The Little Guitar Book That Could: Fifth Position (Fretboard Forensics)

This LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD showcases the popular C A G E D guitar chord and scale sequence exclusively in the FIFTH POSITION, for all to see, use and reference. But, before thumbing through this book, there’s some important subject matter that the guitarist may need to be reminded of...even though he or she may have played for years. Here in this book, six is the exact number of consecutive frets involved in the FIFTH POSITION, and it spans a full two octaves, plus a perfect fourth, when in standard tuning. Plus, when in the FIFTH POSITION, the second and third fingers on the fretting hand are to remain stationary in their respective frets or "slots", initially, as their stationary qualities allow the first and or fourth finger to stretch or slide to that additional fret space. For the picking hand though, a very important pattern occurs down by the sound hole or bridge (where that hand just so happens to be.) The pattern involves every other string and is best evidenced when the C A G E D main root note sequence is plucked alphabetically, starting with the C root on the first or thinnest guitar string. Start by picking the C there (first string, fourth finger); then D (third string, third finger); E (fifth string, third finger); G (second string, fourth finger); A (fourth string, third finger) and conclude with the C (sixth string, fourth finger). The one-three-five-two-four-six string pattern naturally fits the picking hand and is looped, forwards or backwards (six-four-two-five-three-one) as the C root notes located on the first/third/sixth string(s) are deemed interchangeable. To that end, there are three musical terms that need clarification for the purposes of THE LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD...those being main root notes, octaves and unisons. What are main root notes? Generally speaking, main root notes represent a specific set of root notes that fall or cluster under the second and third fingers of the fretting hand. Most of the time, the second and third fingers fret them, but there are two instances in the FIFTH POSITION when the main root notes involve the first and fourth fingers. Please be aware of this. Once the location of each main root note is learned in the FIFTH POSITION, the attention then moves to their octaves. An octave is defined as the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its own frequency. Some correctly call the interval a "perfect octave", and in guitarland, octaves are usually “one string one fret away”. This handy fact helps to memorize their location sure enough, even though, occasionally, two strings and or two frets are involved (the same concept applies in that there will be some sort of string skipping). And last are unisons, a term used to define when two or more music notes happen to sound an identical pitch. In guitarland, unisons imply “same note different string or fret”. The term also implies that the unison occurs in the current guitar position at hand. So that’s it! With some use, you'll soon discover that THE LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD for the FIFTH POSITION is uncomplicated, straightforward and super easy to use. Its picture worth a thousand words approach allows one to take full advantage of the guitar fretboard material straight away. You'll have fun discovering some fresh perspectives on the same old same old, while also adding some new twists and turns to your own technique. THE LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD for the FIFTH POSITION also contains generous amounts of manuscript, tablature and fretboard paper too, which makes for an ideal composition journal of sorts. To close, as always, thank you very kindly for welcoming THE LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD into your library of fretboard knowledge needs...Enjoy!

Meet the author Walter Klosowski "Kapowski"! In addition to writing books like this, Mr. "Kapowski" is a professional guitarist, composer and public school music educator. He holds a Master's degree in Music Theory on scholarship with emphasis on classical guitar as well as a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory/Composition and Guitar Performance. He is also the recipient of the Piano Guild USA Sonatina Award as well as three NSFM piano federation competition pins. This book, THE LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD, formally introduces and explains the C A G E D shapes and how each fits into the FIFTH POSITION. The material is presented in a special way as to provide technical clarity and practicality to an all too often obscured subject area, that of the inner workings of the guitar fretboard. Having worked in the print music industry for over ten years, the series was authored by "Kapowski" in direct response to the lack of printed scholarly materials that focus only on the guitar positions and position work, all of which is especially evident at the onset of instruction. Compared to other members of the string instrument family, such as the violin, viola, cello and bass, there is no real technical standard in place that guitarists readily go to for position work. THE LITTLE GUITAR BOOK THAT COULD for the FIFTH POSITION is one technical reference that checmates this situation, and is very practical to use no matter what one's technical level. Enjoy!