Lesson 07

Lesson 7: Natural Notes Only

Dropping the sharps for a moment makes the neck much less crowded.

Natural notes are the plain letters without sharps or flats. They are often the easiest first layer to memorize on the neck.

String order: E B G D A E
Open strings shown in gold

Focus notes

ABCEF

Open-string notes are highlighted differently from fretted notes, and this lesson highlights its key notes in green.

Main ideas

  • Natural notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
  • B to C is one fret apart.
  • E to F is one fret apart.
  • Most other natural-note pairs have a sharp/flat note between them.
  • Learning naturals first creates a simple map to build on later.

Visual fretboard

open string note
regular fretted note
focus/octave note

Examples

B to C: On the A string, fret 2 is B and fret 3 is C.
E to F: On low E, open is E and fret 1 is F.

Quick self-test

Q1. Is there a sharp between B and C?
No.
Q2. Is there a sharp between E and F?
No.