Guide
Learning the notes on a guitar or bass neck with a timed quiz
Most guitarists play shapes and patterns for years without being sure what note they are on. Knowing the names of the notes on the neck makes it easier to read chord charts, find a bass line, talk to other musicians and understand scales. It takes practice, so this trainer turns the fretboard into a short quiz with a score and a clock.
The layout of the neck
Each fret is one semitone, and the notes in the chromatic scale repeat every twelve semitones. So the 12th fret has the same note as the open string, an octave higher, and everything after it repeats the pattern from the first fret. Between most natural notes there is a sharp or flat, except for E to F and B to C, which are neighbours. On a guitar in standard tuning, the strings from lowest to highest are E A D G B E, and each string is a fourth above the one below except between G and B, which is a major third.
The two quiz modes
In Name the note, the diagram marks one position with a question mark and the prompt says which string and fret it is, for example fret 5 of the low E string. Click the note you think it is from the buttons below. In Find the note, the prompt names a note and a string, and you click the fret on that string where the note is. A wrong answer says what you pressed, and you try again; a correct answer shows “Correct!” and moves on after a moment.
A worked example
Press Sample to start on guitar with the Name the note mode, frets 0 to 12 and natural notes only. Suppose the question is the low E string at fret 5. The answer is A: from E it is F at fret 1, G at fret 3 and A at fret 5, because there is a sharp between F and G, and between G and A. That is also why the fifth fret of a string matches the next open string up, apart from the G to B pair. The score counts one correct answer, a streak of one and an accuracy of 100 percent.
Settings
The Frets option sets how far up the neck the quiz goes: 0 to 5 for beginners, 0 to 12 for the first octave, and 0 to 15 to reach past it. Natural notes only keeps the questions to the seven letter names. Turn it off to include sharps and flats, and choose whether to show them as sharps or as flats. Guitar or bass changes the number of strings and the tuning. The bottom string in the diagram is the lowest-sounding one.
The score
The page counts correct and wrong answers, the current streak and the best streak, which is saved in your browser, and your accuracy as a percentage. The average time is that of your last 20 correct answers, which is a good measure of how fast the notes come to you. Aim to get the average down below two seconds on the frets you know before extending the range.
Practice tips
Work on one string at a time for a few days, then mix them. Say the note aloud as you play it. Use the open strings as anchors, and the 5th, 7th and 12th frets as landmarks. Practise in short sessions rather than a long one.
Limits
The quiz uses standard tuning only: drop D or other tunings will give different notes. It does not play the note, so use a tuner or a keyboard to hear it. Nothing leaves your device.
Related tools
- Online Tuner tunes the strings, so you hear the notes you name.
- Circle of Fifths shows which notes go together in a key.
- Chord Diagram Maker puts the notes into chord shapes.
- Guitar Tab Maker writes tunes as fret numbers on the strings.
Checked against the current version of the Fretboard Note Trainer on .