Guitar Fretboard Notes Chart

A better understanding of how the fretboard notes work

The guitar fretboard notes as confusing as they appear to a new guitar student actually have some logic to them. Surprised? I was.

That's what this page will be all about. The logic behind the Guitar fretboard notes.

Complete Fretboard Note Chart
These are all the notes on the guitar fretboard.
all notes repeat after the 12th fret

Complete Fretboard Sharp Notes Chart
These are all the notes on the guitar fretboard.
all notes repeat after the 12th fret

Complete Fretboard Flat Notes Chart
These are all the flat notes on the guitar fretboard.
all notes repeat after the 12th fret

So where do we start? Music theory. Now before you scream and run off let me explain that I hate this stuff too. It seems like there are a bunch of egghead music experts out there that want to make this stuff hard so that most people will feel totally inadequate and not even try. It makes their job easier.

Such is life in the big jungle. the bigger smarter caveman takes the food from the wimpy caveman and tells him he's dumb and he believes it.

Don't believe it.

This is the Musical Alphabet: In Western music, there are 12 different notes that can be played. They are:

A | A# | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G#

When you get to G# you go back to A only this starts the next octave. and this just continues until it gets so high that your brain explodes and then, well it just doesn't really matter after that does it?

Why the guitar is normally tuned EADGBE

The way that the guitar neck is set up is that all the notes are under or within one fret of being under the four fingers of the hand.

Take a look at the following graphics. In the first four frets and in the open strings are two octaves of all the notes of the musical alphabet.

Go ahead and follow the arrows on your guitar and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So that's the first four frets of the guitar fretboard notes.

What about the rest? Same day, different frets. Only this time you'll have to make a shift to reach all the notes. One fret up and then slide down for the other notes.

Guitar fretboard notes in two octaves starting from the fifth fret.

This pattern of notes would be the same no matter where you start on the neck. Pretty simple eh?

This makes a great warm up exercise and really helps make those finger shifts automatic.

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Ok, I hope you're still with me.

So how about going all the way down the string?

Here's how you do it. it would be the same for each string.

Just start on the note for the open string.

Remember sharp notes going up, flat notes going down.

Have Fun!

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