Explore Tones and Semitones...

With The Note Circle!

You’ve heard about tones and semitones before. We use them to describe the distance between notes, scales, and chords.

Now, it's time to visualize them on the guitar fretboard using The Note Circle!

Each step around the Note Circle represents the interval of a semitone. Two steps represent the interval of a tone. It makes sense, right? :)

Check out the visual below to help guide you:

Tones And Semitones

Tones And Semitones On The Guitar Neck

So, this means that every fret on your guitar is a semitone apart.

When you move a note on the guitar up one fret, you're going up one semitone. It’s easy!

Check out the box-chord diagram to visualize how semitones and tones look on the guitar neck. Even better - grab your guitar and feel their difference!

semitone and tone

🚨 American Terms vs. British Terms

In some publications, often Americans, you might see the term half-step instead of semitone and whole-step instead of tone.

In many instances, I prefer American terms but not in this case. The terms half-step and whole-step can lead to loads of confusion, so we’ll use the British words in this course.

Be aware of the alternatives as you may come across them from time to time. Stick with tones and semitones and leave no space for mistakes!

Next lesson - let's take a look at sharps and flats. :)