Copyright © 1996, Don Comanda, 1197B Rockland Ave Staten Island, NY 10314-7700International Copyright Secured Made in U.S.A. All Rights Reserved

Published by Royal Fireworks Press, PO Box 399, 41 First Avenue, Unionville, NY 10988-0399(845) 726-4444 fax: (845) 726-3824 email: mail@rfwp.com website: rfwp.com

ISBN: 978-0-88092-992-9

Printed and bound in Unionville, New York, on acid-free paper using vegetable-based inks at the Royal Fireworks facility.

DON COMANDA’S GROUP STUDY FOR THE GUITAR

FOREWORD

For many, many years, teachers of privately owned music studios and those teachers employed in the school systems throughout the country (both private and public) have been in need of a method designed particularly and specifi cally for group teaching. This book fulfi lls that need, as it was done with only that thought in mind and geared for no purpose other than group teaching.

The ideas employed in this book were not “plucked” out of the air. The book was tried and tested for a period of fi ve years with students from summer camps and students from both public and private schools. The students ranged in age from seven to the Adult level. (Classes were grouped according to age. Approximately seven to nine years, ten to twelve years, thirteen to sixteen years, and seventeen through the adult years.) This method was used with tremendous success at all age levels and encouraged many students to go on to advanced, private study.

The lessons are geared so that they may be given as indicated (Lesson 1) (Lesson 2) etc., or given at a lesser pace, according to the age and/or ability of each class.

The melodies for the songs used can be found in the back section of the book. They should be used to teach the melody to students who may be unfamiliar with them. This will ensure proper singing with the chords.

The method teaches notes, rhythms, and chords with accompaniment styles. These various phases are covered in order to give the student a more comprehensive coverage of the guitar.

The teacher should keep in mind that each group should have a thorough understanding of each lesson. Remind them that smoothness and continuity come only with practice, and they should not expect to accomplish this during the lesson.

The student should realize this also. Do not expect to fully execute each lesson immediately as it is given to you. Once the teacher has explained the lesson to you, and you understand what to do, the rest, to a great degree, is up to you. Practice faithfully every day and you will be rewarded with the many hours of pleasure the guitar will give you.

Supplementary material is listed below. These books may be used in the class in conjunction with the group method.

I hope both teacher and student thoroughly enjoy this book. It was written particularly for—and with—both of you in mind.

Sincerely yours in music,

Don Comanda

If you have any questions or comments, or wish to order additional books please write to:Don Comanda1197B Rockland Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314-7700Or call if you prefer: (718) 761-3317

2

CONTENTS - SONGS

Amazing Grace. Bill Bailey. . . Blow Ye Winds. Blue Tail Fly. . Deep Blue Sea . Don't Wait for the Rain Drunken Sailor . . Foggy, Foggy Dew .. Four Are Done .... Frankie and Johny . . Give My Regards to Broadway . Grandfather's Clock. . . . . Little Brown Jug . . . . . . Michael Row the Boat Ashore (Accomp.) \tichael Row the Boat Ashore (Melody and Chords) Round Her Neck She Wears a Yellow Ribbon . 3carborough Fair. . . . . . 3ide to Side . . . . . . . . 3ippin' Cider Through a Straw. 3kip to My Lou 3lap Me Five. . . . 3loop John B . . . 3wanee River . . . 3weet Rosie O'Grady I'hree on the Run . . Way to Go, The .. When the Saints Go Marching In Yankee Doodle. . . . . Yellow Rose of Texas, The You're a Grand Old Flag .

Accompaniments 29. 80 . 68 . 16. 77. 74 . 62 . 18 .

l\1e lolli<'s (wil!t ch ord ~) (()()

80 106 96

( (

74 107 95 52

101 64

36 . 64. 42 . 21. 12. 88 . 46.

(Melody for Accomp. ) .

104 97 95 88

.58, 60 . 35. 39 . 54. 88 . 24 . 28. 90. 45. 38. 33. 37. 82 . 48.

102 58 35 99

106 88 98 99

109 45 38

101 37

108 48

INDEX Bar lines . Bars .. . Bass note. Chord diagram . Chords, Glossary of . Common time . . . Counting time . . . Down ,., and up V picking . Eighth notes. . . . . . Eighth note study. . . . Eighth, quarter note studies . Fifth string . . . . . . Finger picking . . . . . . Fingers. . . . . . . . . First and second endings . . First and second "stringers". First string . . . First string studies Flat, The ... Four four time! Fourth string . G clef .... Half note . . . How to hold guitar Leger lines . Measures .. Natural sign~ Notes ...

lO 10 40 8

Cover 3 63 14 23 55 63

69, 70, 76 87 59

4 57 32 15

17,22,27 79 10 51

6 13

3 86 10 92

. 6, 7

Notes, time value . Pick, The (Plectrum) Pickup notes. Quarter note. Quarter rest . Review ... Scratch, The. Second string Sing and strum . Sharp, The .. Sheet music, Playing from Slur, The . . Staff, The . . . Starting note . Strings . . . . Strum and sing . Strums covered. Suspension chords Tempos .... Third string . . . Three four time f . Time signature . . Transposing, explanation and chart . Treble clef . . Tuning .... Two four time a Whole note . .

