What is an interval?

An interval is simply the distance between 2 notes.

• The root note (note 1 of a scale) is the note you start on ...for example in the key of A it would be the A note on the 6th string/5th fret.
• There are 7 general intervals:
  • 2nd
  • 3rd
  • 4th
  • tritone
  • 5th
  • 6th
  • 7th
  • (there are also unison and octave)

This may help understand a little better.
Look at one string of the guitar, you have 12 frets, and that equals an octave between the first fret and the last fret.

Distance between Notes	Interval
1 fret	minor 2nd
2 frets	major 2nd
3 frets	minor 3rd
4 frets	major 3rd
5 frets	perfect fourth (no minor or major of this)
6 frets	tritone (tense and dissonant sounding)
7 frets	perfect 5th (no minor or major of this either)
8 frets	minor 6th
9 frets	major 6th
10 frets	minor 7th
11 frets	major 7th
12 frets	octave

So if you look at the charts below, you'll see the root note (the note you start on) and you'll see the major, minor or perfect interval being illustrated. For example the first chart shows the 2nd interval. The root note is in tan. Count 1 fret up on the same string and you see that the black note (the minor 2nd) is right there. Count 2 frets up and the blue note (the major 2nd) is right there. From there you can see where these same notes are on all of the other strings.
Another example would be the 5th interval. This is a perfect interval because there are no minor or major notes for it, it's all by itself because it's perfect. Look at its chart. In this example the root note is an A on the 6th string, count up 7 frets and you see the perfect interval on the 12th fret. So the perfect 5th of an A is E ... A B C D E
Hope this helps a bit.

Interval Charts for Guitar

Tips for learning guitar intervals:

Practice playing the notes on the fretboard and try to learn how the location of each interval relates to its root note.
Some key terms and concepts:

Consonance:

This refers to when an interval is more harmonious. Or there doesn't seem to be much friction in their relationship aurally. They feel stable.

Consonant Intervals:

• Octave (perfect consonance) can only be perfect, augmented or diminished Fifth (perfect consonance)
• Fourth (perfect consonance)
• Major Third (imperfect consonance)
• Minor Third (imperfect consonance)
• Minor Sixth (imperfect consonance)
• Major Sixth (imperfect consonance)

Dissonance:

This refers to when an interval in not very harmonious. There seems to be friction or the notes sounding together sound unstable. Dissonant intervals feel like they need to go somewhere. When they go to a major tone or chord this is called resolution.

Dissonant Intervals:the Tritone

• (major, minor, augmented or diminished) Minor Second
• Major Second
• Minor Seventh
• major Seventh

If you look at any of the charts and study them, you'll see that the positioning of the notes on the fretboard reveal something. It reveals that certain intervals are closely related.
Second intervals and seventh intervals are closely related. If you take an A note and play its major 7th interval, you end up playing a G# (2 strings down and one fret up). Now where is that note compared to the A note's octave? A half step up, so it becomes a minor 2nd. This is called interval inversion.

INVERTING INTERVALS

In general terms this is what happens when you invert intervals

Starts as	Becomes	So, for example, a perfect fourth of an open G is C. That C an octave lower is going to be a fifth lower. Take a few minutes to experiment on the fretboard and figure out each interval's position and then its inverse on the fretboard. You'll learn the fretboard in no time. Great, what does augmented and diminished mean? Well, when you lower and raise notes, you're changing intervals. Look at the chart below to get an idea what's going on.
Perfect	Perfect
Major	minor
minor	Major
diminished	augmented
augmented	diminished
unisons	octaves
2nds	7ths
3rds	6ths
4ths	5ths
5ths	4ths
6ths	3rds
7ths	2nds
octaves	unisons

- 1 fret (1/2 step)	Interval	+ one fret (1/2 step)
diminished	perfect	augmented
diminished	minor	Major
minor	Major	augmented
---	diminished	minor or perfect
major or perfect	augmented	---

Okay so that seems like too many notes for the fretboard. Well it is. Some tones or intervals are named with several notes. These are called enharmonic intervals or notes.
Check out the exercises for playing intervals on yor guitar.

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Interval tab

Use the tabs below to help you learn how each interval feels and sounds on the guitar fretboard.

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Chromatic Scale

Imagine a keyboard with nothing but white keys:

It would be very difficult to keep track of which note was which. Early keyboards were a bit like this until someone had the idea of painting some of the keys black:

Then an even brighter and better idea - the black keys were narrowed and raised in height so that the player could find individual keys by touch alone:

The clever part of all this is the pattern of black notes grouped as they are in twos and threes, enabling the player uniquely to identify each note on the keyboard.

