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Tap a string
Six teaches guitar through short exercises you can hear and play. It uses standard tuning and its own experimental notation.
The diagram shows the guitar neck, with the tuning pegs at the top. Each column is one string, called a lane in Six. Lane 1 is the thickest string, nearest your face when you hold the guitar. Lane 6 is the thinnest. Guitar books number the strings in the opposite direction.
Tap a string or fret, or try a demo.
A 0 means pluck the string without pressing it anywhere on the neck. This is called playing an open string. Its full length vibrates, from the top of the neck to the bridge on the body.
To play a numbered fret, press the string just behind its metal bar, toward the tuning pegs. The string vibrates from that bar to the bridge on the body. The diagram lights up this vibrating part. Moving to a higher fret shortens it and raises the pitch.
On your guitar: pluck lane 1 open, then press and pluck at frets 1, 2 and 3. Keep your fingertip close to the metal bar without pressing on it.
The demo uses quiet synthesized tones. Sound starts when you tap.
Standard terms
Six lanes 1–6 correspond to conventional guitar strings 6–1: low E, A, D, G, B and high E. The meanings of "open" and "fret" stay the same.
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Build Bare
A shape tells you what to play on each lane, from thickest to thinnest. The row above the board shows 0 2 2 – – –: play lane 1 open, press lanes 2 and 3 at fret 2, and skip the rest. A dash means skip that lane; the board marks it ×.
Play lane 1 open and lanes 2 and 3 at fret 2. Skip lanes 4 to 6.
- Press lane 2 at fret 2 with your middle finger (M).
- Press lane 3 at fret 2 with your ring finger (R).
- Sweep your thumb or a pick across lanes 1 to 3 in one motion. Stop before lane 4. This is a strum.
Notes played together make a chord. Six calls this shape Bare. Lane 3 plays the same note name as lane 1, one octave higher.
On your guitar: press with your fingertips. If a string buzzes, press closer to the metal bar.
Standard terms
Bare is a power chord. This one is E5. Standard chord charts use × for a skipped string and o for an open string. Six uses – and 0.
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Same pitch, different place
Play A, then B. They are on different strings, but have the same pitch. Six calls each lane and fret pair a position.
Tap a position to hear its pitch and find matching positions.
Six numbers pitches by Height. Lane 1 open is Height 0. Each fret adds 1. The open Heights of lanes 1 to 6 appear in row 0: 0, 5, 10, 15, 19, 24.
A is 0 + 5 = Height 5. B is 5 + 0 = Height 5. They have the same pitch even though you play them in different places.
Add 12 to a Height to move up one octave. The note name stays the same. Six calls this a higher twin. B's higher twin is Height 17, at lane 4, fret 2: 15 + 2 = 17.
Lane 5 open is 4 Heights above lane 4 open. This is part of standard guitar tuning.
On your guitar: play lane 1 at fret 5, then lane 2 open. They should have the same pitch. If they differ, check your tuning.
Standard terms
Height counts semitones, or half steps, above the open low E string. Two positions with the same Height play in unison. A difference of 12 Heights is one octave.
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One finger: Wide or Close
Keep Bare's two fingers down, and strum all six strings. For Wide, also press lane 4 at fret 1 with your index finger (I). Lift that finger for Close.
Six builds these shapes from a root, their reference note. Here it is lane 1 open, Height 0. A recipe lists the pitch distances from that root. These distances are not fret positions.
A recipe lists pitch distances within one octave of the root. For a distance of 12 or more, subtract 12 until it is below 12.
- Bare
- root +7
- Wide
- root +4 +7
- Close
- root +3 +7
- Float
- root +5 +7
The Height row shows each note's pitch number. The recipe row shows its distance from the root within one octave. On lane 4, lifting your finger changes the recipe offset from +4 (Wide) to +3 (Close).
On your guitar: strum Wide, then lift only your index finger and strum again. Keep the other two fingers pressed.
Standard terms
Wide = major (E). Close = minor (Em). Float = sus4 (Esus4). Bare = power chord (E5). Recipe numbers are semitone intervals: 3 is a minor third, 4 a major third, 5 a perfect fourth, 7 a perfect fifth.
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Move the whole shape
Move every played note up by the same number of frets. The root rises, but the pitch distances in the recipe stay the same.
For 3 5 5 – – –, press lane 1 at fret 3 with your index finger, lane 2 at fret 5 with your ring finger, and lane 3 at fret 5 with your pinky. Slide all three fingers two frets toward the guitar body. The shape becomes 5 7 7 – – –. Dashed circles mark the old positions. Every played Height rises by 2, so the recipe stays the same.
An open string has no finger to slide. In 0 2 2 – – –, moving only your fingers leaves lane 1 at Height 0. The other two notes rise, so the recipe changes. To move the whole Bare shape up two frets, press lane 1 at fret 2 with your index finger and lanes 2 and 3 at fret 4 with your ring finger and pinky. The result is 2 4 4 – – –.
On your guitar: play 3 5 5 – – – once. Ease your finger pressure, slide your hand two frets toward the body, then press and strum again.
Standard terms
Sliding a shape to new frets is called shifting. It transposes the chord: 3 5 5 is G5, 5 7 7 is A5, and 2 4 4 is F♯5. A shape with no open strings is movable.
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Play a progression
Play four shapes in order. Give each shape four beats: Strike, Ring, Hush, Brush. Follow along on your guitar.
- Strike
- Strum once.
- Ring
- Keep your fingers pressed and let the notes sound. Do not strum again.
- Hush
- Ease off until your fingers touch the strings without pressing them. For 0 2 2 – – –, touch lane 1 with a finger too. This stops the notes.
- Brush
- Strum while your fingers still mute the strings. You should hear a short, dry sound. Then press the next shape.
On your guitar: start at Slowest. Say "Strike, Ring, Hush, Brush" as you play each shape.
Standard terms
The progression is E5 → G5 → A5 → E5, with one bar of 4/4 per shape. Ring means sustain. Hush is a fretting-hand mute. Brush is a muted strum, sometimes called a "chuck" or "scratch".