String One

Where a note lives — and why

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Loading the string and the staff.

 
Step 1 of 4

The staff is a picture of the string.

That thin line on the left is the 1st string of a guitar — the skinny one. Press it down further up the neck and the pitch goes up. Everybody already knows that part.

Here's the claim this page is going to make: the five lines of the staff are that same string, stood on end. A note sitting higher on the staff is a note further up the string. The staff isn't a code you memorize — it's a map, and up is up.

Two positions are open right now. Move the finger and watch what the notehead does.

Letter names
Link line

Drag the dot on the string, use the slider, or press ↑/↓ when the slider is focused. (Frets 2 and 4 have no dot — the notes there have sharp names, and they're a different lesson.)

Notice the pitch, the letter, and the notehead all move together — they're three views of one thing. When you're ready to test the idea, go on.