Guitar & music
Guitar fretboard notes
Get familiar with the notes beneath your fingers, one string and one fret at a time.
A short companion guide
A guitar neck looks less mysterious when you know where to begin. Start with the six open strings, then follow the small steps that connect one note to the next. This short guide gives you a few landmarks to return to alongside the listening lesson.
Begin with the open strings
In standard tuning, the strings run E, A, D, G, B, E from the lowest pitch to the highest. Both outer strings are called E, but they sound two octaves apart. Say the names slowly before moving to the frets.
One fret, one small step
Each fret raises a string's pitch by one semitone. On the low E string, the first fret is F, the third is G, and the fifth is A. At the twelfth fret, you reach E again, one octave above the open string.
Try it when you have a guitar nearby
Choose one string. Play it open, find the note at the twelfth fret, and listen to the relationship. Then pick one nearby note and name it before you play it. A small, deliberate practice is a useful companion to repeated listening.
Explore a little further
The tuning reference supports the open-string sequence. Fret examples follow from standard tuning and semitone steps. These are original companion notes, not a transcript of the video.
