Guitar · Chapter 13 of 23
Notes on the Neck
Every fret is one half step. Once you know that, and where the natural notes are, you can find any note on the guitar.
Music uses seven letter names, A B C D E F G, and then starts again. Between most of them is a whole step (two frets); between B and C and between E and F there is only a half step (one fret).
The natural notes in first position
Here are all the natural notes (no sharps or flats) in the first three frets. Press any of them. On your guitar, play each string from open to the 3rd fret and say the names.
| String | Open | 1st fret | 2nd fret | 3rd fret |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 (E) | E | F | G | |
| 5 (A) | A | B | C | |
| 4 (D) | D | E | F | |
| 3 (G) | G | A | ||
| 2 (B) | B | C | D | |
| 1 (E) | E | F | G |
Sharps and flats
The frets in between are sharps and flats. One fret higher than a note is its sharp (♯); one fret lower is its flat (♭). So string 6 at the 2nd fret is F♯, which is the same sound as G♭.
At the 12th fret (the double dot) every string starts over, one octave higher: the notes repeat the open strings.
Octaves
An octave is the same note, higher. Two quick ways to find one: two strings higher and two frets up (string 6 open E and string 4 at the 2nd fret, E), or twelve frets up the same string.
Tab and notation together
The song pages show both: standard notation on top (with the small 8 under the clef, because guitar music is written an octave above how it sounds) and tab below. Notation tells you exactly which note and how long; tab tells you where to play it. Here is a G major scale, one octave, in both:
Remember
- One fret = a half step; two frets = a whole step.
- B–C and E–F are half steps; all other neighbors are whole steps.
- The 12th fret is the octave of the open string.