Guitar “notes” (pun intended) - mhulse/mhulse.github.io GitHub Wiki

Interval method

Each of the 12 keys in music contains exactly 3 major and 3 minor triads. You could equivalently say “each of the 12 keys in music contains 3 major and 3 minor chords”.

– Easily Learn all of the Notes of the Fretboard with the “Interval Method”

Musical alphabet

Sharps:
A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A

Flats:
A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A

Sharps and flats are the same things depending on how you look at a note. For example, the corresponding flat for A# is Bb (these two notes are the same).

Caveats:

  • C# is the same note as Db
  • D# = Eb
  • F# = Gb
  • G# = Ab
  • No note between B and C
  • No note between E and F
  • B#, Cb, E# and Fb do not exist
  • B# is essentially C (never refer to C as Cb or B#)

Playing each note up low E string (from 0/open to the 12th fret – a full octave) would translate to:

fret up fret down
0 E 12 E
1 F 11 Eb
2 F# 10 D
3 G 9 Db
4 G# 8 C
5 A 7 B
6 A# 6 Bb
7 B 5 A
8 C 4 Ab
9 C# 3 G
10 D 2 Gb
11 D# 1 F
12 E 0 E

Naturals

Notes without sharps ♯ or flats ♭ are called “naturals“ ♮: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

Rules:

  1. 2 frets (i.e. whole-step) between A and B, C and D, F and G, and G and A (this is also true for sharps/flats: C# to D#).
  2. There is one fret between B and C, and E and F (i.e. there are no sharps or flats, just two naturals separated by a half-step).
  3. This 1 fret space is called a half-step (Ex. the distance between C# and D is a half-step.)

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