I've always written it

F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, F

and i read somewhere recently that you don't use the same letter twice (F and F#) in writing a major scale

going for Gb doesnt work either because you end up with Bb and B

would the correct way be to use E# or Cb?

I know it doesnt really matter, but im curious

... by the biggest dummy..

This is for those of you who feel you know absolutely nothing about music theory. There is already some great stuff in this thread http://www.deanguitars.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49424, but I thought I'd try to go though the most basic stuff and then go from there (I'm gonna have to take a couple of peeks in my books ).

Here goes..

So you might have heard that there are 12 notes in (western) music. They are:
C
C# or Db
D
D# or Eb
E
F
F# or Gb
G
G# or Ab
A
A# or Bb
B
(and then back to C).

#= sharp
b= flat

(Notice that there are not sharps and flats between E and F and B and C)

The "interval" in between any two consecutive notes is called one semitone. So for example C - Db is one semitone. Two semitones add up to one "tone".

Alright, I think we're ready to start looking at a scale. Let's start with C major (huge surprise, I know..).

So the C major scale goes like this: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
Notice that there are no sharps or flats? Kinda hard to miss. Anyway, that's why the C major scale is such a good example to start out with. (Also note that all of the seven letters were used!)

Let's take a look at the intervals. We have one tone between almost all the notes. The exceptions are E and F and B and C, which are separated by one semitone. With that we can create a sort of formula of how to write any major scale. So with 2 representing a tone and 1 a semitone our formula would look like this: 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1

We now have all we need to write any major scale down: We know the intervals between all the 12 notes (right? ), we have our little formula and we know that we must use all the seven letters.

So let's give it a shot to write for example the A major scale.

That means A is gonna be our first letter, followed by B, C, D, E, F, G and then A again.

OK:
A, then one tone which takes us to B. The next letter is C, but remember; the interval between B and C is just a semitone and for our major scale we need to have a tone. That means we have to raise our C one semitone to C#. Our next letter is D and the interval according to our formula should be one semitone. How convenient that our C i raised exactly one semitone! Think you can figure out the rest by yourselves?

Here's the complete scale: A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A

Alright, I'm gonna have to a continue this another time, it's 3am over here and I'm getting dumber by the minute.
Any questions? Post 'em up and I'll try to answer them. I'm sure some of our other forum smartasses will help those of you who need it as well.

Phil

... by the biggest dummy..

This is for those of you who feel you know absolutely nothing about music theory. There is already some great stuff in this thread http://www.deanguitars.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49424, but I thought I'd try to go though the most basic stuff and then go from there (I'm gonna have to take a couple of peeks in my books ).

Here goes..

So you might have heard that there are 12 notes in (western) music. They are:
C
C# or Db
D
D# or Eb
E
F
F# or Gb
G
G# or Ab
A
A# or Bb
B
(and then back to C).

#= sharp
b= flat

(Notice that there are not sharps and flats between E and F and B and C)

The "interval" in between any two consecutive notes is called one semitone. So for example C - Db is one semitone. Two semitones add up to one "tone".

Alright, I think we're ready to start looking at a scale. Let's start with C major (huge surprise, I know..).

So the C major scale goes like this: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
Notice that there are no sharps or flats? Kinda hard to miss. Anyway, that's why the C major scale is such a good example to start out with. (Also note that all of the seven letters were used!)

Let's take a look at the intervals. We have one tone between almost all the notes. The exceptions are E and F and B and C, which are separated by one semitone. With that we can create a sort of formula of how to write any major scale. So with 2 representing a tone and 1 a semitone our formula would look like this: 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1

We now have all we need to write any major scale down: We know the intervals between all the 12 notes (right? ), we have our little formula and we know that we must use all the seven letters.

So let's give it a shot to write for example the A major scale.

That means A is gonna be our first letter, followed by B, C, D, E, F, G and then A again.

OK:
A, then one tone which takes us to B. The next letter is C, but remember; the interval between B and C is just a semitone and for our major scale we need to have a tone. That means we have to raise our C one semitone to C#. Our next letter is D and the interval according to our formula should be one semitone. How convenient that our C i raised exactly one semitone! Think you can figure out the rest by yourselves?

Here's the complete scale: A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A

Alright, I'm gonna have to a continue this another time, it's 3am over here and I'm getting dumber by the minute.
Any questions? Post 'em up and I'll try to answer them. I'm sure some of our other forum smartasses will help those of you who need it as well.

Oh, if anyone notices a mistake, please point it out so I can edit the crap out of it!

Phil

Ok, so, I have been reading the threads from WACUN and such. They, to me, seem to be centered around "shred" like Yngwie and Vai type stuff. Well, there are a lot of us on here that like that stuff but also like the heavy stuff! I happen to be one of those death metal fans. Well, I have been wanting a thread that helps teach me and others how to write, play, and understand this style better. So, I thought that starting a thread based on this style would help out others, including myself. So, if you have any knowledge on this, post it up! And by knowledge, I mean, How to write it, what goes into a good song to make it flow, how different things flow with each other. Basically, a how-to-write thread!
Post away!

Headline says all. I can't read a single note and I'm using tabs when I write - or read music.

Any good sites or tutorial videos that could teach me the "big deal" about real notes?
I really want to eliminate this lack of knowledge.

Cheers.

hey guys i was wondering if use can help me on some tab help im stuck on a part on this lick i cant get. its the third video where kirk is doing his thing between 17 and 21 seconds http://www.guitarworld.com/down_lesson if some one could tab that for i would reallly appreciate it im in c# tuning