GUITAR

 

PARTS

 

 

REPLACING STRINGS

1. Push the string through the slot in the back of the guitar (or through the bridge on the     front, see below), then pull it all the way through until the ball at the end of the string     stops against the bridge. Make sure there is no slack, so the string wont slip when     tightened later.

There are different types of bridges, most are like the picture below, where the string is simply fed through the back of the bridge and pulled tightly.See below for semi-acoustic and classical bridges.

 

2. After pulling the string through the bridge, feed it through the machinehead and pull it     tightly so there is no slack. Also make sure the string is in the correct groove at the     nut.

 

3. While the string is tight, measure about an inch past the machinehead and cut the     string at that point.

 

4. Next, bring the string back so the end is just poking through the machinehead, then     pull the string around the machinehead so it makes a crease in the string. This will     help stop the string slipping through when it is being wound tight.

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5. Tighten the string with the tuner whilst keeping a down pressure on the string with     your finger, so that the winds go downwards towards the headstock. You should end     up with three winds of string around the machinehead. As the string tightens it keeps     enough pressure to hold it in place.

 

6. Repeat steps for all six strings.

 

TIPS

1. It is best to replace the strings one at a time instead of taking them all off first.

2. New strings need time to settle and stretch. It helps to grab each string at about the     middle of the guitar and pull it around a bit so the string tightens at the machinehead     and the bridge, then re-tune. You may need to re-tune several times during the first     few playing sessions.

3. Strings should be replaced about every month or so, depending on how often the     guitar is played. A working musician will change strings every week.

4. Strings do last a long time but will begin to sound dull after about 30 hours playing     time. If left too long, strings will develope rust and a build up of dirt from your hands.

5. Strings will also wear out from being pushed against the frets, this creates a ridge     and causes breaking points.

6. Clean the strings by rubbing a cloth along the top and bottom of each string, pinching     the cloth around the string with your thumb and index finger works well.

 

SEMI-ACOUSTIC BRIDGE

Semi-acoustic bridges often have bridge pins to hold the strings in place.Simply put the string ball end into the hole then push it in with the pin to secure it. Tug the string upwards while pushing in the pin so there is no slack. Follow the above electric guitar steps for the rest of the stringing process.

 

 

CLASSICAL BRIDGE

1. Classical guitar strings don't usually have ball ends, so the strings need to be tied to     the bridge. Thread the string through the bridge leaving about 4 inches of string at the     back.

 

2. Loop the back part of the string around the front then under itself as shown below.

 

3. Make another loop at the back of the bridge and pull the string tight from both sides.     Clip the string if needed, leaving enough to tuck into the neighbouring string loop (see     below). The photos show the 6th E string, start with the 1st (smallest) E string, so that     the remaining bit of string can be more easily included in the next strings loop. This     makes for a neat set up as well as giving extra grip to keep the strings from slipping.

 

4. Thread the string through the hole so the end is just appearing on the other side.

 

5. Keep the string tight while winding the tuning key. Wind the string until it is tight then     tune it. For the two strings closest to the nut (top and bottom E string), wind the string     outward towards the tuning keys. For the remainding four, wind the strings inwards     toward the centre, this helps the strings align with the slots on the nut.

 

 

TUNING

Tuning is best achieved with an electronic tuner (shown below). Tuners can be used by plugging the guitar lead directly into the tuner (for electric guitars) or with the built in microphone (for acoustic guitars).

 

Tuning manually can be achieved by picking the note on the fifth fret then tuning the open string below to match it.eg. The fith note along the E string is A, which is the note for the next open string. This can be repeated for each string except the B string, in which the fourth note on the G string is used to tune the B string (see diagram below).

 

NOTES

Music notes basically follow the alphabet from A to G. Every note has a sharp except 'E' and 'B'. The sharp note is a semi tone between two full notes and is usually identified with the # symbol. The notes in sequence are: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#

The first 5 notes for each string are shown below.

 

CHORDS

There are hundreds of chords that can be played on the guitar. However, many popular songs use very basic common chords. The chart below shows the positioning for some of the most commonly used chords.

 

BARCHORDS

Barchords are also very common and are sometimes used to play entire songs. A barchord is when your first finger holds down all strings along one fret to block off the open string notes, while the rest of your fingers make a chord, usually the E chord or the A chord (see diagrams below). With this finger positioning the barchord can be moved up or down the neck to make different chords depending on which fret is barred off. The E barchord follows the notes along the E string. Which ever note your first finger is 'barring' will be the chord played. (see diagram below) eg. To play an 'F' with a barchord, position the barchord so your first finger is barring the first fret 'F'.
The A barchord follows the notes along the A string. eg. frist fret is A# (see below)