Whole Step & Half Step Shapes

Whole Step : 2 frets Half Step : 1 Frets

(Notes A-B) (Notes B-C)

Whole Step and Half Step Combined

(W.H.)

(Notes A-B-C combined)

Lesson 1 Over view:

Measures 1-3: Set 1 Whole Step + Half Step Shape for notes ABC.
-Locate Notes ABC on E string, D String, and B String using the Whole-step/Half-step
Shape.

-Think of Notes ABC as a UNIT consisting of a Whole-Step + a Half-Step.

Measures 4-7: Locate Individual Notes

-Once Comfortable with Seeing ABC as a W.H. Unit, single out all individual A notes, B
notes, and C notes. Memorize where each individual note is and use the W.H step Unit for
reference.
Measures 9-11: Set 2 Whole Step + Half Step
-Locate Notes ABC on A string, G String, and little E String using the Whole-step/Half-
step Shape.

Measures 12-15: Locate Individual Notes

-Locate Individual Notes A, B, and C on their respective strings in Set 2

Unison Doublings
-One of the unique things about Guitar is there are doubles of each note on the
fingerboard. Piano for example has only 1 note option for each octave, while guitar has
multiple options. This can trip up a lot of guitar players with having TWO options for
ONE note.

-To tackle this feature, we will first just obser ve by playing and HEARING that the ABC set
on the big E string (SET 1) is EXACTLY the same notes as the ABC set on the A string
(Set 2). We will then first work through SET 1 and then apply our learnings through SET 1
to SET 2 to make it really easy to see the relativity and recurring patterns on the
Fingerboard.

-E string ABC and A string are Unison Doubles. They are exactly the same notes, just in
TWO different locations. This may seem like it will make playing/reading music on guitar
harder, but in fact the opposite is true. This allows us to have multiple options for notes
when reading to find CONVENIENT OPTIONS for wherever we may be on the fingerboard.

-E string and A string Notes ABC are Unison

-D string and G string Notes ABC are Unison
-B string and Little E string Notes ABC are Unison.

Goal Check list for Measures 1-19

-Observe we have only used the Whole Step-Half Step shape to find notes ABC on all 6
strings. This W.H. Shape is like a ruler for measurement and will always hold true for
finding notes ABC and is what you want to refer back to when getting mixed up with
finding other notes.
 Lesson 1:
ABC-DEF within SET 1
Our Goal for Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 is to be able to map out and memorize Notes A-B-C
and D-E-F using our Whole Step-Half Step shape. We will use exercises that also build
musical context for these notes so that this task of learning our notes on the fingerboard
also show us MUSICAL CONTEXTS on the fingerboard for achieving a “flow” bet ween all
the notes that you will use in real life situations and settings.

Measures 21-32:
-Here we are simply mapping out the Whole Step-Half Step Shape for ABC and attaching
notes DEF for Set 1. Whats important to note is ABC and DEF are SYMMETRICAL. They
both use the same exact Whole Step - Half Step shape, just on the neighbor string directly
below. This is EXTREMELY useful to obser ve. If you are comfortable with finding ABC,
Finding DEF should be friendly.

-For Every Location we can play ABC, we have notes DEF SYMMETRICALLY on the
Neighbor String below our ABC notes, in ALL LOCATIONS. This is going to make “filling in”
the finger board a much easier and less time consuming task, without taking any
shortcuts or having gaps in our knowledge. Remember, we are using EFFICIENCY of
complete information and not “short cuts” or “hacks”. Be thorough and efficient!

Measures 33-50:
-Now we have some exercises that will test us and further reinforce our knowings of
these notes.

*SAY THE NOTES OUT LOUD AS YOU PLAY THROUGH THE EXERCISES TO EXPEDITE*
*MEMORIZATION!*

Goal Checklist for Measures 21-50

-Know locations for all A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, E’s, and F’s in Set 1

-Know the Whole Step-Half Step connection ABC to DEF in Set 1 Strings

-Play Exercise Connecting our A notes to every other note

(A-B, A-C, A-D, A-E, A-F) try backwards (F-E, F-D, F-C, F-B, F-A)

-Play notes ABC-DEF and connect to the next Octave A note (ABCDEF-A)
 Lesson 2:
Measures 53-55:
-Locate all D’s, E’s, F’s

Measeures 57- 63:

-This exercise is giving us a musical application for these note. All we are doing is Playing
EVERY-OTHER-Note in groupings of 3, for wards and backwards!

For example A-C-E skips notes B and D.

We can do the same thing if we start on B and get B-D-F which skips C and E. These are
called Triads, the 3 notes that make up Major, Minor, Augmented and Diminished Chords.

