Half steps and whole steps

The only two measurements you need

A half step is one fret. It is the smallest move available on a guitar.

A whole step is two frets, so it is two half steps. That is the whole vocabulary. Every scale in the rest of this course is a recipe written in these two words.

Hear the difference

Both start on the same note. One moves a single fret, the other moves two.

Play both, then play them again in the other order.

Why this is the useful unit

Naming notes ties you to one key. Counting steps does not. The major scale is whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half, and that sentence is true starting from any of the twelve notes.

Learn the recipe once and you have it in every key. Learn the note names of one scale and you have one scale.

This is the single reason a guitarist can slide a shape up the neck and have it still work. Moving the shape preserves the steps.

The recipe you will use most

Here is the major scale written in steps, starting from C. W is a whole step, H is a half step. Notice where the two half steps land.

The half steps sit between degrees 3 and 4, and between 7 and 8. Move that pattern to any starting note and you get that key. Grade 3 does exactly this.

You start on fret 5 and move up a whole step, then a half step. Which fret are you on?

Start on G. Find the note a whole step above it, and the note a half step above that.

Labels are hidden on purpose. Count frets on any string you like.

A whole step above G is two frets up. Then one more fret from there. Both notes count wherever you find them on the neck.

Order these distances from smallest to largest

1. 1smallest first
2. 2smallest first
3. 3smallest first
4. 4smallest first

Takeaways

• Half step is one fret, whole step is two.
• Scale formulas are written in these, which is what makes them work in every key.
• The major scale is W W H W W W H, with half steps between 3 and 4, and 7 and 8.
• A movable guitar shape works because moving it keeps the steps intact.