13 :l

87 Ll 19

. 50,84 53 30 II 48 71 26

6 16 4

II .IIO

85 31 44 26 10

.111,112 6 5

66 13

3

HOW TO HOLD THE GUITAR . The guitar is held in position either on the left or the right leg, whichever IS more adaptable to the student, or how the teacher suggests. The hand which will finger the notes is bent at the wrist to allow for maximum range in fingering.

THE PICK (Plectrum)

The pick is held with the thumb and index finger. The index finger is bent a little less than half-way and the pick is placed on the side of the finger. Close thumb over the pick to assume position shown at left. "Glide," do not push pick when playing.

The pick hand rests lightly on the guitar, so that the hand is supported, but not restrained in any way. (Resting lightly on the tops of your nails, with the wrist bent slightly, will allow maximum freedom when picking.)

The movement when picking should come from the wrist. (Try to picture a pendulum on a grandfather clock, swinging back and forth artd how it would look if it were tick­ing while laying on its side.) The movement of your wrist should be the same, only of course not as broad.

The pick should fall and rest on the string below the one you play. Do not allow the hand to sweep up and away from the guitar.

As you pick from one string to another, allow your hand to move freely toward or away from the strings so that your fingers are not crowded together.

4

.... z 0 rJ) rJ) ~ ~

FINGERING THE STRINGS The strings are numbered as shown to the right. Numbers of frets, (spaces) are also shown.

STRINGS ARE NUMBERED:

1st Fret 2nd Fret 3rd Fret 4th Fret

etc.

The thumb is placed in position on the neck of the guitar, under the first fret.

FINGERS ARE NUMBERED:

3 2

1

,, ~ .:::---"\

( ( )

EACH FINGER HAS ITS OWN FRET IN WHICH TO PLAY

The first finger may play any string in the first fret. The second finger may play any string in the second fret. The third finger may play any string in the third fret. The fourth finger may play any string in the fourth fret.

FINGER YOUR STRINGS WITH THE BALL, END, OF EACH FINGER.

5

THE PARTS OF THE GUITAR

+-------MACHINE HEADS (tuning keys)

+-------FRETS

---NECK FINGERBOARD--------WI

(top flat part of neck)

ITUNINGI ONE METHOD OF TUNING the guitar is ANOTHER METHOD OF TUNING. with a PITCH PIPE, which can be acquired Tune 1st string to a clear medium high pitch, then:

through your teacher or at a local music Place your finger in the 5th fret of the second string.

store. Strike the second string, then the first. Both should sound the same. If not, raise or lower the 2nd string

6th 5th 4th Blow the pitch pipe one note at a accordingly. THEN: m time, until each string is the same !Place your finger in the 4th fret of the 3rd string. It

in sound to the corresponding should sound like the second. (If not, adjust 3rd string.)

h . h . I Place your finger in the 5th fret of the 4th string. It Jrd 2nd 1st note on t e pitc p1pe. should sound like the Jrd. (If not, adjust 4th string.)

1 Place your finger in the 5th fret of the 5th string. It E (highest in pitch) to the lst string should sound like the 4th. (If not, adjust 5th string.)

B (second highest in pitch) to the 2nd string Place your finger in the 5th fret of the 6th string. It

Continue in the same way- ,-.... should sound like the 5th. (If not, adjust 6th string.)

G to the 3rd string , D to the 4th string

I A to the 5th string 2 E to the 6th string Frets 3

654321 4 4-+

5 ... ~ ... (Thickest string lowest 6 5 4 3 2 I

in sound) Strings

-

6

THE G or TREBLE CLEF

(G or Treble Clef)

THE STAFF THE STAFF IS MADE UP OF FIVE LINES AND FOUR SPACES.

5 LINES :::e 45 4-~ ....,.-3:----------------- 3-=~ 4SPACES =: 12 1_2-=-=;

Music for the guitar is written using the G Clef on the staff. This is referred to as the treble clef.

I NOTES!

Notes may be made in different ways. Below is shown three types of notes.

0 J- Stem

i/ J/ Stem

i/ WHOLE NOTE HALF NOTE QUARTER NOTE

Made Open Made Open Made Closed (with a stem) (with a stem)

7

!LEARNING NOTES BY LETTER NAMEI

Notes have different names. They get their names from the positions in which they are placed in the staff.

The notes are placed on the lines of 11e staff, in the spaces of the staff, and above and below the staff.

Notes are named by letters of the alphabet. The musical alphabet is made up of the first seven letters of the alphabet.

A 8 c D E F G

!NOTES ON THE LINESI

E G 8 D F

~very l!i]ood (moy [ll]oes [f]ine

The notes on the lines can be memorized by learning the sentence: "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The first letter of each word is the same as the name of the note.

