Position
Position is a relatively simple concept - it refers the fret number that your index finger will naturally fret. For example, in figure 1 below, your index finger would play the 2nd fret. This is 2nd position. So there are as many positions on a guitar as there are frets + open position which is covered below.
fig. 1 --2--3--4--5--
Contents
PreReqs
Stetches
Very rarely will you ever be completely confined inside a group of 4 frets. You'll often have to perform stretches such as below:
fig. 2 --2--4--6--
Your index finger will fret the 2nd fret, so it's most accurate to say we're in 2nd position. But the 4th fret you will need to fret with your middle or ring finger, and the 6th with your pinky. I find it's easiest to stretch the middle finger to reach the 4th fret, which makes it easier to reach the 6th fret with the pinky. Either way you have to stretch. But let's look at a different example:
fig. 3 e--------------------------------- b-------------------------7-9-10-- g-------------------6-8-9--------- d-------------6-7-9--------------- a-------6-7-9--------------------- e-5-7-9---------------------------
Are we in 5th, 6th, or 7th position? Or are we switching as we change from the 6th to 5th and 3rd to 2nd strings? Trying to specify position strictly can get confusing. I don't like thinking in terms of position. I find most instruction overemphasizes the concept of position for beginners, feeding them examples where there are coincidentally no stretches, and the index finger is on the same fret for all strings. As your infant mind graps to the concept of position, it becomes awkward to play and understand patterns that completely break the concept.
So my recommendation is to take the concept of position lightly. I would call the above example 6th position on the basis that your index finger is mostly fretting the 6th fret. I find no persuasive reason to say anything further on the matter - it's clear to the player that it's not strictly 6th position, given the 6th and 2nd strings. Playing the -7-9-10- on the b string with your middle, ring, and pinky fingers will be difficult and awkward. There is no good reason not to shift positions one fret.
On the other hand, you can play the -5-7-9- on the e string without actually shifting (moving the placement of your thumb on the back of the neck). You just stretch your index finger back.
Using Position Intelligently
It's technically possible to play a single note passage using only your index finger, shifting positions for every note. Or to play the same passage in one position, even if it means some nasty stretches or awkward transitions between fingers. In rare cases, manic position changes are desired for their tonal aspects, but normally they are reserved to make playing easier.
- Position Shifts Difficulties
- Length of the Position Shift (1st position to 15th position is more difficult than 1st to 2nd)
- Frequency of Position Shifts (Shifting every note is more difficult than shifting every 5 notes)
- Fretboard Fingering Difficulties
- Non-repetitive Patterns
- Frequent Stretching
- String-Skipping
- Differences in the number of notes on one string to the next
Let's look at some examples of difficult fingerings and how positional shifts can help:
fig 4 -----------------1-2-6-2-1------------------ ---------------2-----------2---------------- -------------3---------------3-------------- ---------3-4-------------------4-3---------- -----1-4---------------------------4-1------ -1-2-----------------------------------2-1-- i m i p r p r m i m p m i m r p r p i m i fig 5 ---------------------6---------------------- -----------------6-7---7-6----------------- -------------3-6-----------6-3-------------- ---------3-4-------------------4-3---------- -----1-4---------------------------4-1------ -1-2-----------------------------------2-1-- i m i p i m i p i m i m i p i m i p i m i 1 3 6 3 1
Figures 4 and 5 have the same notes. Notice the difficulty we face trying to play it all in first position in Figure 4. Playing it, we have no repeating pattern; some strings have 2 notes, some have 1, and one has 3; and we have a particularly nasty stretch on the highest note. Also notice we are using all of our fingers with some ring-pinky transitions, which can be difficult.
Compare this to Figure 5 which shifts positions from 1st to 3rd to 6th then back. We only have 4 shifts, and they only span 2 or 3 frets. Each position has at least 4 notes, so we are not shifting too frequently. In return, we alleviate all the difficulties mentioned above: we have a repeating finger pattern each shift, almost every string has 2 consecutive notes, and there are no awkward stretches.
So there's always some balance between tone and difficulty, with difficulty having balance between fingering difficulty vs. position-shifting difficulty.
Open Position
The easiest position for us to start in is open position. This is a bit different from all other positions because here our index finger is actually positioned to fret the first fret. However, because we are using open strings, it is called open position. The C major scale uses all the open strings and never requires playing any 4th fret notes, which means we don't need our pinky to do any work yet, which is good because it is naturally the weakest.
