Guitar fretboard notes: learn every note on the neck
Knowing the notes on the neck by name is what turns shapes into music: it names the chords you play, shows where a song's key sits and lets you find a melody anywhere. It's also less to learn than it looks: seven note names, two strings to start with, and a handful of shapes that carry them across the rest.
The trainer below quizzes you one string or several at a time, and keeps your score for each string in this browser, so you can see which ones you know. Under it are a chart of every note and the method, step by step.
The trainer
The trainer runs in your browser and needs JavaScript. The chart and the method below work without it.
Every note on the fretboard
The natural notes, in standard tuning, from the open strings to the 12th fret, with the high E string on top as in tab. The sharps and flats sit on the frets between them: the fret above a note is its sharp, the fret below its flat.
| String | Open | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High E | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E |
| B | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B |
| G | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G |
| D | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D |
| A | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A |
| Low E | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E |
How to learn the notes on the fretboard
Start with the natural notes
The natural notes are A, B, C, D, E, F and G, the white keys of a piano. On the guitar most of them are two frets apart. The exceptions are B to C and E to F, which are one fret apart. Learn that rule and you can work out any string from its open note.
Learn the two low strings first
The low E and A strings name the roots of most chords you'll play: power chords, barre chords and the open chords all sit on them. Learn their natural notes up to the 12th fret, then test yourself on them alone until the answers come without counting.
Use the landmarks
The 12th fret is the open string again, an octave higher, so everything above it repeats. The 5th fret of each string is the next string's open note (the 4th on the G string). The dots at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets are the places to know first; count from them, not from the nut.
Carry the names with octave shapes
From a note on the low E or A string, the same note an octave higher is two strings up and two frets higher. From the D or G string it's two strings up and three frets higher, as the B string is tuned a fret lower. Know the low strings and the octave shapes, and you can find any note on the others.
The high E is the low E
Both E strings have the same notes at the same frets, two octaves apart. Learning one teaches the other, which leaves the D, G and B strings, and the octave shapes cover those.
A little every day
Five minutes with the trainer at the start of a practice session beats an hour once a week. Say the names out loud as you play anything: scales, riffs, chords. The more often a name and a place meet, the faster they stick.
Exercises that teach the notes
- Notes on the low E stringSay each note's name out loud as you play it; B to C and E to F are a fret apart, every other step two.
- Notes on the A stringSay the names as you play; the same note on the low E string sits five frets higher than on the A.
- Octave shapesTwo strings up and two frets higher, then two up and three higher past the B string; mute the strings in between.
- Find every C and GLook a beat ahead: find the next C or G while this one rings. The octave shapes get you there fastest.
- C major, open positionFingers 1, 2 and 3 for frets 1, 2 and 3; each note rings until the next.
- Scales on the neckAny scale in any key across the whole fretboard.
- All fundamentals exercisesWarm-ups, the fretboard, scales, triads and rhythm.
Questions
How long does it take to learn the fretboard?
A few weeks for the low E and A strings at five minutes a day, and a few months for the whole neck to come without thinking. Short daily sessions work far better than long ones: the names have to come back to you many times before they stick.
Do I need to learn every note on every string?
Start with the natural notes on the two low strings, which name most chords' roots. The high E string is the same as the low one. With the octave shapes, the rest follows from those, and the sharps and flats are simply the frets in between.
Why are there two names for some notes?
A sharp raises a note by a fret and a flat lowers it by one, so the fret between F and G is both F♯ and G♭. Which name is used depends on the key a song is in. The trainer accepts either.
Why do E and F have no fret between them?
Because the natural notes aren't evenly spaced. Between most of them there are two frets, a whole step, but between B and C and between E and F there's one, a half step. On a piano these are the places with no black key between the white ones.
What are the dots on the neck for?
They mark the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets so you can find your place at a glance. Learn the notes at those frets first, on every string, and use them as landmarks to count from.