4th, 5th, and 6th Strings
The 4th, 5th, and 6th strings complete the standard 6-string guitar. These are referred to as the D string, A string, and low E string, respectively. Below are the notes for each string for the key of C Major. Be sure to practice all the notes for each position up and down the neck, like in previous lessons.
The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th strings are all tuned to perfect 4th intervals. This makes fingering patterns between them consistent. We will see more of this as we look more into playing scales in fixed positions, as well as making interval and chord shapes, some of which is touched upon below.
Much of this lesson is devoted to learning basic rhythmic concepts, which will be necessary as we start to learn chords and riffs.
Contents
PreReqs
C Major on the 4th String
D-0--2--3--5--7--9--10-12- D E F G A B C D
C Major on the 5th String
A-0--2--3--5--7--8--10-12- A B C D E F G A
C Major on the 6th String
This string has the same notes as the 1st string, only here they are 2 octaves lower in pitch.
E-0--1--3--5--7--8--10-12- E F G A B C D E
Intervals
The 4th, 5th, and 6th strings are all tuned in 4ths, like all pairs on adjacent strings, except for the 2nd and 3rd. All the interval shapes that worked between the 1st and 2nd strings will work between the 3rd and 4th, 4th and 5th, or 5th and 6th strings. Let's put this to action:
E-------------------------------------1--3--5- B----------------------------1--3--5--3--5--6- G-------------------0--2--4--2--4--5---------- D----------0--2--3--2--3--5------------------- A-0--2--3--2--3--5---------------------------- E-1--3--5-------------------------------------
Play that nice and slow. Now instead of simply moving up or down the fretboard (towards the bridge and nut respectively - in relation to the ascending and descending fret numbers), we can stay relatively close to a single position. Ultimately, music is not about learning scales. Real life melodies will usually be more "vertical" than "horizontal", and visualizing the intervals for a particular key will likely be easier to incorporate into playing around a certain position.
Power Chords and Riffs
Remember those "power chords" we played on the 1st and 2nd strings which sounded familiar but a little wimpy? Let's try them on the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings:
x4
1 n 2 3 n 4 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 - counting the beat
e e q. e q e q q e q - note durations
E-|-----------------|---------------|
B-|-----------------|---------------|
G-|.----------------|--------------.|
D-|.-9-9-9----------|------5---7-7-.|
A-|--7-7-7-----5-5--|7-7---3---5-5--|
E-|------------3-3--|5-5------------|
Don't worry about counting the rhythm at first. Just play the intervals nice and slow and try to give them the same rhythmic space as appears in the tab. Once you get more comfortable making the power chord shape and moving between each pair of strings and changing positions, you should be able to start getting the rhythm a bit better. Can you recognize what song this is? Once you recognize the tune, the rhythm will become much easier. It is probably too difficult to play at full speed at this point, so play it nice and slow. This is the "acoustic jam" version. ;-)
If the rhythm is a bit difficult to get down, try playing it like this:
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n
e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
E-|-----------------|----------------|
B-|-----------------|----------------|
G-|.----------------|---------------.|
D-|.-9-9-9-x-x------|------5-x-7-7-x.|
A-|--7-7-7-x-x-5-5-x|7-7-x-3-x-5-5-x-|
E-|------------3-3-x|5-5-x-----------|
The "x"s are muted strums. This means to mute the strings by lightly pressing against them with your left-hand fingers and pluck the strings with your right hand. This creates a percussive, (basically) pitch-less sound, which is useful for filling time between notes. Now you are strumming on every half-beat (eighth note), which means there's less need to count and try to time your playing between beats. Now it should be easy to play the tab and discover the song.
Many rock songs are based around a small, repeating part called a riff, like the one above. Riffs may incorporate some chords or intervals, but are generally single notes or power chords. Their function is both melodic and harmonic. They usually have limited melodic movement, and the notes chosen can outline a certain harmony. Also, the interaction of the riff with some other instrument(s) may create a more harmonic effect.
Riffs tend to repeat every 1, 2, or 4 measures. They can take focus as the lead part or serve as accompaniment for a melody or solo. Often they shift in and out of focus with a vocal melody. That's exactly what happens here. That's one of the reasons they are so successful and a primary usage of guitar in rock music - it creates a point-counterpoint interplay between instruments, which also creates harmony that feels less rigid and more subtle than simply strumming chords. And they're quite fun to play.
There's something new in the tab above you may not have initially noticed. The double dots right after the bar that begins the first measure and before the final bar of the last measure. That's a repeat symbol and indicates to...repeat. When reading music, you ignore the initial "|:" and play until you hit the ":|". That means go back to the "|:" and repeat that part. Notice the "x4" above the tab. This indicates multiples repeats. The number indicates the total number of times played - so you initially play it once, then repeat 3 more times. If there is no indication of how many times to repeat, it implies a single repeat.
Rhythm
What really nails the above riff home is the rhythm. Notice the first block of power chords in each measure starts on the 1st beat, but every other set starts in between beats. This is quite difficult to get at first, especially when you are playing with a metronome. Your natural inclination is to hit the strings every or every other time you hear a click. Playing off the beat is called off-time or off-beat. Also, the first beat of each measure is called the down beat and usually features the strongest accent of a rhythmic cycle. We clearly see that hear, more particularly in the first measure than the second. Beats that lead up to the down beat are called up beats (which is the 4th beat in 4/4 time).
