WHy is a 5th in music not five notes apart?

1.02K views

I have played drums and guitar for 25 years and never “got into” music theory. I know what sounds good and play that but I never learned the names or theory behind it.

Why is a 5th not 5 notes apart? On a keyboard it’s any where from 4 white keysto 8 total keys? Why is there not uniformity or consistency?

In: 0

11 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A fifth is called that because it’s the fifth scale degree in a major scale. The fifth of any note is always seven semitones (frets) higher. On a guitar, because most strings are tuned a fourth apart, an open string and the second fret on the next string are a fifth apart (0 on the G string and 3 on the B is the only exception because B is only a third above G).

You are viewing 1 out of 11 answers, click here to view all answers.