Guitar Fretboard Notes
An interactive guitar fretboard with all the notes on the guitar neck, fret by fret. Tap any note to hear it and see everywhere it sits.
Using the interactive guitar fretboard
It's free and works online on a phone or computer, with nothing to install and no sign-up.
- Tap any note to hear it. Every other place with the same note lights up across the neck.
- Rings mark every place with the exact pitch you tapped. The other highlighted notes have the same name an octave higher or lower.
- Highlight notes with the note buttons, one at a time or several together. On a phone they open from Notes.
- All notes or Naturals shows every note, or only the seven natural notes without sharps and flats.
- More switches between sharp and flat names, turns note colors on or off, and changes the tuning, the number of frets (12 or 24), even or realistic fret spacing, right- or left-handed, and sound.
- Turn your phone sideways for a horizontal neck, or keep it upright to scroll down the frets.
All the notes on the guitar fretboard
The neck starts in standard tuning, with the open strings at the nut: E A D G B E from the thickest string to the thinnest. Each fret raises a note by a half step, so the notes on the guitar frets follow each other in the same order on every string. The dots on the neck sit at frets 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12, as on most guitars.
Each natural note has its own color, from C to B. A sharp or flat sits between two naturals, so its ring carries both neighbours' colors: C♯ / D♭ is half C and half D. At fret 12 the whole pattern starts again, an octave higher.
Once you can find a note without looking, test yourself with a guitar fretboard quiz.
Guitar fretboard notes: quick answers
What are the notes on the guitar fretboard?
Twelve notes: C, C♯/D♭, D, D♯/E♭, E, F, F♯/G♭, G, G♯/A♭, A, A♯/B♭ and B. Each fret raises a string by one half step, so every string runs through all twelve in that order, starting from its open note.
Which notes have no sharp or flat between them?
E and F, and B and C. Each pair is one fret apart. Every other pair of natural notes is two frets apart, with a sharp or flat in between.
How many notes are on a guitar fretboard?
Twelve different note names. On a six-string guitar they fill 78 places from the open strings to fret 12, and 150 places on a 24-fret neck.
Do the notes repeat after the 12th fret?
Yes. Fret 12 has the same notes as the open strings, an octave higher, and frets 13 to 24 repeat frets 1 to 12. Choose 24 frets under More to see the whole neck.
What is a fretboard on a guitar?
The fretboard is the front of the guitar neck, where you press the strings. Metal frets divide it into half steps: pressing a string at fret 5 raises its note by five half steps.