Posts Tagged ‘sharps’
This article deals with the notes on the guitar and not why you should learn them. Why learn notes on the guitar?
Notes on the ‘D’ string: Highlighted in Red
Sharp notes on the ‘D’ string.
Flat notes on the ‘D’ string.
D# = Eb
F# = Gb
G# = Ab
A# = Bb
C# = Db
:::Related Articles:::
Notes on the bottom ‘E’ string
Notes on the bottom ‘A’ string
Related Reading:
This article deals with the notes on the guitar and not why you should learn them. Why learn notes on the guitar?
Sharp notes on the ‘A’ string.
Flats on the ‘A’ string.
Understanding that:
A# = Bb
C# = Db
D# = Eb
F# = Gb
G# = Ab
By playing barre chords, powerchords and scale patterns using these notes as your starting point gives your the ‘root’ of whatever you are trying to play.
Example:
The following barre chord played on the 5th fret of the ‘A’ string would give you a ‘D Major’ chord.
If you replace the above shape with the minor version shown below(also played at the 5th fret),
you will have a ‘D Minor’ chord.
If you’d like to read more:
:::Related Articles:::
Notes on the bottom ‘E’ string
Related Reading:
This article deals with the notes on the guitar and not why you should learn them. Why learn notes on the guitar?
The thickest string on your guitar is called bottom ‘E’.
The notes on bottom ‘E’
In the picture above shows the notes on the guitar.
Playing the string highlighted open(no fretting, no fingers) gives us the note of E.
By pressing the string down on certain frets gives us other notes.
Looking at the image above and the information below gives us those notes.
1st Fret = F
3rd Fret = G
5th Fret = A
7th Fret = B
8th Fret = C
10th Fret = D
Finally 12th fret (the octave) = E
If you look at the 2 images above you’ll see sharps(#) and flats (b).
By playing the ‘E’ string on the 2nd fret we get both F# and Gb.
Knowing both ‘versions’ of these notes will benefit your knowledge.
This works through the string.
Take a look at the 4th fret.
If you fret the string here you get both G# and Ab.
On the 6th string you get A# and Bb.
Exceptions = No E# and Fb
Hope that helps.
Related Reading:
What is a barre chord?
The barre chord is a movable chord that uses the first finger to lie across the strings pressing them all down whilst other fingers fret chord shapes.
Effectively your first finger becomes the guitar nut or works like a capo.
Understanding how a barre chord works can take some real thought.
It’s simple when you know how it works, not so simple in the explanation.
I’m going to try to break it down into bite size chunks.
Let’s start with the chord shapes themselves,
:::Click image to enlarge pictures:::
Major Barre Chord: E string
Guitar Neck: Bottom ‘E’ string in Red
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The above pictures show a ‘Major Barre Chord’ Shape and the ‘neck’ of the guitar.
If you look closely to the guitar neck I’ve highlighted the ‘Bottom E’ string in red.
If you now look at the barre chord image you’ll see a red circle with a ‘R’ inside.
This indicates the ‘Root’ note.
The root note on the barre chord and the highlighted string on the guitar neck are tied to one another.
Take another look at the barre chord,
If you remove the red line and circles you’re left with the familiar chord shape of ‘E’ major
In the ‘F’ major chord shape the ‘E’ is shifted 1 fret up the neck and your first finger then ‘barres’ the strings.
So we have two things to learn.
Which shape and which fret.
This can be where confusion can start.
So let’s start simply by splitting the elements.
Example: A Major Barre Chord.
Let’s split the important info.
1. A
2. Major
The ‘A’ is our root note.
The ‘Major’ is our shape.
So the two points of information should form our chord.
How do we decide how to go forward?
Well we need to understand first how to achieve the ‘A’ root note part.
For this example let’s stick with the ‘E’ string,
First we need to learn the notes on the bottom ‘E’ string of the guitar.
Take a look at the image below(click on it to see a larger version)
A before the ‘E‘ string is highlighted in red remember the ‘E‘ is the THICKEST string.
To find the A for our chord take a look at the image above – you’ll see that the A is located at the 5th fret.
By pressing down the ‘E‘ string on the 5th fret you’ll be playing the A note.
By choosing the correct ‘Barre’ chord shape and playing it on the 5th fret you will get the chord.
How do we choose the correct shape?
There are 4 Barre c hord shapes that we use a lot, 2 of these are linked by root to the ‘E’ string.
