Guitar Intervals: A Simple Explanation Without the Extra Theory

A semitone is one fret, no more, no less

Neighboring frets on one string are always a semitone apart - that's the smallest unit of pitch on a guitar. An interval of two frets is a whole tone (two semitones), three frets is a tone and a half, and so on. Counting intervals physically is literally counting frets between two notes.

Names for the most common intervals

Every distance in semitones has its own name - here are the most commonly used:

• 0 semitones - unison (the same note).
• 3 semitones - minor third (sounds "minor", sad).
• 4 semitones - major third (sounds "major", bright).
• 5 semitones - perfect fourth.
• 7 semitones - perfect fifth (the most stable, "open" interval after the unison).
• 12 semitones - octave (the same note an octave higher).

A chord is several intervals from the root at once

A major chord (see the article on connecting chords and scales) is the root plus a major third plus a perfect fifth. A minor chord is the root plus a minor third plus a perfect fifth. The physical difference between major and minor is exactly one semitone, in exactly one interval - the third.

A power chord is an interval, not a chord in the full sense

A power chord (see the article on power chords) is only the root and the fifth - it has no third at all, which is why it has no major or minor color. It's literally a single interval (a fifth), not a full triad.

A scale is a sequence of intervals from the tonic

A major scale is one specific, always-the-same sequence of intervals from the tonic (see the article on CAGED for how that lays out on the neck): it's the order of major and minor intervals between neighboring degrees, not the notes themselves, that makes a scale major, minor, or pentatonic, for instance.