Do You Know the String Notes on Guitar?

Understanding the string notes on guitar is an important part of learning to play one. A guitarist needs to know what note each string plays and how to form the other notes. Fortunately, this is relatively easy, regardless of the type of guitar used. Some differences do exist between bass guitars and other types, but there are a lot more similarities.

Notes on Acoustic and Electric Guitars

The string notes on guitars that are acoustic or electric are the same. Both types of guitars have six strings. With acoustic guitars, it doesn't matter if the guitar is a folk guitar (or has a pick guard) or a classical guitar (or does not have a pick guard). These guitars all have the same six strings.

The first thing to note is that when holding the guitar properly, the thickest string is on top and each one below is thinner than the one above it. That makes the bottom string the thinnest one.

The outside string notes on guitar are both the same. They are both E strings. The one on top is lower pitched and the one on the bottom is the higher pitched. The second one from the top is the A string. The third one from the top is the D string. The fourth string is the G string and the last is the B string.

On the neck of the guitar are lines. Each line represents a half step. When the string is pressed at one of the lines, or fret, the note is changed by how far up the neck the fret is. So if the first fret of the E string is pressed, then the note played is an F note. The second fret on the D string would be an E note (which just happens to be an octave above the open E string at the top).

One interesting note is that for most strings, the fifth fret is the same note as the open one below it. So the fifth fret on the E string would be an A, the same as the string below it. The one exception to this is the G string, in which the fourth fret is the same as the open B.

One variation on the acoustic guitar that should be noted is the twelve string guitar. The string notes on this guitar are in pairs. So each pair is the same notes at different octaves. The top two are E, the next two are A, and so on.

Notes on Bass Guitar

The string notes on a bass guitar are not all that different from the notes on other guitars. The difference is that generally, there are fewer of them. The most common variation of the bass guitar is the four string guitar. The strings on this guitar are the same as the top four on other guitars. So the notes are the E, the A, the D, and the G string. The other common variation is the 5 string guitar, which adds a B string on the top instead of the E string.

The string notes on guitar that I listed here are the most common ones used to tune a guitar. Guitar strings can be tuned to other notes for different effects or preferences of the guitarist.