To most people music theory is an academic exercise undertaken to pass a test. A few people make the connections to use it in a practical way. For fewer yet it becomes a fascinating way to describe the music they are hearing and thinking. I always tell my students that if they are not going to go all the way and really learn how music works, don’t bother because just a bit of music theory will be a bunch of useless knowledge. So this is a guide for guitarists and any musician who wants to grasp how music works in a way that will transforms the way you play and hear.

A Good Place To Start

Learning anything new is always daunting and music is no different. It is important to start off with a different mindset for learning. Not different as in new, but different as not the norm of the “quick fix” that we are so used to looking for. One that involves working on something a little bit everyday until you just know it. So unless you make this process a part of your daily life you can stop here, but if you continue on and learn how music works it will open up a whole new world waiting to be explored.

The Musical Alphabet

Musical notes are named using the first 7 letters in the alphabet. That’s all we need to name every note that is available to be used. Most of us are used to thinking of the alphabet ascending. A, B, C, D, E, F, G … But in music it’s important to be able to think of these 7 letters starting on any letter(note) and ending on any note as indicated below.

There are 7 notes with one name and 5 notes that have two names. The 7 notes as indicated above are called natural notes. They can be called by the letter name or as natural notes. ‘A natural’, ‘B natural’ etc… or ‘A’, ‘B’ etc…

Sharps and Flats

The smallest distants between two notes is called a 1/2 step. The illustration below indicates all the notes spaced 1/2 step apart. Notice that there is no note in between E and F as well as B and C.

Sharps(#) are a 1/2 step higher than it’s natural note. Flats(b) are a 1/2 step lower than it’s natural note. The note in between G and A can be called G# or Ab. The note that is between F and G can be called F# or Gb. One of the best ways to illustrate how the notes work together is looking at how the piano is built. Take a minute to look at the piano.

So the first thing that is important to understand is the distance between the notes. What is a half step and what is a whole step. Spend some time over the next little while going over each natural note (C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C) remembering that the half steps are between E,F and B,C.

Watch for Part 2 where we will go over Major Scales and their importance in music…