Learn how to use the Circle of Fourths to instantly identify intervals across the six strings without memorization:
An interval is the pitch distance between two notes.
The bottom note of an interval is referred to as the root or 1.
In the fret diagrams below, all intervals are based on their relationship to root E (1).
The smallest interval in music is the half-step occupying one guitar fret:
Two half-steps make one whole-step, occupying two guitar frets:
A minor third is an interval of three half-steps (E-G), while a major third is an interval of four half-steps (E-G#):
A perfect fourth is an interval of five half-steps (E-A). An augmented fourth interval (E-A#) of six half-steps is simply a perfect fourth raised by one half-step.
A perfect fifth is an interval of seven half-steps (E-B). A diminished fifth interval (E-Bb) of six half-steps is simply a perfect fifth lowered by one half-step.
Take note that the augmented fourth and diminished fifth intervals have the same number of half-steps (6) and are referred to as the tritone.
A minor sixth is an interval of eight half-steps (E-C), while a major sixth is an interval of nine half-steps (E-C#):
A minor seventh is an interval of ten half-steps (E-D), while a major seventh is an interval of eleven half-steps (E-D#):
An octave is an interval of twelve half-steps (E-E). It is the same as the root note, but twelve frets higher:
