Basic Musical Theory

Musical Notes

Modern music assigns twelve different pitches of sounds to twelve different musical 'notes' which are represented using the first seven letters of the alphabet from A to G. Clearly we cannot represent twelve different pitches uniquely using only seven single letters. Therefore we add accidentals to notes.

There are three accidentals: the sharp, the flat and the natural. The sharp raises the pitch of a note by a certain amount called a semitone (or half-step) . The flat lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone. The natural refers to a note which is neither flat nor sharp i.e. it is equal in pitch to one of the seven notes represented by a letter on its own.

Here is a complete listing of all the musical notes:

A, A# or Bb, B, C, C# or Db, D, D# or Eb, E, F, F# or Gb, G, G# or Ab (# = sharp, b = flat)

The notes separated by an "or" are enharmonically equivalent i.e. they sound exactly the same. So A# is identical in pitch to Bb - they are actually the same 'note'.

The gaps in pitch between the musical notes are the same and equal to one semitone (i.e. an A# is 'one semitone higher than an A natural'). After 12 semitones (or half-steps), the sequence repeats. For example, after you have played a G# the note a half-step higher will be an A. This note will sound the same as the A you played 12 half-steps previously but higher - this is called an octave. The octave of a note is the note twelve half-steps (twelve notes) above it.

On the guitar, the notes are in the order shown above (repeating the pattern), getting higher the nearer you get to the body. However each string starts on a different note. This starting note depends on what tuning you are using. If you are using standard tuning then the notes will be as follows (string 1 is nearest to your feet):

From this diagram you can see that a gap of one fret on the guitar is equal to one semitone or half-step. Therefore a gap of two frets is equal to a tone or step. It is on these gaps or intervals that scales are based. Combining notes which are certain intervals from each other creates melodies which have particular, recognisable sounds.

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