A chord is made by playing at least three different notes at the same time. The first note of a chord is called it’s root. A chord can be built on any note as it’s root note. The next note of a chord is the third note up from the root, while the next is the fifth note up from the root.

Let’s pick C as the root of the chord we will be building. Starting from C, the third note up is the E note. The fifth note up from C is the G note. Thus C-E-G would be a C chord. However, chords, just like scales, can be either major or minor, so we need to figure out how to build each of these types of chords.

Major chords

Major chords are built with a Major 3rd (M3) and Perfect 5th (P5) from the root. A M3 has four half steps, or four frets, while a P5 has seven half steps, or seven frets.

A C Major chord (C-E-G) naturally falls within the above pattern without needing any accidentals. C to E has four half steps (C#, D, D#, E), while C to G has seven half steps (C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G). Notice that building a chord is related to the scale the root note is in. The C major scale naturally has no sharps or flats, and thus the C major chord also has no sharps/flats.

Here we have an E Major chord. We needed to add a G# to make it fit the pattern above. E to G# is four half steps (F, F#, G, G#), while E to B is seven half steps (F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B). Notice that here, too, the chord is related to the scale of the root note. The E major scale has a G# and a B natural.

Minor chords

A minor chord is built by lowering the 3rd degree of a major chord down a half step. It is built with a minor third (m3) and a Perfect fifth (P5).

Lets look at the C major chord again. To make this chord into a C minor chord, we will lower the 3rd note, the E, down a half step to E flat (Eb). We keep the G as is. Thus, a C minor chord is built like this: C-Eb-G.

Let’s also look at the E major chord. To make this E major chord into E minor, we will lower the 3rd degree of the chord, the G#, down to a G natural. Thus, an E minor chord is built like this: E-G-B.

Look in the “Technique” and “Excercises” sections of this site for videos and tips on playing chords on the guitar.

Intervals
Intervals are the distance between two notes. They are used to build up chords.

Major second (M2): Two half steps apart. On the guitar, two frets.
Major third (M3): Four half steps apart. On the guitar, four frets.
Perfect fourth (P4): Five half steps apart. On the guitar, five frets.
Perfect fifth (P5): Seven half steps apart. On the guitar, seven frets.
Major sixth (M6): Nine half steps apart. On the guitar, nine frets.
Major seventh (M7): Eleven half steps apart. On the guitar, eleven frets.
Perfect octave (P8): Twelve half steps apart. On the guitar, twelve frets.

Minor, augmented, diminished
In addition to Major and Perfect intervals, we have Minor, Augmented and Diminished intervals:

Minor intervals are created by decreasing a major interval down a half step. (m2, m3, m6, m7)
Augmented intervals are created by increasing a Major or Perfect interval up a half step. (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8)
Diminished intervals are created by decreasing a Perfect interval down a half step. (d4, d5, d8)

A key signature is a way to minimize writting out the accidentals of a scale. Let’s take the E major scale for example: it has four sharps; F#, C#, G# D#. If we were looking at a piece of music in the key of E major, but there was no key signature at the beginning of the music, then we would have to write down sharps (#) whenever we saw an F, C, G, or D note. Obviously, this would be a daunting, and boring, task. That is where key signatures come in.

Look closely at the E major key signature: You will notice that the sharp symbols are on the four notes that are sharped in E major: F#, C#, G#, D#.

By writting down the key signature for E major at the beginning of the piece, we would have it as a reminder for us to sharp all the F’s, C’s, G’s, and D’s of the music. In essence, the E major key signature “sharp’s for us” all of these four notes.

Order of sharps

Sharps are added on key signatures in this pattern:
F#, C#, G#, D# A#, E#, B# for both major and minor scales.

The G major key signature, which only has one sharp, would have an F# on the key signature. But an E major key signature, having four sharps, would have the F# as well as the C#, G#, and D#. Likewise, C# minor, which also has four sharps, would have the same four sharps in it’s key signature: F#, C#, G#, D#.

Order of flats

Flats are added on key signatures in this pattern:
Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb for both major and minor scales.

Bb major, which has two flats, has Bb and Eb in it’s key signature. Db major, which has five flats, has both the Bb and Eb in it’s key signature, as well as the Ab, Db, and Gb. Bb minor, having the same number of flats in it’s key signature as Db major, five, has the same key signature as well.

All Key signatures:


These diagrams were borrowed from this site:
http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/theory/intervals.htm#keys

A scale is a stepwise movement of notes reaching an octave. To get from any one note to that same note, but higher/lower pitched, it takes eight notes, hence the name octave. Lets see examples of this theory:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D E F G A B C D

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
E F G A B C D E etc…

This also works going backwards:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C B A G F E D C etc…

Thus, a scale is the progression of eight notes to get from one note to that same note an octave higher/lower. A scale can start on any note, and must end on that same note. There are two main scale types in classical music, major and minor.

