The Three W's of Music

Learning to Play the Guitar

from Music Ala Carte

The three W's of music are;

What: what you are going to play;  whether it will be notes on sheet music or any notation, or an improvised lead part or a chord song. This constitutes what you intend to play.

Where: where on the guitar, you will play the music you have chosen. The knowledge of notes, positions and chords is of utmost importance if you want to play music on the guitar.

When: this is the rhythm of the music; the beat, tempo, note values, count and time signature. Chord patterns in a song can be repetitive so the rhythm of your strum is what brings the song to life. The notes in music are universal, the only difference between melody lines or lead lines is the order and the rhythm of the notes.

Of the thee W's I feel the When is the hardest to understand. The What are the notes on the page you read, the Where is where on the guitar to put your fingers or pick a string. These are both concepts that you visualize but rhythm is not information you can put on paper or touch with your hands. You need to understand , count and feel rhythm and that makes it the most difficult of the three W's to master. My advice is to practice your rhythm and always make just as important as playing the right note.

It takes all three W's to make music so remember;
What: what you are going to play
Where: where on your instrument you are going to play
When: when you are going to play
And of course practice, practice, practice!

Have fun learning to play your guitar and stop by www.robertswinton.com for help and information.