Music Theory: The 12 Notes...

Geeks Note:The information in this page is not necessary for you to be able to play the guitar. However, it will help you understand how we tune guitars, it will help you understand why there are only 12 notes and it will help you understand why the notes repeat where they repeat.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Why there are twelve notes in the musical scale.2. What a Chromatic Scale is.3. What "Standard Tuning" or "A440" tuning is.4. The mathematical and physical difference between notes in different Octaves.5. Why it is imperative you put your finger as close to the Fret as possible.

No matter what musical instrument you play, there are only twelve (12) notes that you can choose from. It is the combination and relations of these notes that make "music". These twelve notes, in order, are called theChromatic Scaleand if you play the notes or any portion of the scale in order (i.e. playing C,D,E,F) then you are said to be playing aChromatic Progression.

When man first experimented with and started playing music, the system was called "Just Intonation". While this sufficed for simple intruments as music became more complex, the disonance became more pronounced and music just sounded bad. In the late 1500's, the "Equal Temperment" system came into being. It is the Equal Temperment system that you and I play with today. Most western music, the stuff you and I play on the guitar utilize the "12 Tone Equal Temperment" scale.

What makes the notes we play sound good is the consonance of those notes (as opposed to the dissonance). The 12 Tone Equal Temperment scale is the only Equal Temperment scale that contains all seven intervals and more consonant intervals than disonant intervals.

What makes the notes what they are? It is the ratio of the notes pitch to the first note of the scale. In our case, A is the first note.

Before I go on, you will have heard the term "tuned to 440" or "tuned to A440". What this means is that the A note we play is tuned to 440Hz (speed at which the note vibrates or oscillates). It is a fact that Human perception of pitch is logarithmic. This means that humans perceive equivalent pitches when they are separated by a factor of two. Therefore, humans would recognize the resonance of sound pitches oscillating at 220Hz, 440Hz and 880Hz (as an example).

12 Note Chromatic Scale Relative Ratios

# Semi TonesInterval Name2RatioEqual Temperment

0Unison20/12=1.000

1Minor 2nd21/12=1.059

2Major 2nd22/12=1.122

3Minor 3rd23/12=1.189

4Major 3rd24/12=1.260

5Perfect 4th25/12=1.335

6Tritone26/12=1.414

7Perfect 5th27/12=1.498

8Minor 6th28/12=1.587

9Major 6th29/12=1.682

10Minor 7th210/12=1.782

11Major 7th211/12=1.888

12Octave212/12=2.000

Now what I said about western tuning standard being A440 because we tune A to 440Hz. Look at your guitar. Play the open A string. That is 440 Hz. If you play the low E string 5th fret, that is the exact same note or the same Octave as the open A string. They both oscillate at 440Hz. If you play the twelfth fret of the A string, also an A note, that is an Octave higher and is vibrating at 880 Hz. Play the A note on the D string (7th fret) and it is oscillating at 1760 Hz (a factor of 2 above the preceeding octave).

Okay, so in the Equal Temperment scale the first note is a logarithmic progression (up or down) from 440Hz and we can move up and down octaves from that position based on ratios. Yes, the notes of the Chromatic scale are based on ratios that are relative to the first note. The exact formulas are shown in the table above.

For example, the 7th tone, the perfect 5th is obtained by multiplying the 12th root of 2 by itself, seven times. This gives us a ratio of 1.498. This means that a perfect fifth above A (the E note) is vibrating/oscilating at 659Hz. If you looked at the A note an Octave BELOW A440, then that A notes perfect 5th (also the E note) would be vibrating/oscilating at 330Hz.

Now, remember people (music teachers mostly) whining and complaining that you aren't playing the note close enough to the fret? If you play the note with your finger on the string right against the fret, you are applying the tension needed for that string to resonate at the proper frequency to form the note relative to it's ratio of vibration compared to the Unison. If you fret a string way back from the fret, you will change how fast that string vibrates (albeit slightly) and you won't be playing the exact note (not to mention the string buzz).

Music Theory: Scales #1 Major & Minor Scale Construction...Geeks Note:The information in this page is not necessary for you to be able to play the guitar. However, it WILL help you play the guitar BETTER, especially when you start soloing or freestyling. There is a LOT to understand with scales, however, it is easy to learn because, well, we'd rather just be playing. Right? Don't worry. I've made it easy at the end to bring it all together.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Know the difference between a Chromatic Scale and a Major Scale and a Minor Scale.2. Understand the relationship between Major and Minor Scales.3. Know what a Tone, Semi-Tone, Whole Step and Half-Step is.4. Know how to construct any Major Scale or Minor Scale in your head.If you remember from the lesson onNotes, these are the Twelve Notes of the Equal Temperment musical scale (the Chromatic Scale):

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

Now, before we go any further in this lesson, I have something for you to do. You must memorize the following line. It will be with you for as long as you play whatever instrument you are playing. Memorize it now. I'm serious. Do it. Memorize it:

Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step

( W-W-H-W-W-W-H )

Seriously, memorize it. If you prefer, the exact same thing may be expressed like this (memorize either one, it doesn't matter, just memorize at least ONE of them):

Tone - Tone - Semi Tone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semi Tone

( W-W-H-W-W-W-H )

Got it memorized? Good. You now know everything you need to know to create any Major or Minor scale, on the spot, in your head. Voila.

Okay, okay. I'll explain it.

What are "Steps" and "Tones":

A Step is a reference to an Interval. A Tone is a reference to a difference in Pitch. However, for the guitar player, these mean basically the same thing.

For the guitar player, a WHOLE STEP is the distance between the first fret and two frets above it. Therefore moving from the 3rd fret (up two) to the 5th fret, is a Whole Step.

A Tone is the same thing. A full Tone to the guitar player, is two notes (frets) above the first Tone. Therefore, starting at the G note (3rd fret, Low E string) and moving up a full tone would put you on the A note (5th fret, Low E string).

So we can see that moving fromGtoG#toAis a whole tone difference and is ALSO a Whole Step difference. Got it? Read it twice more if not, have a Coke. It will make sense.

Now you are asking, so what is the difference between aGand aG#then? I'm glad you asked.

Moving fromGtoG#is moving one Semi Tone or Half Tone or one Fret, to put a fine point on it, a Half Step.

Got it? It's important.

Moving fromAtoA#is moving one Semi Tone/Half StepMoving fromA#toBis moving one Semi Tone/Half StepMoving fromBtoCis moving one Semi Tone/Half StepMoving fromAtoBis moving one Tone/Whole StepMoving fromBtoC#is moving one Tone/Whole StepMoving fromC#toD#is moving one Tone/Whole Step

Make sure you understand Steps and Tones before you move on to Major scale construction.

Major Scale Construction

That thing I made you memorize above? That is the order you use to find the notes to construct a Major Scale. As our first example we will use the C Major Scale. The reason I am using the C Major Scale is because it is the most commonly used scale used in music in the Western world. It is also the only Major scale that has all whole notes, no sharps or flats.

This is the C Major Scale:

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

Actually, the last C is simply the Octave of the Root note (or more accurately, the Octave of the Unison), it's just included to show how the Scale is circular (well, more spiral shaped than circular, but I digress...).

Constructing the C Major Scale

This is the way we construct the C Major scale. You will use this EXACT SAME METHOD to contruct the other scales, you just use a different starting point.

The first thing we need is the Chromatic Scale (which is a no brainer, right?):

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

Then we need the thing I made you memorize:

( W-W-H-W-W-W-H )

So to create the C Major Scale we start with the note:C

(W): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one WHOLE step/TONE (or two half steps, two semi-tones or TWO FRETS) and arrive at:D

(W): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one WHOLE step/TONE (or two half steps, two semi-tones or TWO FRETS) and arrive at:E

(H): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one HALF step/SEMI-tone (ONE FRET) and arrive at:F

(W): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one WHOLE step/TONE (or two half steps, two semi-tones or TWO FRETS) and arrive at:G

(W): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one WHOLE step/TONE (or two half steps, two semi-tones or TWO FRETS) and arrive at:A

(W): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one WHOLE step/TONE (or two half steps, two semi-tones or TWO FRETS) and arrive at:B

(H): Now we move up the Chromatic Scale one HALF step/SEMI-tone (ONE FRET) and arrive at:C

Our C Major scale is complete. We applied the Major Scale Construction order of W-W-H-W-W-W-H to the Chromatic Scale from the starting point of the C note.

