Music is a language. The written and spoken forms of music are ways that composers and arrangers communicate with other musicians, and are a way for musicians to communicate with each other. When music is played, the musician(s) are communicating to a listener or audience. The communication amongst musicians is facilitated through a musical alphabet, which I will explain below.
A spoken language like English uses words to form phrases and sentences to convey meaning. Music uses notes to convey meaning and emotion. Notes are typically single pitched sounds (pitch ~ frequency), which can have a specific timbre and tone (coloration of the sound). The timbre is related to the voice of a singer or the “voice” of an instrument. A guitar has unique sound (voice) that is discernible from other instruments, like a piano or trumpet.
In the English language the written words are comprised of letters, which help to define the pronunciation. The letters have both a letter name and a corresponding symbol, like “A”. Written musical notes also have symbols and letter names. In addition, musical notes have a specific position on a 5-line musical staff. The treble clef staff is used for guitar notation.
The English language has 26 letters. The musical alphabet has seven (7) letters, which correspond to the first seven letters of the English language (A though G). In non-English speaking countries, the names of notes / letters in the musical language will vary according to local custom. But for this discussion, we will be referring to the note letter names of A, B, C, D, E, F and G, from the English language.
In English the letters can be arranged to form words, and a given letter can be used in many words. In musical language the notes / letters are building blocks. Thus notes / letters can be used to write or perform melodies, scales or keys, harmonies, chords and accompaniment. A given musical note can be used in many different ways and contexts.
In English there are both upper and lower case forms of letters, like A and a, Z and z. In musical letter notation, the seven letters A through G repeat continuously as you climb the musical scale. So once you reach letter G, the next letter in sequence is another A note.
Piano
The letters A through G correspond to the white keys on the piano keyboard. There are 88 piano keys, of which 52 are white keys and 36 are black keys. For now, we will ignore the black keys on the pianos, the notes called sharps and flats. These additional notes will be covered in other lessons.
Guitar
The repeating notes in sequence A through G on the guitar are a subset of the notes on the piano. The guitar typically has at least 40 unique notes (up through fret 15). Guitar with more frets will have a few more notes.
In summary, knowing the musical alphabet, A though G, will help you learn to navigate the guitar fretboard. In addition, being aware of the musical alphabet is a good starting point for learning songs, musical compositions and “music theory”. The musical alphabet will also help you start communicating with other guitar players.
Note: Music Theory is a way of organizing the note / letter building blocks to understand how musical concepts like scales and chords are put together, so that you can apply them to your guitar playing. For example, the notes A through G correspond to the A Minor scale, or Key of A Minor (see diagram above). Music Theory is often taught to musicians in college-level courses, often in the context of the piano keyboard. There are some music theory concepts that are helpful for guitar players. This website will be providing some practical music theory lessons for guitar players.
For now, take a deep breath, and just remember that the musical alphabet is as easy as “A through G”.