need newbie guitar help

[Dumbass17]

can someone please explain something to me!

i bought a guitar and it came with a lesson book
and about 5 pages into the book there is some chords it 'attempts' at teaching you how to play but there are no instructions on how to read the music :dunno:

i've looked on the web but can't find anything for a stuff like strumming patten, and why some notes are shown on the lines and some notes are shown between the lines..i'm getting damn confused!

[Micho]

Is it tabulator like or actual musical notes?

Tabs (example):
E----------------------------------------------------|
B----------------------------------------------------|
G----------------------------------------------------|
D----------------------------------------------8---7-|
A-12-----13-12--12/11--11/10--8-7-6------5-----6---5-|
D---13-12-----13-----12-----11-----8-7-6---6-5---0---|


http://guitar.about.com/library/blhowtoreadtab.htm

[Dumbass17]

ok i found it and scanned it, here is why im' confused with diagrams and questions lol

and i have a few questions
1)Is each note representing one strum? (ie, down and up per note)
2)Is the O indicating an open string for that ONE note, or continuous until the next note change?
3)What does it mean when some notes are BETWEEN lines and other notes are ON the lines and others are ABOVE lines?!?!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/Grip72/tophalf.jpg


and for the second part
1)Where it says to start playing G on the third measure, why does it go 3 notes above lines, 3 notes on lines, 3 notes between lines, 3 notes on lines, 1 note above, 1 between, 1 on line, 1 above, 1 on line, 1 between lines...how the hell do i interpret/read/play this?! lol

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/Grip72/bottomhalf.jpg

thanks in advance, i'm confused and getting frustrated lol

[The Element]

Each line and space represents a different note. As the notes get higher up on the staff(the set of lines and spaces), the higher the note is. The space above or below any given line corresponds to the note above or below it on the scale.
On the last picture, you'll play 3 consecutive E's (the first measure), then 3 consecutive F's (the secnd measure), then 3 consecutive G's (the third measure), and so on.
The whole 2 bars are played e e e f f f g g g f f f e e e f f f g e f g f e.
Hope this helps for reading the music. sorry i can't help with the guitar specific stuff.

[Dumbass17]

thanks!!!!

so it is correct to strum up AND down for each note (or just down where indicated) or just one down for each note?!

[AzNxHyDrA]

Start with just strumming down once for each chord. After you get used to chords you can try to learn different strumming patterns.

[Dumbass17]

^^^ok

but can u answer my last post as well? haha

[three.eighteen.]

the notes on the musical staff are remembered by 2 easy mnemonics:

starting from the bottom of the musical staff the lines are

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

and

on the spaces, the letters spell FACE


so them first 3 notes in your song "playing with e,fg" are 3 notes in the 3 top spaces...so you use your FACE mnemonic...count up the spaces from the bottom...that first note you are playing is E (3 times), which is the open thin string (1st/highest string pitchwise)

your 2nd measure is 3 notes on the lines, so use your Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge mnemonic starting from the bottom line, so that note must be F (1st fret, 1st string)

that 3rd note is unforunately above that highest line and there is no rhyme to remember it (maybe there is i dunno), but common sense would suggest its a G right? (3rd fret, 1st string)

EDIT: if that's the book i think it is, there should be an explanation on reading the musical staff/time values of notes somewhere in the first couple pages

[Dumbass17]

^^^ok i got all that figured out, thanks!

but i'm STILL curious as to the strumming pattern...

see the little symbol that looks like a little hurdle or goalpost?
that symbolizes a down strum only right

SO do i strum down ONLY on the note it's above, or do i continue strumming down for the entire measure it starts at?

ex. in the first diagram, there is the symbol above every note at the start of every measure, so am i strumming down EVERY note? or just the notes that it's above!?

in the 2nd diagram, "playing e, f g," the symbol is above the first note only, is that the ONLY note i strum down on, or do i strum down for every note in that measure? or every note in that 'song' ?!

[three.eighteen.]

yes downpick on every note...i'm not even sure if that book ever tells students to begin alternating with upstrokes ever...start with downpicks only until you can get it nice and steady, then begin alternating if you want

[Dumbass17]

alright, thanks dude