Music Theory
Intervals
Chromatic Scales
Diatonic Scales
Keys
Fingering
Relating
keyboard notes, strings and frets
By this point, after reading the pages mentioned above, you should know
two useful things:
(1) how to determine which seven of the twelve notes
per octave your song will most likely use, (either by key signature or
using the circle of fifths)
(2) the location of all twelve
notes per octave fall on the neck of your instrument,.
You still have two more things to do.
(1`) determine the fret and string positions for the seven notes per
octave that
you really need.
(2) assign left hand fingers to those fret positions.
This web page deals with the first of those remaining items.
Example, short-necked instrument:
Instrument: Viola or Mandola
Key: D major
From previous web pages, you determine that the key of D major has two
sharps, F# and C#, and begins on a D, like this:
D, E, F#,
G, A, B, C#, D
Let's take the easiest octave first as an example.
Start the scale on the open D string. The fret locations you want
are:
Fret position
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Note
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
Scale degree
I
II
III
IV
(V)
.
then continue on the A string as follows:
Fret position
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Note
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
G#
E
Scale degree
V
VI
VII
I
Here's the C string first.
Fret position
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Note
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
Scale degree
I
II
III
(IV)
And here is the G string fingering for the last half of the lower
octave of the D major scale.
Fret position
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Note
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
Scale degree
IV
V
VI
VII
(I)
Thus far, we have not mentioned how to assign fingers to notes.
That comes next.