How to Learn The Guitar String Notes

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Understanding the different guitar string notes is the foundation of almost everything you’ll learn on the guitar. Chords, scales and solos are all made up of notes so the more you understand what notes are located where on the neck the easier you make it to become a great guitar player.

In this article I’m going to explain what half and whole steps are and how to measure them on the guitar neck, how half and whole steps play into the spacing between each musical note and how to find notes on each string of the guitar. At the end of this article there’s a short video that explains these concepts as well. I suggest you take a few minutes to watch the video after reading this and then grab your own guitar to try it out.

Half and Whole Steps

Originally based on the keys of a piano half and whole steps are what separate one note from another. We have seven musical notes (A, B, C, D, E, F and G) tand the space between each of these notes is either a half step or a whole step.

The guitar neck is divided up into multiple half steps, each fret is one half step. Knowing the spacing between each musical note you can easily find your way around the neck and know where each note is.

The Spacing Between Notes

The spacing between each note is either a half step or a whole step. Actually, it’s easier to understand then that since all notes have a whole step between them but two exceptions. There is a half step from B to C and from E to F. All other notes have a full step between them.

Here is a listing of the spacing and number of frets that separates each note.

A to B – Full Step or Two Frets
B to C – Half step or One Fret
C to D – Full Step or Two Frets
D to E – Full Step or Two Frets
E to F – Half Step or One Fret
F to G – Full Step or Two Frets

Now we can take this new found information to the guitar neck and start finding some notes.

Starting with the String Names

It’s important that you know the names of all six strings, starting from the top: E, A, D, G, B and E. You can use this as the starting point to determine where each note is at on the guitar neck.

Let’s do a quick example: Starting on the top E string, when played open is an E. The next note after E is F and using the list above we can see that between E and F there is only one half step or one fret. So by pressing on the first fret on the top E string we are playing an F.

Let’s keep going on that low E string. After the F at the first fret we want to play a G and the spacing between an F and G note is a full step or two frets. So playing up two frets takes us to fret number 3 which is a G.

I won’t go through all six strings because the video below gives an easy to follow example of the top three strings and the notes on each. Take a few minutes to watch the video and you should be able to start finding your way around the neck a lot easier.

Interested in learning some more great beginner guitar info? Why not consider a guitar lessons dvd you can use to study at home? Lessons on dvd offer all the great content of a private instructor with the ease of learning at home and on your own time.

Filed under: Guitar Lessons • Learning and Loving the Guitar

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