Learning where all the notes on the fretboard are can be a daunting task, but it is a crucial skill for any guitarist. You will have a deeper understanding of the notes and chords you play if you first learn the placement of all of the notes on the fretboard. It also makes it easy to communicate musical ideas with other people that play music.
Notes on the fretboard: open strings
The guitar has six strings, and each string is named after the note it produces when played open. From lowest to highest, the notes of the open strings are (from low – thick to high – thin) E, A, D, G, B, and E.
To understand how the remainder of the notes work on the fretboard, we first have to understand how note names are related to each other. There are 7 note names that continue, in pattern, in both directions to infinity – F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C etc.
We can measure the audible difference in notes by what we call “half-steps” and “whole-steps” – a half-step being the smallest distance between any two of those notes listed above, and a whole-step being the distance of two half steps.
There are two sets of notes that have a half-step distance – B to C and E to F. The remainder of the notes that are adjacent to each other are a whole-step distance- A to B, C to D, D to E, F to G, G to A. The important thing to remember is that all the intervals of adjacent notes are whole steps except for B to C and E to F, which are half-steps. Still with me? – Keep reading below!
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Each fret on the guitar represents a one half step, so we can easily learn the notes on the thickest string, the low E string. E is the note played on the open string (think open as fret 0), play one half step higher to plat F by playing fret 1. G is a whole step above from F, so that will be two frets – to play G, play fret 3. A is a whole step from G, fret 5. A whole step from A is B, fret 7. B to C is the other half step, so we will only go up one fret to fret 8. A whole step up from C is D, fret 10. And a whole step up from D brings us to the 12th fret, E. The 12th fret, typically marked by double dots or some other inlay, is the octave from the open string. In other words, if the open string is E, the 12th fret is the next highest sounding E.
Now that you learned the note placement on the low E string, apply it to the high E string (thinnest string). You’ll find the same note placement and that you’ve learned 2/6 of the notes on the strings. Work your way inward by learning the A string and B strings, and then the D and G strings.
Take your time learning the notes on the fretboard and it will pay off. By memorizing the placement of each note on the guitar fretboard, you can quickly identify and play any note, which is crucial for learning songs and improvising. With practice, knowing the notes and playing the guitar can become second nature, and you’ll be able to express yourself musically in no time.
Interested in learning how to read music as well? Check out our article on reading notes on the treble and bass clef! Click here to read the article!