Major scales

A major scale is characterized by it’s “happy” nature. In order to make a scale into a major scale, a pattern of whole steps and half steps must be followed. Here is this pattern:

Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half. (W W H W W W H)

The C major scale, which has no sharps or flats, naturally falls within this pattern:

However, all other major scales must use either sharps or flats to fall within this pattern.

Above is the G major scale. Notice that it contains one sharp, F#. In order for a major scale starting on G to fall within the W W H W W W H pattern, the F must be sharped.

Here we have the E major scale. It is more complicated than the C major and G major scales. In order to make a major scale starting on the E note, we have to sharp four notes: F#, C#, G#, D#. Once we do that, the major scale pattern fits.

Now we have a major scale using flats instead of sharps to fall within the pattern. This is the Bb (B flat) major scale. It needs two flats to fall within the major scale pattern: Bb and Eb.

Minor scales

Minor scales are characterized by their “sad” sound. There are three types of minor scales. In order to make a Natural Minor scale, it must follow this pattern: W H W W W H W W.

Above is the A Natural minor scale. Like C major, it naturally falls within the minor scale pattern without needing any sharps or flats.

Here we have the A Harmonic minor scale. In order to turn a Natural minor scale into a Harmonic minor scale, we need to raise the value of the seventh note up a degree. The G note is the seventh note in the Natural minor scale, and thus we raise it to G# to turn the scale into a Harmonic minor scale.

Here we have the A Melodic minor scale. In order to turn a Natural minor scale into a Melodic minor scale, we need to raise the value of the sixth and seventh notes up a degree. The F and G notes are the sixth and seventh notes in the Natural minor scale, and thus we raise them to F# and G# to turn the scale into a Melodic minor scale.

We raise the sixth and seventh notes to make a Melodic minor scale when ascending, but when we descend, we play the scale in its Natural minor form.

For lessons/excercises on how to play scales on the guitar, look in the “Technique” and “Excercises” sections of the site.

The first diagram should be familiar to you. It is all the open strings of the guitar and how they are written on the staff. The diagram below it includes the notes that are in between those of the open strings. Two things that should be noticeable are that all these new notes do not go past the 3rd frets, meaning they are either on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd frets, and that there are two notes in between any two open strings, except between B and G, where there is just one note. These observations are crucial in how we will go about memorizing all these notes. Also crucial is knowing by heart the names of the spaces (FACE) and lines (EGBDF) of the staff.

(1)So let’s say you see a note in between 1st string high E and 2nd string B. You are still unfamiliar with how these new notes look, but by process of elimination you can figure out the answer. (2)You know that, from knowing the spaces and lines, there are just two notes in between E and B; D and C. So the mystery note must be one of those two notes and on the first two strings. You also know that, for now, we are not playing anything above the high E string, so the note must be somewhere on the 2nd string B. (3)You know that the note must either be on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd fret of the 2nd string B because we are not playing anything past the 3rd fret for now. But which fret is C and which is D? (4)Well, B and C are one half step away, meaning they are one fret away from each other. So if the 2nd string B is open, then the next fret is the 1st fret, which is where C is. You know that all other notes except B-C and E-F are a whole step away, or two frets away, so the D note must be two frets from C. If C is on the 1st fret, two frets up is 3rd fret, which is where the D note is at. (5)Now that you know how to play note C and D on the 2nd string B, you just need to identify which one of the two notes the mystery note is and play it. In this example, the note was C. It is this exact same reasoning that you must use when you see a note you still havent memorized yet. First identify the open strings above and below the note, eliminate the notes that it can’t be through FACE/EGBDF, figure out the half step/whole step relation between the notes between the two open string notes, and then identify which note from those it is and simply play it. As you continue to do this, over time you will get better at it and begin to memorize the notes in between the open strings from simply seeing them over and over.

Here we have all the notes in between two open strings on the guitar. (1)The notes between high E (1st string) and B string (2nd string) are D and C. (2)The note between the B string (2nd string) and G string (3rd string) is A. There is just one note between B and G, all other open strings have two notes between them. (3)The notes between G string and D string (4th string) are F and E. (4)The notes between D string and A string (5th string) are C and B. (5)The notes between A string and low E string (6th string) are G and F.

