Monday 3 January 2011

Learn Guitar String Names

Standard guitar tuning: nut, fingerboard, fret...
The names of the strings on the guitar should be one of the first things you learn as a beginner guitarist.

How NOT to Learn Guitar String Names

Some teachers make the mistake of teaching the strings by numbers, from string 1 to string 6, with the highest pitched string being string number 1. This is a very wrong method of teaching, since it does not allow you to practice the notes on the fretboard. By learning the names of the strings based on their pitch (in standard tuning), you'll be doing yourself a favor in the long run, as each time you refer to the strings, or think about their names, you'll also be learning, and basically reciting the notes you find on the fretboard.

How to Learn Guitar String Names Correctly

The names of the strings in standard tuning are E A D G B E, with the first E being the lowest string (6th string), and the last E being the highest pitched string (1st string), which is 2 octaves above the low E in tone. The letters refer to their pitch on the musical alphabet.

The easiest way to remember the names of the strings on your guitar is not by reciting E A D G B E fifty times every day, but by using acronyms. An acronym is a word made up from the initials of words in a phrase. In our case, the word is the E A D G B E sequence, and the phrase you use to remember it can be basically anything you make up. Here are a couple of famous acronyms to remember string names. There are many more, and feel free to make up you own as well:

Eat All Day Get Big Easy
Elvis Always Dug Good Banana
Eating, Eat A Dog, Get Big Ears


guitar string names


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