Notes on the guitar

Notes are the alphabet of the guitar. Once you know which note is on every string and fret, you stop memorizing shapes and start understanding what you play. This lesson is short: read it, explore the fretboard and practice for a few minutes.

The seven natural notes

Music uses only seven note names: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. After B, the cycle starts again at C, over and over, each time higher. These are the natural notes, the white keys of the piano.

In Spanish and other Latin languages they are called Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La and Si (C = Do, D = Re, E = Mi, F = Fa, G = Sol, A = La, B = Si). You will see both systems in sheet music and on websites.

The twelve notes: sharps and flats

Between most natural notes there is another note in the middle. A natural note raised by a half step takes a sharp (#); lowered by a half step, a flat (b). Between C and D, for example, is C#, which can also be called Db: the same note with two names. These are the black keys of the piano.

In total there are 12 different notes: the 7 naturals and 5 more with a sharp or a flat, each with two possible names. Between E and F, and between B and C, there is no note in between: they are already a half step apart. Since each fret raises the pitch by a half step, on one string there are 2 frets between two natural notes, except from E to F and from B to C, where there is 1.

Standard tuning

The six open strings, from the 6th (the thickest and lowest) to the 1st (the highest), sound E – A – D – G – B – E. This is standard tuning.

At the 12th fret the notes repeat

At the 12th fret every string sounds the same note as when open, one octave higher. From there the fretboard repeats the same pattern: fret 13 behaves like fret 1, fret 14 like fret 2, and so on. That is why it is enough to learn frets 0 to 12.

Explore the fretboard

This is the fretboard with all its notes. Start with the naturals; turn on “All notes” to see the sharps or the flats too. Tap a note and all of its positions are highlighted.

Where to start: the 6th and 5th strings

It is best to learn the notes on the 6th and 5th strings first. They are the roots of barre chord shapes: the E shape has its root on the 6th string and the A shape on the 5th. The name of the chord is the note where you place the barre: the E shape with the barre on fret 3 is a G chord, because G is the note on the 6th string at fret 3.

See it in these viewer examples: F major, with the barre on fret 1 of the 6th string (which is F), and B minor, with the barre on fret 2 of the 5th string (which is B).

Practice

A position on the fretboard is marked and you have to name the note. Start with strings 6 and 5, the most useful ones. Every correct answer adds to your streak; a mistake resets it.