Originally Posted by: PamelaMThis is only my second day of ever picking up a guitar. I was going through the "notes" video and wanted to know if there is an easy way to understand why we skip frets when learning notes on the different strings. I am learning that the E string has the "f" note on fret one, but then you skip a fret for the G note (4th fret if I am remembering correctly). Each string is different and I am just trying to understand this so I can easily remember.

The musical alphabet only has seven letters, which keep repeating:

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A - B ... and so on.

Two sets of letters B-C and E-F are right next to one another with no space in between. All other letters have a space (on the guitar a fret) in between them for accidentals (sharps & flats).

The reason for this is in order to create the sound of the major scale; the solfege "Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do" on the notes:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C.

It helps some people to refer to a piano & notice that there are white keys (the musical letters A-G) & black keys (the sharps & flats in between the letters). The pattern on the piano is easier to directly see:

2 places have white keys right next to each other (B-C & E-F), and there are black keys in between all the other notes.

If all this is too much info right now, don't worry about it. Just keep going through Guitar Fundamentals 1 & all will be eventually clearer. If not, please ask again!