As taught by: Sean
J. Fox
(-: Honest, it ain't as hard as it Sounds :-)
DOT to DOT Theory ( SJF © )
In the beginning
Many guitars are set up just plain wrong as far as theory is concerned. This doesn't
mean that they are "ACTUALLY' wrong or will play funny, ..just that they are harder
to "follow" theoretically. (To be sure you can follow these lessons accurately,
YOU may need to "SET UP" your guitar.)
The LAYOUT
Hopefully, even "Beginner" guitar players will figure out HOW and WHERE to
"Place the DOTS " properly between the "fret" wires that run across
the neck. If you aren't sure, ask someone!
The best type of layout is:
* If there ISN'T a dot at the THIRD fret, you can use something like "Tippex" or Fingernail Polish to temporarily paint one there. (Emphasis on TEMPORARY, don't ruin your perfectly good guitar.)
** ALSO: If there IS a DOT at the FIRST fret you must learn to IGNORE it.
(Here's a picture of Dweezil Zappa's "Eddie Van Halen" guitar. Notice where the DOTS line up .. 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th fret !)
? ? ? ? ? ?
NOW, WHICH STRING IS WHICH?
The next step is to understand which string is which. Some people don't know (or don't
care about) the correct names for the strings. In order to follow these LESSONS you DO
have to know. (You still don't have to care.)
I like to explain it to people this way... "You were 1 (one) before you were 6
(six), little before you were big." It's exactly the same way for GUITAR. ( ..or
BASS, remembering that the BASS strings are numbered 1 through 4 instead of 1 through 6.
In other words, a BASS loses the first and second string of a GUITAR due to it's
construction in MOST cases. Theoretically though, it's the same.)
Starting with the Smallest OPEN string, the proper names of the strings on GUITAR (in STANDARD tuning) are:
* NOTE: All notes on first AND sixth strings have exactly the same NAME going UP or DOWN the neck, just different OCTAVES. (Beginning "Octaves" explained in Lesson 3..)
