The musical alphabet should be like second nature to us by now, having a strong grasp of the notes of music helps with soloing, reading chord charts and sheet music, transcribing, ear training, and a whole host of other things.

So lets get our alphabet up to scratch by reciting some basic patterns…

Ascending and descending 2nds

ABCDEFGA – AGFEDCBA

3rds –

ACEGBDFA – AFDBGECA

4ths –

ADGCFBEA

5ths

AEBFCGDA

Practice these as many ways as possible, you should be able to jump in and out of patterns at any point.

The following are more advanced and are not essential before moving on

What other alphabetical patterns are worth vocalising?

How about the cycle of 5ths

C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-B-E-A-D-G-C

How about the order of sharps or flats?

Sharp order = F#,C#,G#,D#,A#,E#

Flat order = Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb

The order of sharps or flats represent the pattern with which we introduce them to move around the cycle of fifths

or what about saying scales up and downs?

or reading a chord chart and spelling the chords?

This will open up a whole world of improvisation!

A special thank you goes to my first teacher, Jamie Glaser, for the inspiration behind this lesson.