Sharps and Flats on Guitar

This lesson will help you understand what sharps (#) and flats (b) are in music, and how they are formed on guitar. You've probably heard the terms "sharp" and "flat" being used by musicians, but aren't quite sure what they mean.

Knowing this stuff will come in handy when you start studying the fretboard in more detail.

Sharps and flats in guitar scales

The best way to understand the role of sharps and flats in music theory is to observe how they appear in relation to scales.

Take a look at the pattern below...

Tones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

This scale is known as the major scale. Now, there's a separate lesson on the major scale, but we're going to reference it in this lesson because of how fundamental this scale is to music theory.

The major scale can be seen as a scale with no sharps or flats. Its tones are simply 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. The major scale, therefore, is our starting point, our foundation for creating any other scale as well as being a scale in its own right (and used a lot in rock and pop).

In other words, we move tones from their original major scale position to create new scales. The movement of these tones creates sharp (#) and flat (b) tones (note: I'm lazy so I just use a "b" for "flat", but the actual symbol is a more stylised "♭". Also, it's common to use a standard "#" hash for "sharp", but the proper symbol is "♯").

An example...

Let's say we moved the 7th tone of the major scale down one fret position. In music theory, that's known as a flat 7th (b7). We've flattened/lowered the 7th by one semitone/half step, giving us a new, flat 7th scale...

Tones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7

Incidentally, that flat 7th scale has its own name, Mixolydian, but with only one tone difference from the elementary major scale.

Going back to the original major scale pattern, we could sharpen a tone, such as the 4th. This is like the opposite of flattening a tone, so we move it up one fret/semitone/half step this time, creating a sharp 4th (#4) scale, also known as Lydian...

Tones: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7

So, the first thing to remember is that sharps and flats are always referenced against their original position in the major scale. That is why the major scale is so important in music.

This means that if you see the symbol b2 used in a scale sequence, you'll know it's a flat 2nd tone of the major scale.

Even minor scales are referenced against the major scale - the minor 3rd is simply a flat 3rd (b3), which means the 3rd tone of the major scale has been flattened by one semitone/half step.

As you work/play your way through the scales section on this site, you'll come across various combinations of sharps and flats, which is what gives a scale its unique sound.

Sharps and flats in guitar chords

Just like with scales, sharps and flats exist within certain chord forms. Think of chords as a group of tones pulled out of a scale - that way, you'll better understand how sharps and flats exist in chords.

Take a basic major triad, which involves the root (1st), 3rd and 5th tones from the major scale. Here's a very typical chord shape for the major triad (an E shape barre chord)...

If we flatten the 3rd, we get a minor triad - 1, b3, 5.

So, just like with scales, when a chord tone is flattened, it is simply moved down one semitone/half step (the equivalent of one fret position). In music theory, the major scale is always the starting point for these flat/sharp movements. We notate against the major scale's original form.

And of course, there are other sharp/flat tone chords, such as this jazzy flat 5th and flat 7th chord...

Tones: 1 2 3 b5 b7

If you superimpose a major scale pattern over that chord shape, you can see how this chord has been formed...

So by starting with the major scale as our foundation, we can see that all sharps and flats are positioned in relation to it. You can learn more about building chords, arpeggios and scales in other lessons on this site. This specific lesson is just about understanding where sharps and flats come from!

Sharp and flat notes on the fretboard

In the fretboard lessons, we learned where the notes lie on the fretboard. We also learned the natural sequence of notes from E to E...

E | F | F# | G | Ab | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E

Now, you could actually call F sharp "G flat", because it's the same note (enharmonic). You could also call B flat "A sharp" - again, the same note. So what makes it notated as a sharp or flat?

Firstly, we use sharps or flats to make reading a sequence of notes in a scale easier.

For example, if we were spelling out a scale which included the note A, we would rarely use Ab along side it, because that would mean the presence of two As. We'd use G# instead.

Secondly, we use sharps or flats for consistency. For example...

E flat scale...

Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb

C sharp scale...

C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C#

Notice how we use B# instead of C, because of that first "rule" of only using a note letter once, as we're already using C#.

So you can see that by ensuring each note letter is different, and consistently using sharps or flats in a scale's notation, we can make the spelling of scales clearer and easier on the eye.

I hope you've found this lesson useful (and not too boring)! Remember there is some great interactive software available to help you master the fretboard and learn notes in scales, chords and arpeggios right across the guitar neck.

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