Guitar notes. Location of notes on the guitar

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Almost all beginner guitarists face the problem of understanding exactly how notes are placed on the guitar. In fact, it will not be difficult to understand this even for those who do not know musical notation perfectly.

Notes for guitar

Knowing the location of the notes will help the novice musician quickly understand the principle of building chords and teach him to build any necessary harmonies. In this case, the guitarist no longer needs to memorize dozens or even hundreds of existing chords, which will undoubtedly significantly speed up the learning process.

About notes and frets

There are about twenty frets on each guitar. Their number varies depending on the type of guitar. For example, on a classical guitar - nineteen frets, on an electric guitar - twenty-two or more. The main thing is to remember that one fret is equal to one semitone. As for the notes themselves, it is important to know that between mi and fa, as well as between do and si, there is a semitone, that is, one fret. Between all other notes there is a whole tone, that is, two frets. By remembering this principle, you can find all the notes on the fretboard of the guitar, knowing at least one. Every twelve frets a noterepeated, for example, at the fifteenth fret there will be the same note as at the third, only one octave higher. Octave - do, re, mi, fa, s alt, la, si, that is, all the notes you know.

It is characteristic of a six-string guitar that each open string sounds the same as the previous one at the fifth fret. The exception is the second string, which has the same tone as the third string at the fourth fret. All this you need to know in order to be able to tune the guitar without the help of a tuner or various programs, and also, in order to link the strings together by notes.

Location

To begin with, let's look at the location of the entire musical scale of the small octave. Note to (Latin designation C) you can find on the third fret of the fifth string or on the eighth fret of the sixth. Note D (or D) through two frets - on the fifth fret of the fifth string and an open fourth, because, as mentioned above, the open string is equal to the previous one on the fifth fret.

Mi (aka E) - second fret, fourth string. Fa (or F, easiest to remember) will be on the third fret of the fourth string (remember, there is only a semitone between mi and fa or one fret). So, let's move on, the note G (its Latin designation G) will be on the fifth fret of the fourth, it is also an open third string. Try to find the note la (or A) yourself, and if you found it on the second fret of the third string, then you did everything right. Well, si (B) will be on the fourth fret of the thirds or an open second string. Note to the nextthe first octave is located on the first fret of the second string, since there is also only a semitone between si and do. Having understood this principle, you can easily find the notes on the guitar, as well as the semitones of all other octaves. The Latin notation for notes given in brackets is also useful to know, because they denote chords with their help. Let's say an A minor chord is denoted as Am. A small letter m means a minor chord, but with major chords, the letter is not written at all. For example, E major would be written as simply E.

Halftones

If you are completely ignorant of musical theory, then after reading the previous paragraph, you may have a question: “So, on the third fret - do, on the fifth - re. What about the fourth then? And on the fourth fret is the so-called C sharp (aka D flat). As mentioned above, there are semitones between some (but not all) notes, and each semitone has two names at once. Sharp () and flat (b) mean rising and falling, respectively, by one semitone. A semitone is named relative to one of the notes between which it is located. Take for example a semitone between la and si. It is higher than A, therefore it has the name A sharp. And it is lower than si, hence - si flat. And of course, it must be remembered that between mi and fa, as well as between si and do, semitones do not exist. Knowing this and making some simple calculations, you can understand why on one string an octave is exactly twelve frets.

Recommendations

Beginners are advised to memorize all notes on the guitar with open strings, as well as on the fifth andtenth frets. Here all the notes are whole, without semitones, knowing them, you can easily find neighboring ones. Beginning guitarists are not recommended to memorize all the notes and modes, this is hard useless work. It is enough to simply understand the basic principles by which all the notes on the guitar are located. The rest will come with experience. Knowing how to read music will, among other things, help you with things like tuning your guitar. Sheet music will also help you write your own songs.

Fret position

First of all, consider what notes on the guitar are located with open strings. Here, the note E occupies a special place. To tune the guitar, you first need to find exactly this note, since it is located on two strings at once in the open position, namely, on the first and sixth strings. On the first string, mi sounds in the first octave, on the sixth - in the big one. Further from the bottom up: the fifth string is A of the large octave, the fourth string is D of the small octave, the third string is the s alt of the small octave, the second string is the B note of the small octave.

Already knowing these notes, you can easily find all the others and build various chords. Let's move on to the fifth fret. Here we have two notes la on the sixth and first string of the big and first octave, respectively. The fifth string is D of a small octave. The fourth is the s alt of the same octave. On the third string, the fifth fret is up to the next first octave. And the second string is mi of the same first octave. From all the above it is very easy to add up a sequence. Well, let's move on totenth fret, here we have: the sixth string, like the first - re, but already a small and second octave. On the second string - small s alt. Note up to the first octave will be on the third string of the tenth fret. Further, on the fourth - fa of the same first octave, like la, which will be on the second string. And one more thing to keep in mind: guitar notes are usually written an octave higher, that is, a large octave will be equal to a small one, a small one to the first, and so on.

Alternative tunings

In addition to the standard guitar tuning, which was posted above, there are other alternative tunings, in which there will be other notes for the guitar. For beginners, it is enough to know at least the standard system, but it is also necessary to remember the existence of others. For example, the so-called Drop D. Drop is translated from English as a fall. In all tunings with this prefix, the bottom sixth string is lowered or "falls" one tone relative to the others. That is, to put the guitar in Drop D, you need to lower one sixth string by a tone, to the note D, hence the name of the tuning.

Such a tuning is usually used on electric guitars, firstly, it adds another tone to the available range, and secondly, it makes it easier to take fifths and so-called "power chords". Take a Drop D, drop all the strings down a tone, and you get a Drop C, which is an even lower tuning. This tuning is usually played by various metal bands playing heavy music, since the tuning makes the guitar sound quite low. In total, there are a large number of different alternative tunings, each musicianchooses the tuning for himself depending on the genre, the vocal range of the singer and many other factors.

The most important thing

For someone who really wants to understand all the intricacies of the arrangement of notes, there is nothing difficult. The main thing is to have patience and not try to learn everything at once. All the necessary knowledge will come with experience, you just need to spend more time with the tool. In addition, knowledge of music is not the most important thing in the learning process. Understanding the very process of playing the guitar and quickly finding the right chords, consonances and intervals is what sheet music will bring you. A huge number of songs for the guitar have been written, but many authors did not even know musical notation. Take at least the most striking example - the Beatles. None of the band members knew the music, all the songs were written by ear. And this did not prevent the team from reaching the world level. So you need to prioritize your own learning process, and most importantly, really want to learn how to play.