Finding Notes on the Guitar

A good way to learn the notes on the guitar fretboard is to begin with the notes in the C Major scale, which has no sharps or flats¹. The C Major scale, using letters to signify notes, goes like this:

C D E F G A B C.

To begin, play the scale, one note at a time, using the open strings and fingering the notes on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd frets, beginning and ending on the C note, forward (ascending) and backward (descending), memorizing each note in its open or fretted position.

Use your 3rd (ring) finger on the 3rd fret, 2nd finger (middle) on the 2nd fret, and 1st finger (index) on the first fret. If you want to finger-pick, alternate index with middle fingers of your right hand, or use your thumb throughout. The table below shows the 6th (thickest) string at the bottom.

Open String	1st Fret	2nd Fret	3rd Fret
B	C
G		A
D		E	F
			C

Now play the C Major scale on the 2nd through the 8th frets. Here you’ll be playing through two octaves². Again, play forward (ascending) and backward (descending) in alphabetical order, memorizing the notes. When you get to the C on the 3rd string (5th fret), move your hand up so that your index finger plays that note, ring finger the D, index the E, middle the F, pinkie the G, index the A, ring the B, and pinkie the final C (1st string, 8th fret):

1st Fret	2nd Fret	3rd Fret	4th Fret	5th Fret	6th Fret	7th Fret	8th Fret
				A		B	C
				E	F		G
	A		B	C		D
	E	F		G
		C		D

As you play through the notes, you can sing: Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. Or, sing the notes: C D E F G A B C. Or sing numbers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8.

Solfa	Do	Re	Mi	Fa	So	La	Ti	Do
Numeric Note	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Letter Note	C	D	E	F	G	A	B	C

Next, we’ll look at the C Chromatic scale and the C Major Harmonized scale to see how chords are built.

1. On the piano, to play the C Major scale, you press only the white keys, skipping over the black keys, but on the guitar, every fret is what is called a half step, and the sharps and flats can’t be seen. ↩︎
2. An octave is 8 notes, beginning and ending on the same note. ↩︎