Guitar Today

The above example shows a color coded diagram of the notes on the guitar fretboard. When the color changes it means the notes are available on the next string.

The key to mastery of the guitar fretboard is in knowing the notes on each string. The fastest way to knowing the fretboard is by learning the notes on each string up to the fifth fret and learning the pattern in which the notes will reappear in as you continue your way up the neck.

In the following series of strings you will see the notes that are unique to each string. The notes appear in other place but they are the first five notes on each guitar string before they begin to repeat themselves.

• The notes on the 1st E string: E-F-Fb-G-Gb-A
• The notes on the 2nd B string:B-C-Cb-D-Db-E
• The notes on the 3rd G string:G-Gb-A-Ab-B-C
• The notes on the 4th D string:D-Db-E-F-Fb-G
• The notes on the  5th A string:A-Ab-B-C-Cb-D
• The notes on the 6th E string: See first.

From looking at the above example you will no doubt notice that the musical notes appear in alphabetical order as they go down the fretboard.

Once you arrive at the first fret, you are able to determine what the next note is by:

A: Counting the number of frets past the fifth you are and determining what note it would be on the next string

-or-

B: Continuing through the alphabet and the sharps in your head and remembering to restart at five (skipping one each for E and B)

It takes a little practice, but soon you will be able to master the fretboard and instinctively know which note comes next no matter where you are playing.

The key to mastering and memorizing the fretboard is knowing the individual notes on each guitar string. Once you have memorized the first five notes on the fretboard for a given string, it is a matter of simple mathematics to determine what notes are next as they repeat throughout the neck.

When a guitar is tuned to the C STANDARD tuning, The notes on the first e string coincide with the notes on the 6th E string. Making this something of a double lesson. In our lessons on chords, we had a look at major and minor chords. There are no major and minor notes. There are only sharp and flat notes. A flat is usually just referred to by its’ letter name (i.e. - E flat would just be called E)

We already know the first note on the open E string is an E. So that is taken care of. Place your finger on the first fret and pluck the (1st or 6th) string. If your guitar is in tune and you have your fingers positioned properly, you have just played an F note. You may notice that in the alphabet, F comes after E. Same goes for a guitar fretboard.

The note on the second fret is F sharp. This is the first sharp you will have encountered on your journey up the fretboard. The same applies to G on the third and fourth frets. Third fret - G, fourth fret G - sharp.

The fifth fret is your tuning fret. When you reach this fret you are at the end of the line and will be starting over. The fifth fret is your A note. You have now covered the notes on the first and sixth string. The next notes all appear on other strings. Although it also continues down the fretboard of the E strings in the sequence: 6th fret - A sharp, 7th fret - B, 8th fret - C (there is no B sharp), 9th fret - C sharp, 10th fret- D, 11th fret - D sharp, 12th fret - E , 13th fret - refer back to first fret for this note

This sequence is the same for all of the guitar strings and remains constant from one end of the fretboard to the other.

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