A Beginner’s Guide to Learn the Guitar Neck (+ Guitar Notes Chart Pdf and Notes Training Webapp)

• Guitar Fret Chart
• Guitar Fretboard Notes Diagram Pdf
• Guitar Fretboard Chart Pdf
• Guitar Fretboard Diagram Software
• Guitar Fretboard Diagram Software Mac Free
• Guitar Fretboard Diagram Software Mac And Cheese

Guitar Fret Chart

We, guitar players are one of a kind musicians. Often, we never bother to learn the notes of the guitar fretboard, but we keep relying on fixed chord shapes and scales patterns.

Jun 13, 2013 50+ videos Play all Mix - Neck Diagrams - MUST Have Software For Guitar Teachers - Mac & PC Program Review YouTube Neck Diagrams Software Review - Duration: 3:52. David Wallimann 15,950 views. Jun 16, 2020  Guitar Modes 1 Octave Diagrams. The fretboard diagram below shows you one way of playing a 2 octave major scale. The green circles show the root notes of the scale. Under the main diagram are the seven modes of the major scale. As you can see, they’re built using the same notes as those in the major scale. 2 Octave Major Scale Diagram. A fretboard map is similar to a chord block diagram, but is a more complete view of the entire fretboard from the players point of view. Fretboard map usually has the fret numbers of the frets where the dots are located on either the side of the guitar fretboard, or the top inlays on your guitar fretboard. So it's basically a corresponding image. Guitar Fretboard Notes Chart A better understanding of how the fretboard notes work. T he guitar fretboard notes as confusing as they appear to a new guitar student actually have some logic to them. That's what this page will be all about. The logic behind the Guitar fretboard notes.

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Saxophonists, pianists and other musicians usually do their homework and perfectly know where the notes are on the instrument. This makes them able to apply music theory, sight-reading , and being more complete musicians.

And why we guitarists should we not do the same? On this page, you're going to learn how and why to learn all fretboard notes. It will be easy and fun, and, above all, rewarding.

This free guitar notes map contains several diagrams showing the note on the fretboard for each musical key.

This will help you understand the fretboard step-by-step, starting from a fretboard map with natural notes only, and introducing one sharp or flat note at a time.

Interactive Guitar Fretboard

This tool will shows you the notes on the fretboard. Click on a fret or select the name of a note and the tool will tell you the note or the fret position. (like this interactive tools? Check the other guitar learning software)

Click on a fret above or on a button below

Clear fretboardABCDEFGA#/BbC#/DbD#/EbF#/GbG#/Ab

Guitar Neck Notes Don't worry, there is a logic in this madness

The picture above shows you the notes of the fretboard. At first sight, it seems just a big mess: many frets, sharps, flats.

If you need help deciphering this map, for now just know that in the diagram the thickest string (E) is at the bottom of the image, and the guitar headstock is on the left.

Basically, the diagram is created with the same point of view of a guitar player playing his/her axe. Now we're going to learn some strategies that simplify all this stuff

There are some rules that we can exploit in order to simplify the learning of the fretboard. We'll take this with baby-steps, so feel you free to jump to the sections ahead if you already familiar.

Some guitar players use the CAGED system to organize the fretboard. It's an helpful tool, but to fully apply it you need to know the name of the notes, so stick with us and go ahead with this tutorial.

In the beginning, you should memorize at least 6 notes: the names of the open strings! You should memorize the name and the order of the strings.

This will be useful for learning other things. Indeed, often in tutorials and videos, you'll encounter instructions like 'place your finger on the 2nd fret of the 6th string'.

So, the names of the open strings are the following :

• 1st string - E (the thinnest, highest pitch)
• 2nd string - B
• 3rd string - G
• 4th string - D
• 5th string - A
• 6th string - E (the thickest, lowest pitch)

For the sake of information completeness, it's worth it to show you the frequency of the fretboard notes.

Probably in your musical career you'll need this stuff rarely, but it's a good thing to know anyway. A pitch is measured in Hertz, each fret has its own pitch.

A well-known frequency is 440 Hertz, that is 2 octaves up the pitch of the A open string, 110 Hertz. The Diapason, also called Tuning Fork, a device for tuning the guitar, oscillates at 440 Hertz.

• 1st open string: E329.63 Hertz
• 2nd open string: B246.94 Hertz
• 3rd open string: G196.00 Hertz
• 4th open string: D146.83 Hertz
• 5th open string: A110.00 Hertz
• 6th open string: E82.41Hertz

We can use a mnemonic trick to help us memorize open strings names. By using a phrase in which the first letter of each word corresponds to the name of a string, our life will be easier.

