The musical alphabet consists of 7 different letter names and sharps and flats -
The 7 letter names are - A B C D E F G.
Also known as the NATURAL notes
Sharps (#'s) and flats (b's) are also known as ACCIDENTALS
Note: when writing accidentals (# or b), they go AFTER the letter name (unless writing the actual music note on the stave)
Ex. correct A# Bb D# Ab
wrong #A bB #D bA
Sharps are notes that are raised by a fret and represented by a "#" symbol.
ie. If a F note is played on the first fret then a F# note is played on the second fret.
(one fret higher)
note: the distance of one fret is also known as a semitone. The semitone is more frequently used because it's applicable to any instrument.
Keeping it simple, every note has a sharp except B & E. The note above B is C and above E is F.
Here's all the notes and their sharps in order going up -
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A .....
Notice that after G# is A. The pattern repeats all over again.
Using the above chart, if we needed to find the note that was 3 frets (semitones) above
an F#, we would count 3 notes above F#.
G = 1 fret, G# = 2 frets , A = 3 frets. So an "A" note is 3 frets above a F#.
Ex. 1
What is the note 9 frets above C ?
If C# is 1 fret above C, then D is 2 frets above, D# is 3 frets, E is 4, F is 5, F# is
6, G is 7, G# is 8 and A is 9.
A is 9 frets above C.
Ex. 2
What is the note 3 semitones above F ?
F# is 1 semitone above F, G is 2 and G# is 3.
G# is 3 semitones above F.
Test your knowledge of sharps by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #1
Flats are notes that are lowered by a semitone and represented by a "b" symbol.
If a G note is played on the 3rd fret then a Gb note is played on the 2nd fret.
Again, keeping it simple, every note has a flat except C and F. The note beneath C is B and beneath F is E.
Looking at the musical alphabet backwards, we get -
A Ab G Gb F E Eb D Db C B Bb A .....
Turning it around, we get -
A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A .....
In the above alphabet, the note above A is Bb. But we just learned that the note above
A is A#. It turns out that Bb and A# are the exact same note; this is called enharmonic.
Enharmonic means that the note is the same pitch, but spelled different.
Lets find a few flat notes:
Ex. 1
What is the note 3 semitones above C?
Db = 1 semitone above, E is 2 semitones above and Eb is 3 semitones above.
The note that is 3 semitones above C is Eb.
Ex. 2
What is the note 8 frets above G ?
Ab is 1, A is 2, Bb is 3, B is 4, C is 5, Db is 6, D is 7, Eb is 8.
The note that is 8 frets above G is Eb.
Test your knowledge of flats by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #2
Lets look at all the notes in the musical alphabet now:
A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A ....
Here's another way of looking at it -
(notes stacked on top of each other are the same pitch)
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A ... A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A ....
Test your knowledge of all these notes by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #3
We can find any note on our guitar with this knowledge of the musical alphabet. Make sure you know your string names and numbers
For those that are sure of the string names, let's apply this theory.
Ex. 1
What is the note on the 6 fret of the 4 string ?
We know that the 4th string is a D string. This means that when we play this string
open, it rings a D note.
Open = D note 1st fret = D# or Eb 2nd fret = E 3rd fret = F 4th fret = F# or Gb 5th fret = G 6th fret = G# or Ab
So the note on the 6 fret of the D string is G# or Ab.
Ex 2
What is the note on the 9 fret of the G string?
Open = G 1st fret = G#/Ab 2nd fret = A 3rd fret = A#/Bb 4th fret = B 5th fret = C 6th fret = C#/Db 7th fret = D 8th fret = D#/Eb 9th fret = E
The note on the 9th fret of the G string is E.
Ex. 3
What are these notes?
E ------------------ B ------------------ G -----------1------ D -------6---------- A ------------------ E ---4-------------- n. 1. 2. 3.
Answer for note 1 - E is open (0 fret), F = 1 fret, F#/Gb = 2nd fret, G = 3rd fret,
G#/Ab = 4 fret.
Note 1 is an G# or Ab note.
Answer for note 2 - D is open, D#/Eb is 1st fret, E is 2nd fret, F is 3rd, F#/Gb is 4,
G is 5th, G#/Ab is 6th.
Note 2 is an G# or Ab note.
Answer for note 3 - G is open string so the first fret would be a G# or Ab note.
Note 3 is also a G# or Ab note.
Test your knowledge of the notes on the guitar by answering questions from the Music Alphabet Quiz #4
Back to table of contents