How do octaves work / how many octaves are there on a guitar?

An octave is simply the musical distance between two notes of the same name. It is equal to 12 half steps. That means that on a guitar, an octave is equal to 12 frets. Obviously, there are going to be multiple ways to play octaves on the guitar (as most notes on the guitar can be played on more than one string). Play the open low E, then the 7th fret of the A string... that's an octave. The 2nd fret of the D string is the same note, so it's another way to play that same octave. The two E strings on your guitar are tuned two octaves apart.

An octave is simply the musical distance between two notes of the same name. It is equal to 12 half steps. That means that on a guitar, an octave is equal to 12 frets. Obviously, there are going to be multiple ways to play octaves on the guitar (as most notes on the guitar can be played on more than one string). Play the open low E, then the 7th fret of the A string... that's an octave. The 2nd fret of the D string is the same note, so it's another way to play that same octave. The two E strings on your guitar are tuned two octaves apart.

Every pitch has a specific rate of vibration. If you take any particular pitch and double its rate of vibration, you are playing that note one octave higher. Likewise, if you decrease the rate of vibration by exactly one-half you reproduce that note an octave lower. What does that mean on the guitar? Well, assuming your guitar is in standard tuning, and you play the first string (the skinniest one) without pressing down on any fret, you'd be playing an E note. Now, if you go up on that same string and play the twelfth fret, you'd be playing an E again, only this time it would be one octave higher. Let's take another note. Play the SIXTH string, THIRD fret. This is a G note. Now, go to the FOURTH string and play the FIFTH fret. This is also a G note, except that it's one octave higher. There are twelve notes in music. They are "divided" into two groups - the "naturals" and the "accidentals." There are seven naturals. They are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G The are five accidentals, and they are found "in between" the naturals. They are named depending on how you look at them. For example, take the note between A and B. You can either call it an A-sharp (written as A#) or a B-flat (written as B♭). The five accidentals are: A#(B♭), C#(D♭), D#(E♭) F#,(G♭) and G#(A♭) (If you notice, there is no accidental between either B-C and E-F. There is no such thing as a "B-sharp/C-Flat," or an "E-sharp/F-flat." Unless you plan on reading music, don't worry to much about it.) The prefix in the word octave, "octo-," means "eight." There is a simple reason for this. The major scale is the foundation of all western music. If you take all the twelve notes in existence and put them in order, you have what's known as the CHROMATIC SCALE. And, if you start on ANY ONE of these notes and follow a specific pattern, you can derive the notes of the major scale for that particular key. (If you don't know much music theory, don't worry about that stuff for now, though.) The major scale has SEVEN notes. If you go back to the chromatic scale and choose C as your starting note and follow the pattern, you will end up with the C Major Scale, which is: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. That last C, the "eight" note of the scale, is actually the first note of the next octave of the C Major Scale. (Amazon.com has plenty of music theory books specifically for guitarists.They might be of help.)

Hey, I say keep it (more) simple enough for the beginners when they ask around here. Okay? We don't want to discourage or bore them. Really, an obvious basic question.

These days you can learn how to play guitar over the internet. Check out Mark McKenzie's guitar video lessons here: http://www.jamoramaguitar.com The videos are very easy to follow and to my surprise extremely helpful even for advanced guitar players. For beginners I would have to say this is a gold mine. I was able to improve my skills in just under 4 weeks and I am an intermediate-to-advanced guitar player; I've been playing guitar for the past 6 years and I was on stage with my band a lot of times. I live in New York City, I wanted to go to a pro guitar teacher but that would have cost me over $1400 per month. Good thing with this internet, $1400 it's a lot of money for me. Good luck!

a 24-fret bass covers three octaves from low E to high E. A 25-fret bass and higher will cover 4 octaves.

Hey, I say keep it (more) simple enough for the beginners when they ask around here. Okay? We don't want to discourage or bore them. Really, an obvious basic question.