# Learn Guitar — Foundations

> Interactive page: [`foundations.html`](foundations.html)

Know the instrument, tune it, hear the open strings, and meet the **capo** before you stack chords. Built for beginners, intermediates, and advanced players — solo or with a teacher in the room.

Same **Sa** drone as [Singing](/sangeet-yatra/singing/practice.html) — use the practice bar. Shared harmony ideas live on [Piano · circle of fifths](/sangeet-yatra/piano/circle-of-fifths.html). Notes you hear are real guitar samples from the [University of Iowa MIS](samples/guitar/CREDITS.md).

## Parts and hold

A guitar has six **strings**, a **neck** with metal **frets**, and a body. The thickest string is the low **E** (closest to the ceiling when you hold the guitar); the thinnest is the high **e**.

Sit tall. Rest the body on your right thigh (right-handed hold — lefty support comes later). Left hand on the neck; right hand strums or picks over the soundhole (acoustic) or pickups (electric). Any guitar in **standard tuning** works here.


## Standard tuning — E A D G B e

v1 stays in **standard EADGBE** only. From low to high: E, A, D, G, B, e. Tune so each open string matches concert pitch. A clip-on tuner is fine; the page’s open-string buttons are a reference, not a replacement for a tuner.

## Open strings on the neck

On the interactive page, click a string at a fret to hear it. Open notes sit left of the nut (unfretted). High **e** is on top — the same orientation as TAB.

Each fret is one half step — the same twelve-note grid as piano. A finger just behind the fret, not on top of the metal, keeps the note clean.

## Capo

A **capo** clamps across a fret and shortens every string. Open shapes then sound in a new key. That is how you keep easy chords while matching a singer’s **Sa** or a song that sits too low or high.

On the HTML page, the neck diagram shows a capo at **fret 2** with the usual **G** grip — same left-hand picture, new key (sounds like A major).

- Capo fret 2 + open **G** shapes → music that feels like A major.
- Capo fret 3 + open **G** → like B♭ — useful for many film / folk keys.

Place it just behind the fret, snug but not crushing. If a string buzzes, shift it a millimetre toward the fretwire.

**Sources:** Hal Leonard method (capo to play in other keys with open chords) · common Berklee / teacher practice of matching vocal range without barre chords yet.

## Tablatures — How to read tabs

**TAB is a grid.** Six lines — one per string, high **e** on top (same as the neck on this site). Read **left to right**; each column is a moment in time. A digit is the **fret** to press, not which finger to use. `0` is open. `|` is a barline or beat marker. Stacked numbers in one column = play together (strum or chord).

**Letters and marks** (left hand unless noted):

- **h** — hammer-on · **p** — pull-off · **/** **\\** — slide up / down · **b** — bend (e.g. `8b10`) · **~** or **v** — vibrato · **x** — muted string · **<12>** — harmonic · **t** — right-hand tap · **D** / **U** — pick down / up

Chord names above the grid (G | D | Em | C) mark **when** to change shape, not a melody line.

Example on G (pick → hammer → pull → slide):

```
e|--------------------------------
B|--------------------------------
G|---5---h---7---p---5---/7-------
D|--------------------------------
A|--------------------------------
E|--------------------------------
```

See [Legato](legato.md) and [Lead · slide & bend](drills-solo.md).

**All open strings**, written the TAB way (high e on top) — read left to right; each **0** is the next string in the arpeggio (low E first), not a chord:

```
e|---------------------0--
B|-----------------0------
G|-------------0----------
D|---------0--------------
A|-----0------------------
E|-0----------------------
```

Use **Play all open strings** on the page (low E up to high e), then match the same notes on the neck diagram. On song pages, chord TAB is where your left hand sits on each string — fret numbers for a grip, not a melody to read like staff notation.

**Sources:** Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1 (TAB orientation, open-string reading) · Berklee habit of naming strings 1–6 from high e down on the page.

Next layer — rhythm, chord letters above a staff, and staff pitch — is on [Reading](reading.md) (staff sections at the end of that page).