The distance between two notes is categorized as either a whole step(w) or a half step(h). On the guitar, a whole step means moving two frets up or down. A half step means moving one fret.
For example:
- To go from the note F (1st fret of the 1st string) to G, you move up two frets, which is a whole step.
- To go from the open 1st string (E) to F (1st fret), you move up one fret, which is a half step.
In natural notes, the intervals between E–F and B–C are half steps, while all the others are whole steps. This means that when you reach an E or a B, you only need to move one fret to get to the next note. For all other notes, you need to move two frets to reach the next natural note:
If you move half step instead of whole step in the note transition from G to A (which is normally a whole step), you’ll land on G♯, also known as A♭.
For those who are not familiar with sharps(♯) and flats(♭): a sharp raises a note by a half step, while a flat lowers it by a half step. For example, if you move a half step up from C, as you can also see in the diagram above, you arrive at C#. In the same way, if you move a half step down from D, you arrive at D♭. C# and D♭ represent the same pitch, but they are written differently. In short, these in-between notes can be written either with a sharp or a flat. Later on, we will discuss when to use flats and when to use sharps.
In fact, intervals are expressed with a more detailed terminology and come in different types according to their qualities: Perfect, Major, Minor, Augmented, and Diminished. However, I prefer not to dive too deeply into theory here. My aim is for you to understand the subject with a guitar-focused, simple, and practical approach without getting lost in terminology. If you wish to study the topic in greater depth, you can find plenty of detailed information in books and documents. What you learn here will provide you with a solid foundation.
Earlier we mentioned that a single note by itself does not carry meaning; its significance comes from its position and relationship with other notes. Now I want to explain this with a practical example, because everything we will discuss is actually based on this foundation.
Listen to a single C note and observe whether it creates any feeling for you:
Now we will move back and forth from C to C♯ with a half step:
You may have noticed that moving back and forth between two notes by an interval creates a certain feeling. Let’s go from C to D with a whole step and see what kind of feeling a whole step evokes:
Now we will move back and forth from C to D♯ by three half steps. (In terminology, three half steps are called an augmented interval):
I believe you now understand how half steps, whole steps, and augmented intervals (three half steps) create different feelings. The topic of scales that we will study next is meant to explain this very mechanism.
Let’s begin exploring scales from guitar perspective.
