Guitar fretboard notes
Every note on every string of the guitar, from the nut to the twelfth fret. With the rules for finding them, and a table: which note lies where.
The chart
Natural notes filled, sharps as rings. Every sharp has a flat name too: F♯ is G♭, A♯ is B♭.
The open strings
From the lowest string to the highest: E – A – D – G – B – E. The mnemonic: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.
Four rules for learning the fretboard
Semitone or whole tone
Between E and F and between B and C lies one fret, between all other neighbours two. Knowing that, you can count on from any open string.
The twelfth fret is the octave
At the twelfth fret every string sounds an octave above the open string — after that the chart repeats. So twelve frets are all you need to know.
The fifth fret is the next string
At the fifth fret a string sounds the note of the next open string — except on the G string, where it is the fourth fret, because the B string is only a major third away. That is how a guitar is tuned to itself.
Octaves lie two strings over
From the E and A strings: two strings up and two frets up is the same note an octave higher. From the D and G strings it is three frets, because the B string lies in between.
Which note lies where
| Note | String and fret |
|---|---|
| C | ②1 · ⑤3 · ③5 · ①8 · ⑥8 · ④10 |
| C# | ②2 · ⑤4 · ③6 · ①9 · ⑥9 · ④11 |
| D | ④0 · ②3 · ⑤5 · ③7 · ①10 · ⑥10 · ④12 |
| D# | ④1 · ②4 · ⑤6 · ③8 · ①11 · ⑥11 |
| E | ①0 · ⑥0 · ④2 · ②5 · ⑤7 · ③9 · ①12 · ⑥12 |
| F | ①1 · ⑥1 · ④3 · ②6 · ⑤8 · ③10 |
| F# | ①2 · ⑥2 · ④4 · ②7 · ⑤9 · ③11 |
| G | ③0 · ①3 · ⑥3 · ④5 · ②8 · ⑤10 · ③12 |
| G# | ③1 · ①4 · ⑥4 · ④6 · ②9 · ⑤11 |
| A | ⑤0 · ③2 · ①5 · ⑥5 · ④7 · ②10 · ⑤12 |
| A# | ⑤1 · ③3 · ①6 · ⑥6 · ④8 · ②11 |
| B | ②0 · ⑤2 · ③4 · ①7 · ⑥7 · ④9 · ②12 |
Strings are counted from the player’s side: ① is the highest, ⑥ the lowest. In »⑤3« the circle is the string and the number is the fret; »0« is the open string.
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Anotona does this for you
Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.
See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.