The Guitar Fretboard Notes Map
There are 72 note positions in the first twelve frets. You do not have to memorise them one by one — a handful of anchors and two shapes get you to any note quickly.
The fretboard can feel like a wall of possibilities, but the underlying pattern is small. There are twelve note names. They go up one semitone — one fret — at a time, and after twelve frets they start over an octave higher. That is the entire system.
The two quirks worth burning in now: there is no sharp between B and C, and none between E and F. Those notes are already a single fret apart. Every other natural note has a sharp between it and the next.
The Full Map, Frets 1–12
Standard tuning, open strings on the left, the 12th-fret octave on the right. Read across a row to walk up one string.
| String | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E (1st) | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E |
| B (2nd) | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B |
| G (3rd) | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G |
| D (4th) | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D |
| A (5th) | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A |
| E (6th) | F | F♯ | G | G♯ | A | A♯ | B | C | C♯ | D | D♯ | E |
Above the 12th fret, every note repeats: the 13th fret matches the 1st, the 14th matches the 2nd, and so on. Learn this grid and you know the whole neck.
Don't Memorise It Row by Row
Brute-force memorisation is slow and it does not stick. Learn the map in layers instead.
Layer 1: the natural notes on strings 6 and 5
These two strings are where barre-chord and scale roots live, so they pay off first. On the low E string the natural notes fall at:
And on the A string:
Notice the shape is the same on both strings, just starting from a different letter — because both strings are tuned in the same intervals. Say the notes out loud as you play up each string, a few minutes a day.
Layer 2: the octave shapes
Once you can find a note on the 6th string, you can reach the same note elsewhere on the neck using fixed shapes:
- 6th string to 4th string: same note, up two strings and two frets higher. A on the 6th string (5th fret) is also A on the 4th string (7th fret).
- 5th string to 3rd string: the same shape — up two strings, two frets higher.
- 4th string to 2nd string: up two strings, but three frets higher, because of the major third between the G and B strings.
These shapes mean you never really memorise the D, G, B, and high E strings separately. You find a root on string 6 or 5 and hop to it.
Layer 3: the reference frets
Frets 5 and 7 are worth knowing cold, because they connect to open strings — this is exactly the relationship behind tuning by ear:
- 5th fret of any string (except the G string) = the next open string up.
- 7th fret of a string = the open string two above it (a fifth).
- 12th fret = the open string, one octave up. This is your halfway mirror.
A Five-Minute Daily Drill
- Name a random note. Find it on the 6th string, then the 5th, then use octave shapes to find it on the other four. Say each one aloud.
- Pick a fret number. Name the note on all six strings at that fret, top to bottom, without looking at the map.
- Play the natural notes up the 6th string and back down, in time with a metronome at 60 BPM, saying each note.
Do this for a couple of weeks and the fretboard stops being a maze. You will start seeing chord and scale roots as note names rather than finger positions, which is the point where theory and the guitar finally line up. Keep the guitar in tune while you drill, or you will be training your ear against the wrong pitches.
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Manusha Dananjaya
Developer & founder, GuitarTunePro
Manusha builds web tools and started GuitarTunePro after finding most free online tuners slow, ad-cluttered, or inaccurate. GuitarTunePro's pitch detection, tuning presets, and chord library are all custom-built and verified against equal-temperament reference frequencies rather than copied from another tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many notes are on a guitar fretboard?
There are only twelve note names, but they repeat. On a 22-fret guitar in standard tuning there are 138 fretted positions plus 6 open strings. Everything above the 12th fret is a repeat of the notes below it, one octave higher, so learning the first twelve frets covers the whole neck.
What are the note names on the low E string?
From the open string upward: E, F, F♯, G, G♯, A, A♯, B, C, C♯, D, D♯, and E again at the 12th fret. The high E string (1st string) is identical, two octaves higher.
Do I need to memorise every note on the fretboard?
Not by rote. Learn the natural notes on the E and A strings first, because those anchor most barre chords and root positions. Then use octave shapes to jump to the same note on other strings. The rest fills in with playing.
Why are there no sharps between B–C and E–F?
Those pairs are naturally one semitone apart, so there is no note between them. On the guitar that means B is at one fret and C is at the very next fret, with nothing in between — the same for E and F.
Where are the fretboard dots and what do they mark?
The inlay dots sit at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, and a double dot at 12, then the pattern repeats. They are navigation markers. Frets 5 and 7 in particular are worth knowing cold, because the notes there line up with open strings.
Related Articles
Standard Tuning Explained
Why the strings are E-A-D-G-B-E, which is the reason the map looks the way it does.
Beginner Guitar Chord Progressions
Knowing your root notes turns a progression into something you can play in any key.
How to Tune a Guitar by Ear
The 5th-fret method is really just the note map in action.