The open strings

Six strings, six names. Learn these first — every other note on the neck is described relative to them.

The names, thick to thin

From the thickest string (closest to your face when you look down) to the thinnest:

e |----------------   1st string (thinnest)  — high E
B |----------------   2nd string             — B
G |----------------   3rd string             — G
D |----------------   4th string             — D
A |----------------   5th string             — A
E |----------------   6th string (thickest)  — low E

Two things to notice before they bite you later:

• String numbers run opposite to gravity’s opinion. String 1 is the thinnest — the one nearest the floor when you’re holding the guitar. The thick low E is string 6. Every chord chart and tab assumes this.
• Two strings are named E. The thick one is “low E”, the thin one “high E” — same note name, two octaves apart. In diagrams the thin one is often written lowercase, e, like above.

A mnemonic

From thick to thin — E, A, D, G, B, E:

Every Alien Dreams Great Big Encores

Any phrase works as long as it’s yours and you can recall it mid-conversation. You’ll only need it for a couple of weeks; after that the names are just there.

The 12-fret repeat

Play the open low E string, then press it down at the 12th fret and play again. Same note, one octave higher. This is true on every string: fret 12 restarts the string, and frets 13 through 24 are frets 1 through 11 all over again, an octave up.

That’s why fret 12 gets a special marker on nearly every guitar — usually a double dot (the single dots at 3, 5, 7, and 9 are just landmarks along the way). It means you never have to learn more than twelve frets of names: learn frets 0–11, and you own the whole neck.

Try it

1. Tune up, if you have a tuner — open-string work is the perfect excuse.
2. Play each open string from thick to thin, saying its name out loud: “E, A, D, G, B, E.” Three slow passes.
3. Play the open low E, then low E at fret 12. Listen for “same note, higher.” Repeat on one or two other strings.

Saying the names out loud feels silly and works disproportionately well. Your tutor will wait.