Guitar fight or how to master the art of a six-string instrument

2025 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-24 17:46

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments today. And in the dashing 80s, how many songs with a guitar were played at the balconies of their beloved by romantic young people? The romance of those times disappeared somewhat, leaving the guitar as a legacy. At all times, on picnics and on hikes, this wonderful musical instrument has been the main entertainment.

The general passion for the guitar began not only with the trend of Western culture, but also thanks to Russian famous singers and singers. Songs played on the radio and at live concerts fueled interest in learning the art of playing this instrument. According to many connoisseurs of music, Vladimir Vysotsky and the Kino group are the brightest star of the guitar sky. It is their songs, most of which are played in combat, that have gained wild popularity in all countries of the former Soviet Union.

Guitar fighting is one of the most common ways to play. He is worshiped by millions of professionals, beginners begin to learn from him. In order to master this method of playing, you need to learn the basic chords and learn how to quickly change them on the fretboard of the instrument. The most difficult for beginners are chords withusing a bar where you need to clamp all the strings with one finger. Fighting the guitar is a way in which all the strings sound at the same time, so you need to place your fingers clearly and correctly.

There are many varieties of guitar fighting. The main ones are "six", "eight", "four", rumba, soul and others. At the same time, in each of them the basis is the correct muting of the strings. The fight on the guitar has its own symbols:

Notation when playing in combat

Symbol	Meaning
V or ↑	strike down from the sixth string to the first
v or ↓	strike up from the first string to the sixth
	silencing
	muting without hitting the strings with the edge of the palm
+	mute with thumb
x	mute with palm edge
p	use thumb
i	using index finger
b	bass string

For example, using these notations, a "six" fight on a guitar without muting would look like this:

↑↑ ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓

i i i i i i

If you add silence to the notation, you get:

↑ + ↑ + ↓

i p i p i

Fight "eight" on the guitar can also be depicted using the diagram:

↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

i p i i p i i i

The diagram shows that the thumb mute is used when playing, but for a great sound it is recommended to learn how to play this fight without muffling. And only when a song begins to flow from the tormented guitar strings, you can learn to insert a mute.

Another popular guitar fight is thug. Its second name is "four". With this method, the thumb strikes the bass string (depending on the chord, it can be the 6th, 5th or 4th string), then the index finger moves down and is instantly muted with the edge of the palm. On the diagram it looks like this:

x x

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑

b i b i

But the most important thing is that there are a lot of variations on the theme of guitar fighting, and in order to choose the right option for a particular song, you need to listen to the rhythm. And only he will tell you the right fight.