Notes on the Guitar Fretboard
Notes in the Open Position
The open position of the guitar contains the notes of the open strings and the first three frets. The following diagram outlines the position of these notes on the staff, Tab, and on the fretboard. Also shown is an example of two separate octaves, an octave being two notes that have the same letter name and are eight consecutive notes apart.
Sharps And Flats
A sharp ( # ) raises the pitch of a note by one semitone (1 fret). A flat ( b ) lowers the pitch of a note by one semitone. In music notation the # and b signs are placed before the note on the staff.
The Chromatic Scale
With the inclusion of sharps and flats, there are 12 different notes within one octave as shown in the following diagram.
The notes EF and BC are always on semitone apart (1 fret). The other notes are a tone apart (2 frets). Sharps ( # ) and flats ( b ) are found between the notes that are a tone apart:
This scale is called the chromatic scale and contains all the sharps (#’s) and flats ( b’s) possible. C sharp (C#) has the same position on the fretboard as D flat (Db). They are the same note but can have different names depending upon what key you are playing in. The same applies to D# / Eb, F# / Gb, G# / Ab and A# / Bb. These are called enharmonic notes. The following section shows all the notes on the guitar including these sharps and flats.
Also notice that:
The 5th fret of the 6th string (A note) is the same note as the open 5th string.
The 5th fret of the 5th string (D note) is the same note as the open 4th string.
The 5th fret of the 4th string (G note) is the same note as the open 3rd string.
The 4th fret of the 3rd string (B note) is the same note as the open 2nd string.
The 5th fret of the 2nd string (E note) is the same note as the open 1st string.
These note positions are important to remember because they are the basis for tuning your guitar to itself.
