Electric guitar, explained once, properly

Twelve notes.
Five that never miss.

Every scale, chord, lick and key on the guitar is built from the same twelve notes. This page shows how they fit together, gives you a fretboard you can hear, and tells you exactly what to do with your hands or with just your ears.

Guitar in handUse the amber "Try it" blocks: exercises, tab, chord shapes, a metronome. Play notes on the explorer and match them.
No guitarUse the blue "Without a guitar" blocks: listen to notes, train intervals, quiz the fretboard in your head. The page makes the sound so you don't have to.
Start here

How it all fits together

One fact drives everything: there are 12 notes and they repeat. Moving up one fret raises the pitch by one semitone. Twelve frets up is the same note an octave higher. Everything below is just choosing which of those 12 notes to use.

12 notesThe alphabet. A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# then back to A. Only B–C and E–F have no sharp between them.1 fret = 1 semitone
IntervalsDistances between notes, counted in frets. Your ear hears distances, not note names. A song played in another key uses different notes but the same intervals.7 frets = a perfect 5th
Major scalePick 7 of the 12 with the pattern W W H W W W H (whole step = 2 frets, half = 1). Every other scale and chord is described by how it differs from this.C D E F G A B
PentatonicThe major scale with its two tense notes removed (the 4th and 7th). Five notes that never clash. Start the same five notes from a different note and you get the minor pentatonic.C major pent = A minor pent
ChordsTake a scale, keep every other note: 1, 3, 5. That's a triad. A power chord is just 1 and 5, which is why it works over almost anything.A C E = A minor
KeysA song lives in a key: one scale plus the chords built from it. Solo with that key's pentatonic and there are no wrong notes, only better and worse ones.Key of A minor: Am C Dm Em F G
The whole page in one sentence: learn the note names on two strings, learn one pentatonic box, learn six chord shapes, and you can already play with other people. Everything else is refinement.
Concept 1

Reading the fretboard

Standard tuning, from the thickest string to the thinnest: E A D G B E. The thick low E is closest to your face, and on diagrams it's usually drawn at the bottom. Memory hook: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.

Each fret is one semitone. So on the low E string: open is E, fret 1 is F, fret 3 is G, fret 5 is A, fret 7 is B, fret 8 is C, fret 10 is D and fret 12 is E again. The natural notes are two frets apart except for E to F and B to C, which are one fret apart. That single rule lets you work out any note on any string.

Three shortcuts worth memorizing

  • Fret markers. The dots at 3, 5, 7, 9 and the double dot at 12 are your landmarks. On the low E string those dots are G, A, B, C# and E.
  • The octave shape. From the E or A string, go up two strings and over two frets and you land on the same note an octave higher. From the D or G string it's two strings up and three frets over (the B string is tuned a little tighter, which shifts everything by one fret).
  • Fret 5 tuning trick. Fret 5 of any string equals the next string open, except the G string where it's fret 4. This is also how you tune by ear.

You don't need to know every note yet. Know the low E and A strings cold: power chords, barre chords and every pentatonic box are anchored from a root note on those two strings.

Try it

  1. Say the note names out loud while you play up the low E string one fret at a time: E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E.
  2. Find every A on the neck without looking at a chart: low E fret 5, A string open and fret 12, D string fret 7, G string fret 2 and 14, B string fret 10, high E fret 5. Use the octave shape to jump between them.
  3. Play the fret-5 tuning trick on each string pair and listen for the "wobble" to disappear when the two notes match.

Without a guitar

Run the note-name quiz below. Start with the low E and A strings only, then add the rest. Two minutes a day is plenty; the goal is instant recall for the dots (3, 5, 7, 9, 12) on the two low strings.

Mental drill: pick a note, then picture where it sits on each string. Check yourself on the explorer's "Note names" view.

Interactive

Fretboard explorer

Pick a key and a scale. Click any note to hear it; "Play position" plays the box from low to high. The colors are the same everywhere on this page: root 3rd 5th blue note everything else.

Root 3rd 5th Blue note (b5) Other scale notes Outside the selected position

Try it

Set it to A · Minor pentatonic · Box 1. Play what you see, one finger per fret (index on 5, ring on 7, pinky on 8). Click "Play position" and try to match the speed. Then move the key to G and notice that the shape is identical, just two frets lower. That's the big idea: on guitar, shapes move.

