Guitar fretboard notes

Every note on the guitar neck across frets 0 to 15 in standard tuning. Highlight one note name and every position lights up.

strings: E A D G B E
frets: 0-15
notes: 12 per octave
spelling: sharps or flats

the neckopen strings on the left, fret 12 is the octave

All 12 notes, frets 0 to 15, where fret 0 is the open string. Tap a note name above to highlight every position of it.

What is a guitar fretboard chart?

A guitar fretboard chart maps every note on the neck to the string and fret that produce it. This one covers frets 0 to 15 in standard tuning, where the six open strings are E, A, D, G, B and E from the thickest to the thinnest. A guitar has twelve pitches in an octave, and every fret moves a string up by exactly one semitone, so each string carries the same twelve note names starting from a different place. That is why the board looks complicated and is not: fret 12 repeats the open strings an octave higher, which means the whole neck is the first twelve frets over again. The chart is interactive. Tap a note name and every position of that note lights up at once, which is the fastest way to see the repeating shapes instead of memorising sixty separate cells.

6strings, E A D G B E

12notes in an octave, one per fret

12frets before the neck repeats

Learn & referenceExamples, charts and deeper explanation

The notes on the guitar fretboard, explained

Six strings, four anchor frets each. Learn these rows and you have the skeleton of the whole neck: the spaces between the anchors are filled with sharps and flats, and the twelfth fret hands you back the open strings an octave higher.

String	Open	Fret 3	Fret 5	Fret 7	Fret 12	Landmark
6th	low E	G	A	B	E	5th fret = the open A string
5th	A	C	D	E	A	5th fret = the open D string
4th	D	F	G	A	D	5th fret = the open G string
3rd	G	A#	C	D	G	4th fret, not 5th, = the open B string
2nd	B	D	E	F#	B	5th fret = the open high e string
1st	high e	G	A	B	E	12th fret = the open low E two octaves down

The 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th frets carry the pearl inlays on a real guitar, and the 12th carries two, which is exactly why those are the frets worth memorising first. The same notes appear on the fretboard trainer as a timed game, and the fretboard notes guide goes through the method in prose.

Octave anchors across the whole neck

This is the same neck drawn from the real chord data, with every fret labelled. Pick any note, count twelve frets up, and you land on the same note name: that is the whole secret of the board, and it is why fret 12 starts the pattern again.

Frets 0 to 15, every note named: fret 12 repeats the open strings

C major chord diagram drawn on the first three frets of the fretboard — C major, a shape built on frets 1 to 3

The same C major as a chord box, root on the 5th string

Chords are just a few of these dots at once. Once you can find the root of a shape on the neck, any movable chord becomes available: the chord finder shows every voicing of a chord up the board, and the barre chords guide explains why those shapes keep working as you slide them.

How to memorise the neck

Anchor first, fill in later. Nobody memorises seventy-eight positions one at a time; you learn a handful of landmarks and derive the rest.

Learn the six open strings. E A D G B E, thickest to thinnest. Say them out loud as you play them, one at a time, until the order is automatic. Every anchor below is measured from these six notes.
Use the inlays as signposts. Frets 3, 5, 7 and 9 carry a single pearl dot and fret 12 carries two. Learn the natural notes at those five frets first; the sharps and flats squeeze into the gaps afterwards.
Cross-check with the 5th fret rule. The 5th fret of any string is the next string played open, except between G and B, where the 4th fret is the match. One rule lets you verify any note against a string you already know.
Count in twelfths. Fret 12 repeats the open string an octave higher, and fret 12 plus 5 repeats the 5th fret. Above fret 12 you are reading notes you have already met, only higher, so stop treating the dusty end as new information.
Drill one note a day. Pick a note name, find it on every string, then play the chords that use it. A minute a day sticks far better than an hour once a week.

Why the neck repeats the way it does

string to string

Low E to A: 4 semitones
A to D: 4 semitones
D to G: 4 semitones
G to B: 3 semitones
B to high e: 4 semitones

fret to fret

One fret: 1 semitone
Twelve frets: 1 octave
Twelfth fret: open string repeated
Fifth fret rule: next string open
Exception: 4th fret on G gives B

inlays

Single dot: frets 3 5 7 9
Double dot: fret 12
Natural notes: A B C D E F G
Sharps and flats: 5 per octave
Enharmonic pairs: C# and Db

The G to B pair is the one place the pattern breaks. Every other pair of adjacent strings is tuned a perfect fourth apart, four semitones, but G to B is a major third, three semitones. That single missing semitone is why the 5th fret rule becomes the 4th fret on that one pair, and it is also why barre chord shapes need adjusting when they cross the second string. Practise the spelling both ways: sharp keys such as G, D and A use sharps, flat keys such as F, Bb and Eb use flats, and the fret is identical either way.

Fretboard notes FAQ

What are the notes on a guitar fretboard?

The guitar fretboard contains the 12 notes of Western music, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A# and B, repeated across every string. In standard tuning the open strings are E A D G B E, and each fret raises a string by one semitone, so fret 1 of the low E string is F, fret 2 is F#, and so on.

How many frets should a beginner memorise?

Start with frets 0 to 5 on the low E and A strings, because that is where barre chord roots live, so those positions pay off immediately. Then learn the 12th fret, which is the octave and identical to the open strings, and fill in the rest string by string. Everything past the 12th fret is a repeat of what you already know.

What is the fastest way to learn the fretboard?

Anchor first, fill in later. Memorise the open strings and the 5th fret rule (the 5th fret of any string equals the next open string, except the G to B pair where it is the 4th fret), then drill one random note a day across all six strings. A 60-second daily game, like our fretboard trainer, beats an hour of cramming once a week.

Why do some notes have two names?

Notes like C# and Db are enharmonic: the same pitch, spelled differently. Which name is correct depends on the key. Sharp keys (G, D, A) use sharps, flat keys (F, Bb, Eb) use flats. The sound and the fret are identical either way; only the spelling changes. Use the Sharps and Flats toggle above to see both.

By Chiye · Updated September 12, 2026