Notes A-B-C spell an Aminor triad.

Notes B-D-F spell a B Diminished triad

This exercise has an Aminor triad going for wards (A-C-E) then to a
B Diminished Triad going backwards (F-D-B)

Measures 65-75:
-This is another scale exercises moving in whats called “Thirds”. All we are doing is playing
from a starting note and then skipping the next/third note.

A-C, skipping B.
B-D, skipping C
C-E, skipping D
D-F, skipping E

-This is played in all of Set 1 both for wards (ascending) and backwards (descending)

Measures 81-83:
-Adding note G by using the Whole Step shape.

Note G is ALWAYS a WHOLE STEP BELOW NOTE A.

Find every note A and move a Whole Step (2 Frets) BELOW to find all G notes in Set 1
 Goal Checklist for Lesson 2
-Know musical pattern of the Aminor triad (A,C,E,) and the B diminished triad (B,D,F).
(Every other note, in groupings of 3).

-Play an Every Other Note Pattern, Thirds, from Each note in Set 1

-Know where every note G is in relation to note A by using a Whole Step.

-Play All the notes of Set 1 so far. (ABCDEFG)

 Lesson 3
By this point, you will notice the Letters for the Note Name have been omitted. This is for
YOU to write them in yourself. This will help ingrain and enforce this knowledge to
become second nature, along with saying the notes out loud as you play them.

Now that we have completed the full A Minor Scale (ABCDEFG) , we will begin musical
exercises to help us put context for this newly developed skill and understand some
fundamentals of Music Theory/Harmony and how it relates to the fretboard.

***Write in the notes and say them outlaid for all exercises****

Measures 97-101:
-Playing through all of Set 1, moving in Thirds (Every Other note, from Each note)

Measures 105-111:
-Play a Triad (Every Other Note, in gropings of 3) from each note of the scale. Write in
the remaining letters to “spell” each triad.

-Notice the SYMMETRY across all of Set 1.

Measures 117-140:
-For the Reading Etudes, I would strongly encourage not only writing in the Letter Names,
but also “block out” the tab. We are now going to be beyond the tab numbers and be
associating our fret positions as Letters of the Note Names. The Tabs are there for a
reference in case of confusion, but should only be used after attempting multiple times
without them. This is where SAYING & PLAYING makes this task much easier.

-Quarter Notes and Half Notes:

Quarter Notes at 60bpm equals 1 Second. If we set a metronome or drum beat to 60bpm,
we will hear quarter notes.

-Clap along to the beat of a metronome at 60bpm.

-In a measure we have 4 Quarter Notes [1-2-3-4] [1-2-3-4]

-Clap 2x for every 1 beat of the Metronome to get Eighth Notes [1+2+3+4+]
 Reading Etudes continued

-Stand alone Notes are Quarter Notes and the ones with a connecting bar are Eight
Notes.

-First, play all the Letter Notes as all Quarter Notes. Nice and Even in their timing.

-After you've played all the reading Etudes as Quarter Notes, Go back and notice the
Quarter and Eighth Note Combinations in the Musical Staff.

-Clap out these rhythms before trying to play them.

-Finally, play the written rhythms with the written notes

Goal Checklist for Lesson 3

-Write in all Notes and avoid Tab as much as possible for all exercises.

-Know how to play through and “spell” all the Triads of the Aminor Scale
(one of the exercises)

-Clap along to a metronome at 60bpm to understand a Quarter Note

-Read all Reading Etudes by their LETTER NAME and with QUARTER NOTES

-Clap along to a metronome at 60bpm but clapping 2x to evert 1 click on the metronome
to get EIGHT NOTES.

-Go back to Reading Etudes and notice Quarter and Eight Note notations in examples and
slowly work through each measure.

-Take your time, work in small chunks to ensure steady for ward moving progress!
 Great Work!
At this point, we have gone through an entire A minor Scale, in 3
octaves. (Set 1)

This is the bulk of the work and from here, things will get friendly with
how we go about “filling in” the remainder of the fingerboard.

Lessons 4,5, and 6 follow the same procedures as

Lessons 1,2,and 3
…..but for SET 2!
This will reinforce what you have just learned, and immediately apply
and expedite your ability to learn SET 2.

By doing this, we will have “filled in” more than 2/3 of the fingerboard by
just using our Whole Step-Half Step shape and our
Whole Step Shape for note G.

Work through Lessons 4,5,and 6 and refer to the written instructions

for Lessons 1,2, and 3 but simply applied in Set 2.
 Part 2

Half Step-Whole Step Shape

We will use this Half Step-Whole Step Shape to Fill in and Connect all
ABCDEFG Notes on the fingerboard.

