The Musical Alphabet

The musical alphabet consists of seven different letter names: A B C D E F G These notes are also known as the natural notes. In addition to these seven natural notes we can have sharp ( ) notes and flat ( ) notes. They are also known as accidentals. Note: when writing accidentals ( or ), they go after the letter name (unless writing the actual music note on the staff). Ex. 1 A B Ex. 2 A B

D A

correct

A incorrect

Sharps Sharps are notes that are raised by one fret and are represented by the symbol. For example, if an F note is played on the first fret then an F note is played on the second fret (one fret higher). The distance of one fret is also known as a semitone (ST). The semitone is more frequently used because it's applicable to any instrument. Keeping it simple, every note has a sharp except for B and E. The note above B is C and above E is F (later we will include B and E ). Here are all the notes and their sharps in order going up: A A B C C D D E F F G G A ...(keep repeating)... Notice that after G is A. The pattern repeats all over again. Using the above chart, if we needed to find the note that is three frets (semitones) above F , we would count three notes above F : G = one fret, G = two frets, A = three frets. An A note is three frets above an F note. Ex. 1 What is the note nine frets above C? C is one fret above C, D is two frets above, D is three frets, E is 4, F is 5, F is 6, G is 7, G is 8 and A is 9. A is nine frets above C.

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Ex. 2 What is the note three semitones above G? G is one semitone above G, A is two and A is three. A is three semitones above G. Test your knowledge of sharps by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #1 on page 59.

Flats Flats are notes that are lowered by a semitone and represented by a symbol. If a G note is played on the 3rd fret then a G note is played on the 2nd fret. For our theory needs at the moment, every note has a flat except C and F. The note beneath C is B and beneath F is E. Looking at the musical alphabet backwards, we get: A A G G F E E D D C B B A ..... Here it is turned around: A B B C D D E E F G

G A

A .....

In the above alphabet, the note above A is B . But we just learned that the note above A is A . It turns out that B and A are the same note; this is called enharmonic. Enharmonic means the note is the same pitch, but spelled differently. Lets find a few flat notes: Ex. 1 What is the note three semitones above C? D is one semitone above C, D is two semitones above C and E is three semitones above C. The note that is three semitones above C is E . (It is also D , but we are finding flat notes at the moment.) Ex. 2 What is the note eight frets above G? A is 1, A is 2, B is 3, B is 4, C is 5, D is 6, D is 7, E is 8. The note that is eight frets above G is E . Test your knowledge of flats by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #2 on page 59.

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Sharps and flats together Here are all the notes in the musical alphabet that we have learned so far: A A /B B C C /D D D /E E F F /G G G /A A .... There are four notes we should add to finish this list: B , E , C and F . As you can guess, B is the same as C, E is the same as F, C is the same as B and F is the same as E. You will find when we properly name intervals why we choose, for example, F instead of E in certain cases. Here are all the notes that we know so far (notes stacked on top of each other are the same pitch):
A A A B B C B C C D D D D E E F E F F G G A ... G G A A ...

Test your knowledge of all these notes by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #3 on page 60.

Notes applied to the guitar We can find any note on our guitar with this knowledge of the musical alphabet. Before starting this section, make sure you know your string names and numbers (please see The Six Strings on page 126 if needed). If you are unfamiliar with tab, please check out Basic Tab and Chord Diagrams on page 127. Ex. 1 What is the note on the 6th fret of the 4th string? We know that the 4th string is the D string. This means that when we play this string open, it rings a D note. Open = D note 1st fret = D or E 2nd fret = E 3rd fret = F 4th fret = F or G 5th fret = G 6th fret = G or A The note on the 6th fret of the D string is G or A . Ex. 2 What is the note on the 9th fret of the G string?

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