!NOTES IN THE SPACES!

F A c E

u II

n (I

Notice that the notes in the Jl.\ spaces spell the word I"FACE."I W

We cover one note above the staff at this point, "G." "G" "sits" right on top of the staff.

~ G 0

D

0

t We also cover one note below the staff at this point, "D."

8

CHORDS

Chords are certain groups of notes played together. Usuall y, three or more notes are used to form chords.

Chords are used to accompany voice, or another musical instrument.

I THE CHORD DIAGRAM I Unmarked strings are not played.

Black Dots show positions in which fingers are placed.

Finger marked is placed flat covering strings marked.

' .......--.....

FRETS

1

2

3

FINGERS

3 2 0 1 0

~

•

'

o = open string (string is played with no fingers on it) .

0 1 1 l 3 4 2 X 3 4 1

' , , , 5

6 5 4 3 2 1

STRINGS

·~ ., , ,

NOTE: Unmarked strings, (which are not played), may also be made mute, (as explained for strings marked x). This will allow complete freedom for the hand strumming the chords.

9

I OUR FIRST THREE CHORDS I G

Fingers __. 0 0 0 3

,1 Frets -2

~3 \4 5

t

654321 Strings

c 2 0 1 0

~~ 0

D7 0 2 1 3

0 ~~ ·~

3rd Finger in 2nd Fret.

I CHANGING THE CHORDS I The movement from one chord to another is referred to as changing. Play the chord

pattern which follows so that you are able to change from one chord to another without any loss of time.

Play very slowly at first, until a continuous sound is achieved. Increase your speed gradually until a medium speed is reached. NEVER sacrifice continuity for speed.

Each line I represents ONE stroke of the chord.

Play the chord once for EACH line.

(Remember to "glide" your pick across the strings.)

G c D7 G G c

NOTE: When changing chords, practice moving your fingers together . (They should be placed on the strings at the same time rather than one after the other.) Also look for similar fingering(s) in one or more chords . Similar fingering(s) may be retained (held down) while only the necessary changes are made. (An example of this would be the 1st finger, in the first fret of the 2nd string in both the "C" and "07" chords .)

D7 G G c G

./J./71 YYII JJ.IJI TTTI .IJJJI TTT7 "'"'"'"'I TIT I J J J J I TTl? JJJ ITI

J J J J J I I I I I

-

10

IBAR LINESI

A Bar Line is the line drawn straight up and down through the staff.

Bar Line

+

The spaces formed in the staff, between the bar lines are called "measures." These spaces may also be called 40bars."

BAR LINES

jTIME SIGNATURE!

Songs and exercises are divided into measures (bars) . The time signature

determines the number of counts for each measure.

There is more than one time signature. The first time signature we cover

will be 4 4

The top number of a time signature tells us how many beats (counts) there are to each measure.

..... 4 4.-

The bottom number of a time signature tells us how much each beat (count) is worth.

j time equals 4 beats to each measure ( 4 counts). each beat (count) is worth one quarter.

11

STRUM AND SING

In the following example, notice how the words are placed under the lines (strokes of the chords).

Holding the chord indicated, sing the word or syllable written below the chord.

Strum and sing as shown, playing the chords in a l, 2, 3, 4 "counting" pattern.

Sing a new word or syllable whenever it appears under a stroke of the chord.

Sing and HOLD the word or syllable while you continue to play the chord, when a

stroke, or a group of strokes have nothing below them.

IN OTHER WORDS: Do not sing anything new, unless it is indicated below

the stroke(s) of the chord.

(EXAMPLE:f

etc.

i 7 I I 7 I 7 I 7 I I 7 7 I I I 7 I 7 7 I , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7 , , etc.

Row the boat a - shore AI . le . lu . iah Mi - chael etc .

Play chord and continue Play chord and continue Play chord and continue singing (hold) "shore" singing (hold) "-lu-" singing (hold) "-iah"

12

N

z 0 rJ) rJ)

~ ~

MICHAEL, ROW THE BOAT ASHORE G 0003

mm I Strike chord once, then sing.,

G G

,.~ 7 , I 7 , 7 , ~ , 7 , Mi-chael row the boat a -

,.; c 7 7 7 7 7 7 , , , , , ,

row the boat a - shore, al

,. G G

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 , , , , , , ,

help to trim the sail, al

G c ,. ,L 7 7 7 7 7 r- r- r- r- r-

help to trim the sail ,

I

-

-

c 07 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 3

mm ~

G c G

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

shore, al - le - lu iah. Mi-chael

G D7 G

7 , 7 , 7 , 7 , 7 , 7 , 7 , 7 I

7 I

le lu u iah. Sis - ter

c G

7 , 7 , 7 , 7 , 7 I

7 I

7 , 7 I

7 ,

le lu iah. Sis - ter

G D7 G

7 , 7 r- 7 r- 7 r- 7 r- 7 , 7 r- 7 ,

al - le lu u iah.

II