Field guide · Eight short chapters
Guitar music theory for beginners
Music theory, from the fretboard up. Theory is just names for the sounds your hands already make. Each chapter is short, and every example can be played.
01Notes
Note names: seven letters, twelve sounds
The musical alphabet runs A to G and then starts again — with five extra notes hiding in the gaps.
Music uses seven letter names. Between most neighbouring letters sits one more note, so an The distance of twelve half steps, where a note comes round to the same name. Twelve frets up a string is an octave. holds twelve different pitches, each a The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯. (one semitone) from the next. Two half steps make a Two half steps, or two frets on the guitar, such as C to D..
Raise a note by a half step and it gets a sharp (♯); lower it and it gets a flat (♭). So C♯ and D♭ are the same sound with two names — Two names for the same sound, such as F♯ and G♭. They are played on the same fret but spelled differently. spellings. Which one you write depends on the key you are in. Two pairs of letters have nothing between them: E–F and B–C.
12 notes · 7 letter names · tap to hear
No black key between E–F and B–C: those are natural half steps.
02The fretboard
The fretboard: every fret is a half step
Six strings, tuned E A D G B E from low to high. Learn one string and you can find every note.
Each The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. raises a string by exactly one The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯., so the 12th fret is the same note as the open string, an The distance of twelve half steps, where a note comes round to the same name. Twelve frets up a string is an octave. higher — that is why the inlay dots double there and the pattern repeats.
In standard tuning the 5th fret of each string matches the next open string, except on the G string, where the 4th fret gives you B. Start by learning the natural notes on the low E and A strings: they name the The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7. of almost every A chord where one finger presses several strings at the same fret, like a movable nut, so the shape works anywhere on the neck. you will play.
03Intervals
Intervals: the distance between two notes
Counted in The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯., named by letters. Every chord and scale is a recipe of The distance between two notes, counted in letter names (a 3rd, a 5th) and in half steps (a major 3rd is four)..
C up to E is a third because it spans three letter names (C, D, E). Its quality — major, minor or perfect — comes from the exact number of The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯.. Unisons, fourths, fifths and The distance of twelve half steps, where a note comes round to the same name. Twelve frets up a string is an octave. are perfect; seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths come in major and minor versions, the minor one a half step smaller.
7 half steps · 5
Perfect fifth
A → E
Strong, stable — the power chord
Hear it: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- P1Perfect unison0 half steps · degree 1 · Identical pitch
- m2Minor second1 half step · degree ♭2 · Tense, crunchy
- M2Major second2 half steps · degree 2 · Open, stepwise
- m3Minor third3 half steps · degree ♭3 · Dark, sad
- M3Major third4 half steps · degree 3 · Bright, happy
- P4Perfect fourth5 half steps · degree 4 · Open, suspended
- TTTritone6 half steps · degree ♯4 / ♭5 · Unstable, restless
- P5Perfect fifth7 half steps · degree 5 · Strong, stable — the power chord
- m6Minor sixth8 half steps · degree ♭6 · Bittersweet
- M6Major sixth9 half steps · degree 6 · Sweet, warm
- m7Minor seventh10 half steps · degree ♭7 · Bluesy, wants to move
- M7Major seventh11 half steps · degree 7 · Dreamy, yearning
- P8Octave12 half steps · degree 8 · Same note, higher
04Scales
Scales: a ladder of whole and half steps
The major scale is one fixed pattern — W W H W W W H — started on any note.
Start the major-scale pattern on C and you only touch natural notes. Start it anywhere else and the pattern forces sharps or flats into the scale — which is exactly what a The sharps or flats written at the start of each line of music, telling you which notes the key changes. records.
Every major scale has a The major and minor keys that share all seven notes and the same key signature, such as C major and A minor. that starts on its 6th note: A The minor scale with the same notes as its relative major: in A minor, A B C D E F G. uses the same seven notes as C major. And guitarists live on A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues guitar solos. scales: drop the 4th and 7th from major (or the 2nd and 6th from minor) and you are left with five notes that are very hard to make sound wrong.
5 notes · W+H – W – W – W+H – W
A minor pentatonic
The first scale most guitarists learn: the backbone of blues and rock soloing.