Without a guitar

Switch the labels to Intervals and click notes at random. Try to predict whether the next one will sound "home" (root), "bright" (major 3rd), "sad" (minor 3rd) or "strong and neutral" (5th) before you click. This is how the theory turns into hearing.

Concept 2

The pentatonic scale

The minor pentatonic is the sound of rock, blues, and most guitar solos you've ever heard. Five notes: root, flat 3rd, 4th, 5th, flat 7th. In A that's A C D E G.

Why it works: the two notes it leaves out of the full minor scale (the 2nd and flat 6th) are the ones that create tension against the chords. What's left sounds good over any chord in the key, which means you can concentrate on rhythm and feel instead of worrying about wrong notes.

Box 1 in A minor

Index finger lives on fret 5, ring finger on 7, pinky on 8. Play it up and down. This one shape, moved along the neck, gives you every minor key.

e|-------------------------5--8--|
B|-------------------5--8--------|
G|-------------5--7--------------|
D|-------5--7--------------------|
A|-5--7--------------------------|
E|-5--8--------------------------|
   ^ root (A)

The five boxes

The same five notes cover the whole neck in five overlapping shapes. Each box starts on the next scale note up the low E string, so in A they start at frets 5, 8, 10, 12 and then 3 (which is fret 15, an octave down). Learn box 1 first, then box 2, then how they connect. You can play great music forever with just boxes 1 and 2.

Major pentatonic: same notes, different home

A C D E G started from C is C D E G A, the C major pentatonic. Same shapes, same frets, but you treat C as home instead of A. Minor pentatonic sounds bluesy and dark; major pentatonic sounds sunny and country. The trick: the major pentatonic of any key is the minor pentatonic box three frets lower. A major pentatonic uses the F# minor pentatonic shapes (fret 2 instead of fret 5).

The blue note

Add the flat 5th (in A, that's Eb) and you have the blues scale. It's a passing note: slide through it, don't sit on it. Set the explorer to "Blues" to see where it lives inside box 1.

Try it

  1. Box 1 up and down with the metronome at 60 BPM, one note per click. Raise the tempo by 5 when it's clean. Aim for one clear note per pick stroke, no buzzing.
  2. The first lick. This uses the three most-played notes in rock. The 7b9 means bend fret 7 up until it sounds like fret 9 (a whole step).
e|--------------------------5-----|
B|--5--8--5-----------------------|
G|-----------7b9--7--5------------|
D|------------------------7-------|
  1. Connect boxes 1 and 2. Play box 1, then slide your index finger from fret 5 to 8 on the low E string and play box 2 (set the explorer to Box 2). Slide back down.
  2. Play over a chord. Record yourself strumming Am for a minute (or have a friend do it), then play only box 1 notes over it. Hold the root when you want to sound finished.

Without a guitar

Sing it. Click "Play position" on A minor pentatonic box 1 and hum along. Then try to hum the scale before you play it and check. Singers know their scales far better than most guitarists; you're borrowing the trick.

Spot it in songs. The riffs of "Smoke on the Water", "Sunshine of Your Love", and "Back in Black" are almost entirely minor pentatonic. The solo in "Sweet Home Alabama" leans major pentatonic. Listen for the difference in mood: dark and bluesy versus bright and open.

Visualize. Close your eyes and picture box 1: two notes on every string, frets 5 and 7 in the middle four strings, 5 and 8 on the outer two. If you can see it, your hands will find it.

Concept 3

Chords and keys

A chord is a scale with the gaps closed: take a note, skip one, take one, skip one, take one (1, 3, 5). If the 3rd is 4 frets above the root the chord is major (bright). If it's 3 frets above, it's minor (dark). Drop the 3rd entirely and you have a power chord, which is neither and fits anywhere. Click any diagram to hear it.

Power chords: the electric guitar's home base

Two or three notes, one shape, moves anywhere. Root on the low E or A string, ring finger two frets up on the next string. Palm mute and add gain and you have most of punk and metal. Because there's no 3rd, they sound clean with distortion, where full chords turn to mud.

Open chords: the eight that play thousands of songs

Numbers are which finger to use (1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky). An X means don't play that string. O means play it open.

Barre chords: moving the open shapes

Your index finger acts like a movable nut. The E shape puts the root on the low E string; the A shape puts it on the A string. Learn the E-shape major and minor, the A-shape major and minor, and you can play any chord in any key. They take weeks to get clean. That's normal.

