Continuing in order from the low E string is the fifth string, A; fourth string, D; third string, G; second string, B; and first string, E. The first and last strings both play the same note--E--but their sound is different because they are two octaves apart. In that case it is important to note that the 1st string is the high E string and then in order up from there. They are often used to describe finger placement (e.g., “put your 1st finger in the 2nd fret of the A string”), and are also useful for tuning your guitar to another instrument (like a piano). By learning music that you love, you’ll enjoy the playing the guitar so much more and you’ll learn faster. ), When we talk about the bottom string, we’re talking about the low E string. (However ‘the E string’ might be tuned to an alternate tuning, like a D note, for example. When holding a guitar, the thickest string, the E string, is at the top of the guitar. It lies in the middle of a standard keyboard. Why Learn More Than One Pattern To Play A Bass Scale? Share . This note is D# (D Sharp). Listen to our Learn Guitar Podcast for rapid guitar progress. (It’s two whole octaves lower.). The open strings of the guitar in standard tuning are from low to high E A D G B E. The low E, the lowest note of the guitar is the one closest to the guitarist's body. This is the deepest/lowest guitar note you can play. All of the guitar notes have been illustrated on the fretboard below. Open String Notes. Tunings are described by the particular pitches denoted by notes in Western music.By convention, the notes are ordered from lowest-pitched string (i.e., the deepest bass note) to highest-pitched (thickest string to thinnest). An open string is a string which is played without placing your hand on any the frets. Hear how they harmonise? Make sure to bookmark our Guitar Notes Chart, so you can easily access it when you need a memory jog! The thickest string is called the 6 th string. Save the above piano notes to guitar image for future reference by right clicking (long press on mobile) then save as. ), If you’re not too sure how to play guitar chords, this lesson will help you: How To Play Guitar Chords: A Beginner’s Guide, To play this chord, we only need to pluck a couple of strings…, (If you don't understand the above image please read our article "How To Read Guitar Chordboxes In 60 Seconds". This is because these notes are the root notes for the most common movable chord shapes. The guitar’s notes go in ascending order beginning with this string. They are so many great rhymes to help us remember the names of the guitar string notes. If you plan to play with other musicians, you’ll need to know the string notes for tuning to other instruments. We call this string the E string or sometimes the ‘high E string’. For some people the layout simply ‘clicks’ better in their mind if they approach it starting from the thinnest (1st) string. (1st string.). Because guitars can be tuned differently. The notes on a guitar are created by the strings of the guitar. Here are a couple of our favourites going from the thickest (6th) string to the thinnest (1st) string. Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd fret of the low E string. Two well-known ones are: ‘Easter Bunny Gets Drunk After Easter’ ‘Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears’. Click here or on the image above to get 25% off your lessons courtesy of Guitar Command. To understand how to find notes on a guitar, it helps to break up the neck of the guitar to see where all the notes lie. Traditional music notation for guitar is written an octave higher than it sounds. We'll send you a series of lessons that will move you to the next level of your guitar journey. Play the low E string, then play the high E string, can you tell that the thicker one has a mch lower tone than the thinner one? You can do this with one hand. Try it! If this is the case, you can’t really refer to it as ‘the E string’ if it’s not tuned to E! But that’s not always the case. It’s a bit of an odd one, but when we talk about the top string, we’re actually referring to the high E string. If you play the low E string and then play the frets in order from 1 to 5, you will play E, F, F sharp, G, G sharp, and finally A. You may have heard this phrase when we talk about guitar strings. This quiz is multiple choice, so weigh up the options before writing down your answer. Guitar Notes on the E and A Strings. All the guitar string notes (on all of the frets) look like this: To learn more about this diagram (and to understand ‘sharps’ and ‘flats’), check out this article: Guitar Notes Explained: A Guide For Beginners. The 8 notes illustrated represent all of the notes in the key of C major. To play a fretted note, you need to push down on a fret with your fingers. ), If you’re a beginner, don’t worry too much about alternate tunings! (6th and 1st string.) 1 string - E 4 (the thinnest) 2 string - B 3; 3 string - G 3; 4 string - D 3; 5 string - A 2; 6 string - E 2; This page is like the tuning fork. All Rights Reserved. Associating a note on the staff with a string and fret location (even if the fret is zero — meaning an open string) is the first step to reading music on the guitar. One way to figure out what the notes on the guitar are is to think about … Differences in Guitar String Notes If you are working with the acoustic or classical guitar the notes will be the same as those of an electric guitar. Enter your email address to learn our best guitar tips and tricks today! The six open strings of the guitar from low to high are E - A - D - G - B - E. A mnemonic device for memorizing the open strings is Everyone Always Does Go (to) Bed Eventually, the first letter in the words of the sentence being the open strings.However you memorize this pattern, that is the first important step to learning the notes by the string. So don’t try. Just make sure you remember which way you’re counting. The online tuning fork contains notes for tuning the guitar. The first string is the thinnest string, and you’ll count the strings in order, so the thickest string is your sixth string. If you’re new to the guitar, the diagram above probably looks a bit scary. It looks confusing at first, but if you think about your guitar strings, the meaning becomes clear. A good way to begin associating notes on the staff as they relate to the guitar is to consider just the pitches of the open strings. Each diagram shows the notes of an individual string. 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