- A1
- C♭3
- D4
- E5
- G♭7
- Root
- Scale tone
05Chords
Chords: stacking thirds
The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7., third, fifth. The third decides major or minor; the fifth holds it together.
A A three-note chord stacked in 3rds: a root, a 3rd and a 5th. Major, minor, diminished and augmented chords are triads. stacks two thirds on a The note a chord is named after and built up from. C is the root of C, Cm and C7.. A major third on the bottom (4 The smallest distance in Western music: one fret on the guitar, such as E to F or F to F♯.) sounds bright; a minor third (3) sounds darker. Stack one more third and you get a A triad with one more 3rd on top, the 7th, which makes four notes: G7, Cmaj7 and Am7 are seventh chords. — the sound of blues (The 5th degree of a key and the chord on it (V). It creates tension that wants to resolve home to the tonic. 7) and jazz (major and minor 7).
On guitar those three or four notes get doubled across six strings: an open C chord plays C–E–G–C–E. Movable A chord where one finger presses several strings at the same fret, like a movable nut, so the shape works anywhere on the neck. shapes let one fingering play every root — slide it to a new The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. and the chord name follows the root note on the low E or A string.
M3 + m3
major
1 3 5
Bright, settled
m3 + M3
minor
1 ♭3 5
Darker, reflective
m3 + m3
diminished
1 ♭3 ♭5
Tense, unstable
M3 + M3
augmented
1 3 ♯5
Dreamy, unresolved
Stacked from the root
C
C major
Half steps from the root: 0 · 4 · 7
06Harmony in a key
Chords in a key: seven chords that belong together
Build a A three-note chord stacked in 3rds: a root, a 3rd and a 5th. Major, minor, diminished and augmented chords are triads. on every note of a major scale and the qualities always land in the same order.
Using only notes from the scale, the chords come out major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, A chord with a minor 3rd and a flattened 5th, written °. It sounds tense, and is the vii° chord of a major key. — in every major key. A chord written by its place in the key: upper case for major (IV), lower case for minor (vi), ° for diminished. name them by A note's number within its scale, counted from the tonic: in C major, E is the 3rd degree and G the 5th. (upper case for major, lower case for minor), so a progression written as I–IV–V works in any key.
The chords fall into three families. The home note of a key, and the chord built on it. Music in G major feels finished when it lands on G. chords feel like home. A chord whose job is to lead to the dominant, usually ii or IV. It moves the music away from home. chords move away from home and lead to the The 5th degree of a key and the chord on it (V). It creates tension that wants to resolve home to the tonic.. Dominant chords build tension that wants to resolve back home — the pull of V to I is the strongest move in Western harmony.
See the chords in every key, or read why some chords in a key are major and some minor.
07Circle of fifths
The circle of fifths: a map of every key
Each step clockwise goes up a fifth and adds a sharp or drops a flat. Each step anticlockwise does the opposite.
Line the keys up so each is a perfect fifth above the last and they close into a circle. Neighbouring keys share six of their seven notes, which is why songs move between them so easily. Each major key's relative minor sits just inside it.
Better still, the six most useful chords of any key — I, IV, V on the outside, vi, ii, iii on the inside — are the key and its two neighbours. Sharps are added in the order F C G D A E B; flats run the same list backwards, B E A D G C F.
Open the simulationClick any key to explore it.
08Rhythm & meter
Rhythm: counting time
Pitch is half of music. The other half is when the notes happen.
A The two numbers at the start of the music: how many beats in a bar, and which note value gets one beat. 4/4 is the most common. has two numbers: the top says how many beats are in each bar, the bottom says which note value gets one beat. In 4/4 you count “1 2 3 4”; strum eighth notes and it becomes “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” — down on the numbers, up on the “ands”.
| Note | Beats | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 |
| Half note | 2 | 1 – 2 |
| Quarter note | 1 | 1 |
| Eighth note | ½ | 1 & |
| Sixteenth note | ¼ | 1 e & a |
- 4/4Four steady beats. Most rock, pop, blues and funk.1 2 3 4
- 3/4Three beats, a lilting waltz feel.1 2 3
- 6/8Two big beats, each split in three. Rolling ballads like House of the Rising Sun.1 2 3 4 5 6
- 12/8Four big beats of three — the slow blues shuffle.1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a