Staff Room Notes

Frequency

The number of vibrations per second is the note's frequency, measured in hertz (Hz). More vibrations per second means a higher pitch. 1,000 Hz is written 1 kHz.

Human hearing covers roughly 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The top of that range drops as we get older, so most adults can't hear the very highest sounds.

Where the guitar sits

For comparison, a full-size piano runs from 27.5 Hz (its lowest A) to about 4,186 Hz (its top C), so it reaches much lower and higher than a guitar.

Higher and lower on the neck

Along one string: moving toward the body (higher fret numbers) raises the pitch; moving toward the headstock lowers it.

Across the strings: the thinner the string, the higher it sounds. When you hold the guitar, the thinnest string is the one nearest the floor. So the "highest" string is physically at the bottom, which trips everyone up at first.

Left-handed? Everything here works the same, mirrored.

The 2 : 1 rule

Every A is double the frequency of the A below it: 110 Hz, 220 Hz, 440 Hz, 880 Hz. Notes an octave apart blend so completely that we hear them as the same note, just higher or lower, and they share the same letter name.

Play A at 110 → 220 → 440 Hz

The octave on your guitar

The 12th fret, usually marked with two dots, is exactly one octave above the open string. It sits at the halfway point of the string. It takes 12 frets because the octave is split into 12 equal steps, and each fret is one of those steps.

Play open A, then A at the 12th fret

A 440

A at 440 Hz is the usual tuning reference: tuners, bands and orchestras all agree on it. On guitar it's the 5th fret of the high e string. The open A string is the same note two octaves lower (110 Hz).

Octave numbers

To say which A you mean, add an octave number: A2, A3, A4. The number goes up every time you pass C, so B3 is followed by C4. C4 is also called middle C. In this system the open strings are:

E2A2D3G3B3E4

You'll find middle C (C4) on the 1st fret of the B string.

Why "octave" means eight

Count the letter names from one A to the next, including both ends: A B C D E F G A. The octave is the eighth letter name, even though it's 12 frets away.

Seven letters

The musical alphabet is A B C D E F G, then back to A. There is no H. Practise saying it backwards too, G F E D C B A, because you'll need it for going down the neck.

Twelve notes

Between most neighbouring letters there is one extra note, named with a sharp or a flat (lesson 4). Two pairs have nothing between them: B–C and E–F. That gives 7 lettered notes + 5 in-between notes = 12.

On a piano

A keyboard makes this easy to see. The white keys are the seven lettered notes; the black keys are the five in-between notes. Look for the gaps in the black keys: they fall exactly at B–C and E–F. Tap a key to hear it.

The Note Circle

Put the 12 notes round a clock face with A at the top and you have the Note Circle. It's the same idea as your original sketch.

• One step clockwise = up one semitone = up one fret.
• One step anticlockwise = down one fret.
• A full lap = 12 frets = one octave.

Open the Note Circle →

On the circle and on the neck

Sharp = one step clockwise on the Note Circle, or one fret toward the body. Flat = one step anticlockwise, or one fret toward the headstock.

Example on the low E string: fret 5 is A. Fret 6 is A♯. Fret 4 is A♭.

Enharmonic equivalents

Every in-between note can be reached from either side, so it has two names for exactly the same pitch. The musical term is enharmonic equivalents.

The unusual ones

Because B–C and E–F are only a semitone apart, sharpening or flattening across that gap lands on a lettered note:

These are real note names. For example, F♯ major needs E♯, because a scale uses each letter once (you can see this in the Scale Stepper).

Which name should I use?

When you're just naming a fret, either name is fine. When a key is involved, the key decides, so each letter appears once. That's for later lessons.

You'll also see the natural sign ♮ in written music. It cancels a sharp or flat and puts the note back to its plain letter.

On the guitar

• Semitone: neighbouring frets, like fret 5 to fret 6.
• Tone: skip one fret, like fret 5 to fret 7.

Both work the same going up or down.

Play a semitone (A → A♯) Play a tone (A → B)

The gaps between the letters

Most neighbouring letters are a tone apart. The two exceptions are semitones: B–C and E–F.

Five tones and two semitones add up to 12 semitones: one octave.

Counting a distance

Count the steps, not the notes: don't count the note you start on. From A up to C: A♯ (1), B (2), C (3). That's 3 semitones.

Count on the Note Circle →   Practise in Note Drills →

String numbers

Strings are numbered from the thinnest: string 1 is the thin high e, string 6 is the thick low E. Tab writes the thin one as a small "e" so the two Es don't get mixed up. Tap Play to hear each string, which is handy for tuning by ear.

Remembering them

A sentence helps: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie. Or make up your own; silly ones stick best.

Drill it both ways until it's instant: if someone says "string 4", you should think "D" without counting, and the other way round.

Why this matters

Every note on the neck is counted from its open string. Open A plus 3 frets is C (A♯, B, C). Once the open strings and the Note Circle are in your head, you can work out any fret.

Explore the fretboard →   Drill the open strings →