If you're familiar with music or piano, you probably know the names of the white keys on the piano, letters A through G. In addition, there are black keys which fall between some of the letters. Each step up or down, using all the keys, is called a half step. Go ahead and start thinking of the notes in half steps, since that's how we'll apply the musical alphabet to the guitar.
Learn the pattern of notes at the top of Fig. 5. Whether you start the pattern with an A or any other note, it makes no difference. The pattern is always the same. Guitar players tend to start with an E, since that's the lowest note on your guitar, and the open note on the top string.
This pattern of notes is what you are playing when you play the chromatic scale. It just starts with E: E-F-F#-G-G#-A-Bb-B... and so on.
Got it? Great. Now let's see how to apply the alphabet to the fretboard...
