Woodstock Chimes Kid's Guitar User manual

Woodstock
Kid’s Guitar™
Tuning and
Playing
Instructions
by Happy Traum,
American folk music legend
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To the parent or guardian:
The Woodstock Kid’s Guitar is a beautiful-
sounding guitar for children ages 6 and
up. This booklet explains how to tune the
guitar and provides your child with basic
instruction on how to hold it and play it.
Included are several simple songs that they
can play on their guitar after learning just
two or three chords. While the rest of this
booklet is addressed to the child as the
owner and player of the guitar, you
may need to read and/or explain parts of it
to them.
To the player:
Congratulations! You have a new guitar and
are about to start on a wonderful musical
adventure. But before you get going there
are some important things you’ll need to
know about your new musical instrument.
Taking Care of Your Guitar:
All musical instruments need special care in order to keep them in good working condition
for many years to come. Here are the simple but important things you need to do for your
new guitar.
• When you are not using it, protect your guitar by keeping it in its cardboard box, or a guitar
case if you have one.
• Never leave the guitar near a heater, radiator, stove or other source of extreme heat. Never
leave it outside in winter or in a very cold room either.If you take it in a car, don’t leave it in the
trunk on a hot day or a very cold day. These things can cause the wood of the guitar to warp
or crack.
• If your guitar gets dirty you can wipe it with a slightly damp (not wet) cloth or ask a
grown-up for help in polishing it.
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Parts of the Guitar
From time to time this booklet will refer to various parts of the guitar. It’s good to know all the
parts of the guitar, so take a few minutes and study this diagram.
Fig. 1 Lesson One: What’s What
Before you begin learning to play, it’s important to know what
to call the parts of your instrument and how each one works.
Head – The head of the guitar holds the tuning pegs.
Tuning Pegs – There are six tuning pegs on a guitar. One holds
the end of each string. Turning them raises or lowers the pitch
of the string.
Nut – The nut has six little grooves that guide the strings.
Neck – The long piece of wood that extends from the body of
the guitar and to which the fingerboard and frets are attached.
Frets – Strings are pressed between the frets to sound different
pitches.
Fingerboard – The frets sit on the fingerboard. You press your
fingertips down on the strings against the fingerboard to
make music.
Sound Hole – Also called the “mouth.” You strum the strings over
the sound hole for a big, bold sound.
Body – The large, hollow part of the guitar that contains the
sound hole.
Bridge – This holds the saddle. Attach your guitar strings here.
Saddle – This guides the strings and lifts them up above
the fingerboard.
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Holding the Guitar
Sit in a straight-backed chair (one without
arms), and place the curve of the guitar on
your right leg. The neck of the guitar should
extend to the left in a horizontal position (so
it’s even with the floor). Rest your right arm
over the top of the guitar so that your right
hand falls naturally near the sound hole. This
is the hand that will strum or pick the strings
of the guitar.
Your left hand presses the strings to the
fingerboard to change the notes.Press firmly
with the tips of your fingers, making certain
not to touch the neighboring strings. If your
fingertips get sore at first, don’t worry. They
will get tough soon and develop calluses,
which are pads of hard skin that protect your
fingers and make it easier to play. To get the
best tone, press the strings down just behind
the fret, but not touching it.
To the Left-Handed Player
If you are left-handed, you can choose to
play your guitar as described above, or you
can reverse the guitar so that your left hand
becomes the strumming or picking hand
and the fingers of your right hand press on
the strings. If you choose to play this way, you
will probably want to reverse the strings on
the guitar. If you reverse all of the strings --
so that the thickest string is at the top of the
guitar as you hold it and the thinnest at the
bottom -- then the rest of the instructions on
tuning and playing will be the same as for
a right-handed player. S omeone at your
local music store will be ableto showyou
how to restring your guitar.
The Pick
You have received a plastic pick with your
guitar. You can use this to strum the strings,
or you can use your fingers. The guitar can
be played either way. If you use the pick, hold
it between your thumb and first finger with
the pointy part facing the guitar. Grip it just
tightly enough so that it doesn’t slip out of
your fingers. Try not to strike the strings too
hard.
