GETTING STARTED

THE GUITAR
A QUICK GUIDE
All you need to know about this amazing instrument

ELECTRIC GUITAR & AMPLIFIER

If you want to play electric guitar you should first plug it into an
amplifier (amp). You could play the guitar ‘unplugged’, but it would
be too quiet to hear properly. Here are all the parts of the guitar
and amp that you need to know about…

PICKUPS
The pickups have
magnets inside that sense
the strings’ vibrations. These
smart devices then turn the
vibrations into a signal that FRET
can be amplified (made
loud) by an amplifier.
BOARD
This is the area on
the front of the neck
where you place
your fingertips.

BRIDGE
The strings are fixed at
the body end of the guitar by
the bridge. There are two main
types: hard-tail and tremolo. A
hard-tail bridge keeps the strings
fixed against the body, whereas a
tremolo bridge lets you raise and
lower the pitch of the strings
with a tremolo bar.
VOLUME
CONTROL
Turn this clockwise
(from 0 to 10) to
increase the volume
JACK TONE of your guitar.
PLUG CONTROLS
Plug a cable in here Turn these clockwise
then plug the other (from 0 to 10) to increase
end into your the brightness of your
amp. guitar’s sound.

6 LET’S ROCK
 TUNING
STRINGS PEGS
The guitar’s sound starts Turn these to get your strings in
here. When you pluck a tune. The best way to tune your
string it vibrates, making a guitar is with an electronic tuner,
note. How high or low the or if you don’t have one of
note sounds (its pitch) these you could ask your
depends on where you teacher for some help.
press down on the
string.

FRETS
Frets divide
FRET each string into
MARKERS separate notes.
You can use these to quickly
work out which fret is which.
The following frets are usually
marked: 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th,
12th, 15th, 17th, 19th
and 21st.

NECK
The strings are stretched
across the length of the
neck, which is shaped so you
can place your fingers and
thumb around it and
then play notes.
ACOUSTIC
GUITAR
Unlike the electric guitar,
the acoustic guitar sounds
loud enough on its own, so
you shouldn’t need an amp. 2
These are the bits you
should know about…

STRAP 1 LARGE BODY

PINS Acoustic guitars have bigger
bodies than electric guitars.
Attach a strap to these
and you will be able to The body is hollow rather 1
stand up while playing than made of one solid piece
your guitar. of wood. This makes the works a bit like a loudspeaker.
sound much louder. It sends the sound –
amplified by the acoustic
itar’s picku
r gu ps guitar’s large hollow body –
you 2 SOUNDHOLE out of the body and into the
om
to

a l fr This hole on the top of the body air where it can be heard.
your amp.

sign
a
r ies TONE
ar
CONTROLS
C
e

These are usually ‘bass’, ‘middle’

bl

and ‘treble’. Adding more bass

Ca

makes your guitar sound warmer and

VOLUME fatter. Treble is the opposite: it makes
& GAIN your guitar sound bright and sparkly.
Use the volume knob Middle is between bass and treble. It’s
(sometimes labelled ‘master’) to hard to describe tone in words, so
increase the overall volume. Some make sure you play with all of these
amps will have a second control controls and hear for yourself
marked ‘gain’. Turning this up once you’re plugged into
will add a crunchy sound to your amp!
your guitar’s tone.

LET’S ROCK 7
 PIECES

ROCK
‘ROCK CITY’
q = 90 Rock
#4 N.C.

& 4 œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙
T
A 2 0
B 2 0
3 0 0 3
0 2
0 0

# Œ Ó
& œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ ˙

T 0 2 0 2 0
A 2 0 2 0 2
B
[5]

# A5 D5 A5 E5
Ó
& ww ww ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙
T 2
A 2 0 2 2
B 0 0 0 2
0
[9]

# N.C.
& œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ w
T
A 2 0
B 2 0
3 0 0 3
0 2
0
[13]

42 LET’S ROCK
 PIECES

INDIE
‘PARKA LIFE’
q = 100 Indie

#4 ˙ œ œ ˙. ˙˙ œœ œœ ˙˙ ..
˙˙ ..
G C

& 4 ˙˙ œœ œœ Œ ˙ œ œ ˙. Œ

3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0
T 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
A
B

# œ œ œ ˙ ˙˙
G D G C

& œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙

0
T 0 0
1 0
2 2 0
3 3 0 1 1
0
A
B
[5]

# œ œ œ œ œ
G D C G

& œ ˙ Ó œ œ ˙ Ó

T 3 3 1 0
2
1 1 0
2 0
A
B
[9]

# ˙˙ œ œ ˙.
˙˙ .. ˙˙ œœ œœ ˙.
˙˙ ..
C G

& ˙ œœ œœ Œ ˙ œ œ Œ

3 3 3 3 0 0 0 3
T 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
A
B
[13]

46 LET’S ROCK