Why the 6 guitar strings and notes are the first thing every guitarist learns

A brand-new guitar student can sit through an entire first lesson, walk out, and still not be able to name the strings on the instrument they just paid for. That gap is the single biggest reason beginners stall in the first 30 days — and it's completely fixable in about ten minutes. The six guitar strings and notes in standard tuning are E, A, D, G, B, and E, from the thickest, lowest-pitched string to the thinnest, highest-pitched string. Once that sequence is locked in, chords stop looking like random dot patterns, tabs start reading like sentences, and the fretboard begins to feel like a map instead of a maze.

This guide is written for K12 music teachers, students, parents helping kids practice at home, and adult beginners who want a single, trustworthy reference for guitar string names, open string notes, the EADGBE order, the best mnemonics for remembering it, how fretted notes relate to open strings, and how string gauge changes the way the guitar feels and sounds.

What are the 6 guitar strings called?

The six strings on a standard guitar are called, from lowest pitch to highest pitch, E, A, D, G, B, E. This is known as standard tuning or EADGBE. The thickest string (closest to the ceiling when you hold the guitar) is the low E, and the thinnest string (closest to the floor) is the high E.

A quick reference every beginner should memorize:

• 6th string — Low E (thickest, lowest pitch)

• 5th string — A

• 4th string — D

• 3rd string — G

• 2nd string — B

• 1st string — High E (thinnest, highest pitch)

Notice that strings are numbered in the opposite direction of pitch order. The 1st string is the thinnest and highest, not the thickest. This trips up nearly every beginner once, so it's worth a second read. Guitar string manufacturers and tab notation both follow this 1-through-6 convention.

Why E to E, and not A to A?

Standard tuning evolved over centuries as a compromise between three things: how easy chords are to finger, how singable melody lines feel under the hand, and how many useful keys you can play with open strings. Five of the six string-to-string jumps are a perfect fourth (five semitones). The single exception is the gap between the G and B strings, which is a major third (four semitones). That one irregularity is what makes barre chords playable across the neck without contorting your hand.[1]

The EADGBE order, explained for absolute beginners

If you wrote out the musical alphabet — A, B, C, D, E, F, G — and then jumped up a perfect fourth from each string, you'd get exactly the EADGBE sequence (with the G-to-B major third exception). You don't need to do that math at the start. What you do need is a way to make the sequence stick.

Four facts will save you weeks of confusion:

1. The lowest and highest strings are both E, two octaves apart.

2. The musical alphabet only uses seven letters (A through G), then it repeats.

3. A half step is one fret. A whole step is two frets.[2]

4. Every note between two natural notes (except B–C and E–F) is a sharp or flat.

These four facts unlock everything else on the fretboard.

How to remember guitar string names: the best mnemonics

Here's a 40-word featured-snippet answer for the most common search:

The easiest way to remember the guitar strings E-A-D-G-B-E is with a mnemonic where each word starts with the right letter. Popular options include "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie," "Every Amateur Does Get Better Eventually," and "Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears."

Some teacher- and student-favorite mnemonics that have stood the test of time:[3][4]

• Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie — the classic.

• Every Amateur Does Get Better Eventually — the motivational one.

• Eat All Day, Get Big Easy — short and sweet.

• Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears — great for younger students.

• Every Apple Does Good Being Eaten — for elementary classrooms.

And for remembering the strings from thinnest to thickest (1st to 6th — useful when reading chord diagrams):

• Easter Bunnies Get Dizzy At Easter (E, B, G, D, A, E)

• Every Boy Gets Dinner At Eight

Classroom tip: Have students invent their own mnemonic. The act of generating it forces a deeper memory trace than memorizing someone else's phrase. It also gets a laugh, which is the best classroom currency you have.

A second technique: just say "E-A-D-G-B-E"

Many guitar teachers swear by skipping the mnemonic entirely and just pronouncing the six letters as a single six-syllable word: ee-ay-dee-jee-bee-ee. Say it ten times in a row while you point at the strings, and within a day or two the sequence becomes muscle memory. This works especially well for older students and adults who find children's mnemonics off-putting.

Open string notes vs fretted notes

When you pluck a guitar string without holding down any fret, you're playing the open string. Each open string produces its named note — the open 6th string sounds an E, the open 5th sounds an A, and so on. The moment you press a finger onto a fret, you shorten the vibrating length of the string, raising the pitch.

