If there was a black key for every white key it would be difficult for the pianist to orientate with where they are on the keyboard.Īs we now know, when we reach the final note of the scale, the scale repeats.

While our system isn’t perfect, If you consider a piano keyboard and the way the keys are laid out. Essentially if all the natural notes had an accidental between them as this would result in 14 notes.įor the record, almost all musical systems work much the same way, but how the octave is divided is the main point of difference between different cultures with regard to music. Because, over time a 12 tone system was developed, a 7 note scale is unable to be distributed evenly within this system. Scales were first created from the 7 natural notes: a, b, c, d, e, f, g. The best way to explain why there are no sharps or flats between B and C or E and F is due to the development of our current musical system and how it has evolved over time. If we raise the pitch of the A in our example chromatic scale by one fret on the guitar we would raise the pitch to either an A♯ or B♭ as both are of equal value, however generally when ascending up a scale we use sharps and when descending we use flats. Sharps and flats are known as enharmonic notes, meaning they can be either sharp or flat yet are musically equivalent.

The scale below however includes notes marked with a b (flat) in the same place the sharps were found on the previous example. AĪs you can see in the example scale above, the first scale includes notes marked with a ♯ (sharp). A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are ‘ natural notes’. Remembering which notes are separated by accidentals and which are not is key to learning the notes of the fretboard. These are known as accidentals aka sharps (♯) or flats (♭). However as there are 12 notes in the chromatic scale and only 7 letters from A through to G, there must be additional notes. Remembering the order of notes from A through to G is a relatively simple task. As many electric guitars feature 21+ frets the number is greater. Many acoustic guitars feature 20 frets, so 20 X 6 (strings) = 120 notes, meaning each note of the Chromatic scale is repeated ten times across the neck. It depends on how many frets the guitar has. While the chromatic scale is technically a scale it is unlike other scales as it contains all available notes, and isn’t particularly useful for composing music. This is why guitar fretboard charts usually only show 12 frets. The scale then repeats, as indicated by the inclusion of two fret markers at the 12th fret on most guitars. The guitar’s fretboard for example is laid out as a 12 tone scale consisting of 12 frets. Western instruments such as the acoustic guitar, along with all orchestral instruments are tuned to twelve-tone equal temperament. When the notes are assembled in order from lowest to highest they form the chromatic scale or 12-tone scale. This is referred to as 12 tone equal temperament and is the musical system used in the western world. What this really means is our musical system is built on the basis that an octave is divided into 12 specific pitches. Western music consists of 12 individual notes within an octave. Interestingly, the human ear recognizes the same notes in higher or lower octaves as they are harmonically related. This is broken down into 10 octaves, with each octave consisting of the notes found in the chromatic scale above. The human ear can hear sound anywhere between 20 and 20,000Hz. Simply put the higher the frequency the higher the pitch. Hertz indicates the number of vibrations or completed soundwaves per second. pitch) of a note is measured in Hertz (Hz). The first step to achieving this is to learn ‘ the chromatic scale’, a simple scale that anyone can quickly learn containing all the notes used in western music. If we learn the order the notes are assembled on the guitar’s fretboard, we can then navigate the notes of the fretboard, which over time will lead to memorization of the fretboard. This is exactly the same if the two notes were A and A♯ or B and C.

Middle c guitar