Let's Creat the E Major ScaleUsing everything we have above:

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

( W-W-H-W-W-W-H )

We can see exactly what we must do to create the E Major Scale:

One WHOLE step fromEisF#1. One WHOLE step from F# isG#2. One HALF step from G# isA3. One WHOLE step from A isB4. One WHOLE step from B isC#5. One WHOLE step from C# isD#6. One HALF step from D# isE

Minor Scale Construction

I am NOT going to delve deeply into Minor Scale construction right now. There are, however, two relationships between Minor scales and Major scales that I want to bring to your attention at this point as they will become more important down the road.

#1: Relative Minor Scale

The RELATIVE MINOR SCALE to any Major Scale starts at the 6th note of the Major Scale. Always. Period.

#2: Minor Scale Intervals

The Minor Scale Interval pattern is exactly the same as the Major Scale Interval pattern, however, it starts at the 6th position of the Major Scale Interval pattern.

I will give two examples, the E Major Scale and the C Major Scale:

E Major Scale

E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E

Counting E as the first note, the 6th note of the E Major Scale is C#. Therefore the Relative Minor Scale of the E Major Scale is the C# Minor Scale.

The Interval pattern for the E Major Scale is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Therefore, the Interval pattern for the Relative Minor scale is exactly the same but starts at the 6th position. Therefore the Interval Pattern for the C# Minor Scale is W-H-W-W-H-W-W.

If we look again at the Chromatic Scale:

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

The E Major Scale is built using the Major Scale Interval pattern (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) as:E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E

The C# MInor Scale is built using the Minor Scale Interval pattern (W-H-W-W-H-W-W) as:C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A - B - C#

Going directly from this example and looking at the C Major Scale then...

The C Major Scale is built using the Major Scale Interval pattern (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) as:C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

The 6th position is A so the Relative Minor Scale to the C Major Scale is the A Minor Scale.

The A Minor Scale is built using the Minor Scale Interval pattern (W-H-W-W-H-W-W) as:A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A

So what does that mean to you?Suppose Talky McSaysalot is playing something Bluesy and Sad in the key of D. They would be playing the chords D, G, Bm (another lesson in itself). Suddenly they look up at you and say "Hey, Axe Grinder, Solo with me". No problem. You know they are playing in D so you know the Relative Minor is B (because B is the 6th note of the D Major Scale). So you fret hand falls to 7th position (frets 7, 8, 9, 10 : 7th fret of the Low E string being the note B...) and you start soloing in the B Minor Pentatonic, using Blues Notes (more on Blues notes & the Minor Pentatonic later).

Now THIS is important... and it's why I brought up Minor Scales...

You will note that the E Major Scales relative Minor Scale (C#) has the exact same sharp notes as the E Major Scale.

You will note that the C Major Scale relative Minor Scale (A) has all whole notes, just like the Major Scale (when in fact the A Major scale has C#, F#, G#).

This will be made clearer for you to figure out in our upcoming lesson on the Circle of 5ths...

Music Theory: Intervals...Geeks Note:Intervals form the backbone of the language of musicians. If you are going to do ANYTHING with your guitar other than let it collect dust in the corner, you need to have a rock solid understanding of intervals. If you have any hope or dream of writing your own stuff, intervals will be your oxygen. Luckily, intervals are easy to understand, once you understand them.... AND ... the next lessons will compound on Intervals so you understand them better. Finally, since I'm lazy, there IS a cheat sheet....

For this section I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you have your guitar in hand so that you can finger the frets and play the Intervals while I am explaining them.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Understand why Scales are "spiral" and not "circular".2. Understand what an Octave is and be able to find an Octave on your Fretboard.3. Understand how Intervals are "relative" and not "fixed" and how to interpret them.4. Learn how to interpret what Interval names mean to what you are playing on your Fretboard.5. Understand what an Interval is called is important to be able to communicate clearly and effectively with other musicians.6. Understand what Flats and Sharpes are and how to find them on your Fretboard.So far we've talked about notes and scales and have hinted at Intervals (whole step, half step, tone, semi-tone, fret). Now we will delve into Intervals and start understanding the heck out of them. Don't worry, this won't be painful. My Kung-Fu is strong....

This is the Chromatic Scale:

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

Now, we add the A note to the end, so that we are spiraling back to where we start, still have the Chromatic Scale (and use this one for the rest of the lesson):

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A

There are twelve notes in the Chromatic Scale plus the Root note, an octave higher. A few times I have said the Chromatic Scale "spirals" back to the Root Note, an octave higher. I hope this simple graphic helps illustrate it. Do not EVER think that a scale is "circular". Scales are not circular, scales "Spiral". Each time you encounter the Root note, you are an Octave higher or lower, depending on which way you travelled.

Understanding the Octave is important. If I said to you, "Play an A note". You would play the open 5th string, the A string. If I said to you, play an Octave lower, you would play the 6th string (E) 5th fret. If I had said instead, play an Octave higher, you could have played the 5th string (A) twelfth fret OR the 4th string 7th fret. More on WHY you could do that later. I just want you to understand that when I refer to "THE Octave" I am refering to a note twelve intervals higher. When I talk about "AN Octave", I am talking about a range of twelve intervals.

Now, back to the Chromatic scale with the "Octave" added. This scale has twelve (12) Intervals.

There "Intervals" are the "Spaces Between The Notes" for want of a better definition. More precisely, an Interval is theMOVEMENT ACROSS THE SPACE BETWEEN THE NOTES

When we move fromAtoA#we moved across theonespace between two adjacent notes. That is to say, we movedoneinterval. Moving that one interval has a name. It is called aMinor 2nd, more on that later.

So, moving fromAtoA#isoneinterval. Moving fromC#toDand moving fromEtoFisoneinterval. Capice? Moving from one note to the next adjacent note is one interval.

Therefore, building on some astounding principles of mathematics, moving from one note to the second note away is movingtwointervals. So, moving fromAtoBis movingtwointervals. Moving fromBtoC#is movingtwointervals. Got it? Move one note adjacent is one interval and move two notes adjacent is two intervals. Yes, moving two intervals has a name. It is aMajor 2nd. More on that later.

Here is the full list of intervals:12 Note Chromatic Scale Intervals

# Semi TonesInterval Name# of Steps# of Frets

0Unison00

1Minor 2nd11

2Major 2nd22

3Minor 3rd33

4Major 3rd44

5Perfect 4th55

6Tritone66

7Perfect 5th77

8Minor 6th88

9Major 6th99

10Minor 7th1010

11Major 7th1111

12Octave1212

You do NOT need to know the names of the intervals to be a good musician. However, if you plan to talk to OTHER musicians about your music or their music, knowing the names will help. 'Nuff said.

Unison:

The Unison needs a little bit of explaining. When you are use the term "Unison" you are refering to the first note in the scale. For example, in the C Major Scale, the FIRST "C" note you play is he Unison for the C Major Scale. The SECOND C you play (on the spiral) is the Octave. However, for the guitar player, there is a SMALL monkey wrench in the works.

For this example, we will refer to the A Major Scale. The Unison of the A Major scale can be the open 5th string, the A string.

If we play the 6th string 5th fret OR the 4th string 7th fret then we are playing the Lower Octave OR the Octave OF the Unison. The 6th string 5th fret is the LOWER OCTAVE of the Unison and the 4th string 7th fret is the OCTAVE of the Unison. Read that a couple times. Got it? Good.

