Guitar Fretboard – Basic Tutorial
Good Day Folks! I assume now you know how to tune a guitar after reading my previous posts in this Beginner Guitar Lessons Blog. Guitar tuning is not difficult and it’s not a sky rocket science either. Now let us see the notes assignment on the guitar fretboard. Just like piano, guitar uses twelve notes all over the fretboard. Each fret equals to a Half Step Note (a.k.a. semitone). Two consecutive frets equal to one Whole Step Note or a Tone.
Natural Tones
From the picture above we find that the distance between E to F and between B to C is a half note step. Memorize this 1 – 1 – ½ – 1 – 1 – 1 – ½ pattern (or W – W – H – W – W – W – H) because you will need it again if you don’t want to play in C.
OK, let’s go back to our guitar fretboard. From the previous lesson we know that standard guitar tuning is E A D G B E, where the first E is the thickest string on your guitar. See whether you can guess what notes are represented by the numbers in this picture:
Number 1 is one fret higher than string #6 in open position, meaning that it is a half step tone higher than E. It should be F because the distance between E and F is a half step tone. Number two is two frets higher than A which is string #5 in open position. Two frets means a whole step so the answer should be B. Number 3 is 3 half steps higher than G. The answer is A# (A sharp) or Bb (B flat). Basically it is a note between A and B. A# means a note that is higher than A by a half step note. Bb means a note that is lower than B by a half step note. Number 4 is only a half step tone higher than B so the answer is C. Number 5 is a whole step higher than E. The answer is not F because E to F distance is only a half tone. Another one half tone should be added to F, making it F# or Gb. It is a note found between F and G.
If you understand this tutorial correctly you will find that mastering your guitar fretboard can be achieved. Yes it will take a lot of efforts but that’s how the guitar gods have undergone too. No pain, no gain ……
To Your Guitar Success
-TJ-
Beginner Guitar Lessons Admin
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