Hints: If you look closely, you will see that, except for the 3rd string, there is a note on the 3rd fret of all the other strings. The 2nd string and 6th string have the same progression of notes on their frets: 3-1-0. The 4th and 5th strings share the same fret progressions: 3-2-0. Only the 3rd string has a different fret progression: 2-0. This is the progression of the notes on each string, starting from low E (6th string) to B string (2nd string):
B:3-1-0
G:2-0
D:3-2-0
A:3-2-0
E:3-1-0

So, you finally have all the basic music concepts needed to read music under your hand. But, how does it all apply to the guitar? This article is especially dedicated to easing the transition from one to the other.

String names

The first bits of information needed to begin are the note names of each of the guitar strings. These names represent the notes of each string being played “open”, or without pressing any frets on that string. From the thinnest string to the thickest string, or from the 1st string to the 6th, the names of the strings are:

1st: E 2nd: B 3rd: G
4th: D 5th: A 6th: E

When you open a new pack of strings, each string usually has a plastic tab with the note name of that string. However, these note names apply only if you tune to “standard tuning”, which is the normal “default” tuning of the guitar. If the strings are not tuned properly to these notes, then you will obviously get different notes when you pluck them instead of the ones that they should be. Make sure to tune correctly.

Strings on the staff

Now that you know the names of the strings, you need to know how they look like on the staff. There is a Tab version below as well. Here are all six strings, starting from the 1st string to the 6th:

You will notice that there are two “E” notes on the guitar. The 1st string and the 6th are both “E” notes. The 1st string E is usually refered to as “high E” and the 6th string E as “low E”; which takes us to our next observation. The higher pitched the string is, the higher it appears on the staff, and vice-versa. Let’s compare the two E notes on the guitar to illustrate this point. The 1st string E is obviously a higher pitch than the 6th string E, and thus the high E appears on the top space of the staff while the low E, being the lowest pitched string on the guitar, is three ledger lines below the staff.

Remembering their positions

To help in remembering the string’s positions on the staff, I find it helpful to split them into two groups: the 4 strings on the staff and the 2 strings on ledger lines below the staff.

Here we have the first 4 strings of the guitar that are on the staff. The 1st string E and 4th string D are easy to remember because they appear on the edges of the staff. The 1st string E is at the top space of the staff, while the 4th string D is below the staff entirely. The 2nd B and 3rd G strings tend to be mistaken with each other very easily in the beginning. The best thing to remember to distinguish between the two is that the 2nd B string is exactly in the middle of the staff, on the middle (3rd) line of the staff, while the 3rd G string is on the line below it (2nd). So if you see a note on the middle (3rd) line, you know that it is the B string (2nd string open). If you see a note on the string below the middle line, you know thats the G string (3rd string open).

Here we have the remaining two strings, the 5th string A and 6th string E, or “low E”. We seperate these two strings from the other four because they are the only two that require ledger lines. The 5th string A, since it isn’t as low as the 6th string E, will have fewer ledger lines and appear closer to the staff when compared to the low E string. Thus, the 5th string A is written with two ledger lines, and the 6th string low E with three ledger lines. The 5th string A is “on” the 2nd ledger line, while the 6th string low E is below the 3rd ledger line.

These are the notes that appear on the staff. Each note has it’s own “time” value, meaning each note lasts a certain time, or takes up a certain amount of a measure. Each note has it’s “rest” equivalent too. Rests are silences in the music, and they too last certain times depending on the value of the rest note. Rests are just as important as regular notes.

This is a Quarter Note and Quarter Rest. It is usually the beat that most songs use to “count time”.

This is a Half Note and Half Rest. It’s value is twice that of a quarter note’s value.

This is a Whole Note and Whole Rest. It’s value is twice of the half note’s value and four times that of a quarter note’s.

This is an Eighth Note and Eighth Rest. It’s value is half that of a quater note’s value. Two eighth’s make up one quarter note.

This is a Sixteenth Note and Sixteenth Rest. It’s value is half of an eighth’s value, and four times a quarter’s value. Two sixteenth’s make up one eighth, and four sixteenth’s make up one quarter.

Measures

This is a measure. It is a vertical line on the staff used to divide a piece of music into more manageable chunks. Depending on the time signature, each measure will hold a certain number of notes. A measure cannot hold more notes or beats than the time signature states, except for special cases.

Time Signatures

These are Time Signatures. They are used to determine “time”. The upper number means how many beats there are per measure, and the lower number means what value the beats are in. In 2/4 time, there are two beats per measure, with quarter notes as these two beats. In 3/4 time, there are three beats per measure, with quarter notes as each of the three beats, etc. There are many more time signatures.
The first beat of a measure is the “strong” beat, while all others are “weak” beats. This means that the first note of a measure will be played louder than all the other notes. This is done to “indicate” through volume when a new measure begins. In 4/4 time, the third beat is also a strong beat, but not as strong as the first beat.

