It’s best to go through a couple of Tablature exercises before attempting a complete piece of music. If you ease into the Tablature system, it’s a far more pleasant experience. What you don’t want to do is wrestle with something way too difficult that could end in frustration and the unfortunate act of “windowing” which involves the transition of your brand new guitar through the front window of your residence. Remember that it’s called slack key. Take a laid back approach to the material. Go slow and it’s EASY!
The following is a good starting Slack Key exercise that I use for my students here in Hawai’i.

  1. Print out my tablature for Exercise #1.
  2. Carefully compare the Tab to my recording (below).
  3. Check your tuning by listening to the Taro Patch Tuning audio (below) and comparing it to your guitar.
  4. Review again, the recording of Exercise #1 of this piece. Close your eyes and listen carefully.


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This exercise consists of four measures. The time signature is 4/4 and the first three measures contain eighth notes only. In the last measure, the third beat is a half note and should be sustained for the remainder of that measure.
I’d recommend that you count eighth note values through the entire exercise. Start with a steady slow beat (one & two & three & four &) and maintain the same even rhythm from start to finish.
Slowly and patiently, play the exercise by working with the Tablature. Play it through several times, until it sounds smooth and even.
When you are pleased with the way it sounds, proceed to Tablature Exercise 2.