Notes
• There are 12 notes which repeat, like the months of the year.
Months of the year are named from past to future, notes are named
from low to high.
• A musical year is called an octave. The human ear has a range
of many octaves, the guitar has a range of 4 and a half or
so (electrics
almost 5)
• Notes of the same name in a different octave have a different
pitch, but are still the same note, and follow the rules as if
the same
note, just as February is always February, no matter if it's
1963 or 2004.
• The 12 repeating notes are of equal value (even though their
names imply otherwise) and are mere building blocks until a template
is introduced -- like a pile of bricks waiting for the blueprint
to become a house.
• The distance in pitch between any two adjacent notes is
a semi-tone or half-tone,
on a guitar, one fret. A whole tone is (obviously)
two semi tones, and measures two frets. The terms step and half-step
are also used, adding to the confusion. The idea of "step" is
a good one though, as notes in sequence do form a kind of staircase
in pitch.
• Any distance between two notes is called an interval.
An octave is an interval; a semi tone is an interval (the smallest);
a
whole tone is an interval. All intervals have a name and a numeric
value.
• Intervals are the ruling force within the system of music. These
distances between notes allow for melody and harmony and the
many different qualities our ears and hearts discern when listening.
Below is a graph showing the names of
notes, from bass to treble. The names are based on the first
seven letters of the alphabet: A B C D E F G.
You'll notice
that some have two
names. This graph shows one octave, starting at A.
# means sharp (higher by one semitone), b means
flat (lower by one semitone). So a C# is the same
note as a Db.
The reason for this duality is of no concern at this stage,
it's just a pain
in the neck. You'll also notice in two instances that there is
no in-between note. B goes straight to C and E goes straight to
F.
The 12 notes are collectively
known as the chromatic scale.
Click here to listen to it
Another
way of looking at it is to imagine the repeating notes in a circle, like the
12 hours of a clock. Everytime you arrive back at your starting note, you've
traveled an octave. The arrow shows the direction from low to
high. This diagram,
without the sharps and flats written in, actually shows the formula of the
template I mention above, the major scale, the mother of all music.
Let's have a look at
the major scale 
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