The musical alphabet: ABC's of music theory

Before we find ourselves in a music theory rabbit hole about what we should and shouldn’t know as it relates to songwriting, we should start with something we should all know—the musical alphabet. Think of it as the ABCs of music, a fundamental element that forms the basis of everything we'll explore in other aspects of music.

What is the musical alphabet and why is it important?

In music, we have a unique alphabet that consists of seven basic notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. This series of notes is the bedrock of all musical scales and melodies. This alphabet ascends and descends depending on the context it is in.

The musical alphabets importance boils down to two points:

1. Building blocks for scales and chords: Understanding the musical alphabet is crucial for learning scales and chords—which by understanding the construction of, will help prevent writers block and feeling stuck.
2. Reading and writing music: Knowledge of the musical alphabet is essential for reading sheet music and writing down musical ideas. Even if you don’t plan on doing either of these things, it’ll give you the vocabulary to talk to other musicians—so if you’re writing a song you want played by a band, you can communicate what your intentions are.

The cyclical nature of the musical alphabet

Great, now you know what the alphabet is and why it’s important—here are a couple of things to know about what happens when you reach the end of the alphabet:

1. The pattern repeats: After reaching a G note, the sequence loops back to an A note—but at a higher pitch. This cycle continues, ascending or descending through various octaves.
2. Octaves: When going through the alphabet and the pattern repeats, the next note you reach of the same letter is what is known as an octave. So if you started at A and reach a G, the next A would be an octave higher (in pitch) than the previous A.

Stepping to sharps and flats

A term that’ll be important when exploring scales is worth introducing here—that term being a step. A step is the distance between notes of different pitches. More specifically you have two types:

• Half step (aka semitone): The smallest distance between notes you can find (in Western music). If you visualize a guitar, a half step is the distance between each fret. On a piano, it’s the distance between the next key—be it a black key or a white key. Examples of notes that are a half step apart would be an E to an F.
• Whole step (aka tone): Created when you have two half steps in between notes, which means you have a note in between the two notes you’re referring two. On guitar this would be skipping a fret, and on piano this would be skipping a key.

By taking those steps, you’re also encountering a different type of note in between the natural notes of the alphabet (A-G)—those are known as sharps and flats.

• Sharps (♯): A sharp raises a note in pitch by a half step. For example, F sharp (F♯) is a half step higher than F.
• Flats (♭): A flat lowers a note in pitch by a half step. B flat (B♭) is a half step lower than B.
• Enharmonic: Some notes can be named in two ways, like G♯ (up a half step from G) and A♭ (down a half step from A). This means that G# and A♭ are notes that sound the same but are named differently, both of them are between the natural notes of G and A.

Want to sound cool at a party? These types of notes are known as enharmonic equivalents. DISCLAIMER: You probably won’t be cool if you bring this up at a party, so if you do bring it up—you didn’t learn it here.

Visualizing the musical alphabet

How might we start applying this alphabet to our instruments? Here are two examples:

• On the piano: The white keys represent the natural notes of the musical alphabet (A-G), while the black keys are their sharp or flat versions. A common place to start is by finding middle C which is the white key located directly left of the group of two black keys in the middle of a keyboard. You can then count half and whole steps above or below that C.
  

• On the guitar: Each fret represents a half step. Starting with the open strings E, A, D, G, B and e—moving one fret up or down changes the pitch by a half step.
  

Practical ways to start using the alphabet

• Instrument learning: For anyone learning an instrument, familiarity with the musical alphabet is the first step towards fluency in music. Practice by picking up your instrument and playing a note and saying it out loud. Move up or down from that note and name each of the notes you land on out loud—accounting for the enharmonic equivalents.
• Composition and songwriting: Understanding these basic notes aids in the songwriting process, allowing for more creative musical creations. By understanding the alphabet and where it exists on your instrument, you’ll be able to start finding and making chords or licks with ease. It’ll also directly help with writing melodies.

Beyond the alphabet

The musical alphabet is where every songwriter’s journey begins, whether you know it or not. By getting a handle on these basic notes and how to navigate them, we can deepen our understanding and appreciation of music in all its forms—and ultimately start diving into more complex topics and explorations.