The octave
- C1
- C1
An octave is twelve semitones, from C to C. Inverted, with the lower note moved up an octave, it becomes the unison.
Its short name is P8. Counted in letters, it spans eight letter names.
The octave on 8-string guitar
On 8-string guitar, the octave is seven frets up and eight frets up when you cross to the next string, and twelve frets up along one string.
One pair of strings is the odd one out, because the gap between those two strings is different from the rest. Most players learn that exception as a rule of its own.
On the staff
On a treble staff, the two notes are written C and C.
The staff shows the two notes one after the other, then together. C to C spans eight letter names, which is what the interval's name counts. What you hear is a distance of twelve semitones.
On the keyboard
A keyboard makes this distance easy to see, where a fretboard hides it. The upper note is twelve keys along from the lower one, counting black and white keys alike.
C and C on the whole neck
16 notes are marked across eight strings.
This diagram marks both notes of the octave, C and C, everywhere they fall on 8-string guitar. You can find every pair shown above somewhere on it.
A octave above every note
| From | A octave up |
|---|---|
| C | C |
| D♭ | D♭ |
| D | D |
| E♭ | E♭ |
| E | E |
| F | F |
| F♯ | F♯ |
| G | G |
| A♭ | A♭ |
| A | A |
| B♭ | B♭ |
| B | B |
C–C, D♭–D♭, D–D, E♭–E♭, E–E, F–F, F♯–F♯, G–G, A♭–A♭, A–A, B♭–B♭, B–B
The shapes above do not change with the key, which is the reason to learn an interval as a shape. Only the note names change, and this table gives them for every starting note.