Guitar music is often notated in two parts. The purpose of this is to clearly see each 'voice' or 'part' of the music. This mainly is used to show the separation between the bass and treble parts. The following example uses a bass note on the first beat of the 1st and 3rd bars.
An alternative method of notating the above exercise is to separate the bass and treble parts. The bass note D on the first beat of the 1st and 3rd bars can be notated as a whole note and tied to another D note in the following bar as shown in the following example.
The treble part can also be notated by placing a rest on the first beat of the 1st and 2rd bars.
Once you can see both parts separately it is then possible to visualize both parts on the same staff. If you are playing the notes with your fingers use the suggested right hand fingering. If you are using a pick, use all downstrokes.
You may have noticed in the previous exercise that all the melody notes have their stems up. When guitar music is notated in two parts, the bass noes are written with the stems down and the treble notes are written with the stems up. This is highlighted in the following exercise.