A multilayered instrument
Your ability to play the guitar depends largely on how well you actually know the instrument.
In my opinion, students should have the opportunity to get to know the instrument in a reasonable, logical and comprehensive way. However,
this is not so easy because the guitar is a very complex instrument.
The vast majority of guitar instruction books don't really explain much and most guitar teachers are the product of these books.
My goal is a growing understanding of how things work on the guitar.
Here are a few insights that bring us closer to that goal.
- The range of the guitar is about 45 semitones, depending on the instrument.
- The very low and very high notes only occur 1x on the guitar and don't have too many fingerings. The middle c, on the other hand, can be played in 5 different places with about 16 different fingerings.
- If you add up all the numbers, you get the following: A note can be played in an average of 2.8 different places on the fingerboard and with an average of 9.2 sensible fingerings. A non-sensible fingering would be, for example, to play the low f with the little finger.
It is important to understand how complicated the guitar really is and how many possibilities it offers. This way we can have the necessary patience and start to develop realistic expectations when it comes to our progress.
> Click here for guitar lessons <
Play fearlessly and unafraid!
Paul Aka Kessler
Bad Honnef, in spring 2021
