In this first article of a series on guitar theory today we’re going to learn the notes of the guitar’s fretboard and explain how this relates to scales and chords.
For example, F comes directly after E on the fretboard. With this in mind, anywhere we find E, the next fret higher will be an F regardless of the string or position we are playing on the neck.
If we learn the order the notes are assembled on the guitar’s fretboard, we can then navigate the notes of the fretboard, which over time will lead to memorization of the fretboard. The first step to achieving this is to learn ‘the chromatic scale’, a simple scale that anyone can quickly learn containing all the notes used in western music.
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The frequency (e.g. pitch) of a note is measured in Hertz (Hz). Hertz indicates the number of vibrations or completed soundwaves per second. Simply put the higher the frequency the higher the pitch.
The human ear can hear sound anywhere between 20 and 20, 000Hz. This is broken down into 10 octaves, with each octave consisting of the notes found in the chromatic scale above. Interestingly, the human ear recognizes the same notes in higher or lower octaves as they are harmonically related. This is how the brain interprets sound.
Western music consists of 12 individual notes within an octave. What this really means is our musical system is built on the basis that an octave is divided into 12 specific pitches. This is referred to as 12 tone equal temperament and is the musical system used in the western world.
How Many Notes Are On A Guitar
The guitar’s fretboard for example is laid out as a 12 tone scale consisting of 12 frets. The scale then repeats, as indicated by the inclusion of two fret markers at the 12th fret on most guitars. This is why guitar fretboard charts usually only show 12 frets.
While the chromatic scale is technically a scale it is unlike other scales as it contains all available notes, and isn’t particularly useful for composing music.
It depends on how many frets the guitar has. Many acoustic guitars feature 20 frets, so 20 X 6 (strings) = 120 notes, meaning each note of the Chromatic scale is repeated ten times across the neck. As many electric guitars feature 21+ frets the number is greater.
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Remembering the order of notes from A through to G is a relatively simple task. However as there are 12 notes in the chromatic scale and only 7 letters from A through to G, there must be additional notes. These are known as accidentals aka sharps (♯) or flats (♭).
Remembering which notes are separated by accidentals and which are not is key to learning the notes of the fretboard. All other notes e.g. A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are ‘natural notes’.
As you can see in the example scale above, the first scale includes notes marked with a ♯(sharp). The scale below however includes notes marked with a b (flat) in the same place the sharps were found on the previous example.
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If we raise the pitch of the A in our example chromatic scale by one fret on the guitar we would raise the pitch to either an A♯ or B♭ as both are of equal value, however generally when ascending up a scale we use sharps and when descending we use flats.
The best way to explain why there are no sharps or flats between B and C or E and F is due to the development of our current musical system and how it has evolved over time. Scales were first created from the 7 natural notes: a, b, c, d, e, f, g. Because, over time a 12 tone system was developed, a 7 note scale is unable to be distributed evenly within this system. Essentially if all the natural notes had an accidental between them as this would result in 14 notes.
For the record, almost all musical systems work much the same way, but how the octave is divided is the main point of difference between different cultures with regard to music. While our system isn’t perfect, If you consider a piano keyboard and the way the keys are laid out. If there was a black key for every white key it would be difficult for the pianist to orientate with where they are on the keyboard.
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On the guitar’s fretboard, this means the open string (1st string E in the example below) is the same note as the 12th fret (E). The distance between the two notes is an octave.
Guitars with 24 frets (mostly electric guitars) span four octaves. Alternatively, acoustic guitars usually have 20 frets, so span 3 octaves, and 8 notes from the next highest octave. Classical guitars have 19 frets, so the fretboard covers 3 octaves and 7 notes from the next highest octave.
You can test this yourself by plucking the lowest note on your guitar, the open 6th string E, and then finding E in the next highest octave, and so on until you run out of frets.
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As there are 10 octaves within the range of human hearing (20Hz – 1200Hz) it can be confusing when referring to notes within a specific octave.
Scientific pitch notation uses numbers to identify the different octaves. For example, the 6th string low E on your guitar is actually named E2, meaning it is within the 2nd octave.
On the guitar, C4 can be found 5 times across a guitar’s fretboard, with the exception of a 19 fret classical guitar. The diagram below shows three C4 (middle C) notes within the first 12 frets of the guitar, compared to a standard piano keyboard.
Guitar String Notes
Notice, that despite the piano having 7 octaves, compared to 4 the guitar fretboard has more multiple instances of C4 while the piano does not.
When we move up in pitch 1 note e.g. F to F♯ we are raising the pitch of the note by a half step or semitone. Both names represent the same musical distance between notes with half and whole steps being used predominantly in American English and tones and semitones being more often used in British English.
The distance between notes is referred to as an interval, which we’ll discuss in more detail shortly as they are a very important component of music. On the guitar’s fretboard, a semitone, much like an octave is an interval between two adjacent frets.
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We’ve already discussed octaves and whole and halftones, which are intervals that represent the ‘musical distance’ between two notes. However, there are intervals to represent the distance between every possible note combination, which I have listed below.
*There is also an interval name given to notes of the same value ‘unison‘, because two notes can be played in different positions on the guitar neck, for example, a 5th fret 6th string A and the open A 5th string below it.
Keep in mind while we are referencing the ‘musical distance’ between frets in the chart above as this article is specific to the guitar, intervals actually refer to the ‘musical distance’ between notes. With this in mind, a minor second for example can either be 1 fret apart on the guitar fretboard or 13 apart as after 12 frets, the chromatic scale repeats.
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Intervals are useful for developing an understanding of the guitar fretboard and the relationship between notes in scales and chords especially. They also help develop your ear with regard to identifying chords and notes.
When notes are played sequentially this interval is known as a melodic interval. If played at the same time e.g. as part of a chord, it is known as a harmonic interval.
While learning the correct order of notes is key to learning the guitar fretboard, there are some useful hacks I’ve either been shown or discovered over the years that will help you develop those reference points for notes we discussed earlier in this article.
Learning The Notes On The Fretboard
The first place to start when it comes to learning all notes on the guitar is the open strings. From the lowest to the highest the notes are E, A, D, G, B, and E.
Students often use naming conventions to learn musical notes e.g. the notes found on the lines of a standard musical staff are E, G, B, D, and F which can be used as follows:
You may prefer to come up with something more memorable for your own requirements e.g. The Easter Bunny Gets Drunk at Easter, or Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie. In any case, using an acronym in this way can be a good way to quickly retain the notes of the guitar neck.
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We guitarists tend to be in a rush when it comes to learning new things. If you can build a foundation by focusing on just the notes of the low E string (the thickest string) first, you can then apply the same logic to the high E string as the notes on both the high and low E string are exactly the same.
Learning the notes of the low E string first is also very useful when
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