Things with strings

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In the previous blog, we've seen the diatonic scale in the key of C.

But why did we start with C as the root note, and not A or G or whatever note ?

Well, I don’t know. I guess it has evolved that way through hundreds of years of music theory and education. So much so, that the piano and any keyboard instrument is biased towards the diatonic scale in the key of C.

As you know, a keyboard has white and black keys. We also know that there are whole tones and half- or semi-tones. Now, you might think that the white keys represent whole tones, and the black keys half tones.

Well, you’d be wrong ! The fact is, if you play the diatonic scale in the key of C, you NEVER hit a black key !

 

Because we know that the diatonic scale HAS half tones, that means that some white keys are indeed a whole tone apart, and some a half tone (between E and F and between B and the octave C) ! To me, that’s very confusing !

On the other hand, the guitar or any other fretted instrument are scale- and key-neutral, because they're not set up in any way or another. With fretted instruments, it’s very simple : a semi-tone is 1 fret, a whole tone is 2 frets. That's it !

So, in my opinion, music theory should be taught with a guitar or a fretted instrument instead of a piano ! There, I’ve said it !

Now, let’s look again to the diatonic scale in the key of C that we played in the last lesson on the 2nd string.

Again, the pattern is : 1 – 1 – 1/2 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1/2. (This is a mantra we’ll repeat over and over !)

The big question is : what are all those notes in between the fretted notes ? Well, they are the black keys on the piano ! If you compare the piano diagram above with the guitar fretboard with the green dots acting as the white keys, you will see that the unfretted notes match the black keys on the piano.

But what are we to do with them ? Well, there’s a lot you can do, but for now, let’s say that they allow you to raise or lower a note by half a step. If you raise a note by half a step, the note is called “sharp”. If you lower it by half a step, it’s called “flat”. The symbol for sharp is the hash “#”, that for flat is an italic “b”. (Don’t ask me why !).

So, you can play C, but when you raise it (1 fret higher), then you play C# (pronounced as “C sharp”). D one fret higher is D#  (“D sharp”), etc.

So, let’s play the diatonic scale in C, together with all the notes raised. You’ll get this :

Hey, wait a minute, we’re playing the chromatic scale again ! Yep, that’s right : the diatonic scale together with all the notes raised or lowered gives you the chromatic scale.

Something to notice : you cannot raise the E with half a step, because you’re playing the F at that moment. Idem ditto for the B : there’s no B-sharp, only a C.

Now, let’s try to lower the notes. If you lower D half a step, you get Db (D flat), with E the same : Eb (E flat).

So, let’s play the diatonic scale again, but now together with all the notes “flattened” :

Again, you have the chromatic scale. Let’s make another little notice : just as you didn’t have E-sharp or B-sharp, there is no F-flat or C-flat either : if you play the F half a step lower, you have the E, the C half a step lower is B.

But there’s something else to notice. You know that between C and D there is a very audible distinction (a whole tone), but between C# and Db there is none ! Indeed, you play the same fret for both notes, so they sound the same (they’re in unison). The same is true for D# and Eb, F# and Gb, G# and Ab, and A# and Bb.

So, what’s the use of that ? Well, I won’t tell you now, but I can assure you that this will come in very handy when we’ll try to build the diatonic scale in other keys ! And I can also tell you that, even though they sound the same, there is a HUGE difference between C# and Db, or in general the sharp and flat note that sound the same.

Well, armored with this knowledge, we are ready to build other keys in the diatonic scale !

There’s one more thing I want to discuss. It’s about finding the notes on the guitar. If you know the guitar, you can skip this part.The reason I mention it, is that I had a friend who played really well, but if you asked him to play a C on the 5th string, he would be lost !

First, let’s review once again the standard tuning of the guitar. These are the notes you hear when you play the open strings. (if your guitar is tuned correctly ! )

So, using the diatonic scale in the key of C, it should be possible to go from the 6th string (the low E) to the 1st string, which also happens to be “E”, using all the strings in between.

And sure enough, that’s the case. Let’s start with going from the 6th string to the 5th, the “A”. Let me show first how it’s done, then we’ll discuss it :

See, what we did here is simply apply the diatonic scale in the key of C. We know that between E and F there’s only half a step. If you’re not sure, remember that in the diatonic pattern there are only 2 half steps : between the 3rd and the 4th note, and between the 7th and the octave. And since the E is the 3rd note in the key of C, and F the 4th, that means there’s only half a step between them ! Are you ok with that ?

Now, from the F to the G there’s a whole tone, so 2 frets, and from the G to the A also a whole tone.

But now you have the choice : you can either play the A on the 5th fret of the 6th string, or you can play the 5th string open ! They’re the same note !

Let’s continue. Just after “A”, there’s of course “B”, and then “C”. Again, you have the choice : you can continue playing them on the 6th string, or you can switch to the 5th string !

If you look closely, you will notice that both options apply the same pattern : from A to B a whole note (2 frets) and from B to C a half step (1 fret). B is indeed the 7th, and C the 8th (or 1st) note in the key of C. Like I said, it’s all about applying the pattern !

With all this knowledge, you should be able to to play the diatonic scale in the key of C, using all 6 strings, and playing all the open strings. If you are in doubt, here is the answer :

Of course, this is only the beginning of the exploration of the fingerboard ! Notes are scattered all over the place, and it’s fun to discover them ! For instance try to find all the C’s on your guitar, and play the diatonic scale in the key of C to connect them, upwards or downwards.

It will be even more fun when we talk about other keys. Because if you try to play those keys, you will find that they share the same pattern as the key of C !

So, that’s what we’ll talk about in the next Pomodoro ! Have fun !