Musical Alphabet

The notes in the musical alphabet are:

A B C D E F G

S = Semitone which is a ONE fret move on the guitar up or down the string.
T = Tone which is a TWO fret move on the guitar up or down the string.

 

  • Semitone move
  • Tone move

ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS !

There is only a ONE fret move (SEMITONE) between B & C and E & F all the other notes (A to B, C to D, D to E, F to G and G to A), have a TWO fret move (TONE) between them.



As you can see on the fretboard diagram above, between every B & C and E & F note there is only a 1 fret move.

When learning your musical alphabet, it is natural to start from “A” and finish it on “G”. This is because your normal alphabet starts on “A” as well. Try saying your musical alphabet starting from “B” and finishing on “B”, like this “B C D E F G A B”.

Get to know your Musical Alphabet backwards as well as forwards.

A B C D E F G Say this as fast as you can
G F E D C B A Now say this as fast as you can

Did you find it difficult to say it at the same speed backwards as well as forwards ?

Not only should you know the musical alphabet backwards and forwards, you should also to be able to start and finish on any note. This is because songs will rarely start from an “A” note then continue up the musical alphabet. This would make a pretty boring song. You should be able to say the musical alphabet backwards as fast as you can forwards. No songs, except scales, go only up or only down the neck of the guitar or the musical alphabet.

Here are all the different ways you can say your musical alphabet, forwards and backwards.

  • FORWARDS

    A B C D E F G

    A B C D E F G A
    B C D E F G A B
    C D E F G A B C
    D E F G A B C D
    E F G A B C D E
    F G A B C D E F
    G A B C D E F G

  • BACKWARDS

    G F E D C B A

    A G F E D C B A
    G F E D C B A G
    F E D C B A G F
    E D C B A G F E
    D C B A G F E D
    C B A G F E D C
    B A G F E D C B

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