In the examples below, the names of the strings are ordered from the thickest to the thinnest (E A D G B E):

• Eat All Day Get Big Easy
• Every Amateur Does Get Better Eventually
• Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie
• Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears

It's perfectly fine to create phrases in the opposite order: from the thinnest string (1st) to the thickest (6th), E B G D A E. Choose what works better for you!

• Easter Bunny Gets Drunk After Easter
• Every Boy Gets Dizzy Around Elle

For a more effective memorization, you should create your own phrases (there are endless possibilities); here's one of my phrases, with italian words: Emozionanti Avventure Dove Grandi Barche Esplodono. If you come up with something cool, please share it in the comments below!

Probably you already noticed that actually there are 2 strings with note E: the lowest (6th) and the highest (1st).

These strings, also called external strings (because they are at the upper and lower border of the fretboard) have different pitches, but their note names are the same.

So actually we just have to memorize the notes of 5 strings!

So far we've considered open strings only. Now it's time to think horizontally and put our attention on frets. Here are some facts about the frets of the guitar neck:

On chord diagrams, tabs and other kind of guitar music notation, if you find a fret numbered with 0, that means that you should play the string open, without pressing any fret

Here's the reason: in music, there are in total 12 notes, the natural notes: CDEFGAB and the sharp/flats notes (we'll get to this later in this article) C#/DbD#/EbF#/GbG#/AbA#/Bb
So, if you start from C and go up one note after the other, after 12 steps will get again to the C:
CC#/DbDD#/EbEFF#/GbGG#/Ab. AA#/BbBC
The same happens with guitar frets, if you start from any fret, after 12 steps (or frets) you'll get to the same note.

Let's take as a example the E lowest string, shown in the picture below. The notes of the first 11 frets (0-11) are the same of the 12-22 frets:

To help you grasp better this concept, here's a different angle: a guitar has 2 equal fingerboards of 12 frets each, one placed next to the other.

Even if on certain brands fretboard inlays are fancy and sometimes really beautiful, they are also useful for finding your way on the neck.

You can exploit them as landmarks for fretboard navigation. On most of the guitars, these rules apply:

• An inlay is applied at the 3rd fret
• An inlay is applied at the 5th fret
• An inlay is applied at the 7th fret
• An inlay is applied at the 9th fret
• A double inlay (or other symbol) is applied at the 12th fret
• The same pattern is repeated on the frets above the 12th (inlays on frets 15, 17, 19, 21 and double inlays on 24)

Ok, so far we have learned that actually, we need to learn the notes of only 12 * 5 = 60 frets (because the first 12 frets are the same of the next 12, and the 1st and the 6th strings have the same notes).

But there are many other things that can help us master the fretboard.

We're going to take a look in depth at the geometry of the fretboard in the next sections:

How To Really Master The Fretboard

Now things are going to get interesting. Once Andres Segovia, the famous virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist, said 'The guitar is the easiest instrument to play, and the hardest to play well'.

True story. Even if you're a complete beginner, you could memorize a pair of chord shapes, strum the strings a bit, and you can tell yourself that you're 'playing the guitar'.

But you can't say anything about the notes that compose the chords you're playing, or how to introduce variations in what you're playing. In the following, we'll learn how the fretboard really works.

I make you a promise: if you want to really understand the guitar fretboard theory, and you are ready to commit yourself in studying and learning a bit of music theory and its relationship with the neck geometry, you'll be rewarded with the ability to play better and better.

During your solos, you'll find automatically the notes that your mind and your heart suggest.

Long story made short, you'll play music, not guitar.

If you have ever felt yourself like trapped in fixed scale patterns and chord shapes, you know what I mean.

Ok, now you have understood that, in order to become a complete musician, you need to learn the fretboard, but why it seems so difficult at first?

Well, the main problem with your guitar neck is that, unlike the piano keyboard in which the frets are disposed horizontally one after the other, on the guitar there are different places in which to find the same note.

Piano keyboard layout: there is only 1 path, 1 option for playing the C major scale from C lowest to C one octave (7 white frets) higher

For example, suppose you want to play a C major scale that starts from the 3rd frets of the fifth string (A string). We all know (at least we should) that the C major scale is composed of C, D, E, F, G, A, B notes.

