Notes on the neck names before shapes
Four strings, twelve frets, seven letters. Name the open strings, walk the naturals up each one, learn the octave shape, then find any note from a root on the E or A string. A bass line is named after its roots — this is the map that makes Reading, Scales and Shapes & positions make sense.
Note names sit under each TAB (G string on top · four lines); a bar follows the sounding note. How to read it: Foundations · TAB.
Play becomes Stop on the same button. Tempo follows the metronome in the practice bar.
Every string, nut to fret 12
Name what you play before the note lands. The open strings are E A D G, a fourth apart.
Open strings — E A D G
Low E up to G, one note each. Say the name as the bar reaches it.
G|---------------0----
D|-----------0--------
A|-------0------------
E|---0----------------
E A D G
Natural notes on every string
Whole steps sit two frets apart; B–C and E–F are the half steps (one fret). Walk each string 0–12 and say every letter. Fret 12 is the open string an octave higher.
E string · frets 0–12 · E F G A B C D E
G|------------------------------------
D|------------------------------------
A|------------------------------------
E|---0---1---3---5---7---8---10--12---
E F G A B C D E
A string · frets 0–12 · A B C D E F G A
G|------------------------------------
D|------------------------------------
A|---0---2---3---5---7---8---10--12---
E|------------------------------------
A B C D E F G A
D string · frets 0–12 · D E F G A B C D
G|------------------------------------
D|---0---2---3---5---7---9---10--12---
A|------------------------------------
E|------------------------------------
D E F G A B C D
G string · frets 0–12 · G A B C D E F G
G|---0---2---4---5---7---9---10--12---
D|------------------------------------
A|------------------------------------
E|------------------------------------
G A B C D E F G
The octave shape
The same letter sits two strings up and two frets higher: a root on the E string and its octave on the D string, or a root on the A string and its octave on the G string. Learn the shape once and every root has its octave under the same fingers (1 and 3).
A on the E string (fret 5) → A on the D string (fret 7)
G|--------------------
D|-------7-------7----
A|--------------------
E|---5-------5--------
A A A A
C on the A string (fret 3) → C on the G string (fret 5)
G|-------5-------5----
D|--------------------
A|---3-------3--------
E|--------------------
C C C C
Find any note
Most roots live on the E or A string. Count up from the open string, one fret per half step. Sharps and flats are the same fret — which name you use depends on the key.
| Fret | E string | A string |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | E | A |
| 1 | F | A♯ / B♭ |
| 2 | F♯ / G♭ | B |
| 3 | G | C |
| 4 | G♯ / A♭ | C♯ / D♭ |
| 5 | A | D |
| 6 | A♯ / B♭ | D♯ / E♭ |
| 7 | B | E |
| 8 | C | F |
| 9 | C♯ / D♭ | F♯ / G♭ |
| 10 | D | G |
| 11 | D♯ / E♭ | G♯ / A♭ |
| 12 | E | A |
Check: the A string at fret 7 is the open E string an octave up, and the E string at fret 5 is the open A string. Same note, two places — that is how you tune by ear and how you find a root fast. Chord-root drills: Hands; whole-neck maps: Shapes & positions.
Ready when
Move on when all of these are true on a normal day, not your best one:
- You can name any natural note on the E and A strings without counting up from the nut.
- You can find the octave above any root on the E or A string: two strings up, two frets higher.
- You can walk the E string and the A string from 0 to 12 at 80 bpm and say every letter on the beat.
Text twin: notes.md