Basic music theory for guitar
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(123 votes)
Published: Jul 24, 2007 6:26 a.m.
In 8 Favorites Lists
Viewed 651 times |
Intro:
To understand what Im talking about, you are going to need to either have the notes on the guitar memorized, or look at a chart found here 
Use that as reference.
Need to know:
looking at the picture, you may notice it only shows the notes up until fret 13 on the chart. that is because fret number 12 is the same note as its open string note, just an octave higher.
Its really helpful if you know the notes on the open strings. then you can find any note on the guitar. going from highest string to lowest string its: EBGDAE
-OR
Easter
Bunnies
Get
Drunk
At
Easter
then from there, every other whole note is 2 frets up
(G + 2 frets = A)
the exception to that rule is the transistion from B-C and E-F. that is 1 fret up. to remember it, another nifty acronymn!
Big Cats Eat Fish
Sharp (#)= 1/2 step up
Flat (b)= 1/2 step down
Major chords:
AC#E, BD#F#, CEG, DF#A, EG#B, FAC, GBD
The first note in these chords is the root note. the other 2 notes, are wonderful things called thirds and fiths.
third= 3 steps up from the root note.
example (1C 2D 3E) thats how it is for CMajor (CEG) knowing that then the fith...
Fith= 5 steps up from root note.
example (1C 2D 3E 4F 5G) the E is three steps up, the G is 5 steps up from the C
thats what makes Major chords. now look at the chart i provided, and make some major chords on your guitar.
Minor Chords:
To make a Minor chord, you take your Major chord, and flat the third. (you make the third half a step lower) so now the notes for minor chords are:
ACE, BDF#, CEbG, DFA, EGB, FAbC, GBbD
There are also Augmented and Diminished chords, but I am not going over them in my guide.
Playing in Key:
Only one more acronym to learn!
FCGDAEB
Friday
Cops
Get
Drunk
At
Eds
Bar
thats the order in which you sharp things to play in the right key. its kinda hard to explain, so ill give you an example:
If you want to play in the Key of D, then look where D is in the order of the letters
FCGDAEB
Now jump one letter back
FCGDAEB
and the 2 letters behind the letter you jumped back to (F and C), are going to be sharped in every chord you play, and no other letter. so now
AC#E BDF# C#EG DF#A EGB F#AC# GBD
are your chords.
Now A test:
if you want to play in the key of G, what notes will be sharped?
If you answered only F, then you are correct.
FCGDAEB
you skip back to C, and F is the only letter behind it, so F is the only letter sharped, and your chords now look like this:
ACE, BDF#, CEG, DF#A, EGB, F#AC, GBD
Remember, this is only BASIC music theory, so im not going into sevenths and ninths, augmenting and diminishing. Rate accordingly :) |
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 | Jul 24, 2007 7:40 am -
I live guitaring i knew al of this but its great to know ther are other guitarists!!!! |
 | Jul 24, 2007 8:38 am -
cool 4, what kinda guitar do you have? |
 | Jul 24, 2007 11:36 am -
thats nice! 5* |
 | Jul 24, 2007 12:07 pm -
fender showmaster. why is everyone voting low??? |
| Jul 24, 2007 12:09 pm -
nevermind, it said LOW RATING on the new egg page... |
 | Jul 24, 2007 12:42 pm -
cool egg, 4* |
 | Jul 24, 2007 1:33 pm -
good summary. now im kinda pissed i wasted my time at guitar lessons. 5* |
 | Jul 24, 2007 2:50 pm -
this is cool, i play guitar too and i could really use something like this |
 | Jul 24, 2007 5:33 pm -
This was very nice. Thank you. It will help me at my guitar lesson tomorrow. 5*’s |
 | Jul 24, 2007 5:52 pm -
5*s. I already knew this, but it was better than how my brother tried to explain it to me. |
 | Jul 24, 2007 7:22 pm -
*5 I play a B.C.Rich Dagger and the chart, Easter Bunny Get Drunk At Easter, and the theory parts were really good. |
| Jul 24, 2007 7:37 pm -
i dont like the way BC riches sound, i got some lameass starter strat, but its made by fender, getting something better pretty soon. |
 | Jul 24, 2007 8:39 pm -
Cool great for beginner guitarist I already knew this but eh 5* |
 | Jul 26, 2007 9:15 am -
Every
Acid
Dealer
Gets
Bu ted
Eventually
Lol thats how u remember strings
Good 4*** mines better tho |
 | Sep 15, 2007 11:25 pm -
helpful guide 4* |
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