As you pluck each open string, from the 6th to the 1st string, the notes sound higher.? In printed music the higher a note sounds, the higher it is written.
The lower a note is written, the lower it sounds.
Sounds that go up are called ascending and sounds that go down are called descending.? The same as going up and down a ladder.? In fact the word 'scale' in music simply means a ladder of sounds.
Our ladder has 5 rungs, with 4 spaces and we will give each rung and space a letter, in alphabetic order.? As we have already identified our 7 letters as? ABCDEFG? let's see where the letters fit on the ladder and thus create a ladder of sound.
The first or bottom rung is called E.? Then we have a space called F.? Then the next rung called G.? and so on until we reach the top of our ladder, a rung called F.? Note that because we have only 7 letters in our musical alphabet, after the rung called G we start again with A.?
The bottom of our ladder is where we find the low notes and the top is where we find the high notes.?
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If you understand this simple illustration you will have no trouble understanding the musical stave or staff as it is sometimes called.?<o:p></o:p>
The stave has 5 parallel lines with 4 equal spaces between them.???
The Stave:
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The lines and spaces of the stave are counted upwards from the bottom:?
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1st line??? is E.? (at the bottom).? Play 4th string - 2nd fret<o:p></o:p>
2nd line?? is G.? Play open 3rd string<o:p></o:p>
3rd line??? is B.? Play open 2nd string<o:p></o:p>
4th line??? is D.? Play 2nd string - 3rd fret<o:p></o:p>
?5th line??? is F.? (at the top).? Play 1st string - 1st fret
The names of the 5 lines making up the stave can be remembered by thinking of the phrase:-? Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.?
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1st space ?is F. (at the bottom). Play 4th string - 3rd fret<o:p></o:p>
2nd space is A.? Play 3rd string - 2nd fret<o:p></o:p>
3rd? space is C.? Play 2nd string - 1st fret<o:p></o:p>
4th space? is E. (at the top)? Play open 1st string
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The names of the 4 spaces making up the stave can be remembered by thinking of the word F A C E.
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