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The table below shows the notes, in the key of C, on each of the six strings. The strings are labelled vertically in turquoise, on the left-hand side of the diagram, going from E (the top string), to B, G, D, A, and E. The lowest string on the diagram, the (low) E string or sixth string, is the lowest-pitched (and thickest) string on the guitar. The frets are marked horizontally, from 0pen through 15, on the top of the diagram.
The notes in teal start with E (which is open) on the (low) E string, go to F and G (1st and 3rd fret on that string), go on to A, B, and C (open, 2nd, and 3rd fret on the fifth or A string), and stop at D, which is open on the D string (the fourth string). It is also possible to get A, B, C, and D on the sixth string (by moving toward the guitar body) and D on the fifth string. The notes in blue start with E on the fourth string, and stop at D (on the B string, or second string). They are an octave higher than the notes in teal. Note that on each string, the note on the twelfth fret is one octave higher than that with the string open. So each string effectively "starts over" on the twelfth fret. This diagram shows standard musical notation. |
| Fret | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
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| E | E | F | G | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | ||||||
| B | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C | D | ||||||
| G | G | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | |||||||
| D | D | E | F | G | A | B | C | D | E | F | ||||||
| A | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C | ||||||
| E | E | F | G | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | ||||||
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The notes in the next octave are in red. They can be formed using the first (high E) string, from open through the tenth fret.
The notes in the fourth octave (there are only three such notes if one goes to the fifteenth fret) are in purple. What I have labelled as position A on the diagram (the one most people first learn), usually called the first position, goes from open through fret four. In this position, you place fingers one through four on frets one through four. The exception is the "B" on the fourth fret of the third, or G string — most people don't learn that immediately, but just use the open second string. Position B on the diagram is from fret five through fret eight. In this position, you place fingers one through four on frets five through eight. Position C is from fret nine through fret twelve. Position D is from fret thirteen through fret sixteen — although on an acoustic guitar, it's hard to go past fret thirteen (and I only show through fret fifteen anyway). |
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