Every fret raises the pitch by one half step (also called a semitone). Twelve frets up from the open string, you arrive at the same note an octave higher. That 12th-fret mark — usually highlighted with a double inlay dot — is your octave guide on every string.

What note is the 5th fret on the low E string?

A common beginner question, and a useful one. Counting up half steps from open E: F (1st fret), F# (2nd), G (3rd), G# (4th), A (5th fret). Notice that the 5th fret of the low E string sounds the same note as the open A string — that's why standard tuning works the way it does. The same relationship holds across most adjacent strings:

• 5th fret of low E = open A

• 5th fret of A = open D

• 5th fret of D = open G

• 4th fret of G = open B (the major third exception)

• 5th fret of B = open high E

This is the foundation of tuning by ear, the oldest tuning method in the world. Once you can match the 5th fret of one string to the open string above it, you can keep a guitar in tune without any electronic help.

A simple map of natural notes on each string

For an absolute beginner, learning the natural notes (no sharps or flats) on each string up to the 12th fret is the single highest-leverage memorization task in guitar. Here's what you'll find on each string, in order, from open to 12th fret:[5]

• Low E string: E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E (with sharps/flats between most of them)

• A string: A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A

• D string: D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D

• G string: G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G

• B string: B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B

• High E string: same as low E, just two octaves higher

Notice two important rules from the musical alphabet: there is no sharp between B and C, and there is no sharp between E and F. These are natural half steps. Every other step between letter names is a whole step (two frets), with the sharp or flat sitting in the fret between them.

Standard tuning: what EADGBE actually sounds like

In concert pitch, the six open strings of a standard-tuned guitar produce these specific frequencies:

• Low E (6th): 82.41 Hz

• A (5th): 110.00 Hz

• D (4th): 146.83 Hz

• G (3rd): 196.00 Hz

• B (2nd): 246.94 Hz

• High E (1st): 329.63 Hz

These aren't trivia — they're what a tuner is listening for. If your low E reads 80 Hz, you're flat. If it reads 84 Hz, you're sharp. Tuning apps and clip-on tuners simply tell you whether the string you're plucking matches the target frequency, with an arrow showing which way to turn the tuning peg.

Alternate tunings, in one paragraph

Students will eventually hear about Drop D (low E lowered to D, giving DADGBE), Open G (DGDGBD, used in slide blues and a lot of Rolling Stones), and Half-step down (Eb–Ab–Db–Gb–Bb–Eb, common in rock and metal). These all start from standard EADGBE, so the names and order you learn today travel everywhere. Don't worry about alternate tunings until your standard tuning is solid.

String gauge basics: how thickness changes everything

The word gauge refers to how thick each guitar string is, measured in thousandths of an inch. A set labeled "10–46" means the high E is .010 inches and the low E is .046 inches.

For acoustic guitar, the most common sets are:

• Extra light (.010–.047) — easiest on the fingers, quieter, easier to bend.

• Light (.012–.053) — the standard for most acoustic players.

• Medium (.013–.056) — louder and richer, harder to press, especially for beginners.

For electric guitar:

• Super light (.009–.042) — great for bending and lead playing.

• Regular (.010–.046) — the rock standard, used by most players.

• Heavy (.011–.052) — favored by jazz and drop-tuned metal players.

For classical guitar, gauges are described as light, normal, and hard tension in nylon, not in thousandths.

Practical guidance for K12 classrooms and beginners: start with extra light acoustic or super light electric strings. Pressing strings hurts fingers in the first weeks, and lighter strings make the difference between a student practicing and a student quitting. You can always move up in gauge once calluses develop, usually around the 6-week mark.

The first six chords every guitar student plays — and why string names matter

The CAGED system is the most widely taught chord framework in guitar pedagogy because the first chords beginners learn (C, A, G, E, and D major) all use a different combination of open strings. If you don't know which string is which, every chord diagram looks like a foreign language. Once you know EADGBE, a chord chart suddenly tells you exactly what to do — finger on the 5th string, 3rd fret; finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret; play the rest open.

This is the moment when learning the guitar strings and notes pays off. Three minutes of memorizing names buys you years of being able to read any chord chart in any songbook.

How music teachers can teach EADGBE in a single class

A proven 25-minute lesson sequence for elementary and middle school music:

1. 2 min — Show and name. Hold up the guitar. Point at each string. Say its name. Have students say it back.

2. 5 min — Pluck and listen. Play each open string and have students sing the letter name on the pitch.

3. 5 min — Pick a mnemonic. Vote as a class on a favorite mnemonic or write one together on the board.