The monkey wrench comes in when you play the 6th string 17th fret. The reason is that this is also the Unison. You see, both the open A string and the low E string 17th fret oscillate at 440Hz. Therefore playing A string open of low E string 17th fret is the exact same note musically and mathematically. So just keep in mind that in almost all cases on the guitar, you can play the Unison OF the Unison for any scale.

Making sense of the names

So I'm in the garage the other night, having a coke, playing my guitar with some friends. Talky McSaysalot has been trying to work out a riff for his next "best song everrrrrr". He needs some help so he says to me, "Hey man, Give me a D flat". So I do. I play the 9th fret of the low E string. Talky says, "Nah thats not it, give me a Major 3rd above". Because I know my Chromatic Scale and I know that a Major 3rd is four intervals, I play the 4th string 3rd fret which is F. He says, "Thats almost it, make it a Perfect 4th man.". So I do. One more interval above the Major 3rd is a Perfect 4th. I move my hand one fret and play an F# on the 4th string 4th fret.

Okay, okay. I might have thrown you off a bit. When Talky McSaysalot asked for the D flat (Db) you probably said, WAIT a minute. There are no flat D's on the Chromatic Scale!

You can sharpe and flat most notes in the Chromatic scale by moving one HALF step (one fret) in the required direction. Therefore, to make D sharp (D#), I move down a fret and get D#. To make D flat (Db) I move up a fret and I get Db. HOWEVER, what you see when you look at the Chromatic Scale above is that one fret down (one half step, one semi-tone) is actually C#.

You see, the note BETWEEN the note C and the note D is both C# and Db. The only exceptions to this are that there is no Cb and there is no Fb. That is because one half step down from C is the note B and one half step down from the note F is the note E.

Moving right along.....

Refering back to my conversation with ol' McSaysalot in the garage...

He asked me for a Db and I gave it to him. He then asked for a Major 3rd. What he actually said was "play the note four intervals higher than the note I asked you to play before". I know from my studies of Music Theory and application of said theory to the guitar fretboard that four intervals equals four frets AND equals four notes. Playing either the Low E string 13th fret OR the A string 3rd fret are four intervals ABOVE the original note, the DB (remember what I said about the Unison of the Unison? Thats why I got to choose HOW I was going to play the Major 2nd).

When he said to me make it a Perfect 4th, I knew from my blah blah blah that he was actually asking me to play "the fifth interval above the note I originally asked you to play". Because I was now playing a Perfect 4th instead of a Major 3rd I knew that in simpler terms I was playing FIVE semi-tones (frets) instead of FOUR semi-tones (frets) above what I had originally played. Therefore, through the astounding powers of my deductive reasoning, I subtracted 4 (Major 3rd) from 5 (Perfect 4th) and wound up with 1 (Minor 2nd). So what I had done was deduced that I only needed to move ONE MORE FRET (semi-tone) to turn that Major 3rd into a Perfect 4th. So thats what I did, I moved one fret or more geeky speaking, I increased the Major 3rd by a Minor 2nd.

Making MORE sense of the names

12 Note Chromatic Scale Intervals

# Semi TonesInterval Name# of Steps# of Frets

0Unison00

1Minor 2nd11

2Major 2nd22

3Minor 3rd33

4Major 3rd44

5Perfect 4th55

6Tritone66

7Perfect 5th77

8Minor 6th88

9Major 6th99

10Minor 7th1010

11Major 7th1111

12Octave1212

Let's look at the G Major Scale:

G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G

The Unison is "G". Right? Okay.

The next note in the G Major scale is "A". However, the note "A" is TWO INTERVALS (a tone, a whole step, two frets) from the Unison. Since it is TWO INTERVALS from the Unison I know that in the G Major Scale the next note, the A, is a Major 2nd.

The note AFTER the A is the B note. The B note is FOUR INTERVALS away from the Unison. (G to G#, G# to A, A to A#, A# to B). Therefore, I know the name for FOUR INTERVALS (2+2) from the Unison and can say that in the G Major Scale the note B is a Major 3rd.

The note AFTER the B is the C note. We will remember from the Intervals of the Major Scale (WWHWWWH) that the next note, the "C" note is a HALF STEP above "B". Therefore since it is FIVE INTERVALS (2+2+1) from the Unison I can say that in the G Major Scale the note C is a Perfect 4th.

The note AFTER the C is the D note. We will remember from the Intervals of the Major Scale (WWHWWWH) that the next note, the "D" note is a WHOLE STEP above "C". Therefore since it is SEVEN INTERVALS (2+2+1+2) from the Unison I can say that in the G Major Scale the note D is a Perfect 5th.

The note AFTER the D is the E note. We will remember from the Intervals of the Major Scale (WWHWWWH) that the next note, the "E" note is a WHOLE STEP above "D". Therefore since it is NINE INTERVALS (2+2+1+2+2) from the Unison I can say that in the G Major Scale the note E is a Major 6th.

The note AFTER the E is the F# note. We will remember from the Intervals of the Major Scale (WWHWWWH) that the next note, the "F#" note is a WHOLE STEP above "E". Therefore since it is ELEVEN INTERVALS (2+2+1+2+2+2) from the Unison I can say that in the G Major Scale the note F# is a Major 7th.

The note AFTER the F# is the G note. We will remember from the Intervals of the Major Scale (WWHWWWH) that the next note, the "G" note is a HALF STEP above "F#". Therefore since it is TWELVE INTERVALS (2+2+1+2+2+2+1) from the Unison I can say that in the G Major Scale the NEXT note G is an Octave.

Hey, how we coming with that Fresca?

Showing Intervals on the guitar

It's all relative

It is DARN important that when you are talking about Intervals, you know what note you are talking FROM in reference to the Intervals, or more specifically, what note the Interval is in reference to.

The reason being, looking above, we know that the note D in the G Major Scale is a Perfect 5th above the Unison or more simply, a Perfect 5th. HOWEVER....

In the G Major Scale, the note "E" is a Perfect 5th above the note A. This is because there are SEVEN INTERVALS between A and E:

A A#,A# B,B C,C C#,C# D,D D#,D# E

1 Interval2 Intervals3 Intervals4 Intervals5 Intervals6 Intervals7 Intervals

You need to keep in mind the CHROMATIC scale when you are talking about INTERVALS and not the MAJOR SCALE.

The most common mistake you will make at this point is to look at the Major Scale and count the notes as one interval each. You need to keep in mind that the Chromatic Scale has ALL the notes and ALL the Intervals where the Major Scale has SOME of the notes ANDALLOF THE INTERVALS.

Always have the CHROMATIC scale in your mind when you are talking ABOUT Intervals and use the Major Scale as the reference to the UnisonI'm almost done with this section. I just want to summarize some important points for you to remember (in no particular order):

1. ONE Interval is ONE Fret2. ONE Interval is a HALF Step3. ONE Interval is a SEMI-Tone4. TWO INTERVALS is TWO Frets5. TWO INTERVALS is a WHOLE Step6. TWO INTERVALS is a TONE7. There are TWELVE Intervals in the CHROMATIC Scale.8. There are TWELVE Intervals in the Major Scale (you just don't talk about all of them).9. The Interval can ONLY be expressed RELATIVE TO A STARTING Note.If I said to Tony Iommi, without reference to anything else, "Hey Tony, play a Perfect 5th" he would slap me and Ozzy would hurt himself laughing. However, if I said to Tony, "Hey Tony, I'm playing in G, can you give me a Perfect 5th?", then we'd be rocking and rolling.10. Knowing what intervals are and what they do is FAR more important than knowing the names of the Intervals.11. Do yourself a favour, learn the names of the Intervals NOW. You will use them forever.12. A two note Power Chord is the Root note and a Perfect 5th. (More on that soon)13. A three note Power Chord is the Root note, a Perfect 5th and a Perfect 4th above the 5th (which is to say, an Octave above the Unison). (More on that soon.... see how important understanding Intervals is?)

