Tones and Semitones

Lesson 3/97 | Study Time: 5 Min

Course: Beginner Electric Guitar

Tones and Semitones

A semitone is the smallest distance between two notes used in western music. On the guitar, notes which are a semitone apart are one fret apart (e.g., the note C on the 3rd fret 5th string is one semitone above the note B at the second fret). This could also be reversed i.e., the note B is one semitone (one fret) below the note C.

Notes which are a tone (two semitones) apart, are two frets apart. An example of this would be the notes F and G on the sixth string or the first string, or the notes G (open) and A (2nd fret) on the third string. Check these on the following diagram and on your guitar.

Sharps

A sharp sign(#) placed before a note, raises the pitch of that note by one semitone (one fret). To play a sharp note picture the normal note (the natural note) on the fretboard and then place your next finger on the next fret. Try these examples:

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Class Sessions

1- Using the Whole Fretboard 2- Notes on the First String 3- The 12-Bar Blues 4- The Eighth Note 5- The Triplet 6- Notes on the Fourth String 7- Sixteenth Notes 8- Playing Two Strings Together 9- The Minor Pentatonic Scale 10- Chords 11- INTRODUCTION 12- The Half Bar 13- Rests 14- Ties And Syncopation 15- Using the Guitar Pickups 16- Minor Chords 17- The Major Scale 18- Arpeggios 19- Learning All the Notes 20- Using Guitar Effects 21- Vibrato 22- How to Read Music 23- Scale Degrees 24- Moving to Different Keys 25- Slurs 26- The Trail Off 27- Five Forms of the Pentatonic 28- The Release Bend 29- Moving Between Forms 30- Getting Your Hands Moving 31- Bending Notes 32- The Slide 33- The Trill 34- Analyzing What You Play 35- Reverb 36- C Major Scale in Open Position 37- Sliding Pattern 2 38- Electric Guitars 39- Identifying Scale Patterns 40- The Lead-in 41- The Full Bar 42- Notes on the Sixth String 43- Vibrato With Bent Notes 44- Sixteenth Note Groupings 45- Slight Bends 46- Swing Rhythms 47- Chords I IV and V in all Keys 48- Tones and Semitones 49- Right Hand Technique 50- Overdrive and Distortion 51- Alternate Picking 52- Notes on the Fifth String 53- Power Chords 54- Chord Symbols 55- Tablature 56- Rests With Chord Playing 57- Playing Two Strings With the First Finger 58- Pickup Selector Switches 59- Visualizing 60- The G Major Scale 61- Picking the Open Strings 62- Pentatonic Blues Solo 63- Notes on the Second String 64- The Shuffle 65- The Chromatic Scale 66- Delay 67- Notes on the Sixth String 68- The Symbols 8va and loco 69- Music Notation 70- Harmonizing Scales With Power Chords 71- Movable Power Chords 72- Left Hand Technique 73- Rhythm Notation 74- Riffs 75- Electric Guitar Pickups 76- Learning the Notes on the Staff 77- Jam Along Progressions 78- Amplifiers 79- Notes on the Third String 80- Left Hand Technique 81- Chorus 82- Learning the Whole Fretboard 83- Strumming 84- Keys and Key Signatures 85- The Open Position 86- Listening 87- The Open Strings of the Guitar 88- Notes on the Guitar Fretboard 89- Flanger 90- Types of Amplifiers 91- Major Chord Formations 92- More titles by LearnToPlayMusic.com 93- Understanding the Control Knobs 94- Bar Lines 95- Strings 96- Time Signatures 97- Chord Symbols

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Tones and Semitones