Before getting to know sheet music, let me talk about some sound knowledge, which will help you a lot in playing.
Four characteristics of sound:
Sound is produced by the vibration of the sounding body, and different sounding bodies vibrate in different ways, resulting in different characteristics of the sound.
The first characteristic of sound is pitch, which is related to the frequency at which the sounding body vibrates. The higher the frequency, the higher the sound. For example, a thin string vibrates faster than a thick string, and the sound is higher. If the vibration frequency is irregular, noise without actual pitch is generated, such as the sound of a drum kit is noise, so it cannot play a melody.
The second characteristic of sound is the length, which is related to the time of the vibration of the sounding body. The longer the vibration time is, the longer the sound is, and the shorter the vibration time is, the shorter the sound is. For example, when you play a string, if you let it vibrate freely, the sound will be long. If you touch it with your hand, its vibration will stop, and the sound will stop.
The third characteristic of sound is strength, which is related to the amplitude of the vibration of the sounding body. The larger the vibration amplitude, the larger the volume, the stronger the sound; the smaller the vibration amplitude, the smaller the volume and the weaker the sound. For example, if you pluck the strings hard, the vibration of the strings will be larger, and the volume will be larger, and vice versa.
The fourth characteristic of sound is timbre, which is related to the material and vibration of the sounding body itself. For example, the sound of a steel-string guitar and a Ni-string guitar is very different. At the same time, different plucking methods will also produce different timbres.
The above four characteristics of sound are all important to music, but the first two points are more important to us now. Because if the pitch and length are not well controlled, it is called “out of tune”, which is the serious mistake. If the volume of a certain sound is not well controlled, or the sound is not rounded, it cannot be called a wrong playing. It can only be called a not playing well. In the early stage, we must strive to play correctly, and then we must gradually work towards playing well.
Notation and tablature (the notation used for guitar)
For a complete and standardized score, it is essential to record the pitch and length of the sound. As for the volume and other aspects, except for the classical score, it is generally not marked in detail. It is closely related to the player’s personal understanding and habits. There is a big difference.
The most common notation method used in domestic guitars is the form of numbered notation + six-line notation. The simple notation records the melody, and the six-string notation records the guitar playing method. These two notation methods are very intuitive and easy to master.
Notation is the most common way of notation. It uses seven Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 to represent different pitches. If there is a note higher than 7, then add another group up, add a high point to the note, if it is a low note, add another group down, add a low point below the note, and so on.
There is no fixed pitch in the musical notation, 1234567 is actually a group of notes with a certain pitch relationship, but this note is in the musical body. The position in the system is not fixed. The same song can be sung higher or lower.