Music Theory: Power Chords...Geeks Note:Power chords will bring together what we have learned about notes, scales and intervals. I'll also briefly touch on chord construction but only BRIEFLY. Thats another lesson or six on it's own. But for now, from Tony Iommi to Gene Simmons to BIllie Joe Armstrong.... everyones playing power chords!! Woo Hoo!! Hey, even Chuck Berry played power chords!

For this section I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you have your guitar in hand so that you can ROCK HARD while going through this lesson. Come on... crank the amp, turn up the overdrive ... lets kick it.....

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Know what a power chord is.2. Know how to construct two note or three note Power Chords from the notes OR from finger positions.3. Understand what Octave Doubling is and why it works so well.4. Will understand how the intervals Perfect 4th and Perfect 5th are directly related to Power Chords.5. Know what an Inverted Power Chord is and how to create one.

As I said, Chuck Berry even played power chords. Only he didn't originally call them power chords. No, he called them 5ths or 5-Chords.

A power chord, by definition, is any triad (three note chord) that drops the 3rd (leaving only the 1st and the fifth).

This is where I BRIEFLY touch on chord construction. A typical chord is called a Triad because it is composed of the 1st note, 3rd note and 5th note of the Major Scale you are playing in.

For example, in the G Major Scale (G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G) you combine the notes G, B and D to create the G-Chord (aka the G Major Chord). However, to make a G Power Chord, you drop the third, the B. That means that the G Power Chord is composed of the Root plus 5th note of the major scale (incidentally, the 5th note of the Major Scale is a Perfect 5th above the Root).

These are ALSO called 5-Chords and the G Major Scale power chord would be written as: G5

So we can see that ANY chord written like this is a Power Chord. Some examples:A5, B5, C5, D#5, Eb5, F5, G#5

When you are listening to a band play, especially if it's heavy and hard, it will typically be the Bass Player that comes in hard and heavy with the Power Chords. Not to say that Rhythm or Lead can't play them as well.

Showing Power Chords on the guitar

An example of EXCELLENT use of Power Chords is Tonny Iommi's (Black Sabbath) intro to "Crazy Train":

|-----------------|--------------------------|---------------------------||-----------------|--------------------------|---------------------------||-----------------|--------------------------|---------------------------||-----------------|--------------------------|---7---7-------------------||--4--4-----------|--7---7---2---2---4---4---|---5---5---2---2---4---4---||--2--2-----------|--5---5---0---0---2---2---|-----------0---0---2---2---|

F#5F#5A5A5E5E5F#5F#5 D5D5E5E5F#5F#5

The Crazy Train Riff

Three Note Power Chords

You have undoubtedly seen Three Note Power Chords tabbed in some songs you have been learning to play. The reason we have a Three Note Power Chord is due toOctave Doubling.

When you play the Unison and the Octave, you have in effect, doubled the Unison (if you don't understand what I just said, you need to do the lesson onIntervals).

Now remember back in the lesson on Musical Notes, I talked about how humans perceive equivalent pitches when they are separated by a factor of two? This is where the magic of Music Theory comes in and we know that Octaving the Unison is a good thing. This is how we arrive at a Three Note Power Chord.

Just touching back on intervals a bit, the 5th note is, as said, a Perfect 5th above the Root. The third note is the Octave of the Root. However, the Octave of the root is ALSO the Perfect 4th of the 5th.

So what you say? This means that we know if you want to find the perfect 5th of any note on the E,A,D,B strings, you move down one string (towards the Low E) and down the Fretboard two frets (towards the body). Always.

The exception to this rule is the B string, because it is a half tone off the other strings. On the G string you would move down THREE frets. Going from the B to the E string would be back to the two Fret rule.

If you want to find a Perfect 4th it's always the SAME FRET - ONE STRING DOWN... except on the G String, it's one string down and ONE FRET down (because of the B string thing).

Inverted Power Chords - The Power of Perfect 4ths

Now you will learn why I've been harping on Perfect 4ths when I was talking about Five-Chords. The Power Chord Inversion.

Generally, you will only invert a two note Power Chord. How do you do that? Lift the lower finger.

The definition of an Inverted Power Chord is when you play the 1st note (Root Note) ABOVE the 5th note (play it in the next Octave).

An example of this would be the G5 Power Chord. In this chord you play E string 3rd fret (G) and A string 5th fret (D) because G is the first note of the G Major Scale and the D is the 5th note of the G Major Scale (the Perfect 5th).

However, to INVERT this Power Chord, you would play the A string 5th fret (D) and the D string 5th fret (G - an Octave higher). Remember too, that while D is the Perfect 5th of G, G is the Perfect 4th of D.

Using Inverted Power Chords

You'll be surprised how much you use Inverted Power Chords if Rock N' Roll is your thang. Take, for example, the song "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple.

Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore plays this songs recognizeable riff using Three Note Power Chords and Inverted Power Chords. The chords he plays are G5, Bb5 and C5. It is the Bb5 and the C5 that he inverts:

|----------------|---------------------|------------|-------------||----------------|---------------------|------------|-------------||------3---5-----|------3---6---5------|------3--5--|---3---------||--5---3---5-----|--5---3---6---5------|--5---3--5--|---3---5-----||--5-------------|--5------------------|--5---------|-------5-----||--3-------------|--3------------------|--3---------|-------3-----|

(If you are going to play this riff, remember, timing is EVERYTHING! - In the vide below, the timing is on but I'm playing it at about half speed.)

Music Theory: Circle of 5ths...Geeks Note:If you have not studied the previous lessons in this series, please do so BEFORE you study this lesson. This lesson will draw on the previous lessons for knowledge and examples. If you do not have a basic understanding of Major Scales, Minor Scales, Intervals and the notes of the Equal Temperment Chromatic Scale then this lesson will not make much sense to you.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Find any Perfect 5th in your head (Remember Power Chords?).2. Have a BETTER understanding of how to create any musical Major Scale in your head.3. Understand and know the Order of Flats and Sharps.4. Will know all the Minor relative scales in your head.5. Will know how to find a Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Tritone, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th and Major 7th in your head.6. Have the fundamentals of Western music Major/Minor scales and chords locked in your head for access anytime, anyplace.What is the Circle of 5ths?

The Circle of 5ths is a diagram that represents the consistent and unique relationship between the 12 Notes of the Chromatic Scale. It reveals how these notes relate to each other in Minor Scales, Major Scales and the Intervals of the 12 Tone Chromatic Scale. It is an easy to memorize diagram that will carry you through over half the musical theory you need to know in creating, understanding and communicating about music. The Circle of 5ths can be overwhelming when you first look at it but study this lesson carefully. We will break it down and by the time you are done, you will understand it easily.

The Circle of 5ths you will print out actually contains the Circle of 4ths as well (covered in the next lesson) along with information at your finger tips on Intervals, the order of flats and sharps and some basic Chord Construction (another lesson later).

I recommend you print out the smaller version and post on the wall/door/cat where you consistently practice your music. Print out another copy and put it in your gig bag ;-)

Some Basics...

There are some basic things you need to know for this lesson to make sense, aside from what you have already been taught.

First is the fact that it is a given practice that every Major Scale will always have every letter in the Major Scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). We will Sharpen or Flatten a note to remain true to this rule of thumb.

Because of this, some scales will have Sharps (#) and some scales will have Flats (b).

There is no Cb Major scale and no Fb Major Scale.

All whole note Major Scales contain Sharps, not flats, except for F Major Scale.

The F Major Scale is made up of flats, not sharps.

No Major or Minor Scale will ever have BOTH Flats and Sharps.

There is a unique and consistent relationship between the notes in all Major and Minor Scales. The Circle of 5ths and Circle of 4ths will reveal the power of these relationships.

Without further delay, The Circle of 5ths...

What it means when we call this circle the Circle of 5ths is that every note displayed, in a CLOCKWISE direction, is a Perfect 5th above the note preceeding it.

The Circle of 5ths starts at theCnote at the twelve o'clock position.

The note followingCis the noteG. The noteGis aPerfect 5th(seven intervals) above the letter C.

