How To Learn All Notes on the Guitar

While there are many ways to learn all the notes on the guitar, here are my top 5. All are fairly simple tricks, which will help you to master the guitar’s fretboard. Plus, all are fun.

#1 Think Keys

What is your favourite key to play in on the guitar? Is it G? E? or it could be something like Bb? Maybe not!

Firstly, learn the note names in the scale. If you’re not sure, then use my eBook of guitar Scales to kick start your learning.

Start by picking three notes in the scale. Try to find them over the fretboard. You can choose to go string by string or note by note.

Just make sure you find all possible versions of each note. Make sure to say each note’s name aloud. This will help you to remember each sound better.

#2 Pick 4 notes and take a guitar solo

By choosing four notes you’ll limit yourself enough to stay focus yet have a few notes to play with.

Remember you can slide [up/down], bend, try different rhythms, experiment with hammers-ons and pull-offs.

Don’t add any more notes, instead find a new position. Also, make sure you call out the name of the note you start on each time.

#3 Fun games

If you make trying to learn where notes are on the guitar an exercise, then it will become quite boring. And quickly.

Here’s a fun game to try. Grab your metronome, I’m using a Korg MA1BL, $15 on Amazon. Set it on 80 BPM – it’s not too fast, not slow.

Call out a note, I’ll try C. Then try to find C on the string in this order. B string, A String, e String [top], D String, E String [lowest], G string.

Remember you’re trying to find the next note before the metronome tick, so hold your timing! Hey, that’s two skills in one fun game!

#4 String skipping

Pick two notes which are close to each other but not the next note in the scale. If you’re in the key of G, try something like G and E.

Start on the low E string and find the closest note. Of course, the first note is an open string! The next note would be G, which is located is on the 3rd fret.

We’ll now skip two strings. So we’re on the D string. The E note is located on the 2nd fret. G can be found on the 5th fret. With me?!

Move down to the A string next. Then up to the B string. We’ll finish the top E. This means we start where we finished just in a higher octave.

#5 Hear it – Don’t Look

Let’s start with a D note. Try to find a D note without looking. Sure, you’ll miss it the first couple of times, but keep going.

The idea is to really hear how a D note sounds and learn how to feel where it is. This trick will drive you crazy but keep trying as you’ll see your guitar playing improve massively!

Conclusion

So there you have five really simple way to learn the notes on the guitar’s fretboard in a fun way. Following these ideas will secure your knowledge and allow you to develop faster.

What’s your favorite way to learn where the notes are on the guitar?