Music Theory You Can Use

Every note on the guitar neck has a name. It's a good idea to get familiar with note names on the neck. Start by finding all of the 'A' notes on the neck. This will allow you to see patterns to the layout of notes on the neck. Click Here to see a diagram of note names on the guitar neck. (Opens in new window)

Notes are combined to make up scales. Here is an explanation of the system seven letter-names with sharps and flat notes between five of those seven notes (for a total of 12 notes). Click Here to see a short explanation of notes and scales. (Opens in new window)

Intervals

'Intervals' are distances between two notes. When you're discussing intervals, you're talking about pairs of notes.

The first interval we will look at is the 'octave.' Notes that are an octave apart have the same note name.

The distance between two notes an octave apart has a fixed shape on the guitar neck.

The low note in this octave (distance) is on the 6th string, the high note is on the 4th string. This shape works on the lowest four strings. This is a Form 1 pentatonic shape.

In this example, the low note in this octave is on the 5th string, the high note is on the 3rd string. This shape works on the lowest four strings. This is a Form 4 pentatonic shape.