What are all the guitar strings notes?

To fully understand how to play the guitar and learn scales, you must learn the guitar string notes.  Take the time to really learn all the notes on the fretboard of the guitar.  It will help your guitar playing in the long run.  The good news is that it is not all that hard to learn!   Just follow along with this lesson, and you will learn all the guitar strings and notes.  Take 10 minutes each day when you practice the guitar to go through the notes on the fretboard.

All Guitar String Notes

When learning the guitar strings and notes, one easy way to learn is by grouping the guitar notes for each string.   Start with A, B, and C and find all of the combinations of A, B, and C notes on the fretboard.  Then work through C, D, and E and work through all of the combinations.  If you practice this every day, you will find that you can find all the guitar string notes quickly.

Then to master specific scales and chords, you can check out individual pages such as our G Major Scale Guitar and B Major Chord pages.

Notes of the Open Guitar Strings

Let’s start with the guitar’s open string notes – we will use the standard tuning open strings.  The open strings on the guitar left to right are (see below): E-A-D-G-B-E.  The E string on the left is the thickest and is generally labeled as the sixth string.

The easiest way to remember the guitar strings is with the mnemonic Elephants, And Donkeys Grow Big Ears.

The natural notes on the guitar’s neck are the letters A through G.  We will start with the low E string.  It is easiest to start with the low E (sixth string) and the A (fifth string) when learning the guitar notes because every note is relative to E and A.

Notes on The Neck of The Guitar

Guitarists measure the distance between notes or pitches with intervals called whole steps and half steps.  The distance between notes on the guitar is a half-step.  On the guitar, this is one fret.  Two half steps are a whole step, which is two frets.

Whole notes are two frets apart except between B-C and E-F, which are half steps. The easiest way to remember this is with the mnemonic Be Cool Every Friday.  Every other natural note is a whole step – that is, C-D-E and F-G-A-B.

Below, see the notes on the low E, sixth string.  The open note is E, which is the root of the E Chord.  You will notice that the distance between E and F and B and C are half steps.

Understand Sharps and Flats

What is a flat note?  A flat note is one-half step lower or one fret lower than the natural note on the guitar’s fretboard.  For example, B♭ will be the sixth fret on the sixth string (low E), which is one fret lower than the natural note of B.

What is a sharp note? A sharp note is one-half step higher or one fret higher than the natural note on the guitar.  For example, G♯ is on the fourth fret of the sixth string and is one fret higher than G which is the third fret of the sixth string.

How do you know whether the note is sharp or flat?  With some guitar string notes, they look the same – right?  That is true. A♯ is the same as B♭ , and  G♯ can also be A♭.  Whether a note is sharp or flat is relative to the key of the scale.  The scale will dictate whether a note is sharp or flat.   When you see either note, you know it is between G and A or between A and B.  What is important is to learn where A and B are on the fretboard.

Notes on the E String

Focus your learning by first learning the natural notes on the neck of the guitar.  On the E String (above), the F note is the first fret (half step from E), the G note is on the third fret, the A note is on the fifth fret, the B note is on the seventh fret, the C note is on the eighth fret (half step from B), the D note is on the 10th fret, and then we are one octave higher on the E note on the twelfth fret.  Knowing where these notes are on the sixth string will help you learn the rest of the fretboard.

Notes on the A String

Taking a look at the A string below, we can make some crucial associations.

• The open A string is the root note of the A chord.
• The third fret of the A string is the root of the C chord.
• The open A string is the same note as the fifth fret of the low E string. If you play the low E on the fifth fret, the string should sound exactly the same as the open A.  Why is this important?  For tuning purposes.
• The seventh fret of the A string is one octave from the open E string.
• The 12^th fret of the A string is the octave of the open string (on all strings.)

Notes on the D String

Taking a look at the D string below, we can make more associations.

• The open D string is the root note of the D chord.
• The third fret of the A string is the root of the C chord.
• The open D string is the same note as the fifth fret of the A string. If you play the A on the fifth fret, the string should sound like the open D.
• Notice the octaves on the E string and the D string. The second fret of the D string is one octave above the open E string.  Again, notice how the octaves continue up the D string.  You will see this octave on the A note as well.  Try playing these notes as it will sound very familiar.

Notes on the G, B, and E Strings

Lastly, we can look at G, B, and E strings, and we can make some relationships.

• The second fret of the G is an octave above the open A string. It is beneficial to know the octaves.  You can see the same octave association between A and G strings as you do with E and D.
• The fourth fret on the G string is the same note as the open B string. The relationship between the B note and the B string is one fret up from the other connections.
• The low E and the high E (first string) are the same notes.