Learn the Guitar notes

In order to learn chords, riffs, and songs, you will have to know the names of the notes of the guitar.  This is an annoyance, but it is something that every guitar player must eventually do.

The fingerboard of the guitar and the names of the notes of the guitar are not so mysterious, once you learn to recognize the patterns.  Essentially, the notes move upward, in alphabetical order, from the head toward the body, until you arrive at G, then they start over again with the letter A. Easy enough, right?  Not so fast.  There are a couple of wrinkles in this otherwise straight forward pattern.  For example, some of the letter notes or 'naturals' as they are sometimes called, have other notes in between them called 'sharps' or 'flats.'  For example, the notes named 'A' and 'B' have a note in between them called 'A sharp/B flat.'  'Sharp' just means 'one half step higher', and 'flat' just means 'one half step lower.'  A half step is just one fret.  Thus the note 'A sharp' is one fret higher than the 'A' note.

All the notes in ascending 'chromatic' order (From lowest to highest) starting from A, look like this:

A
A sharp/B flat
B
C
C sharp / D flat
D
D sharp / E flat
E
F
F sharp / G flat
G
G sharp / A flat

And repeat.

Notice that they are in alphabetical order, but some (not all) notes have sharps and flats between them.

Once you know this information, all you need to know in order to figure out every note of the fretboard is the names of the open string notes.  The string that is closest to your mouth when you play is called the low E string.  It is called the low E string because it is the lowest string and because the note that you play when you play it is an 'E.'  Below are the names of each of the strings:

E – the low E string, also known as the 6th string
A – 5th
D – 4th
G – 3rd
B – 2nd
E – 1st

To have all of this information really sink in, study the two pictures below. One image is that of a guitar, which has the names of the notes printed on stickers placed on the frets. The other is simply a helpful diagram. Read over the information, above, and compare it with what you see in the pictures, below, until it all starts to make sense. If you like, you can purchase stickers similar to those show in the image below from Fret Daddy here. Fret daddy manufacturer removable fret stickers for guitar and bass. Stickers can be an amazing tool for learning guitar.

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Notes of the Guitar - Diagram:

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