Notes on the neck

NoQuestion · #1 July 21st, 2006

In my guitar book, I'm working on some finger exercises and something has confused me. Above each note, there is a number indicating which finger to play the note with (like "1" for the forefinger...and I'm positive that's what it means). But let's say I have an open note, they still put a "4" above it meaning for me to use my pinky to play that chord. So I'm just going to assume they want me to play that note somewhere else on the neck that will require me to use my pinky. Well, my book doesn't really go into the details of the different positions of the notes. So like, let's say I have an E note with a 4 above it, where am I supposed to play that note on the neck? Is there any rule of thumb to help me remember the different positions?

fly135 · #2 July 21st, 2006

There's an E at 2nd string 5th fret.

Donovan · #3 July 21st, 2006

I'm note sure in what kind of format these exercises in your book are written...? Can you actually see if those particular notes are meant to be played open? If it's regular tab, it could be notated that way, but may be the result of a typo or wrong interpretation by a computer program which generated the tabs. If it's standard notation, the positions are chosen at the player's discretion. Note that you take into account the ease of the fingering, the previous and following notes (context) and the desired "tone" of the note to decide that.

You speak of chords in particular. It could be that you need to finger the note at a different position. But that wouldn't make much sense for the book, letting the student figure that out by himself, rather than simply pointing it out. The only thing I can think of is that the "open" string with the 4 with it should be muted with the pinky. That's about the only sensible thing I can come up with if the "4" does indeed indicate the fingering. Hope that helps!

allthumbs · #4 July 25th, 2006

That is a typo or there is something missing in that book. I suppose the numbers could indicate the intervals being played. Look carefully through the book. There should be an explanation of the numbering sytem and it's meaning.