We now have 3 Shapes to connect across the Finger Board:

Whole Step-Half Step

Whole Step

Half Step-Whole Step

 Lesson 7:
Measures 245-247: Set 1
-Using our Half Step-Whole Step shape, we get notes B-C-D

-The Distance bet ween B and C is one fret (half step) and the distance bet ween C and D is
2 frets whole step)

-Just like with our Whole Step - Half Step shape for Notes ABC was symmetrical to give
us DEF, the same is true for our New Half Step-Whole Step shape.

-Notes E-F-G are symmetrically connected to B-C-D through our Half Step- Whole Step
shape.

Measures 249-251: Set 2

-Notes BCD and EFG in Set 2

Measures 253-270:
-Here we are going to connect our Whole Step-Half Step Shapes to our Half Step Whole
Step Shapes. (ABC+BCD and also DEF=EFG) for Set 1 and Set 2

-We have 2 reference points for these patterns.

-A/D for our Whole Step-Half Step Pattern

-B/E for our Half Step-Whole Step Pattern.

-Play through these measures making sure you’re starting each position with your index
finger to make the shapes easily playable and “visible”.

Goals and Checklist for Lesson 7

-Know our Half Step-Whole Step Shape and its symmetry bet ween BCD and EFG

-Connect Whole Step-Half Step shape (ABC?DEF) with

Half Step-Whole Step Shape (BCD/EFG)
 Lesson 8
Measures 273-284:
-Connect Shapes Whole Step-Half Step and Half Step-Whole Step on EACH STRING.

-Notice that note D is the only one that “overlaps” or gets played TWICE when connection
these shapes on a single string.

-Say and Play every note on every string.

Measures 285-288:
-Locate ALL A and D notes for Starting Point References of our

Whole Step-Half Step Shape

Measures 289-292:
-Locate ALL B and E notes for Starting Point References for our

Half Step- Whole Step Shape

Goals and Checklist for Lesson 8

-See the connection and overlap of Whole Step-Half Step Shape and the
Half Step-Whole Step Shapes on each string.

-identify Every Single individual A,B,C,D,E,F,and G note we have mapped out so far.
 Lesson 9

-Here we have “Sight Reading Positions”. These are designed to connect our Notes
String-to-String.

-These 4 positions will give us a practical way to play every single note of our Aminor
Scale (ABCDEG) on the fingerboard.

-Learn these positions and notice we have combined ALL of our Shapes:

-Whole Step-Half Step : ABC+DEF

-Whole Step : G-A

-Half Step-Whole Step : BCD+EFG

-We also have 3 reference points to fulfill the scale pattern, in any direction on the
fingerboard.:

-Notes A+D for Whole Step-Half Step Shape

-Notes G-A for Whole Step Shape

-Notes B+E for Half Step-Whole Step Shape.

Sight Reading Exercises

-Go through each exercise and WRITE IN the Letter Names for each Note BEFORE PLAYING.

-Slowly work through the exercises in small chunks and SAY THE NOTES WHILE YOU PLAY!
 Lesson 10:
Sharps and Flats

-When a note is Sharp (#), we simply move that note UP a Half Step.

-There are NO B or E Sharps! Notice C is already a Half Step up from B, and the same is
true for E and F.

-We will take all remaining Notes A,C,D,F, and G and play them in their Natural position,
and move them up a Half Step to make them Sharp. For Example, Note A will move up one
Half Step to become A#.

-When a note is Flat (b), we do the opposite of a Sharp and move DOWN a Half Step.

-Since there aren't any Sharps for B or E, we will not have any Flats for C and F.
B is already a Half Step Down from C, and E is already a Half Step Down from F.

-All remaining notes, A B D E G will be converted to their Flat positions by moving them
DOWN a Half Step.

-These rules for Shapes and Flats hold true in every position across the fretboard,
without any deviations.

-Practice reading through the exercises with both Sharps and Flats on their own, and
then with Sharps and Flats occurring in the same exercise.

BRAVO!
By completing this course, you have furthered your abilities than most
and can now comfortable enjoy the explorations of Music Theory and its
Possibilities on the Fretboard.
 No Hacks. No Gimmicks.

True Knowledge and Understandings.

For More Sight-Reading Practice, I strongly encourage reading Jazz

Standard Lead Sheets from “The Real Book”. There is no better way to
strenghten you sight reading skills with all we have covered in our
Course, as well as open the door for more Theory Possibilities that are
friendly on the Fretboard with the knowledge and understandings
gained from this course!

Visti:

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