Guitar Octaves
Guitar Octaves: This video is a quick guide to guitar octaves for those who wish to learn how to play the Guitar.
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Step 1:
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Introduction
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If you play the C major scale you start on the note C...and you end here. This is the eighth note of the scale. It is the octave. It's the same note as the first one, but it's one octave higher. These octaves can sound really nice when you play and improvise.
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Step 2:
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The Octave
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The most common way to play these would be you have--in this case we're starting on the bass root note, on the third fret, on the A string, which is C. In order to find the C octave you go two frets up and play the G string. There we have the octave.
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Step 3:
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Technique
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Now this shape is then movable. The trick is to not have the D string ring in between, so you try and mute the D string with the index finger by having it touch a little bit on the D string. Wes Montgomery used this technique to a large extent in his playing. He would use the thumb and then move the shape along.
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Step 4:
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Bass Note
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You can also switch now to have the bass note on the low E string. The shape is the same. It's a matter of preference if you want to use the pinky or not--it depends on the shape of your hand, how stretchy your fingers are.
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Step 5:
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Scaling Down
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If you want to go to the next set of strings, starting on the D string and then play the B string, you need to move the shape a little bit so that the octave on the B string is one fret over like this, because of the way the guitar is tuned. So here I'll play a C major scale with octaves. I can continue down. It's easy when you use your thumb.
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Step 6:
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Using Ring Finger
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You can also use this technique of using one of the fingers, which is what I use quite a bit in my playing. I'm using the ring finger here. You see I play one note and then the next one right after--doo-da, doo-da, doo-da doo-da becomes the phrasing--or I can pick them both at the same time. The first note I'm picking down, and the next note I'm pulling up like this.
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Step 7:
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Not Using The Pick
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You can slide this up and down, make these cool sounds. See, I'm not using my pick hand at all. The sound is a little different if I use this technique with the ring finger and the pick. When I use my thumb it sounds a little different. That's using the thumb, and using the ring finger and the pick. It's a little snappier sound.
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Step 8:
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Alternative Technique
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Another way you can play the octave is to instead of going...you can do this as I showed at the beginning. But it's not as easy to finger, for most people anyway, I think.
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Step 9:
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Muting
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The difficulty with the thumb is that you really need to mute that string in between. Again, use your index finger until you just barely touch it. The thumb goes over the three strings here. The middle one is muted with my index finger here. In a way this technique is easier because you don't have to as much about...because that string in between you're not touching.
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Step 10:
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Conclusion
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You have here two strings in between. Instead of having the top note two frets above and a string in between here on the D string, you would do the opposite in that you have two frets down from this root note and you have two strings in between. But it's good to know in case you ever need to use that that octave that way. If you have a finger handy you can do that.
There you go--octaves.