Lets look at the Chromatic Scale:A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

In this Chromatic Scale, starting at the noteC, count seven intervals to the right. You will see that the seventh interval lands you on theGnote. Just like in the diagram.

Continuing on fromGin the Circle of fifths is the noteD. If you count the intervals fromGtoDin the Chromatic Scale, you will see that this also is seven intervals or a Perfect 5th.

This continues on clockwise around the scale. In this diagram above, some notes are missing as they will be introduced in the next section, however, once included, they are always a Perfect 5th (seven intervals) above the preceeding note when moving in a CLOCKWISE direction. Always.

Do some calculations on the remaining notes in the diagram and you will see, indeed, they are all Perfect 5ths each clockwise step.

Now one thing to bring to your attention in case you get a little confused looking at the diagram (without having worked things out first). Near the bottom of the diagram you will seeC#andF#. Lets do the math.

The noteBin the Circle of 5th is followed by the noteF#. Let's look at the Chromatic Scale again:A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

If you count seven intervals fromByou will getF#. Simple enough? Continuing along, seven intervals from F# is....drum roll please....C#!

Circle of 5ths: Relative Minor Scales

On the INSIDE of the Circle of 5ths, you will see notes in lower case. The lower case note on the INSIDE of the Circle of 5ths is the Relative Minor Scale to the Major Scale the note on the OUTSIDE of the circle represents. For example, the relative Minor Scale to theC Major Scaleis theA Minor Scale. On the Circle of 5ths, the lower caseawhich represents the A Minor Scale is on the inside of the circle adjacent to theCnote.

What else does this tell us? It also tells us that the note on the INSIDE of the Circle of 5ths is aMajor 6thabove the note on the OUTSIDE of the Circle. TheAnote is indeed a Major 6th above theCnote because it isnine intervalsabove theCnote. This is how we define the Relative Minor Scale. The Relative Minor Scale is the 6th degree of a Major Scale. That is to say, the Relative Minor Scale is theMajor 6th Scaleof the Major Scales Root Note.

As well, the Relative Minor Scale references also follow the rule of Perfect 5ths going CLOCKWISE around the circle.

What the EASY way to remember the Relative Minor Scale? The Relative Minor Scale is a Major 6th above Root. Count three notes to the right in the Circle of 5ths and that is a Major 6th above Root AND it is also the Relative Minor Scale.

Circle of 5ths: Major Scale Construction from the Circle of 5ths

You can use the Circle of 5ths to construct any Major Scale with one additional piece of information. That is theOrder of Flats and Sharps. The Order of Flats and Sharps follows a specific order that corresponds to the above Circle of 5ths. This will be explored momentarily. First the orders:

Order of Sharps

F# - C# - G# - D# - A# - E# - B#

Order of Flats

Bb - Eb - Ab - Db - Gb - Cb - Fb

We can see above that the Order of Flats is exactly the same as the Order of Sharps but it is REVERSED.

If you have a hard time memorizing those Orders, here are a couple mnemonics for you to try:

Sharps:Father Charles Goes Down And Ends BattleFlats:Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father

SharpsFit Charlie Gets Dinner After Exercising BodyFlatsBody Exercising After Dinner Gets Charlie Fit

Using the Circle of 5ths and the Order of Sharps

First thing to remember, Circle of 5ths (CLOCKWISE) = Order of Sharps

We start our Major Scale construction at the twelve o'clock position. TheCnote.

In our lesson on Scales we covered the fact that the C Major Scale is all whole notes. There are no Flats or Sharps in the C Major Scale. So we can think of theCnote position as the ZERO position on the Circle of 5ths. Lets move ONE position Clockwise.

Moving ONE position clockwise on the Circle of 5ths is theGnote. Moving to the first note means that we also use thefirst notein theOrder of Sharps(remember, we are going CLOCKWISE). This means to us that theG Major ScalehasONEsharp note, the first note of the Order of Sharps, theFnote. This means that the G Major Scale is composed entirely of whole notes EXCEPT for theFnote which we must makeSharp. Therefore, from the Circle of 5ths, I see thatGnote is one note from theZERO POSITIONS(C) therefore the G Major Scale is:G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G

Look at the Chromatic Scale, count the intervals for the Major Scale (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) and you will see that this is correct.

Moving right along.... thesecond notefrom the ZERO position is theDnote. Since it istwopositions CLOCKWISE from the ZERO position, this means that when constructing theD Major Scalewe use the firsttwonotes of the Order of Sharps: F#, C#.

Therefore, simply by calling up the Circle of 5ths in our head we know that theD Major Scaleis:D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D

Remember what I said way back at the start of this lesson?

"... it is a given practice that everyMajor Scale will always have every letter in theMajor Scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). We will Sharpen or Flatten a noteto remain true to this rule of thumb."

Continue doing this around the Circle of 5ths through to theF#andC#Major Scales. Do the math on the Chromatic Scale for these Major Scales and you will see that these match the order of Sharps. TheC# Major Scalehas only theBnote whole and in theF# Major ScaleALL of the notes Sharp.

Wait a minute... Did you notice something?

Did you notice something about the Order of Sharps and the Circle of 5ths? Have a look at the Order of Sharps, then look at the Circle of 5ths. Do you understand now why I started the Circle of 5ths with theFnote?

Scrap the mnemonics.The order of Sharps is also embeded in the Circle of 5ths. This thing keeps getting cooler and cooler eh?

Wait a minute... Did you notice something ELSE?

How many of you have looked at a sheet of music in Standard Notation and just crossed your eyes at the Flat and Sharp symbols? NO MORE!!

By using theOrder of Flats and Sharpsthe mystery of Standard Notation is history. From now on you can look at theKey Signature(all those pesky Sharps and Flats) and tell IMMEDIATELY what Key the music is written in.

How?

Easy Peasy. Count them. Yes, thats it. Count the Sharps or count the Flats (standard notation will should never have both). Then count the notes in the Order of Sharps (or the Order of Flats), then count from the Zero positon on the Circle of 5ths (or the Circle of 4ths .. this portion will be explained for the Circle of 4ths and Order of Flats in the next lesson, on the Circle of 4ths). Here are some examples to illustrate:

This is theKey of A(A Major Scale). Looking at this standard notation I countTHREESharps. Now I refer to the Circle of 5ths and I countTHREE POSITIONS CLOCKWISE FROM THE ZERO POSITION. This takes me fromCtoGtoDtoA. Therefore I know that Standard Notation with THREE SHARPS is the A Major Scale.

This is theKey of G(G Major Scale). Looking at this standard notation I countONESharp. Now I refer to the Circle of 5ths and I countONE POSITION CLOCKWISE FROM THE ZERO POSITION. This takes me fromCtoG. Therefore I know that Standard Notation with ONE SHARP is the G Major Scale.

This is theKey of C#(C# Major Scale). Looking at this standard notation I countSEVENSharps. Now I refer to the Circle of 5ths and I countSEVEN POSITIONS CLOCKWISE FROM THE ZERO POSITION. This take me fromCtoGtoDtoAtoEtoBtoF#toC#. Therefore I know that Standard Notation with SEVEN SHARPS is the C# Major Scale.

Circle of 5ths: Additional Secrets

Before we move on to the lesson on the Circle of 4ths, here are some additional secrets held in the Circle of 5ths. Shown below is the combined Circle of 5ths and Circle of 4ths. You will need it to fully appreciate these tidbits. For these tidbits, you don't need to start at the ZERO position, you can start with ANY NOTE on the CIRCLE, Major Scale OR Relative Minor Scales:

Count TWO positions CLOCKWISE, that is a Major 2nd above your starting position (remember, you can start ANYWHERE on the Circle).

For example, if you count TWO positions CLOCKWISE from theDnote, you land on theEnote. If you look at the Chromatic Scale you will see thatEistwo intervalsaboveDor to say more musically,E is a Major 2nd above D.

Count FOUR Positions CLOCKWISE, that is a Major 3rd above your starting position.

