Musical Alphabet & Natural Notes
What it is
Music uses just seven letter names — A, B, C, D, E, F, G — and then the pattern repeats. These are called natural notes, and they're the foundation of everything else you'll learn in music theory. Think of them as the white keys on a piano.
Theory
The musical alphabet cycles endlessly: after G, you're back to A. These seven notes are called natural notes because they carry no sharps or flats. The distances between them aren't all equal — most natural notes are a whole step (two frets) apart, but B to C and E to F are only a half step (one fret). This uneven spacing is what creates the sound of the major scale and is the basis for all Western harmony.
On the guitar
On guitar, the natural notes live on specific frets that are worth memorizing. Start with the low E string: open is E, 1st fret is F, 3rd is G, 5th is A, 7th is B, 8th is C, 10th is D, and 12th brings you back to E. The fret markers (dots) at frets 3, 5, 7, and 12 roughly correspond to natural notes on most strings, which makes them handy reference points.
More to explore
Once you know where the natural notes sit on the 6th and 5th strings, you can name any note on the fretboard by counting up or down from the nearest one. This is the fastest path to fretboard fluency and makes learning barre chords, scales, and arpeggios much easier.