Guitar Tablature - Learn To Play O Christmas Tree

You will soon find out that it is easy to play melodies on your guitar with the help of guitar tab notation. In this guitar lesson you will learn how to play guitar tab and also learn to play the Christmas song O Christmas Tree. In guitar tab notation you will find six horizontal lines representing the six strings of the guitar. These lines form a staff with the top line of the tablature representing the string with the highest pitch of the guitar. Here you have a guitar tablature staff: 1. ---------------- 2. ---------------- 3. ---------------- 4. ---------------- 5. ---------------- 6. ---------------- On these lines you will find numbers representing the frets to press down. In the example below the number three on the top line that you should press down a finger on the third fret of the first string and play the note with your right hand. Number 0 denotes an open string. This means that you play a string without pressing down a fret. 1. ---3---0--- 2. ----------- 3. ----------- 4. ----------- 5. ----------- 6. ----------- Let s play the first part of the lyrics with the corresponding guitar tab: O Christmas Tree O, Christmas Tree 1. ----------------------------------- 2. -----------------------0---0---0--- 3. -------0---0---0---2--------------- 4. ---0------------------------------- 5. ----------------------------------- 6. ----------------------------------- What to do with your left hand? I mean, which fingers should you use to press down the frets? Even if it is a little bit tricky at first I would suggest that you use your index finger for the notes on the first fret, the middle finger for the second fret, your ring finger for the third fret and that you play the fourth fret notes with your pinky. Let s take a look at the next tab and lyrics: Your branches green delight us 1. ------------------------------- 2. ---0-------0---1--------------- 3. -------2---------------2---0--- 4. -------------------4----------- 5. ------------------------------- 6. ------------------------------- Maybe you feel that it is difficult to use your left hand fingers the way I described. The only thing I can say is to be patient! You will soon reap the benefits from these fingerings on the guitar. 1. You will be able to keep your hand from moving as you use four fingers for the four frets which will make it easier to play more advanced melodies on your guitar. 2. You will not have to look on the fretboard so much as your fingers have their fixed frets to work with and they will help you find your way around on the fretboard. It s time for the next part of the melody with guitar tab: They re green when summer days are bright 1. ---------------0------------------- 2. ---3---3---0-------3---3---1---1--- 3. ----------------------------------- 4. ----------------------------------- 5. ----------------------------------- 6. ----------------------------------- You will not find any indication of the length of the notes in this tablature notation. Actually it is possible to notate even the length of notes but I guess you already know this melody well and will be able to find out how to play the song by yourself. They re green when winter snow is white 1. ----------------------------------- 2. ---1---1-------3---1---1---0---0--- 3. -----------2----------------------- 4. ----------------------------------- 5. ----------------------------------- 6. ----------------------------------- Now you only have to play the notes you started with together with the last lyrics: O, Christmas Tree, O, Christmas Tree, Your branches green delight us! Now you have completed the song O Christmas Tree. Now it s time to learn it by heart. I suggest that you practice one line at a time until you know the whole song! Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free guitar tablature at http://www.capotastomusic.com