A chart of every note from the open strings to fret 12, plus a game that teaches them string by string. Name the note, or find every spot it lives. Free, no signup.
Shaded dots are sharps/flats (two names, one fret). After fret 12 everything repeats. How to remember it ↓
Standard tuning, from the thickest string to the thinnest, is E A D G B E ("Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie"). Each fret raises the pitch by a half step, so moving up one string you pass through all 12 notes and arrive back at the open note, an octave higher, at fret 12. Learn frets 0–12 and you know the whole neck.
| String | Natural notes, open to fret 12 |
|---|---|
| High E | E (0) · F (1) · G (3) · A (5) · B (7) · C (8) · D (10) · E (12) |
| B | B (0) · C (1) · D (3) · E (5) · F (6) · G (8) · A (10) · B (12) |
| G | G (0) · A (2) · B (4) · C (5) · D (7) · E (9) · F (10) · G (12) |
| D | D (0) · E (2) · F (3) · G (5) · A (7) · B (9) · C (10) · D (12) |
| A | A (0) · B (2) · C (3) · D (5) · E (7) · F (8) · G (10) · A (12) |
| Low E | E (0) · F (1) · G (3) · A (5) · B (7) · C (8) · D (10) · E (12) |
Notice the gaps: E to F and B to C sit on neighbouring frets, because they're only a half step apart. Every other pair of natural notes is two frets apart, with a sharp/flat in between. Those two short gaps are the whole trick to counting along a string.
Most barre chords and power chords take their name from a root note on the low E string or the A string. Know those two strings and you can find any chord shape in any key. That's why the game's first three levels are low E, A, then both together. The high E string has exactly the same notes as the low E, two octaves up, so you get it free.
The same note appears two strings higher and two frets up: G at fret 3 on low E is also G at fret 5 on the D string. When the jump lands on the B or high E string (D→B, G→high E), add one more fret: three frets up instead of two, because the G and B strings are tuned a major third apart rather than a fourth. Low E and high E share every note at the same fret.
The fretboard also maps neatly onto keys: the interactive circle of fifths shows which sharps and flats each key uses. For reading notes on the staff, try the note-reading games; for keyboard players, there's piano notes.
In standard tuning: E, A, D, G, B, E, from the thickest (lowest) string to the thinnest (highest). "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie" is a common way to remember the order. The two E strings are two octaves apart.
Learn the low E and A strings first, since they hold the roots of most barre and power chords. Use landmarks (the open string, fret 5, and fret 12, which repeats the open string an octave up), then octave shapes to carry those notes to the D, G, B and high E strings. Practise a little every day.
The same note as the open string, one octave higher: E on the low E string, A on the A string, and so on. Above fret 12 the whole pattern repeats, so frets 0–12 cover the entire neck.
E–F and B–C are a half step apart, and one fret is a half step, so they sit on neighbouring frets. Every other pair of natural notes is a whole step (two frets) apart, with a sharp/flat on the fret between.
On the low E, A, D and B strings, fret 5 gives the next higher open string: A, D, G and E respectively. The exception is the G string, where fret 4 gives B. Guitarists use it to tune by ear, and it's a handy landmark for finding notes.
Low E at the bottom, high E at the top, headstock on the left. That matches tab and the view looking down at the neck while you play. In the game you can flip the strings or switch to a left-handed neck.
Knowing where notes are is half of it. Fifths is an ear-training app that teaches you to hear them: higher or lower, intervals, scale degrees and melodies, in short daily sessions that focus on what you miss.
Try Fifths free →