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INTRODUCTION TO NOTE NAMES & PITCH

PITCH is the height or depth of a sound.
Each note takes its name from one of the first seven letters of the alphabet.

B C D E F G

As you progress through the musical alphabet you are going up in pitch. Between
some of these notes there is another note that has two names. These names are
taken from the notes either side of it. For example, the note between A and B is
called either A# (A sharp) or Bb(B flat). Notes with two names are no more or
less important than those with only one name.
# = SHARP
b = FLAT

A#
A

C#
B

D#

F#

Bb

Db

G#

Eb

Gb

Ab

The distance between any two notes is called an INTERVAL.

The smallest division of pitch that we will be dealing with is called a SEMITONE.
I have listed all twelve notes above. The notes progress from left to right going up
in pitch by one semitone, so the distance up from B to C is a semitone, or down
from E to D# is a semitone and so on. As you progress fret by fret up one string
towards the body of the guitar you are going up in pich by semitones. The
distance of two semitones (two frets), for example from C to D or from E to F#
is called a TONE.
There are of course more than twelve notes. Following G# / Ab the whole
series of notes repeats from A. This A is an OCTAVE higher than the previous
one.
A#
A

C#
B

Bb

D#
D

Db

F#
E

Eb

G#
G

Gb

A#
A

Ab

C#
B

Bb

D#
D

Db

F#
E

Eb

G#
G

Gb

Ab

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carlos thrale

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NOTES ON THE GUITAR

3 2 1

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THE MAJOR SCALE

Major scale intervals =

Tone, Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semitone.

T = Tone
S = Semitone

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