Note in an octave

[Susan Kline]

>Ah, yes,
>  But the customer quizzically looks at me and says, "So the distance from G
>to A is the same as from E to F?"
>
>What is the easy way to get this nomenclature explained to the non musically
>educated?
>Regards,
>Ed

You say, "the scale has half steps and whole steps." Then you show them 
that behind the nameboard all the keys look alike, whether they are black 
or white in front of the nameboard. You say that each piano key is a half 
step from its neighbors on either side. Then you say that the major scale 
(you can say "the most common scale") has two whole steps and a half step, 
then three whole steps and a half step ... and that is why the scale sounds 
like a scale, and why the black kays come in groups of two and three.

By this time, they don't feel like asking any more questions, and you can 
finish the tuning.

Susan