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Notation used in this book
Tablature
In tablature, the six
horizontal lines represent the six strings, with the first string on top and the
sixth on the bottom. The numbers refer to fret numbers on the given
string. 0 refers to an open string. The vertical lines mark out the
bars in the following example, marking four beats between each line, as in standard music
notation. In this book, many of the right hand patterns are played with
the left hand held in one position (like a chord) for that section of music and
where this is the case, the chord windows appear over the relevant
section.
Figure 1: Sample
tablature
Chord diagrams (chord windows)
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Chord diagrams show
where the fingers go on the fretboard. Two examples are shown in Figure
2. The horizontal lines refer to the frets and the vertical lines refer to
the strings, with the lowest string (sixth) on the left. A heavy line on
the top of the diagram refers to either the nut (the white strip which the
strings ride over at the end of the neck) or the capo. If the
heavy line is present, the window refers to frets 1 to 4 from the nut or the
capo. Otherwise, the number at the right of the diagram refers to a fret
number. Likewise, this refers to the number of frets from either the nut
or the capo, depending upon whether a capo is in use or not.
X indicates a string
that should be muted or not played.
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Figure 2
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Chord charts
These are fairly
straightforward and are written out in eight bar lines, which is generally one
part of a tune. This means that in a standard tune four lines of chords
will make up one time around the tune, in a standard A-A-B-B form. For
ease of reference, each part is labelled A1 through A4 and B1 through B4.
Where there is a number after a chord, refer to the chord windows and you'll
fund there is more than one version of this chord. Play the numbered
one. When there is more than one chord per bar, split the time for each
chord equally in the bar, unless otherwise indicated by markers. For
example, in a bar of 4/4, if you have [Bm//A], you play Bm for three beats and A
for the fourth.
Lower case letters
refers to bass notes, which are usually played on the sixth or fifth
string. Shaded sections of the chart means that there is a reference to
this somewhere in the text.
The capo and written chords
Now, the capo is a
great invention in practice but when it comes to writing down chords, it can
cause great confusion. This is because when using a capo, any chord will
change its name, i.e., it will be a different chord and its new name depends on
where the capo is placed. For example, if you play a D chord with the capo
on the second fret, it's an E chord. The same chord played with the capo
on the third fret is an F chord and so on.
I want to clear up any
possible misunderstanding that may develop because of this. If a capo has
been used on the recording, I have stated so clearly in the comments relating to
that track. In some cases, a change of capo position happens between the
first and second tune on the same track and this is made clear also.
Now, please note
that the chords in the charts are written as if there was no capo in use.
The idea is that you can slide your capo the stated position and read the chords
as if you were not using a capo. With the chord windows, fret numbers
refer to either the number of frets from the nut, or from the capo, if there is
one.
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