( Woohoo, first post )
I'm not necessarily a beginner by definition, I know most scales, notes, etc... But my problem has always been where the octaves are located. Coming from a piano background, where the octaves are simply placed, I cannot manage to get the hang of them. So are the octaves simply on one string each? Or what?
Thanks.
Don't get caught up in the technical mumbo jumbo-learn it, respect it, but don't let it constrain you. Music is human expression at it's finest, and we definitely don't all feel the same.
Welcome to GN!
Most simply, an octave is 12 frets (half-steps) away, either up or down, on a single string.
Play the open low E string, and then the next E up will be the 12th fret on that same string. On most guitars anyway, you won't get a third E octave on that string.
When you play the 7th fret on the A string, you get the same E octave as the 12th fret on the low E string. Add 12 to that (7th fret on A string) , and play the 19th fret on the A string, and you get the next E octave up.
Clear as mud? Or maybe that isn't addressing your real question.
Margaret
When my mind is free, you know a melody can move me
And when I'm feelin' blue, the guitar's comin' through to soothe me ~
Unlike the piano, guitars have the same notes in several places - some notes can be played in 5 different spots (on a 24 fret neck, you've even got one note in six spots!)
That means unlike the piano, you've got lots of different places to play an octave.
There's also a quirk in tuning; most strings are a perfect fourth apart, but the G and B strings are only a major third apart. That means octaves aren't the same from string to string.
The most useful octaves will be those that can be played in the same fingering position. There are four patterns to those:
1. If you're playing a note on the fifth or sixth string, there's an octave two strings over, and two frets higher - C is 8th fret 6th string and 10th fret 4th string; the same C is 3rd fret 5th string and 5th fret 3rd string.
2. If you're playing a note on the fourth or third string, there's an octave two strings over and three frets higher. You have C on the 3rd string 5th fret, and an octave on the 1st string 8th fret. F on the 4th string 3rd fret has an octave on the 2nd string 6th fret.
3. If you're playing a note on the sixth string, there's an octave three strings over and three strings back. C on the 6th string 8th fret matches up to C on the 3rd string 5th fret.
4. If you're playing a note on the fifth or fourth string, there's an octave three strings over and two frets back. C on the 5th string 3rd fret has the octave on the 2nd string first fret; G on the 4th string 5th fret has the octave on the 1st string, 3rd fret.
Because of the layout, there are other possible octaves... but those are the handiest ones.
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