Have a look at the image below: clearly you have different paths. You could skip string soon after the C and play the D note on the fourth string (D), or you could stay on the fifth string, playing the D on the fifth string.

Guitar fretboard layout: there exist different paths for playing the same scale
(option 1: yellow path, option 2: red path)

From a beginner perspective, having too many options makes things complicated. On the other hand, for those who master the fretboard, the nature of the guitar layout enhances the expressive and musical possibilities.

But don't worry, you'll see some strategies useful to tame the fretboard complexity.

One good mental trick useful to understand the fretboard, is to consider every string like a distinct piano keyboard, that starts from the respective note.

As said before, the standard tuning of the guitar, starting from the thickest string to the thinner, is E A D G B E.

• The sixth string (and its related piano keyboard) starts with the E note
• The fifth string (and its related piano keyboard) starts with the A note
• The fourth string (and its related piano keyboard) starts with the D note
• The third string (and its related piano keyboard) starts with the G note
• The second string (and its related piano keyboard) starts with the B note
• The first string (and its related piano keyboard) starts with the E note (2 octaves, 14 white keys higher than the lowest E string)

Fretboard strings relationship and guitar standard tuning

Given the piano keyboard - strings analogy, it's easier to explain the standard guitar tuning. First of all, we need to have at least the E lowest string tuned with the aid of a tuner device.

This give us a standard reference coherent with other musicians. Then we can tune the other strings using the previous string as a reference.

We said that the fifth string has to be an A note.

• So we press the A note on the sixth string (low E), that is located at the 5th fret, and we tune the fifth open string (A) until the two strings sounds with the same pitch.
• We do the same with the other strings (see the diagram below).
• The fourth open string (D) has to have the same pitch of the 5th fret of the fifth string.
• The third open string (G) has to have the same pitch of the 5th fret of the fourth string, and so forth.
• Just notice the small difference at the third string (G), on which you must play the 4th fret (instead of the 5th) to tune the second string (B). We'll see why later.

This video shows you clearly how to tune your guitar

Not it's time to talk about a bit (just a bit) music theory. In western music, the minimum distance between two notes is called half-step (or semitone).

A distance of 2 half-steps is called whole step. On the piano keyboard, the distance between the keys (white or black) is 1 half-step.

If we look again at the piano keyboard, we can see that there is a black key between each pair of white keys, except for the space between the B and C keys, and the E and F keys.
So here's the first important thing to notice:

• Between C and D there is 1 whole-step (2 half-steps)
• Between D and E there is 1 whole-step (2 half-steps)
• Between E and F there is 1 half-steps
• Between F and G there is 1 whole-step (2 half-steps)
• Between G and A there is 1 whole-step (2 half-steps)
• Between A and B there is 1 whole-step (2 half-steps)
• Between B and C there is 1 half-steps

Thus,the structure of the Major Scale is composed of 2 whole steps (C-D-E), 1 half-step (E-F), 3 whole steps (F-G-A-B) and 1 half-step (B-C). On the fingerboard, we have not black or white keys, but we have frets.

1 fret = 1 half-step = 1 semitone

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Let's look at the C Major Scale on the guitar neck. As previously said before, we have different options for playing a given scale.

This time, for visualization convenience, I've chosen to start from the first fret of the B string, that is a C, and play the scale horizontally on the same string, in order to visualize better the steps and half-steps structure:

Sharps and flats and neck frets

In music theory, there are two symbols that, when applied to a note, change its pitch and its name. They are called sharps and flats:

flat (b): lowers a note by 1 half-step

sharp (#): raises a note by 1 half-step

For example, a D flat is a D note lowered by 1 half-step, while a C sharp is a C note raised by 1 half-step. D flat and C sharp have different names, but they have the same pitch.

On the guitar fretboard, they are placed on the same fret! You'll learn why the same fret can have different names in future lessons, technically this topic is called 'enharmonics', but don't worry for now.

Let's now introduce the chromatic scale, a scale composed of 12 half-steps required for going from a note to the same note 1 octave above.

The C chromatic scale is the following:

C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A - A#/Bb - B - C

Playing the chromatic scale on the fretboard is straightforward because you only have to play one fret after the other. Notice that between the lowest C and the higher C there are 12 frets, or 12 half-steps

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Beginners guitars players usually memorize only the notes on the sixth and fifth strings, because they have learned bar chords shapes and they need to find the root note of the chords.

Starting from this knowledge, it's possible to exploit the fretboard geometry to find notes on the other strings.

