Guitar Fretboard
Click any note to highlight every position across all 6 strings — the complete interactive guitar fretboard map.
Click a note to highlight all positions
Standard tuning — E A D G B e (low to high)
Notes on the Guitar Fretboard
The guitar fretboard follows a repeating 12-note chromatic pattern on each string. Every string in standard tuning (E A D G B e, low to high) starts at an open note and moves up one semitone per fret. The 12th fret always produces the same note as the open string, one octave higher. Once you know the note at any fret on any string, you can calculate any other note by counting semitones. The fretboard diagram above shows the complete note map across all 6 strings and frets 0 through 12.
Guitar Fretboard Chart — Reading the Map
The dots at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 are fret position markers — the inlays on a real guitar neck. They help you navigate without counting every fret. Fret 5 on the low E string is A; fret 5 on the A string is D; fret 5 on the D string is G. These reference points make it faster to locate any note on the guitar fretboard diagram. The double dot at fret 12 marks the octave, where the note pattern repeats from the open string.
Using the Fretboard to Learn Scales and Chords
Understanding fretboard notes unlocks every other aspect of guitar theory. Chord shapes are sets of fretboard positions sounding simultaneously. Scales are specific sequences of notes found in predictable patterns across the neck. Knowing where every note lives makes it possible to move chord shapes up and down, identify the key of a song by ear, and improvise fluidly. Use our Guitar Scales tool to overlay scale patterns on the fretboard, and our Chords in a Key tool to find which chords naturally belong together in any key.
Standard Tuning — E A D G B e
This fretboard map is built for standard tuning, the most common tuning for acoustic and electric guitar. The open strings from low to high are E, A, D, G, B, and high e (the high e uses a lowercase letter to distinguish it from the low E). If you play in an alternate tuning like Drop D or Open G, the note positions on the detuned strings will differ. For alternate tunings, adjust the open string note and count semitones up from there. Our Guitar Capo Chart shows how a capo changes the effective pitch of each open string position.
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