Understanding the Chromatic scale (continued)

The white (natural) notes are defined as follows:

C positioned just to the left of the group of two black notes
D positioned between the two black notes
E positioned just to the right of the group of two black notes
F positioned just to the left of the group of three black notes
G positioned between the first two out of the group of three black notes
A positioned between the second two out of the group of three black notes
B positioned just to the right of the group of three black notes

The black notes each have two possible names depending on whether you are looking up at them from the note below or down at them from the note above.

C# is just to the right of C and can also be called Db because it's just to the left of D
D# is just to the right of D and can also be called Eb because it's just to the left of E
F# is just to the right of F and can also be called Gb because it's just to the left of G
G# is just to the right of G and can also be called Ab because it's just to the left of A
A# is just to the right of A and can also be called Bb because it's just to the left of B

But notice that there is no E#, Fb, B# nor Cb because we have to leave a gap in the pattern of black notes at these points or the poor keyboard player would be right back where we started.

The chromatic scale is best learned in both directions:

Ascending using sharp (#) names: C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C and
Descending using flat (b) names: C B Bb A Ab G Gb F E Eb D Db C

The guitar fretboard is arranged chromatically and knowing this scale is the key to working out all the notes on your guitar. For example, here are the notes on the E string:

See if you can apply this scale to figure out the notes on the other strings.

Summary

Western music uses a 12 tone system called Equal Temperament (equally spaced half steps). 7 naturals, & 5 sharps/flats. These tones are one half step (h - on guitar, a half step is 1 fret) to the next adjacent tone (Equal Temperament). Just Intonation is another system of tuning based on the pure vibrations of nature (where the harmonics of a given tone are the basis of the tuning - only that key is in 'perfect' tune).

One possible relationship between colors & music tones [sharps & flats utilize stars & some outlines to differentiate them]:

The 12 Tones

The 12 consist of:

• 7 Naturals [white keys on the piano] - A - B - C - D - E - F - G, then back to A
• 5 Sharps (#)/Flats (b) - [black keys on the piano] - A#/Bb - C#/Db - D#/Eb - F#/Gb - G#/Ab

The chromatic scale is a summary of 12 half steps, starting from any tone (our musical ruler for measurement):

Naturally occurring half steps exist between B/C & E/F (no sharp or flat between). B goes directly to C, and E goes directly to F. [B# is C, Cb is B, E# is F, Fb is E].
A note that is 2 half steps away from a given tone is called a whole step (w or 2; on guitar a whole step is 2 frets). Example: C to D. The whole step should not be confused with the whole note () in musical notation (rhythmic duration).
 

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Guitar Theory : Music Pyramid

Description: A diagram of order in which to teach your students the elements of Guitar Music Theory.

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Basic guitar features

Diagram Orientation

The picture below shows the orientation of the scale and chord diagrams used in the lessons on this site. Chord and scale diagrams use the same orientation as a photo or video screen.

The lower strings are nearer the top of the page. The higher strings are nearer the bottom of the page.

The notes get higher as you go to the left. The notes get lower as you go to the right. (The diamonds are fret markers at the 3rd and 5th frets.)

This is the same orientation as when you are watching a guitar video on TV, or looking at a photograph of a guitar. Or imagine that someone is facing you with a guitar. (This is not the same view you get when you watch yourself in a mirror.)

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Diagram Orientation Is Different From Tablature Orientation

This orientation of the diagrams is the reverse of tablature.

Tablature was designed this way because in staff notation, the lower notes are at the bottom of the page and the higher notes are at the top. Tablature was based on staff notation, not on diagrams or photographs.

We have chosen to use this orientation for all of the diagrams used in lessons because it makes the most sense to beginners who have never seen tablature. People used to reading tab should remember these diagrams are a schematic representation of what you would see in a photograph of a guitar neck, and keep that orientation in mind.

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String Names and Numbers

Each string has a name and a number. The highest string is the 1st string. The lowest string is the 6th string. (All guitar methods number the strings this way.)

We will use the string numbers more than the string names, but it's good to know both.

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Fret Numbers

Each fret has a number. The lowest fret is the 1st fret. The lowest fret is the fret closest to the nut. The numbers get higher as you move up the guitar neck. The higher the fret, the higher the note.

Fret numbers don't usually appear in the diagrams. You can tell the fret number by counting up from the nut of the guitar.

Diagrams are in open position unless fret numbers show otherwise.

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Reading chord diagrams

Dots on the Fretboard Diagrams show you where to place your left-hand fingers.

Here is a diagram for an Open 'D' chord.

     'O' = Play the String Open(Some times not mentioned)

     'X' = Don't Play That String

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