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A Modern Method for Guitar Volume 1 William Leavitt Section 2 Position Playing

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SECTION TWO Position Playing

Position is determined by the fret on which the first finger plays. It is indicated by a Roman numeral. Strictly speaking, a position on the fingerboard occupies four adjacent frets. Some scales have one or more notes that fall outside this four-fret area, and these notes are to be played by reaching out with the first or fourth finger without shifting the entire hand, i.e. finger stretch or FS. When the out-of-position note is a scale tone, the finger stretch is determined by the fingering type (Type I = first finger stretch, Type IV = fourth finger stretch). When the out-of-position note is not a scale tone and moving upward, use finger stretch 1, and moving downward finger stretch 4regardless of fingering type. (All scale fingerings introduced from this point on will not use any open strings, and therefore they are movable in the same manner as the chord forms presented earlier. See pg. 45.)

Major Scales
C Major (Fingering Type 1) Second Position
F.S.

&4 4 ..
position II
2 4

5 4
3 1 4 2

3
1 4 2

2 4

F.S.
4 2 1 4

F.S.
1 4 2 1 2 4 1

F.S.
1 1

..
F.S.
2

F.S.
1 4

F.S.
4

# N .. b .. #
F.S.

60

 N
1 2

b n
1 1

# # # #
F.S.

3 2

w w

4 1

Fine

When an out-of-position note is immediately preceded or followed by a note played with the same finger that would normally make the stretch, reverse the usual finger-stretch procedure. Always move back into a position from a finger stretch, never away from it. EIGHTH-NOTE STUDY

&4 4
II

..

# # N

# N # # # # # N ..
ARPEGGIO STUDY: BROKEN CHORDS Practice picking as indicated and also with alternate picking.

&3 4
II

.. **

.. .

Fine

When two consecutive notes are played with the same finger on adjacent strings, roll the finger tip from one string to the next. Do not lift the finger from the string.
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Chord Etude No. 1

Practice slowly and evenly, connecting the chords so they flow from one to the next with no silences between them. Observe fingering and position marks!
Slowly, Freely

4 &4 #
3 2 4

# b
4 2 3

4 1 2

b
1 0

#
Moderato

w w
3 2

# b n U b #
4 1 3 4 1 2

b
4 2 3 0 31

% Accelerando (get faster)

# b

0 1 0

Flatten 1st finger

Flatten 1st finger

1 3 2

b n bw w w ww
Slowly, Freely

b # w w w w w
3 4 2

b
al coda

w w
Ritard

w ww

w w b b
0 31 4

b
3 3 1 1

1 4 2

N b

b
10 4

# n b
4 32 1

II

b b b
41 3

1 2 1

4 2

n b n b j b # b n b n n b J U D.S. al coda coda n bw w w J

1 4 2 2 4 3 1 4 4 30 1 4 1 3 2

J j b

n U w ggg w w gw

40 3

Fine

62

Etude No. 5 (duet)

F.S.

&c # #
1 4 2 4

II 2nd Guitar tacet

&c

3 2

4 1

# # F.S. J j II F.S.
1 2 4 1 1

F.S.

# .

j b

j b

# n
2

4 3

j j j j # n n # . # #
3 2

tacet

#
Rit.

Fine

Remember, all natural notes on the guitar are two frets apart except E to F and B to C.
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