4—
4. –0—0—

When you go the chord up the two frets you don’t need to lift you left hand fingers. Just release the pressure of your left hand fingers a bit and slide up to the new position.

This method of sliding to new positions can be used when you change between chords. Many times you can keep one or more of your fingers on your fingerboard and slide when you change to new chords. This will make it simpler to find the chord and will speed up the chord change.

Our last small guitar chord progression will use the same progression with just a different way to play the E7 chord.

Remember that all these chord progressions can be repeated over and over as intros or something else in the key of D on your guitar.

1. –2—0—
2. –3—0—
3. –2—1—
4. –0—0—

Observe that you can slide with you first finger that you hoopefully have pressed down on the second fret of the third string when you play D. When you change to the second chord you can slide to the first fret.

The above progressions use the open D-string as a fundament so to speak and this bass note makes an illusion of peace in the chord progressions. In tonal music this bass note is called a pedal point.

If you like finger picking on your guitar I will give you a pattern that can be used with these chords. I will use the common classical guitar symbols for the right hand fingers. P denotes the thumb, i the first finger, m the middle finger and a the ring finger.

1. –a———–a—
2. ———-m——-
3. ——i———–
4. –p—————

I hope you will find this small learn to play guitar lesson helpful. There are a lot of chord progressions that sounds nice but are very simple to play. In other words, I will be back!