Guitar Sheet Music - Learn To Play Octaves In 4 Steps

by: Nik Martin

The guitar is a very popular instrument for people to learn but electric guitar sheet music can be quite complicated to master. A lot of instruments are only required to play a single note at a time but a guitar can play up to 6 notes at any one time. It would not be a sensible idea to suggest you learn to read six notes straight away so we are going to look at just reading two notes to start with. The simplest way to start reading two notes with electric guitar sheet music is with octaves.

1 - Find The Octaves

Before we try to play the song you have chosen, you need to look through your guitar sheet music to find two notes that are the same but are stacked on top of one another. These are octaves because they are an octave apart. You should start by putting your first finger (or index finger) of your fretting hand on the lower note of the two. Next you need to place the little finger (or your ring finger) on the top note.

2 - Dampen And Strum

Once you have your fingers in the correct position try strumming the strings with your pick hand. You only want to be hearing the octave strings. If you find that the other strings are ringing you need to dampen them by slightly resting the middle finger of your fretting hand over any unwanted strings. This may be a bit difficult to control but after a some practice you will find the best position that works for you.

3 - Play 2 Sets Of Octaves On The Same Strings

The step you need to take next to help your reading and playing electric guitar sheet music is to try and play two sets of octaves on the same strings. This technique can sometimes be quite tricky as you ideally need to keep your fret hand in a similar shape as you slide from one set of octaves to the next. By practicing a bit you will soon find your own way to play this.

4 - Play 2 Sets Of Octaves On Different Strings

Once you have gotten to grips with playing 2 sets of octaves on the same sets of strings you can then move on to playing 2 octaves in a row on different strings. The key to mastering guitar sheet music when moving from one note to another and one set of strings to another is to try and keep your hand in the same shape and keep it as close to the strings as possible. Learning to play octaves is not easy and you may find yourself not seeming to progress. But keep practicing because suddenly it will happen and you will soon forget that only a short time ago you were struggling to read electric guitar sheet music