The Notes
Each dot in Diagram 1 represents a different musical sound, or a musical pitch.
Music is made up of different pitches, or sounds. The pitches are separated mathematically to be pleasing to the ear.
Music theory uses the terms “half tones” and “whole tones” to identify the distance from one note to another. A half tone is the smallest musical interval in Western Music, and each pitch, or note is a half tone away from the next consecutive note. A whole tone is 2 half tones.
You may hear the term half tone referred to as “semitone” or “half step”, but it means the same thing. A “whole tone” is sometimes called a “tone” or “whole step”. Just remember, two half tones = 1 whole tone, or two semitones = a tone.
The notes are a half tone (semitone) apart:
Stay Sharp!
There are a couple of other music theory terms we need to get a handle on – sharp (#) and flat (b).
Have another look at Diagram 2:
Moving from left to right in the diagram, produces a higher note, so we hear a higher sound, or pitch. In other words, we’re going up, or raising the pitch. If we raise a note by a half tone, then we’re making that note “sharp”. If we raise the note “A” by a half tone, we get an “A sharp” (A#).
To sharp a note, we raise it by a half tone (half step).
Conversely, moving to a lower note (right to left in the diagram), produces a lower sound, so we’re going down, or lowering the pitch. When we lower a note by a half tone (semitone), then we’re making that note “flat”. If we lower the note “B” by a half tone, we get a “B flat” (Bb).
To “flat” a note, we lower it by a half tone (half step).
Any note can be made sharp or flat. It just means that you’re raising or lowering that pitch by a half tone.
What does it look like on the mandolin?
To relate this to our mandolin, we need to understand that each fret on the fingerboard is a half step (or half tone).
So if we move along the fingerboard toward the body of the mandolin (to the right in the following diagram), we get a higher sound. We’re raising the pitch or “moving up the neck”. Play a note at any fret on the fingerboard, then move your finger up one fret (a half tone) – you’ve just made that note sharp.
Heading the other way (towards the tuning pegs), we get a lower sound. It’s referred to as “moving down the neck”. Play a note at any fret on the fingerboard, then move your finger down one fret ( a half tone) – you’ve now made that note flat.
All the frets on the mandolin are a half step (semitone ) apart.
We know there are 8 strings on the mandolin. Each group of 2 strings is called a “course”. Both strings in a course are tuned to the same note, and they are played together. Any time that I say something about the first or second string, etc. – I’m referring to the first or second course of strings. The first set is the thinnest course of strings – the set closest the floor when you are playing. The fourth course is the thickest (wound) set of strings.
Let’s give the notes names on Page 3!