Figure 6 illustrates a full C major scale in open position. Each position contains a little more than 2 octaves of scale notes; however, depending on the position and scale, only one of those scales may have continuous notes from the root note to its octave. If the scale has a root note on the 6th string, you will get 2 consecutive octaves - note that the low and high E strings have the same exact notes, but the high E string is 2 octaves above the low E string. Figure 7 contains all the possible C major notes in open position.
fig. 6 e------------------------- b--------------------0--1- g--------------0--2------- d-----0--2--3------------- a--3---------------------- e------------------------- C D E F G A B C fig. 7 e-------------------------------------------0--1--3-- b----------------------------------0--1--3----------- g----------------------------0--2-------------------- d-------------------0--2--3-------------------------- a----------0--2--3----------------------------------- e-0--1--3-------------------------------------------- E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G
Figures 8 and 9 below represent the same notes as Figures 6 and 7 above; however, they use a scale map instead of tab. Notice how the scale map uses the horizontal axis for fret numbers while tab uses it to represent time.
| Fig 8 | Fig 9 |
|---|---|
|-|-|-|-|-| |o|x|-|-|-| |o|-|o|-|-| |o|-|o|o|-| |-|-|-|x|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 0 |
|o|o|-|o|-| |o|x|-|o|-| |o|-|o|-|-| |o|-|o|o|-| |o|-|o|x|-| |o|o|-|o|-| 0 |
Knowing all the notes in the C major scale in open position isn't necessarily going to happen in a single lesson, and you shouldn't dwell on this information trying to take it all in yet. The focus here should be on visualizing the scale and playing it using the references above.
Position-Shifting Technique
Remember that ideal fretting technique places our finger right behind the fret, so that the string sounds cleanly. When you shift positions, you should focus on cleanly fretting the first note after the position shift. Also, the shift should not be obviously noticeable. You shouldn't kill the note right before the shift early to make time for the shift - you just need to shift faster. Fast, accurate, subtle shifting in-time with the beat is your goal.
fig. 10 -1-2-2-3-3-4-4-5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10-11-11-12-12-13-13-14-14-15-15-16-16-17 i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
fig. 11 -17-16-16-15-15-14-14-13-13-12-12-11-11-10-10-9-9-8-8-7-7-6-6-5-5-4-4-3-3-2-2-1 m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Figure 10 is an ascending 1-fret position shift exercise. The first line is the tab, the second line is the left-hand fingering, and the 3rd line indicates position. You shift up 1 fret every two notes. You play the same note every position shift. It should sound almost exactly the same as if you weren't shifting positions but also using your ring and pinky fingers. Figure 11 is the same exercise descending. Same rules apply. Practice on all strings with a metronome to keep time.
After practicing and getting comfortable, try using your middle and ring fingers instead of index and middle - this is good pratice not only for shifting on those fingers, but strengthening middle-ring transitions. Also, try it with ring and pinky - a bit more difficult, but this is why we're practicing it!
fig. 12 -1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 13 11 9 7 5 3 1
Figure 12 is a similar exercise as above; however, now you are shifting 2 frets at a time, both ascending and descending. This is a straight chromatic scale and may sound like circus music. Concentrate on the same aspects as above: clean fretting on shifts and making the shift sound as subtle as possible. Again, repeat on all strings in time with a metronome. Then try it with middle and ring fingers, then ring and pinky.
fig. 13 -1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 i m r i m r i m r i m r i m r i m r m i r m i r m i r m i r m i r m i 1 4 7 10 13 16 13 10 7 4 1
fig. 14 -1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 i m r p i m r p i m r p i m r p r m i p r m i p r m i p r m i 1 5 9 13 9 5 1
Figures 13 and 14 are roughly the same notes as figure 12, but these use 3 and 4 fret shift, respectively. These will really challenge you at first to make the shifts "invisible". At first they are clearly audible, even with a slow tempo. You either will cut the note before the shift short, hear your fingers sliding on the string during the shift, or have a bad fret on the first note after the shift. Just keep practicing! It may be near impossible to make the shift completely invisible, but you will slowly and surely reduce its noticeability.
Homework
Play through all the examples on this page, slowly, without worrying about keeping time yet. Familiarize yourself with the concept of position.
Play the C scale in open position ascending (fig. 6) and descending (I leave it to you to figure it out). Go slowly. You are going to make mistakes - that's ok. It will be difficult to pick the correct strings. Try playing all 6 strings (fig. 7). Familiarize yourself with reading tab and scale maps.
Practice the position shifting exercises on all strings with a metronome. Focus on getting it clean, then increasing speed.