Jazz Guitar Course

Module 1: FoundationsLesson 3beginner⏱ 45 min + daily drills for a month

The fretboard: note names and octave shapes

Learn the name of every note up to the 12th fret using landmarks and octave shapes, so that chord roots and scale positions become instant.

Why this comes first

Every jazz skill in this course is addressed by note name: "play the 3rd of F7", "move that shape to Eb", "the ii chord in Ab". If you have to count up from an open string to find Eb, you will be a bar late. Professional players see the neck as a map of note names, and the map is learned in a few weeks of short daily drills. This lesson gives you the landmarks, the octave shapes, and the drills.

The open strings and fret 12

Standard tuning, from the thickest string (string 6) to the thinnest (string 1), is E A D G B E. Fret 12 repeats the open-string names an octave higher. A useful mnemonic: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.

Open-string names repeat at the 12th fret123456789101112EGABDEBDEGABGABDEGDEGABDABDEGAEGABDE

Whole steps and half steps

A half step is one fret. A whole step is two frets. The seven natural notes (C D E F G A B) are a whole step apart except for two pairs: E–F and B–C, which are a half step apart. That single fact lets you name every natural note on a string by walking up from the open string.

Tip

E to F and B to C are the only adjacent natural notes with no fret between them. On the low E string that gives you E (0), F (1), G (3), A (5), B (7), C (8), D (10), E (12). Say the names aloud as you play them.

The natural notes on strings 6 and 5

Almost every jazz chord shape takes its name from the note under your finger on the 6th or 5th string. Learn these two strings cold before anything else.

Natural notes on the 6th string
Say each name as you play it. Shift your hand so that one finger per fret still works around the 5th and 7th frets.
alphaTex source
\tempo 80
.
\ts 4 4
:4 0.6{txt "E"} 1.6{txt "F"} 3.6{txt "G"} 5.6{txt "A"} | 7.6{txt "B"} 8.6{txt "C"} 10.6{txt "D"} 12.6{txt "E"} |
Natural notes on the 5th string
alphaTex source
\tempo 80
.
\ts 4 4
:4 0.5{txt "A"} 2.5{txt "B"} 3.5{txt "C"} 5.5{txt "D"} | 7.5{txt "E"} 8.5{txt "F"} 10.5{txt "G"} 12.5{txt "A"} |
All natural notes to the 12th fret123456789101112EFGABCDEBCDEFGABGABCDEFGDEFGABCDABCDEFGAEFGABCDE

Sharps and flats

The fret between two natural notes has two names: one fret above G is G#, and the same fret is one below A, so it is also Ab. Which name is "right" depends on the key, which Module 2 explains. For now, learn both names for every in-between fret. Jazz musicians lean towards flat names (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db) because so many standards live in flat keys, but F# is almost always called F#.

Every note to the 12th fret (flat names)123456789101112EFGbGAbABbBCDbDEbEBCDbDEbEFGbGAbABbBGAbABbBCDbDEbEFGbGDEbEFGbGAbABbBCDbDABbBCDbDEbEFGbGAbAEFGbGAbABbBCDbDEbE

Octave shapes: how to know the other four strings

Once strings 6 and 5 are solid, find the rest with octave shapes:

  • From string 6 or 5, the octave is two strings up and two frets higher. C at fret 8 on string 6 is also C at fret 10 on string 4; C at fret 3 on string 5 is C at fret 5 on string 3.
  • From string 4 or 3, the octave is two strings up and three frets higher, because the B string is tuned a 3rd (not a 4th) above the G string. C at fret 10 on string 4 is C at fret 13 on string 2; C at fret 5 on string 3 is C at fret 8 on string 1.
Octave shapes from each string pair
Play each pair as a two-note shape, then as single notes. Every note here is a C.
alphaTex source
\tempo 72
.
\ts 4 4
:4 8.6{txt "C"} 10.4{txt "C"} 3.5{txt "C"} 5.3{txt "C"} | 10.4{txt "C"} 13.2{txt "C"} 5.3{txt "C"} 8.1{txt "C"} |
Every C up to the 15th fret: see the octave shapes123456789101112131415CCCCCCCC
Theory note

Five of the six strings are tuned a perfect 4th apart (five frets). The G to B pair is a major 3rd (four frets). Any shape that crosses from the G string to the B string must move up one fret to keep the same notes. You will meet this in every chord shape and scale pattern in the course.

The same note in five places

Each pitch above the 5th fret exists in several places. C4 (middle C, the C just above the open B string) is found at string 2 fret 1, string 3 fret 5, string 4 fret 10, and string 5 fret 15. Knowing this is what lets you choose the position that keeps a phrase under your hand.

Middle C in four positions
All four notes are the same pitch; listen for the tone difference between the thin and thick strings.
alphaTex source
\tempo 72
.
\ts 4 4
:4 1.2{txt "str 2"} 5.3{txt "str 3"} 10.4{txt "str 4"} 15.5{txt "str 5"} |

Drills

Practice
  1. Name-the-note in the Fretboard trainer: strings 6 and 5 only in week 1, add string 4 in week 2, all strings from week 3.
  2. Find-every-position: the trainer asks for a note; click all of them. Aim for under ten seconds.
  3. One note, all strings: pick a note (say Bb). Play it on every string from low to high, naming the string and fret aloud. Do three notes a day.
  4. Spell the chord you are playing: when you play any chord you already know, say the name of each note from low to high.

Progress check: at the end of four weeks you should name any fret on any string within two seconds, and find all positions of a note in under ten seconds. If not, keep going; nothing else in the course gets easier until this is automatic.

Quiz