Putting it all together

We will use the example above to put all that we have just learned into practice. The example above is in treble clef, 4/4 time and four measures long. It is in the key of C major. 4/4 time means there are four beats per measure, each being a quarter note. In other words, there can fit four quarter notes in each measure, and that is exactly what happens in the first measure. All of the four quarter notes are on the “C” space of the staff, meaning four “C” notes lasting a quarter beat each play in the first measure. In the second measure there are two half notes on the “C” space of the staff. Since each half note equals two quarter notes, then having two half notes in a measure is equal to having four quarter notes in a measure. The half notes last twice as long as quarter notes, so the two “C” notes are left ringing more because of this. In the third measure we see much more activity. The first six notes are eighth notes, each on the “A” space of the staff. Since two eighth notes are equal to one quarter note, that means that the six eighth notes are equal two three quarter notes. Each eighth note lasts half as long as a quarter note, and that is why we must play twice as many eighths to equal three quarters. The last four notes are sixteenth notes on “A”. Four sixteenth notes equal on quarter note, which was the last quarter note missing from completing four quarter notes per measure like our 4/4 time signature indicated. Sixteenths are twice as quick as eighths, so all four must be played vey quickly in order to fit into the space of a quarter note. The last measure holds just one note, a whole note on the “F” space of the staff. A whole note equals four quarter notes, which is why we only need one whole note to fill up the whole measure. The “F” note being played here will last very long, equal to the duration of four quarter notes.

This is a “Sharp” symbol. When placed in front of any note, it increases the note’s pitch a half-step higher. In guitar terms, it raises a note up one fret.

This is a “Flat” symbol. When placed in front of any note, it decreases the note’s pitch a half-step lower. In guitar terms, it lowers a note back one fret.

This is a “Natural” symbol. It eliminates any Sharps or Flats from the note that it is placed in front of.

When an accidental of any kind is placed on a note, all the same notes after this note in any octave in the measure the accidental appeared on will be played as though they too had the accidental in front of them, although only the first accidental will be on the staff. This means that if you sharp a C note, anytime another C note appears on the same measure thereafter will also be sharped. If you flat a B note, all future B notes in the measure will also be flated. Putting a natural sign on a C sharp note will eliminate the “sharp” from that C note and all future C notes remaining in the measure.

Key Signatures

If you look at enough sheets of music, you will notice that many have sharps and flats right after the clef. This is because there are many “keys” that a piece can be written in, and each key naturally has different numbers of sharps and flats. Major keys are characterized by their “happy” or “upbeat” feeling, while minor keys are said to be “sad”. All the sharps or flats that appear on a key signature affect the notes of the music those sharps/flats are on. D major has two sharps, F sharp and C sharp. Whenever an F or C note appears, they will be played sharped automatically without the need of adding any sharp accidentals into the music. Here are all the keys. Notice that C major and A minor naturally have no sharps or flats, but are keys nonetheless.


These diagrams were borrowed from this site:
http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/theory/intervals.htm#keys

This is a staff. It is made up of five (5) lines and four (4) spaces.
Each space and line has it’s own letter name associated with it.

The symbol to the left of the staff is called a clef.
A clef changes the names of the spaces and lines.
This is the treble clef. It is used for instruments like the violin, flute, and of course, guitar.

Here we see all the letter names on all the spaces and lines of the staff. Notice how it simply goes up the alphabet starting with “E”, and once it passes “G”, the alphabet starts all over with “A” and keeps going up.

A good way to remember the names of the four (4) spaces of the treble clef is knowing that, from the lowest space going up, it spells the word “FACE”.

A good way to remember the names of the five (5) lines of the treble clef is this sentence: Every Good Boy Does Fine (EGBDF).

With four (4) spaces and five (5) lines, that just totals nine (9) notes, which is not a lot at all. There are many more notes above and below the notes on the staff. To write those notes down, we use ledger lines, or extra lines beyond the five (5) staff lines. Ledger lines continue following the musical alphabet either going “up” or “down”. Ledger lines simply continue adding “spaces” and “lines” beyond the ones originally on the staff.

Not all notes are equally spaced apart. Notes are either a “half step” apart or a “whole step” apart. When a note is a “half step” away, it means that it is right next to another note, or one space away from the note above it. In terms of the guitar, it means that a note is one fret away from the next. When a note is a “whole step” away, it means it is two spaces away from the following note. In terms of the guitar, it means that a note is two frets away from the next note. An easy way to remember which notes are a half or whole step apart is that the notes E and F are naturally only a half step apart, meaning they are next to each other. This also occurs with the notes B to C. All other notes are a whole step apart, or two frets apart.