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<span class="text">[[Guitar Parts and Functions|Parts]]</span>
<span class="text">[[Holding the Guitar and Pick|Playing]]</span>
== Stretches ==
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<span class="text current">[[#Stretches|Stretches]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Using Position Intelligently|Intelligence]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Open Position|Open Pos.]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Position-Shifting Technique|Technique]]</span>
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Very rarely will you ever be completely confined inside a group of 4 frets. You'll often have to perform ''stretches'' such as below:
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.
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== Using Position Intelligently ==
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<span class="text">[[#Stretches|Stretches]]</span>
<span class="text current">[[#Using Position Intelligently|Intelligence]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Open Position|Open Pos.]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Position-Shifting Technique|Technique]]</span>
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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.
'''So there's always some balance between tone and difficulty, with difficulty having balance between fingering difficulty vs. position-shifting difficulty.'''
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== Open Position ==
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<span class="text">[[#Stretches|Stretches]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Using Position Intelligently|Intelligence]]</span>
<span class="text current">[[#Open Position|Open Pos.]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Position-Shifting Technique|Technique]]</span>
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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.
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.
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== Position-Shifting Technique ==
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<div class="trail blue">
<span class="text">[[#Stretches|Stretches]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Using Position Intelligently|Intelligence]]</span>
<span class="text">[[#Open Position|Open Pos.]]</span>
<span class="text current">[[#Position-Shifting Technique|Technique]]</span>
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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.
These are roughly the same notes as above, 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.
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==Homework==
[[Category:Beginner Lessons]]
[[Category:Open Position]]
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