Tuning Your Guitar
Guitars need to be tuned each time you
play them, so it’s important that you know
how to do this. It’s not easy, so you may need
the help of your parent, teacher or other
grown-up to get it right at first. Unless your
guitar is in tune, the music will not sound
right even if you are playing everything
correctly.
When you pluck a string, that string makes
a musical sound we call a note. When you
tighten that string by turning the tuning
peg one way, the note will sound higher than
before. If you loosen the string by turning the
tuning peg the other way, the note will get
lower. Try doing this yourself.
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The strings of your
guitar should be
tuned to these notes:
Count up to the fifth
fret on the 6th string
and press the string
down firmly to the
fingerboard. That’s
an A note.
E A D G B E
6 5 4 3 2 1
Fig. 2
5th String
6th String
On a piano keyboard, the same notes look
like this:
Fig. 3
E A D G B E
MIDDLE C
Try playing each note on the piano, then
tune the string that corresponds to that note
until the tones match. This may take some
practice, but listen carefully and you’ll get it.
If you don’t have a piano, you can get a guitar
pitch pipe in a music store that has the notes
you’ll need for tuning the guitar.
If you do not have a piano or a pitch pipe,you
can still tune your guitar.
Here’s how:
Let’s suppose the E or 6th string (the fattest
one) is in tune (even if it’s not). As long as it’s
not so loose that it makes a buzzing sound,
or so tight it is stiff and hard to pluck, it will
be OK.
Pluck that string, and then pluck the open
5th string. The notes should sound the same.
If they don’t, decide whether the 5th string is
higher or lower than the one you are fretting
on the 6th string. Then use the tuning peg
that the 5th string is attached to and turn it
one way or the other until it exactly matches
the sound of the 6th string, fifth fret.
E A
Fig. 4
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You can tune each string this way, by
matching it to the one you’ve just tuned.
Here’s a chart to help you tune your guitar
this way:
6th string pressed down at the fifth fret = A
(open 5th string)
5th string pressed down at the fifth fret = D
(open 4th string)
4th string pressed down at the fifth fret = G
(open 3rd string)
3rd string pressed down at the fourth fret = B
(open 2nd string)
2nd string pressed down at the fifth fret = E
(open 1st string)
Just remember if you tune your guitar
in this way, it will probably not be
in tune with other instruments.
If you want to play with
friends, you can retune
your guitar to their
instruments.
Your First Chords
Here are some
diagrams that show
where your fingers
should go in order to
play chords on the guitar.
If you learn these three
chords you’ll be able to
sing and play hundreds of
fun songs.
The dot tells you which string to press down,
and at which fret.The number in the dot tells
you which finger to press with. (“1” is your
index or pointer finger, “2” is your middle
finger and so on.) When you see a dotted
line, it means that you should not strum that
string with that particular chord.
The first chord diagram below shows you
how to play the D chord. Your second
(middle) finger presses the 1st string at the
second fret; your first (index) finger presses
the 3rd string at the second fret; and your
third (ring) finger presses the 2nd string at
the third fret. Do not strum the 6th string.
Fig. 5
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6
Try holding down
the D chord. Now,
using your thumb
or your pick, strum
down, playing each
string separately.
Make sure each
note rings out
cleanly, without
getting a muffled or
buzzing sound.
If it sounds OK,
strum down so all
the strings play
almost at the same
time. What you
are hearing is
called a chord.
Now try strumming
down in rhythm,
counting evenly
ONE... TWO... THREE...
FOUR... ONE...TWO...
THREE... FOUR...
Now try playing the
second chord, A7.
Practice changing
from the D to the
A7, making sure that
your notes are still
ringing clearly.
Fig. 6-D
Fig. 7-A7
1 2
1 2
3
When you can play both chords without
too much trouble, try playing and singing
these songs which can be found at the end
of this booklet. Strum your strings slowly
and evenly.
“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”
“Oh My Darling, Clementine”
“Aunt Rhody”
“Froggie Went A-Courtin’”
“Michael Finnegan”
“Oh, Dear,What Can the Matter Be?”
