The practice and knowledge associated with playing the guitar is known as music theory. Playing the guitar effectively requires some skill and a lot of practice, and music theory for guitar will help a potential guitarist understand the instrument’s musical structure and techniques. Learning to read and understand musical notation is a part of music theory.
When music is written down, it is called musical notation. A guitar student will need to learn music theory and read musical notation in order to play the instrument. He or she will learn what each note on the staff represents; the notes on the page correspond to a position or several positions on the guitar neck, and knowing where those notes are will allow a student to play music written on the page. Although learning this aspect of guitar music theory is important, it is not always the first step in learning to play the instrument.
When studying music theory for guitar, one of the first things a student will learn is the layout of the guitar’s neck. Each string produces a distinct tone that is denoted by a letter that represents a musical note. When no fingers are depressed on the strings of the guitar, the tones E, A, D, G, B, and E are produced. The open position is also known as open tuning. The tone of a string changes when a guitarist presses his fingers against it in front of frets, which are metal pieces affixed to the neck of the guitar. By pressing one’s fingers in the correct position, an E tone can be changed to a G tone.
The student will also learn how to make chords. Chords are an important part of guitar music theory, and every guitarist should learn at least a few of them. Chords are made by simultaneously depressing several strings and strumming them together to produce a specific tone. Scales, which are collections of notes that work well together musically, will almost certainly be required of the guitarist. Scales are learned by repeating positions on the guitar neck that produce complementary tones.