reding music part 3 - Course Homepage

Reading notes in the 5th Position. Reading Double-Stops and Triple-Stops, and Open Chords.

Reading Music In The 5th Position

Since the guitar has six strings, most notes on the guitar can be found in several “positions” on the fretboard. Instead of learning all of the note locations at once, we can divide the guitar into positions to help us locate the best fingering for each piece of music. We can determine the best position by studying the range (highest and lowest note) of the piece to find a suitable position 

The “5th Position” refers to the notes found between the 5th and 8th frets on the guitar. This is the most versatile position on the neck, as you can play into both the lower and upper ranges of the guitar. Note that this position goes up to the High C as well as the Low A, and is the most balanced range for reading into the low and high notes. 

The diagram below shows the notes in the 5th position. Notice that we lose notes on the lower end of the staff and gain notes on the higher end above the staff. 

The diagram below shows the sharps and flats in the 5th position. Note that we sometimes extend this position down to the 4th fret and up to the 9th fret to find some of these notes. Typically we will use the closest finger to the fret, so the 4th fret will use the first finger, and the 9th fret will use the 4th finger.

5th Position Reading Exercises

Reading Double-Stops and Triple-Stops

Part of reading on the guitar involves reading multiple notes at the same time. Very often you will have to read chords in addition to single-note lines. Read the examples below and find the best fingering for each chord. You may find many of these examples similar to the open chords you learned in previous chapters. 

The exercises below will incorporate Double-Stops, which is a term referring to two notes played at the same time, as well as Triple Stops which incorporates three notes played simultaneously. Practice the exercises below. You may need to use both the open position as well as the 5th position to play these exercises.

Reading Chords

Part of reading on the guitar involves reading multiple notes at the same time. Very often you will have to read chords in addition to single-note lines. Read the examples below and find the best fingering for each chord. You may find many of these examples similar to the open chords you learned in previous chapters. 

Some notes that were previously found on open strings must now be plated as fretted notes. Count the notes in each chord and that will tell you which string to play that note. For example, a four-note chord can be played on the top four strings of the guitar, with the top note on the first string, the second note on the second string, and continue throughout the voicing.