Join the Discussion "Going through the same things over and over isn't going to help you much. Trust me, I know, because I'm an awful reader. The best thing to do is try and read something new every day" LUIGICABRINI

Related Resources • Recommended Resources • Practice Tools

Elsewhere on the Web • Basic Theory Explained • Reading in 1st Position • Sight Reading (scroll down)

Most guitarists have, at some point in the learning process, studied the absolute basics of sight reading. You know... names of notes on the first string, how many beats a quarter note gets, etc.

However, if you are like most guitarists, chances are you haven't spent much time sight reading, and are horribly out of practice. With the availability of guitar tabs, and with the inherent difficulty of sight reading on guitar, keeping your sight reading skills sharp can seem overwhelming, and even pointless.

Trust me, as your musicianship grows, the need to relate information to other musicians, who don't play guitar, increases. And, try as you might, you're just not going to get pianists to be able to figure out guitar tab. This is just one of dozens of reasons for keep your reading skills in top shape.

This week, we'll start almost back at scratch. What follows are printable images, featuring sight reading examples designed for guitar. The emphasis is completely on notes - rhythms are simplified to include only quarter notes, and half notes. Play each example at a steady tempo. If you miss a note, continue - do NOT stop and correct your mistake. Do your best NOT to memorize the material - as soon as you do, you're playing the examples by ear, rather than by reading them.

Reading on 1st String
Simple. Basic notes in open position - featuring only E, F, and G.

Reading on 2nd String
Includes several examples of open position notes on second string (B, C, and D), plus others featuring notes from the first and second strings.

Reading on 3rd String
Open position notes on the third string (G, and A) plus reading examples of notes on the first, second, and third strings.

Reading on 4th String
Open position notes (D, E, and F), plus other examples featuring notes on the fourth, third, second, and first strings.

Coming Soon:

Notes on the fifth, and sixth strings. In future weeks, we'll study more complex rhythmic reading examples.