These two shapes are below,
Major Shape
Minor Shape
Remember the example chord we wished to find was the ‘A Major’ as a ‘Barre’ chord.
So we have found the ‘A’
from the above barre chord shapes we choose the ‘Major’ shape,
With your 1st finger on the 5th fret playing the above ‘Major’ shape you are now playing the ‘A Major’ as a barre chord.
Below is a photograph of how the barre chord should look if you’re not altogether sure.
By switching the barre chord shape you can change the chord.
Play the minor barre chord shape instead of the major.
So we have the ‘A’ at the 5th fret,
by playing the above ‘Minor’ barre chord shape we are now playing the ‘A Minor’ barre chord.
Give it a try and see if you can figure out more barre chords.
If you’re still unsure then why not try looking at the following post ‘Online Barre Chord Dictionary’
Working with ‘Barre’ chords is confusing at times and like anything takes time, patience and repetition for the information and understanding to sink in.
:::Additional info:::
Looking for sharp or flat chords?
The above picture shows the notes on the guitar,
To sharpen a note raise(move) the note 1 fret up the guitar.
Now the note has been sharpenend, therefore the note would be as so,
If we played a Major barre chord shape on the 2nd fret this would give us an F# Major.
If we play the Minor barre on the 2nd fret this would give us the F#Minor.
To flatten a note lower(move) the note 1 fret down the guitar.
Now the note has been flattened, therefore the note would be as so,
As you can see from both examples of F# and Gb they are bothe the same note.
This goes for other notes on the neck of the guitar.
G#(sharp) = Ab(flat)
A#(sharp) = Bb(flat)
C#(sharp) = Db(flat)
D#(sharp) = Eb(flat)
There are no E sharps of F flats.
Remeber,minor,
To sharpen raise.
To flatten lower.
Understanding Barre Chords(part 2)
Related Reading:
One way to learn your key signatures is this:
Key Signatures with Sharps
Take the Cmajor Scale – it has no sharps or flats,
C D E F G A B C
Count up five degrees of the scale to G
Start the scale from G,
G A B C D E F G – add the sharp – this is a semitone down from the first note – therefore our sharp is F#
So now G major looks like this:
G A B C D E F# G
Count up five degrees of the scale to D,
Start the scale from D,
D E F# G A B C D – add the sharp – this is a semitone down from the first note – therefore our sharp is C#
So now D major looks like this:
D E F# G A B C# D
Count up five degrees of the scale to A,
Start the scale from A,
A B C# D E F# G A- add the sharp – this is a semitone down from the first note – therefore our sharp is G#
So now A major looks like this:
A B C# D E F# G# A
Count up five degrees of the scale to E,
Start the scale from E,
E F# G# A B C# D E- add the sharp – this is a semitone down from the first note – therefore our sharp is D#
So now E major looks like this:
E F# G A B C# D# E
Count up five degrees of the scale to B,
Start the scale from B,
B C# D# E F# G# A B- add the sharp – this is a semitone down from the first note – therefore our sharp is A#
So now B major looks like this:
B C# D# E F# G# A# B
Key Signatures with Flats
Take the Cmajor Scale – it has no sharps or flats,
C D E F G A B C
Count up Four degrees of the scale to F
Start the scale from F,
F G A B C D E F- count up four degrees to B flatten this note so it becomes Bb (THIS WILL ALSO BE THE START OF YOUR NEXT SCALE)
So now F major looks like this:
F G A Bb C D E F
Count up Four degrees of the scale toBb
Start the scale fromBb,
Bb C D E F G A Bb- count up four degrees to E flatten this note so it becomes Eb (THIS WILL ALSO BE THE START OF YOUR NEXT SCALE)
So now Bb major looks like this:
Bb C D Eb F G A Bb
Count up Four degrees of the scale toEb
Start the scale fromEb,
Eb F G A Bb C D Eb- count up four degrees to A flatten this note so it becomes Ab (THIS WILL ALSO BE THE START OF YOUR NEXT SCALE)
So now Eb major looks like this:
Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
Count up Four degrees of the scale toAb
Start the scale fromAb,
Ab Bb C D Eb F G Ab- count up four degrees to D flatten this note so it becomes Db (THIS WILL ALSO BE THE START OF YOUR NEXT SCALE)
So now Ab major looks like this:
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
Count up Four degrees of the scale toDb
Start the scale fromDb,
Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Db- count up four degrees to G flatten this note so it becomes Gb (THIS WILL ALSO BE THE START OF YOUR NEXT SCALE)
So now Gb major looks like this:
Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
