Meet The Note Circle

An essential part of music theory for guitar beginners!

The Note Circle is the very basis of music. While it's awesome for the guitar - it can be applied to other instruments, even in singing! Learning it will expand your musicianship all around.

A little theory goes a long way, and you will find your playing improves a lot with a little understanding of what you're doing. This applies to any guitar level. The goal here is to understand what you're doing - and why you're doing it!

In this lesson, let's start by looking at the theory behind the Note Circle and how you can apply it to your guitar fretboard. :)

Understanding The Note Circle

The Note Circle shows all the 12 notes that exist in Western Music. These notes are the foundation of music theory, and we’ll soon need to memorize them. Take a look at The Note Circle:

the note circle

You’ve probably noticed that A# and Bb are in the same place. That’s because they are precisely the same notes, but with different names! We call this kind of note enharmonic equivalents. This fancy term only means that they sound the same but have different names. Don't worry too much about the 'why'. You'll learn more about enharmonic equivalents later on in your guitar journey.

Going Around the Note Circle

If you move clockwise around the circle, the notes go higher in pitch. On the guitar, that means going up the fingerboard toward the bridge. If you go in the other direction, you’ll be lower in pitch. On the guitar, that will be down the fingerboard, toward the nut.

💡 Have you ever noticed the double dot fret markers on the neck of your guitar?
That represents the 12th fret. To find out why this fret has a unique feature, play any open string on the guitar. Then, play the exact string but with your finger at the 12th fret. How does it sound? :)

While the two notes should sound very similar, the fretted note is much higher in pitch. This note has the same name as the open string, but it's an octave higher.

Likewise, the open string is an octave lower than the 12th fret. So, going clockwise around the Note Circle brings you to the starting note an octave higher. Go counter-clockwise, and you’ll arrive at the same starting point an octave lower.

The Note Circle On the Guitar Neck

Here’s how the Note Circle looks like on the guitar fretboard:

As you can see, one step around the Note Circle is the same as moving up one fret.

Try playing each note, in turn, saying their names as you go. The sooner you memorize the notes on the guitar fretboard, the better!

Next up, let's take a look at tones & semitones!