Adding the G Chord
When you have learned one more chord, you
can play many, many songs. There are two
ways to play the G chord - “Easy G” and “Full
G.” If you have small hands, you might want
to try “Easy G”
first, and when
you know it,
then practice
“Full G” until
it sounds
good to you.
Remember
not to strum
the 5th & 6th
strings when
you play
“Easy G.”
Fig. 8-Easy G
Thinnest
String
3Third
Finger
Thickest
String
6 5
7
Easy G Chord
A7 Chord
D Chord
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Fig. 9-Full G
1
23
Here are some songs you can now play using
all three chords.
“Good Morning”
“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore”
“Coming ‘Round the Mountain”
“Amazing Grace”
“When the Saints Go Marching In”
Changing your guitar strings:
Whoops, you’ve broken a string! Not to
worry, strings are easy to replace. You’ll need
to buy a set of nylon guitar strings from your
local music store. First, remove what’s left of
the broken string. Then, select the string of
the same gauge (or thickness) from the set
of spare strings and secure one end of the
string to the bridge as shown in the diagram.
Next, thread the other end of the string
through the hole in the tuning peg. Leave a
little “tail” sticking out of the hole.Then, while
keeping some tension on the string,
tighten it by turning the tuning peg in a
clockwise direction and bury the “tail” with
wraps of the string as it winds around the
tuning peg. Once the string is secured, you
can you can ask a grown-up to trim off any
excess at either end. Then, tune it according
to the instructions provided. New strings
tend to stretch. You will probably have to
retune it several times before it stays in tune.
8
Full G Chord
1. Pull string
through hole
in bridge.
2. Thread string
around bridge,
but don’t
tighten yet.
3. Wrap the string
3 times with
the final wrap
past the edge
of the bridge,
then tighten.
1.
2.
3.
Bottom of guitar
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He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
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Oh My Darling,Clementine
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Aunt Rhody
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Froggie Went A-Courtin’
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Michael Finnegan
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Oh, Dear,What Can the Matter Be?
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Good Morning
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Michael, Row the Boat Ashore
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Coming‘Round the Mountain
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Amazing Grace
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When the Saints Go Marchin’In
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About the Author
Happy Traum’s involvement in traditional
and contemporary music has brought him
recognition as a performer, writer, editor,
folklorist and recording artist. He has
appeared on numerous recordings, both
as a soloist and as an accompanist, and
has toured extensively throughout the US,
Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan.
Happy is undoubtedly one of America’s
best-known and best-loved guitar teachers.
He is the author of numerous guitar
instruction books, including
The Children’s
Guitar Guide
and The Young Guitarist , and is
the co-founder (along with his wife, Jane) of
Homespun Tapes. This dynamic and growing
company has an extensive catalog of
music instruction lessons taught by top
professional performing musicians. Happy
produces all of the lessons, and brings to
Homespun his many years of experience as
a guitarist and popular member of the
music community.
The Woodstock Music Collection®, from the
makers of Woodstock Chimes®, is a unique
assortment of musical instruments and gifts
from around the world. Every item in the
Music Collection is fun, easy to play, and most
will harmonize with one another. Ask your
retailer about other fabulous instruments in
the Woodstock Music Collection or our world
famous, musically tuned Woodstock Chimes.
All are gifts that sound great!
Homespun Tapes®, one of the world’s
largest and most well-respected producers of
music instruction videos, has made a lively,
fun-filled guitar course called
Kid’s Guitar 1:
10 Easy Lessons
. Taught by the renowned
children’s performer and teacher Marcy
Marxer, this Parents’ Choice Award-winning
video helps you get in tune, teaches you
all the basic chords and strums, and helps
you develop a good musical ear. Before
long you will be playing and singing many
well-known songs for your family and friends.
Woodstock Percussion, Inc.
167 DuBois Road
Shokan, NY 12481-5124 USA
From the makers of Woodstock Chimes®
[phone] • [e-mail] ©2017 WPI
What Fun Sounds Like™
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