4. 5 min — Game time. "Name that string" — pluck one string and call on a student to name it. Keep score.

5. 5 min — Connect to a song. Show the chord diagram for E minor (the easiest chord on guitar). Identify which strings are pressed and which ring open.

6. 3 min — Send home. Give a one-page string-name reference for practice.

This structure works across grade levels because it moves from passive listening to active recall to applied knowledge in 25 minutes — the typical attention span of a K12 music block.

Common beginner mistakes with guitar strings and notes

A few mistakes show up in every guitar class, and naming them upfront saves teachers and parents a lot of repeat instruction:

• Counting strings the wrong way. The 1st string is the thinnest, not the thickest. This is the single most common reading error in tabs and chord charts.

• Tuning the high E up too far. New strings stretch. If you keep tightening, you'll snap a string. Tune up to pitch slowly, and re-check after stretching.

• Confusing B and high E by ear. They're only five semitones apart and both relatively bright. Use a tuner until your ear catches up.

• Ignoring the G-to-B exception. When students try to apply the "5th fret = next open string" rule on the G string, they're surprised it doesn't work. It's the 4th fret on G, not the 5th.

• Calling everything "strings" when they mean "notes." The 6th string is a string. The E it plays is a note. Keep the words straight, because a student saying "play the E" on the 5th string is asking for the 7th fret, not the open string.

How ChordKey makes learning guitar strings and notes faster

ChordKey, a K12 music education platform focused on general music education, ukulele, guitar, and piano, was built around one observation: students learn string names and fretboard notes fastest when they can see them while playing songs they recognize. ChordKey's interactive string display labels every string and every fret in real time, so when a student looks at a chord diagram for "Hey There Delilah" or a tab for the opening riff of "Seven Nation Army," the names of the notes are highlighted on the fretboard as they play.

For music teachers, ChordKey's classroom tools track which students have mastered the open-string notes, which are still guessing, and which need targeted practice. The platform's AI-powered learning paths automatically recommend short, song-based exercises that reinforce the EADGBE sequence — turning a memorization task that used to take weeks of flashcards into something students absorb in days by playing music they already love.

Compared with apps like Yousician, Simply Piano, or Fender Play that focus on individual practice, ChordKey is designed for mixed-ability K12 classrooms where some students will memorize EADGBE in a single lesson and others will need three weeks. Adaptive difficulty means both kinds of students stay engaged.

Frequently asked questions about guitar strings and notes

What is the order of guitar strings from low to high?

From the thickest, lowest-pitched string to the thinnest, highest-pitched string, the order is E, A, D, G, B, E. The thick low E is the 6th string and the thin high E is the 1st string.

Why are the first and last strings both E?

Because standard tuning was designed so the two outermost strings sound the same note two octaves apart. This makes chord voicings consistent, gives the guitar a wide six-string range of roughly two octaves plus a fifth, and lets the instrument cover both rhythm and lead roles without retuning.

What is the easiest way to memorize guitar strings?

Pick one mnemonic and use it every time you pick up the guitar for a week. "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie" is the most popular for a reason — it's short, weird, and sticks. Or just chant E-A-D-G-B-E as a six-syllable word while pointing at each string.

Do all guitars use EADGBE tuning?

Most six-string acoustic and electric guitars ship in EADGBE standard tuning. Bass guitars use EADG (four strings, one octave lower than guitar). Seven-string guitars typically add a low B for BEADGBE. Ukuleles use GCEA, which is a separate tuning system entirely.

How long does it take to memorize all the notes on a guitar?

Memorizing the six open string notes takes most students less than a week. Memorizing every natural note on the fretboard up to the 12th fret typically takes 4–8 weeks with daily 5-minute practice. Adaptive apps like ChordKey shorten that timeline by integrating note recognition into actual songs instead of standalone drills.

Putting it all together

The six guitar strings and notes — E, A, D, G, B, E — are the foundation of every chord, scale, and song on the instrument. Memorize the order. Pick a mnemonic that makes you laugh. Spend five minutes naming open strings and another five mapping fret-by-fret natural notes. By the end of one focused week, you'll read chord diagrams and tabs the way you read sentences: fluently, without translating.

If you're a music teacher building a guitar unit, or a parent helping a kid stay motivated between lessons, ChordKey's adaptive song library and interactive fretboard display turn memorizing guitar string names into the byproduct of playing real music. Start with one song, one chord, one string at a time — and within a few weeks, EADGBE won't be a memorization task at all. It'll just be the way you see the guitar.