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Foundations
Pentatonic & Soloing
Full Fretboard
Lesson 1Foundations

The Musical Alphabet

Learn that there are 12 notes, and each fret is one note higher.

Western music uses 12 notes: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B. After B, the pattern repeats. On guitar, each fret raises the pitch by one semitone (half step). Two frets = one whole step.

12345678910111213141516EEFF#GG#AA#BCC#DD#EFF#GG#BBCC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#BCC#DD#GGG#AA#BCC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#BDDD#EFF#GG#AA#BCC#DD#EFF#AAA#BCC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#BCC#EEFF#GG#AA#BCC#DD#EFF#GG#

What to do

  1. 1Toggle 'All Notes' on the fretboard to see every note
  2. 2Pick any string and play fret 1, then 2, then 3... notice each fret is one semitone higher
  3. 3Find all the C notes on the fretboard — hover to see note names
  4. 4Notice: after 12 frets (fret 12), the notes repeat!
Tip: The distance between E-F and B-C is only 1 fret (half step). All other natural notes are 2 frets apart (whole step). This is why the guitar fretboard looks uneven.

Checkpoint

Can you name the 12 notes in order?