For example, if you count FOUR positions CLOCKWISE from theFnote, you land on theAnote. If you look at the Chromatic Scale you will see thatAisfour intervalsaboveFor to say more musically,A is a Major 3rd above F.

Count SIX Positions Clockwise (visually, the note OPPOSITE your starting note on the Circle of 5ths OR 4ths), that is a Tritone above your starting position.

Count it out on the Chromatic Scale. The Tritone, from our lesson on Intervals, is SIX INTERVALS from the starting position.

Count EIGHT Positions Clockwise (four to the left), that is a Minor 6th above your starting position.

Count it out on the Chromatic Scale. The Minor 6th, from our lesson on Intervals, is EIGHT INTERVALS from the starting position. The think you have to keep in mind when you are doing these steps around the circle is that you need to Sharpen your Flats.Remember, the MAJOR 6th is three positions Clockwise AND is the Relative Minor.

Count TEN Positions Clockwise (two to the left), that is a Minor 7th above your starting position.

Count it out on the Chromatic Scale. The Minor 7th, from our lesson on Intervals, is TEN INTERVALS from the starting position. Remember, Sharpen your Flats. That why the two flags on the left side show # in the Clockwise direction.Remember, the MAJOR 7th is eleven intervals so it is ALWAYS the note preceeding the starting note IN THE CHROMATIC SCALE, not on the Circle of 5ths.

The corresponding Relative Minor Scale, noted by the small note letter on the inside of the Circle of 5ths is ALSO a Major 6th above the starting note.

Count FIVE Positions Clockwise, that is a Major 7th above your starting position.

Learning Achievements

So long as you memorize the Circle of 5ths & the Chromatic Scale, you will be able to do the following:1. Find any Perfect 5th in your head2. Create any non-Flat Major Musical Scale in your head3. Find any Relative Minor Scale in your head4. Find all intervals in your head for ANY starting note (Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th, Major 7th)5. Determine a musical key from the Key Signature in Standard notation, simply by counting the number of Sharps or Flats.

Music Theory: Circle of 4ths...Geeks Note:If you have not studied the lesson on the Circle of 5ths, please do so now. If you do not have that lesson under your neck strap then this lesson will be mindless gibberish to you. This section provides the information on the Circle of 4ths, reviews the Circle of 4ths and 5ths (herein just called the Circle of 5ths) and provides you with a quick and easy study sheet that summarizes everything succinctly.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Find any Perfect 4th in your head (Remember Octaved Power Chords?).2. Understand and know the Order of Flats and Sharps.3. Know how to create the F Major Scale and any Flat Major Scale (i.e.: Cb Major Scale) in your head.4. Have a full working knowledge of how to use the Circle of 4ths and Circle of 5ths with your music.5. Be able to impress your friends and jam-mates to no end with how much musical knowledge is at your fingertips without ever opening a book.

What is the Circle of 4ths?

The Circle of 4ths is a diagram that represents a specific consistent and unique relationship between the 12 Notes of the Chromatic Scale. The Circle of 4ths can be overwhelming when you first look at it but study this lesson carefully. We will break it down and by the time you are done, you will understand it easily.

The Circle of 5ths you will print out actually contains the Circle of 4ths as well along with information at your finger tips on Intervals, the order of flats and sharps and some basic Chord Construction (another lesson later).

I recommend you print out the smaller version and post on the wall/door/cat where you consistently practice your music. Print out another copy and put it in your gig bag ;-)

Some Basics...(yes, from the Circle of 5ths lesson, still relevant for the Circle of 4ths)

There are some basic things you need to know for this lesson to make sense, aside from what you have already been taught.

First is the fact that it is a given practice that every Major Scale will always have every letter in the Major Scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). We will Sharpen or Flatten a note to remain true to this rule of thumb.

Because of this, some scales will have Sharps (#) and some scales will have Flats (b).

There is no Cb Major scale and no Fb Major Scale.

All whole note Major Scales contain Sharps, not flats, except for F Major Scale.

The F Major Scale is made up of flats, not sharps.

No Major or Minor Scale will ever have BOTH Flats and Sharps.

There is a unique and consistent relationship between the notes in all Major and Minor Scales. The Circle of 5ths and Circle of 4ths will reveal the power of these relationships.

The Circle of 4ths is identical to the Circle of 5ths, you just go in the opposite direction (COUNTER-Clockwise).

COUNTERCLOCKWISE = Circle of 4ths

CLOCKWISE = Circle of 5ths

Without further delay, The Circle of 4ths...

What it means when we call this circle the Circle of 5ths is that every note displayed, in a COUNTERCLOCKWISE direction, is a Perfect 4th above the note preceeding it.

The Circle of 4ths starts at theCnote at the twelve o'clock position.

The note followingCis the noteF. The noteFis aPerfect 4th(five intervals) above theCnote.

Lets look at the Chromatic Scale:A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#

In this Chromatic Scale, starting at the noteC, count five intervals to the left. You will see that the fifth interval lands you on theFnote. Just like in the diagram.

Continuing on fromFin the Circle of 4ths is the noteBb. If you count the intervals fromFtoBb (aka A#)in the Chromatic Scale, you will see that this also is five intervals or a Perfect 4th.

This continues on COUNTERCLOCKWISE around the scale. In this diagram above, some notes are missing as they were introduced in the last lesson, however, once included, they are always a Perfect 4th (five intervals) above the preceeding note when moving in a COUNTERCLOCKWISE direction. Always.

Do some calculations on the remaining notes in the diagram and you will see, indeed, they are all Perfect 4ths each counter-clockwise step.

Now one thing to bring to your attention in case you get a little confused looking at the diagram (without having worked things out first). Near the bottom of the diagram you will seeDbandGb. Lets do the math.

The noteAbin the Circle of 4ths is followed by the noteDb. Let's look at the Chromatic Scale again:A - A#(Bb) - B - C - C#(Db) - D - D#(Eb) - E - F - F#(Gb) - G - G#(Ab)

If you count five intervals fromAbyou will getDb. Simple enough? Continuing along, five intervals from Db is....drum roll please....Gb!

Circle of 4ths: Major Scale Construction from the Circle of 4ths

In the Circle of 5ths, we created the SHARPED Major Scales. We use the Circle of 4ths to created the FLATED Major Scales.

Again, we need to know theOrder of Flats and Sharps. To refine this a bit though, simply remember that the Order of Sharps belong to the Circle of 5ths. The Order of Flats belongs to the Circle of 4ths.

Order of Sharps

F# - C# - G# - D# - A# - E# - B#

Order of Flats

Bb - Eb - Ab - Db - Gb - Cb - Fb

We can see above that the Order of Flats is exactly the same as the Order of Sharps but it is REVERSED.

Using the Circle of 4ths and the Order of Flats

First thing to remember, Circle of 4ths (COUNTERCLOCKWISE) = Order of Flats

We start our Major Scale construction at the twelve o'clock position. TheCnote.

In our lesson on Scales we covered the fact that the C Major Scale is all whole notes. There are no Flats or Sharps in the C Major Scale. So we can think of theCnote position as the ZERO position on the Circle of 4ths. Lets move ONE position COUNTER Clockwise.

Moving ONE position COUNTER clockwise on the Circle of 4ths is theFnote. Moving to the first note means that we also use thefirst notein theOrder of Flats(remember, we are going COUNTER CLOCKWISE). This means to us that theF Major ScalehasONEFLAT note, the first note of the Order of Flats, theBnote. This means that the F Major Scale is composed entirely of whole notes EXCEPT for theBnote which we must makeFlat. Therefore, from the Circle of 4ths, I see thatFnote is one note from theZERO POSITIONS(C) therefore the F Major Scale is:F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F

Look at the Chromatic Scale, count the intervals for the Major Scale (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) and you will see that this is correct.

This is usually the point were someone sticks up their hand, snorts through their nose and says, "Man, why don't you just call it A#?".

I take you back to what I said earlier..."... it is a given practice that every Major Scale will always have every letter in the Major Scale (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). We will Sharpen or Flatten a note to remain true to this rule of thumb."

