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ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
05/15/2020 11:54 pm

I want to start by saying that guitar playing can be very tricky & counter-intuitive to notate & read properly. :) Most of what you are asking about is confusing because the standard music notation of marking articulations such as legato is similar to both tied notes & to hammer-ons & pull-offs.

Originally Posted by: Jake_22

1) This half circle croissant shape is normally for pull offs or hammer ons, but here the line points to... nothing ! So I'm wondering what I should do here. Does it mean that I should let the note ring meaning here that I play the 7th fret 3rd string (and holding it) then 6th fret 2nd string (and holding it) then play 6th fret 1 st string and releasing the other 2 at the same time ?[/quote]

Yes, those arcs indicate a "tied note", keep the note ringing while other notes are being played.

Originally Posted by: Jake_22So I'm bending the 5th and 6th string up half a step but then the half circle shape links the notes to.. the same note ? This can't be a hammer on or a pull off... I know an note in parenthesis is a ghost note menaing I should play it softly, but why is it "linked" to itself like a hammer-on/pull off ?

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[p]I'd have to see more of the line to get the full context, but I'm guessing this is another tied note. There is another counted beat being indicated when the first arc returns to the line, then after that counted beat, the next arc starts. Because that note is still being held, the arc crosses the bar line to the next counted downbeat, the 1 of measure 35.

Hope that all makes sense!


Christopher Schlegel
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