Learning The Basics of Music Theory

Book Work

There are 7 natural notes and they are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet

A – B – C – D – E – F –G

There are also 5 Sharps and Flats.  These notes represent a half step in one direction from the natural notes.  A flat being a half step down in pitch and a sharp being a half step up.

Now with our sharps and flats added in.

A – (A#/Bb) – B – C – (C#/Db) – D – (D#/Eb) – E - F – (F#/Gb) – G – (G#/Ab) – A

Our five flats and sharps have been added to the list.  Now you may be noticing that 10 new notes appeared, two in each set of parenthesis.  That is because each set of two notes in the parenthesis are actually the same note.  For example (C#/Db),  A C-sharp is the exact same note as a D-flat.  This is called an Enharmonic.

Lets take a look at our series of notes again.

A – (A#/Bb) – B – C – (C#/Db) – D – (D#/Eb) – E - F – (F#/Gb) – G – (G#/Ab) – A

 

We have a total of 12 notes in this sequence.  The distance between each note is called a semitone.  On your guitar each fret represents 1 semitone.  So by plucking the low E string in the open position you are playing an E, but by fingering the 1st fret you are moving up one semitone, so accordingly you are now playing an F.

You may also notice that our sequence starts and stops with the same note, an A.  This sequence represents one full octave.  This means that the second A note vibrates at exactly twice the speed as the first A note.  This makes our ear hear the note as a different version of the original note.  This pattern of notes and octaves repeats in both directions until infinity.

Exercise

With this new knowledge in mind and while still remembering the standard tuning for your guitar is:

e
B
G
D
A
E

Start practicing your 12 note scale by going both up the strings of your guitar one at a time, and then practice the same scale again by going up and down the neck of your guitar on different strings.