Guitar String Notes is the first in a series of basic tips and tutorials here on GuitarSite.com for beginner guitarists.
So you’ve just got your first guitar or bass, or perhaps it’s been sitting there for a while and you’ve decided it’s about time you picked it up and had some fun with it.
Congratulations on your new pass-time that will bring about a lifetime of enjoyment – playing guitar!
And now you would like to know each of the guitar string names – or as some guitarists call them: guitar string notes. Experienced players usually refer to each string by it’s open note in Standard Tuning: E.G. ‘G string’ or ‘A string’.
Firstly, lets take a look at where these names come from on the good old 6 string guitar.
Bottom E String or 6th String
This is the thickest string and the one closest to the top when you are holding your guitar – it’s the E string on the left in the picture above. The frequency of this note is 82.41 Hz.
A String or 5th String
The next thickest string is tuned to A at 110.00 Hz.
D String or 4th String
The D string is again slightly thinner than the A string. It is tuned to 146.83 Hz.
G String or 3rd String
This is where a change in thickness can occur. If you have a steel string guitar then this string will be thinner than the D string, however if you have an acoustic guitar with nylon strings, then this will usually be the first nylon string and it will often be thicker than the D string above it. Regardless of what type of guitar you have, the standard tuning is 196.00 Hz.
B String or 2nd String
Again this will be thinner than the string above, and it’s standard tuning is 246.94 Hz.
High E String or 1st String
This string is highest open note on the guitar and is tuned to 329.63 Hz.
Bass Guitar String Names
The 4 strings on a standard bass guitar are E, A, D, and G. As you can see the names of the strings are the same as the lowest 4 strings on a 6 string guitar – they are however an octave lower on the bass guitar.
Guitar String Notes in Standard Tuning
When reading the notes below you’ll need to know that ‘#’ means ‘sharp’ and ‘b’ means ‘flat’. The numbers represent the frets starting from 0 with no finger on the string (an open string) and 1 being the first fret closest to the tuning pegs.
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
E | F | F# or Gb | G | G# or Ab | A | A# or Bb | B | C | C# or Db | D | D# or Eb | E |
B | C | C# or Db | D | D# or Eb | E | F | F# or Gb | G | G# or Ab | A | A# or Bb | B |
G | G# or Ab | A | A# or Bb | B | C | C# or Db | D | D# or Eb | E | F | F# or Gb | G |
D | D# or Eb | E | F | F# or Gb | G | G# or Ab | A | A# or Bb | B | C | C# or Db | D |
A | A# or Bb | B | C | C# or Db | D | D# or Eb | E | F | F# or Gb | G | G# or Ab | A |
E | F | F# or Gb | G | G# or Ab | A | A# or Bb | B | C | C# or Db | D | D# or Eb | E |
Alternate Tunings
It’s important to know that the names of the strings don’t change even if you tune them to different notes. For example, if you tune the B String down to A then the name is still called the B String.
That’s all there is to it – now you know the names of guitar strings and guitar string notes!
Also in this beginner guitar series:
It is good idea to brief description of the Guitar parts.
New comers are very easily play Guitar with this book help..