Note: "off-beat" has a couple different meanings. In 4/4, typically the 1st and 3rd beats carry the strongest accents and are called the "on beats". This makes the 2nd and 4th beats "off beats". Only playing on or accenting the 2nd and 4th beats can also be called playing "off-time" such as in ska or raggae. The riff above is not "off-beat" as a whole. It has strong accents on the down beats. But it also incorporates some off-beat elements, and makes strong use the up beat on the 4th beat to lead into each down beat.
Here's some quick practice to master playing on and off beat. Play this to a metronome and count every beat. It is more difficult than it looks. Just keep at it. Start slow. If you can't get it, go even slower.
Accented Downbeat
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-7--------------|7-------------.| E-|.-5---5---5---5--|5---5---5---5-.|
This is a simple rhythm that accents the downbeat but plays every beat. We are using power chords for the accents instead of worrying about manipulating the right hand dynamics, which can be difficult as a beginner. But we could play the same rhythm using only the A note on the 5th fret of the E string, as follows.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
> >
A-|.----------------|--------------.|
E-|.-5---5---5---5--|5---5---5---5-.|
Accented Downbeat and Backbeat
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-7-------7------|7-------7-----.| E-|.-5---5---5---5--|5---5---5---5-.|
Same thing but also accenting the 3rd beat, so this accents the on-beats - it's a classic on beat rhythm, reminiscent of the common "boom ssss taah ssss" drum pattern. The accent on the 3rd beat is called the backbeat.
Accented Downbeat w/ Upbeat
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-7--------------|7-------------.| E-|.-5-----------5--|5-----------5-.|
Here we are accenting the down beat and using the up beat to enhance anticipation of the down beat.
Accented Downbeat and Backbeat w/ Upbeat
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-7-------7------|7-------7-----.| E-|.-5-------5---5--|5-------5---5-.|
Kind of combines the above. We aren't simply accenting the on beats but using the up beat to enhance the down beat. Notice how the 1st beat has a bit more emphasis than the 3rd.
Even-Beat or Off-Beat Accents
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-----7-------7--|----7-------7-.| E-|.-5---5---5---5--|5---5---5---5-.|
Classic even-beat rhythm. Reminiscent of some ole west or folk music. If we change the note durations above to eighth notes, we get an off-beat rhythm:
1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n A-|.-----7-------7-------7-------7-.| E-|.-5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5-.|
Odd-Time Feel
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-7---7-------7--|7-------7-----.| E-|.-5---5---5---5--|5---5---5---5-.|
Here we have a kind of hybrid, but the effect is that the first measure creates confusion and the second measure alleviates it by having a clear on-beat rhythm. It feels almost like we've left 4/4 and are in 3/4 with the kind of "bam bam sss|bam bam sss" pattern, but then the single accented power chord on the 3rd beat of the 2nd measure puts us back into 4/4.
Note that even if a song is written as 4/4 time, it can have a 3/4 or other time signature "feel". But let's suppose we had a rhythm with a completely 3/4 feel. To write that in 4/4, you'd get a downbeat on 1, then 4, then 3, then 2, before the downbeat finally hits on 1 again. So it'd take 4 measures to write the complete idea, instead of just writing one measure and repeating it 3 more times. It just becomes awkward and confusing.
Time signatures can switch in the middle of a song; however, this is generally reserved for when the change is either permanent or endures for a long period of time. Or if doing so makes understanding the music more clear. So if you had a musical phrase with 4 notes in 4/4 time than the next phrase is the same thing but with one extra quarter note, then it repeats, it would be favorable to switch to 5/4 for that second measure then switch right back to 4/4.
Counting Odd-Time Feel
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 A-|.-7---7-------7--|7-------------.| E-|.-5---5---5---5--|5-----------5-.|
Again, we have a hybrid rhythm that briefly implies a 3/4 feel, but we emphasize the down beat in the second measure and use the up beat to anticipate the down beat in the first measure.
1 n 2 n 3 4 n A-|.-7---7-------7---7-------------.| E-|.-5---5---5---5---5-----------5-.|
This is the exact same rhythm as the last tab but we've condensed it down to one measure. Set your metronome to half the tempo you previously used - now the duration is exactly the same. The only difference now is that you have to play eighth notes between the beats. This is a primer for more difficult stuff. Be sure to count!
1 n 2 n 3 4 n A-|.-7---7-------7---7-------7-----.| E-|.-5---5-------5---5-------5-----.|
This is the same as the first odd-time tab above, but now we're not playing anything in between the accented power chords. Also, we're using eighth notes instead of quarter notes, so we have to play between the beats. But we're not getting too difficult yet.
Rhythm Master
1 2 n 3 n 4 n 1 n 2 3 n 4 A-|.-7---7-7---7---7|--7-7---7-7-7-.| E-|.-5---5-5---5---5|--5-5---5-5-5-.|
Ok, so now things are difficult! We start on beat but quickly switch off beat from the eighth note on the 1st measure 2nd beat. This persists all the way until the 2nd beat of the 2nd measure. This is very common in strumming patterns - the rhythmic pattern switches from on to off beat from measure to measure. Listen to R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion or Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees to name two off the top of my head.
Note: we are sticking to using only down strokes at this point. I recommend that - get the idea of counting and playing off-beat engrained in your head before trying to worry about whether you should be down or up picking any particular note(s). Later when we get into strumming, we'll see this gets even a bit more complicated.
Homework
- Play all the C Major notes on the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings, using groups of 3 notes at a time.
- Ascend and Descend all strings.
- Try to learn all the note names, but do not get overwhelmed.
- Practice intervals, particularly power chords on the 4th/5th and 5th/6th strings.
- Play the rhythm exercises above until you are proficient at all patterns at slow to medium tempos.