It is the accepted practice and standard that you never name the same note twice in the Major or Minor musical scales. Therefore, in the case of the F Major Scale both the A and the next interval are part of the Major Scale. However, because of this accepted standard, we do not say it hasAandA#. Instead, we say it hasAandBb. Don't try and argue around it. Thats just the way it is. Let it go. Accept it. Move on.

Thesecond notefrom the ZERO position is theBbnote. Since it istwopositions COUNTER CLOCKWISE from the ZERO position, this means that when constructing theBb Major Scalewe use the firsttwonotes of the Order of Flats: Bb, Eb.

Therefore, simply by calling up the Circle of 4ths in our head we know that theBb Major Scaleis:Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A - Bb

Again, the standard of naming each note comes into play for the Eb.Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step from Bbbrings you to aMinor 2nd above D. Normally you would call this D Sharp, however, because of the fact we already haveDin the scale AND because of thisstandard way of writing scales, we know that we must call theMinor 2nd above Dthe noteEband notD#.

Continue doing this around the Circle of 4ths through to theGbandCbMajor Scales. Do the math on the Chromatic Scale for these Major Scales and you will see that these match the order of Flats. These two actually caused me a lot of confusion initially, I hadn't wrapped my head around flattening notes, including flattening sharp notes. Here are more visual representations to illustrate the creation of the Gb and Cb Major Scales. Still, however, knowing the Circle of 4ths and the Order of Flats, we can still confidently create these Major Scales in our heads (the illustrations here are what will allow you to do it confidently).

TheGb Major Scalehas only theFnote whole:

F#GG#AA#BCC#DD#EFF#

GbAbBbCbDbEbFGb

WWHWWWH

In theCb Major ScaleALL of the notes are Flat:

BCC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#B

CbDbEbFbGbAbBbCb

WWHWWWH

How many of you have looked at a sheet of music in Standard Notation and just crossed your eyes at the Flat and Sharp symbols? NO MORE!!

By using theOrder of Flats and Sharpsthe mystery of Standard Notation is history. From now on you can look at theKey Signature(all those pesky Sharps and Flats) and tell IMMEDIATELY what Key the music is written in.

Easy Peasy. Count them. Yes, thats it. Count the Sharps on the Standard Notation, then count from the Zero positon on the Circle of 4ths. Here are some examples to illustrate:

This is theKey of F(F Major Scale). Looking at this standard notation I countONEFlat. Now I refer to the Circle of 4ths and I countONE POSITION COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM THE ZERO POSITION. This takes me fromCtoF. Therefore I know that Standard Notation with ONE FLAT is the F Major Scale.

This is theKey of Eb(Eb Major Scale). Looking at this standard notation I countTHREEFlats. Now I refer to the Circle of 4ths and I countTHREE POSITIONS COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM THE ZERO POSITION. This takes me fromCtoFtoBbtoEb. Therefore I know that Standard Notation with THREE FLATS is the G Major Scale.

This is theKey of Cb(Cb Major Scale). Looking at this standard notation I countSEVENFLATS. Now I refer to the Circle of 4ths and I countSEVEN POSITIONS COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM THE ZERO POSITION. This take me fromCtoFtoBbtoEbtoAbtoDbtoGbtoCb. Therefore I know that Standard Notation with SEVEN FLATS is the Cb Major Scale.

NOTE: Sharps on Standard Notation and the Circle of 5ths were explained in the previous lesson, on the Circle of 5ths

Learning Achievements

So long as you memorize the Circle of 5ths & the Chromatic Scale, you will be able to do the following:1. Find any Perfect 5th in your head2. Find any Perfect 4th in your head3. Create any Whole Note Musical Scale, Sharp Note Musical Scale or Flat Note Major Musical Scale in your head4. Find any Relative Minor Scale in your head for Whole Note, Sharp Note and Flat Note Musical Scales5. Find all intervals in your head for ANY starting note (Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor 6th, Major 6th, Minor 7th, Major 7th)6. Determine a musical key from the Key Signature in Standard notation, simply by counting the number of Sharps or Flats.Music Theory: Fretboard Magic...Geeks Note:The secet to learning the Fretboard is learning the position of Root notes on the 5th and 6th strings, then learn the patterns that will let you find everything else. Patterns, patterns, patterns. Everything else will come with time!

Let's Get Our Directions Straight

It is important you understand what directions mean. You can get confused easily, especially if you play right handed.

Moving towards the HEAD STOCK is moving DOWN the fretboard because you are moving DOWN to lower notes. Moving towards the BODY is moving UP the fretboard because you are moving UP to higher notes.

Same rule applies to strings. Moving form Low E to High E is moving UP the strings as you are moving UP to higher notes. Vice Versa for Down.

Cool? Good.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. To relate the lesson on Intervals directly to the Fretboard of your guitar.2. To understand the repetitive relationship of Interval PATTERNS on the Fretboard of your guitar.3. How to "back trace" to find out what any note any finger position is.4. How to find any note in all of it's locations on the Fretboard, in your head.5. Necessary information that is going to make a whole lot of sense when you start learning the different shapes of Chords, Chord Progressions and Chord Harmonics.

The Fretboard of a guitar is LARGE and there are a LOT of notes on it. Well, actually there are only TWELVE notes but they keep repeating over and over. There is a simple way of learning all those notes and finding them with a minimum amount of actual study. That is what this lesson is about.

A word to the wise, you don't have to learn ALL of these at one sitting. I would recommend you come back to this page frequently, pick an interval and practice it all over the fretboard to make sure you learn the PATTERN.

Yes, that what this lesson is about, PATTERNS. To have the patterns be applied to something though, that means you need to have a starting point. Ergo Sum, the graphic on the left. This graphic shows the whole notes on the low E and A string in the first twelve frets. You need to memorize these notes and where they are located. There is no way around it.

The easy way to memorize it though is during your warm up. Come to the page, fret then pick anote than say it out LOUD. Next note, same thing. Keep doing this over and over. Within a few days you will have this brief set of notes memorized in their locations.

As you look at the diagram on the left, remember that the un-named spaces are actually notes as well. I didn't put them on there because if you know the whole notes, the Sharps and Flats are no brainers. For example, the space between the note C and the note D is either C# or Db (depending on what you are talking about or what scale you are using).

Again, to help you memorize this and put it in perspective, here are the 12 notes of the 12 Tone Chromatic Scale:

A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A

Fretboard Golden Rule

There is a hard and fast rule that will make these patterns and other "music figgering" much easier on you:

LAND ON THE "B" STRING or CROSS THE B STRING and the landing note in the PATTERN moves ONE FRET towards the body

This will become more and more important as the lesson progresses.

In the diagram at the right is the second most important of all the diagrams you will study on this page (the first diagram being the most important one). This diagram shows the PATTERN relationship to repetitions of Whole Notes (Octaves).

This is a MOVEABLE pattern (just like Barre Chords). This pattern holds true for every note on the Fretboard on the 6th and 5th strings. All other strings are found by refering to the 5th or 6th string note. You will also notice that the 5th string pattern is ALMOST identical to the 6th string pattern.

This disgram tells us:

To find a whole note from the 6th string (low E) you can: Move up one string and seven frets towards the body. (1 + 7) Move up one string and move five frets towards the head stock. (1 - 5) Move up three strings and move three frets towards the head stock. (3 - 3) Move up two strings and two frets towards the body. (2 + 2) Move up four strings and five frets towards the body. (4 + 5) Same fret on the high E string. (5 + 0)

To find a whole note from the 5th string (A) you can: Move up one string and seven frets towards the body. (1 + 7 : SAME AS THE 6TH STRING) Move up one string and move five frets towards the head stock. (1 - 5 SAME AS THE 6th STRING) Move up three strings and move two frets towards the head stock. (3 - 2 : Remember the Golden Rule about landing on B) Move up two strings and two frets towards the body. (2 + 2) Move up four strings and five frets towards the body. (4 + 5) (The only pattern on this page that breaks the Golden Rule)

Summarize These Patterns Memorize THESE: UP one string, UP seven frets. UP one string, BACK five frets. UP three strings, BACK three frets (Remember, if landing on B string we move one fret closer to the body, so it's only back two frets) UP two strings, UP two frets. UP four strings, UP five frets. Low E and High E strings, same fret.