In the following diagrams I'll show you the so called octave shapes: starting from a given notes, you can find the same note on the higher strings, 1 or 2 octaves above.

This is a great visual aid that helps you find your notes quickly.

Octaves will be also useful when you'll approach guitar triads and chord inversions.

6th string octaves, option 1: 2 strings up (toward the thinnest), 2 frets higher

6th string octaves, option 2: 3 strings up (toward the thinnest), 3 frets lower

6th string octaves, option 3: the 1st string (the thinnest) has the same notes of the 6th (the thickest), 2 octaves up

5th string octaves, option 1: 2 strings up (toward the thinnest), 2 frets higher

5th string octaves, option 2: 3 strings up (toward the thinnest), 2 frets lower

4th string octaves, option 1: 2 strings up (toward the thinnest), 3 frets higher

4th string octaves, option 2: 3 strings up (toward the thinnest), 2 frets lower

3rd string octaves, option 1: 2 strings up (toward the thinnest), 3 frets higher

Here is a comprehensive diagram with the octaves linked together. Practice and memorize these geometric relationships, as they are an invaluable tool for navigating the fretboard effortlessly

Trick n.3 Fretboard Chart Pdf

In the free guitar notes chart pdf, you'll find several neck notes map. Let's have a look at them:

We can have natural notes (C D E F G A B), notes with sharps (like C# and D#) and notes with flats (like Bb, Db and Eb).

In the beginning, it's easier to memorize only the natural notes, and then the notes with flats, and finally the notes with sharps.

Diagram showing only natural notes (no sharps and no flats) Click to zoom
Diagram showing natural notes and sharps notes. Click to zoom
Diagram showing natural notes and flats notes. Click to zoom

The chart pdf contains several fretboard maps, each one showing a particular guitar key. In this way is easier to focus on the notes of a given key and learn the notes step-by-step. The layout of the maps is clear and easy-to-remember

In the diagrams, the musical keys are organized following the circle of fifths, that is a way to display and memorize the sharps/flats that belong to a given key.

Guitar Fretboard Notes Diagram Pdf

Starting from the C key, that has not any sharp/flat, you'll notice that changing key, following the circle of the fifths, will introduce just one single sharp/flat at a time.

Don't worry if you're not familiar with the circle of fifths, this concept is well visualized in the pdf.

Here below you find some guitar notes map for the most common tonalities.

• C Major: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
  Sharps/flats: none

As said before, one of the best ways to learn the notes on the fretboard is to start memorizing only the natural notes. This strategy requires less effort, as you have to deal with just 7 notes.

Guitar Fretboard Chart Pdf

So here below you find the guitar notes diagram for the C key, that has natural notes only.

Take your time to memorize these notes, as they'll be the foundation for more complex concepts.

Once you have the major C notes under your belt, you can proceed to the next key, that, following the circle of fifths, is the G key.

The G key has the F sharp instead of the F, so you only have to raise the F by one half-step

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• G Major: G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G
  Sharps/flats: F#

• D Major: D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D
  Sharps/flats: F# C#

The D major key introduces the C sharp notes, now you're a fretboard wizard and you easily find this new note by raising the C note by one half-step.

Guitar Fretboard Diagram Software

• A Major: A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A
  Sharps/flats: F# C# G#

The same mechanism of above, the new note in A major key is G#. So please raise that G by one half-step

• E Major: E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E
  Sharps/flats: F# C# G# D#

Here it comes E major key with a new note, the D sharp

Guitar Fretboard Diagram Software Mac Free

• B Major: B – C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A# - B
  Sharps/flats: F# C# G# D# A#

Now it's time of the B major key, A sharp is the new note! You'll find the other keys and relative diagrams in the pdf.

We are a little proud of this tool because is used by thousands of guitar players on a daily basis. It's a free browser game that you can use online, without installing anything.

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It helps you memorize all the fretboard notes quickly while having fun. Launch the fretboard trainer now.

There are many exercises to memorize the fretboard, but this little tool can really speed up your learning, check it out!

Guitar Neck Notes Conclusions

Ok, in this tutorial we have covered a lot of ground. Now you should have a good knowledge of the guitar fretboard and some material to work on.

Take your time to internalize these concepts, download the notes map pdf, practice the fretboard trainer game at least 10 minutes a day, and in no time you'll find yourself flying effortlessly up and down the neck.

If you have any doubts or question, just ask in the comments below, and please share your feedback.

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