Equivalent Notes

The guitar differs from keyboard instruments in that the same note can occur in different places. This is an advantage, because different tone colorations can be achieved by playing notes in different positions. Also, it also often facilitates keeping the hand in position without having to leap backward and forward to find the right notes.

Learning the equivalents is a device that some people use to memorize the higher position notes. For instance, you can see that the fifth fret of the second string is an E, and that it is the same note as the familiar open first string. Logically, the next note up will be the F, the same note as the F at the first fret on the first string. Continuing this research, you will find that every note in the fifth position is the same as one in the first position, with the exception of the higher notes A, B, and C on the first string.

You can even memorize notes when you’re away from the guitar by simply working out where the equivalents have to be. Using logic to work this out helps fix the notes in the mind.

Here is an exercise to start familiarizing you with the fifth position. Try very hard to find the notes from the music notation before checking with the tablature below. The tablature is a crutch, and the sooner you can throw it away the better.

The circled number indicates the string in standard notation.