Take the time to finger them on your fretboard. Do it once a day for a couple minutes initially to learn them and then whenever you need a reminder after that.

You can choose to sit and memorize every note on every fret. Power to you if you do. You will be faster at finding the notes. However, if you memorize these patterns and spend time applying them on a regular basis, you will become just as fast. Remember that once you have learned the six patterns above, you will have actually learned (12 notes x 6 patterns) a whopping 72 patterns.

Wait a minute.... do you remember the three note Power Chord?

One thing I will point out that will help with ONE of the patterns. Remember the lesson on Power Chords and the part about Octave Doubling? In this diagram we see that we are going from Root to 5th and then another perfect 4th to reach the Octave of the Root. This pattern is also UP TWO STRINGS, UP TWO FRETS which is one of the patterns above. See? You already know one of the patterns!!

Interval Patterns

The following are INTERVAL patterns. You can use these anywhere on the fretboard. Remember, once you have learned the pattern ONCE you have learned the pattern TWELVE times and can apply it from MULTIPLE positions. Here we go:.

Unison/Octave

I have no diagram for the Unison or Octave. Use the relationship diagram at the beginning of the lesson to find a corresponding Root Note. Your ear will tell you if it is a Unison or an Octave.

Summary...

You don't need to memorize all of these. Just a few of them. From those you can build off them in your mind. As you scroll through the Interval fingerings you will see there is a pattern to their progression. Keep that progression in mind with the patterns. If you memorize the Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Minor and Major 7th then you all the others you will be able to calculate in your head by doing the Interval Math (half steps for each Interval).

Music Theory: Scales #2 Degrees & Chord Progressions...

Geeks Note:This lesson is not about chord progressions within a song but rather, chord progressions within a "Key" for a song. This lesson is what will help you sit down with your friends and jam without to much angst or confusion. That said, this topic is the building blocks that lays the foundation for your understanding of putting chords together to form songs.

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this lesson, here is what you should have learned:1. Understand how to construct chord progressions from a major scale.2. Know what chords to use when jamming on the fly.3. Understand why others are playing different chords.4. Understand how to change the Key of a Song through the understanding of Scale Degrees5. Learn how to determine the Key of a song by knowing what chords are in it.

We need to start by undestanding what "Scale Degrees" are. There is a very specific formula for creating chords from a Major Scale that is at the basics of most Western (civilization) music. This is the Scale Degrees. For this purposes of this basic lesson, we will be using the Ionian Mode (Ionian mode is the Major Scale we studied in lesson 2, just think of it as the regular WWHWWWH scale).

Please understand, there are MANY chord progressiontheories. What I am presenting here is the Major/Minor theory and is the fundamental theory most of the others are, as I said, built off of or derived from.

The Scale Degrees of a Major Scale are:

Major - Minor - Minor - Major - Major - Minor - Diminished

What this means is that instead of playing whole tone chords for each note in a scale, you modify them. An example of this would be the C Major Scale:

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

Instead of playing the chords C, D, E, F, G, A, B you would intead play the chords:

C - Dm - Em - F - G - Am - Bdim - C

You will have possibly heard people talking about their music or maybe music instructors referring to the Five-Chord or the Three-Chord, etc. What they are refering to is the Degree of the Scale in question. So this means that if you were talking about the Key of C, then the Five-Chord would be "G" and the Three-Chord would be "E".

Progressions...

The actual PROGRESSION of chords that you will play depends on the musical style, influence and choices of the composer. For example, a typical chord progression you will see is the1-4-5progression, more accurately written as theI-IV-Vprogression.

It is standard practice to refer to the degrees of a Music Scale with Roman Numerals. Upper case denote Whole Tone chords and lower case represent minor or diminished chords. This means the degrees of the scale above would be referred to by musicians as:I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii

A typical progression you will often see is the I-IV-V progression. Because the numerals are all upper case, we know these are all going to be Whole Tone chords or Major Chords. An example of this would be the Creedance Clearwater Revival classic of "Down On The Corner". In this song the Key is C and they use theI-IV-Vto make up the song, that is to say, they play the chordsC, F, G:

(First Verse)C G CEarly in the evenin', just about supper timeC G Cover by the courthouse,they're starting to un-wind,F Cfour kids on the corner, trying to bring you up,C G CWilly picks a tune out and he blows it on the harp.

This could also have been written using the degrees of the Scale, like this:

(First Verse)I V IEarly in the evenin', just about supper timeI V Iover by the courthouse,they're starting to un-wind,IV Ifour kids on the corner, trying to bring you up,I V IWilly picks a tune out and he blows it on the harp.

C - D - E - F - G - A - BI - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii

Using Johnny Cash as another example, in the song "Ring Of Fire", which is the Key of G, he uses theI-IV-Valso:

(Chorus:)D C GI fell into a burnin' ring of fireD C GI went down down down, and the flames went higherGAnd it burns burns burns C G C GThe ring of fire, the ring of fire

This could also have been written using the degrees of the Scale, like this:

(Chorus:)V IV II fell into a burnin' ring of fireV IV II went down down down, and the flames went higherIAnd it burns burns burns IV I IV IThe ring of fire, the ring of fire

Waaaaaiiiiiitttttt a minute......

Have you noticed something here about these examples? When written using the chord names (C, G, etc) changing keys seems like a daunting and difficult task. HOWEVER, when you think of the music as DEGREES of the scale... then changing keys becomes a breeze.

Looking at above, we know that the song "Ring of Fire" is in G. However, jammin' in the garage one night, Talky McSaysalot tells us he wants to play it in C instead (we've learned not to ask why, just nod and do it). So how do we change the key from G to C? By using the DEGREES of the scale!

DegreeIiiiiiIVVvivii

Key of GGAmBmCDEmF#dim (F#)

Key of CCDmEmFGAmBdim (B)

This means we will now play "Ring of Fire" in the key of C with these chords:

(Chorus:)G F CI fell into a burnin' ring of fireG F CI went down down down, and the flames went higherCAnd it burns burns burns F C F CThe ring of fire, the ring of fire

See how amazingly easy that was?

Figuring out the key...

Up above I blithely noted that "Down On The Corner" was in the Key of C and that "Ring of Fire" was in the key of G. How did I know that? Did I go look at some Standard Notation and count the sharps (or lack thereof)? No. I just looked at the chords.

Knowing that "Down On The Corner" has the chordsC, F, Gis also knowing a pattern. I know that the C Major Scale is the ONLY Major Scale that has aI-IV-Vpattern ofC-F-G. Therefore, this song must be in the key ofC.

Knowing that "Ring of Fire" has the chordsG, C, Dis seeing theI-IV-Vpattern again with the "G" being the Tonic, the "I"

By knowing the notes in a Major scale AND the chords that are constructed by the Degrees of a Major Scale allows us to determine the Key of the Major Scale.

Capice?

Ummmm... you said "Tonic" up above...

1ITonic

2iiSueprtonic

3iiiMediant

4IVSubdominant

5VDominant

6viSubmediant

7viiLeading Tone

Yes I did. No, I wasn't thinking of GIN AND...

The degrees of a Major Scale have names. They are not just the One Chord, Four Chord, Five Chord etc.. While you don't NEED to memorize these, knowing the names will help you communicate better with other musicians.

Okay, thats enough for now. Our next lesson is on Chord Construction and will directly build off of what you learned in this lesson.

So you will have something to play around with, here are some other Major/Minor Chord Progressions you will encounter... try them out... mess around with them....

I - IV - I - VI - IV - VI - IV - V - IV

I - V - vi - IVI - V - IV - V

I - vi - ii - VI - vi - IV - V