Commit the following to memory:
1) The “sharp” raises a note by a ½ step. The sharp symbol looks like this: #
2) The “flat” lowers a note by a ½ step. The flat symbol looks like this: b
The following chart shows all the notes on the guitar using sharps. That’s because we are moving up the musical alphabet on the guitar:
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
The following chart shows all the notes on the guitar using flats. That’s because we are moving down the musical alphabet on the guitar:
G Gb F E Eb D Db C B Bb A Ab G Gb F E
Now if you look at both charts you will notice that some notes can have two different names. For example. An Ab is the same note as a G#. They can both be played on the 4th fret of the “E” string. This is called “enharmonic spelling”.
3) Find and memorize at least one A note on each string. Don’t go past the 12 fret. Learning reference points like the “A”, “C”, and “E” notes instead of trying to memorize every fret works much faster when memorizing the notes of the guitar. You are only responsible for learning all the “A” notes at this point.