Chords in a key

Build a triad on each note of the major scale and you get the chord family of that key. The pattern is always: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished, written with Roman numerals. Uppercase means major.

IiiiiiIVVvivii°

The relative minor is chord vi. It uses exactly the same chords, just with a different home. So the key of C major and the key of A minor share every chord and every scale. When a song feels sad and lands on Am, you're in A minor. When it feels resolved on C, you're in C major. Either way, A minor pentatonic works over all of it.

Most songs use I, IV, V and vi. In G that's G, C, D and Em. In E it's E, A, B and C#m. Learn to hear those four in any key and you'll pick up songs by ear.

Try it

  1. One-minute changes. Pick two chords (start with Em and Am). Set a timer for one minute and count how many clean changes you make. Write the number down. Tomorrow, beat it.
  2. The four-chord loop. Play G, D, Em, C with four downstrums each. Then try the same loop in the key of A: A, E, F#m, D. Notice how it's the same song moved up.
  3. Power chord riff. Palm mute and play E5 for eight eighth notes, then G5 for four, A5 for four. Repeat. Congratulations, you're playing rock.

Without a guitar

Click the chord diagrams and listen for the difference between the major and minor versions of the same root (E vs Em, A vs Am, D vs Dm). One note changed by one fret flips the mood. That's the 3rd.

Pick a key in the table above and say the four main chords (I, IV, V, vi) out loud. Do it for G, C, D, A and E. Those five keys cover most guitar music.

Concept 4

Electric guitar technique

An electric guitar sustains and responds to tiny movements in a way an acoustic doesn't. These six techniques are what make the pentatonic scale sound like music instead of an exercise.

TechniqueTabWhat it is
Bend7b9Push the string up (or pull down on the bottom strings) until the pitch rises. Use your ring finger with the index and middle behind it for support. Whole-step bends (2 frets) are the classic rock sound; check your pitch against the target fret.
Vibrato7~~~A rhythmic small bend and release. Rotate from the wrist, not the finger. Slow and wide sounds bluesy; fast and narrow sounds nervous. Make it deliberate.
Hammer-on5h7Pick the first note, then tap the second fret down hard enough to sound it without picking. Smooth and fast.
Pull-off7p5The reverse: with both fingers down, pluck the string sideways with the higher finger as you lift it.
Slide5/7Pick a note, keep the pressure on and slide to the new fret. The easiest way to connect pentatonic boxes.
Palm mutePM----Rest the edge of your picking hand on the strings right at the bridge. Chunky and tight. Move your hand a few millimetres forward for more mute, back for more ring.

Picking

Hold the pick between the pad of the thumb and the side of the index finger, with only a few millimetres showing. Alternate picking (down, up, down, up) is the default for single notes. Keep the motion small and from the wrist. For strumming, loosen up and let the wrist swing.

Amp and tone in one paragraph

Gain is how much distortion. Volume is how loud. Start with gain low and bass, mid, treble all at noon. The bridge pickup is bright and cutting (riffs and solos); the neck pickup is warm and round (clean parts and blues). Rolling the guitar's volume knob down a little cleans up a distorted sound, which is how blues players go between rhythm and lead without touching a pedal.

Try it

  1. Bend to pitch. Play fret 9 on the G string (E), then bend fret 7 up until it matches. Hold it. Check again. Do this ten times. Out-of-tune bends are the single most common beginner sound.
  2. Hammer-on/pull-off loop. On the high E string: 5h8p5h8p5, as smooth as you can. Then the same on every string using the box 1 frets.
  3. Vibrato hold. Play any note in box 1, hold it for four slow beats with steady vibrato. Record it. Does it wobble evenly?
  4. Palm mute vs open. Play E5 eight times muted, eight times open. Feel the difference in your palm position.

Without a guitar

Listen for the techniques. In any blues or rock solo, count the bends. Notice how almost every phrase ends on a bent or vibrato note. In "Comfortably Numb" or anything by B.B. King, the vibrato is the whole point.

Air practice. Wrist-rotation vibrato and hammer-on finger strength can be rehearsed on a table edge. It looks silly and it works.

Tone vocabulary. Listen to the same riff on a bridge pickup and a neck pickup (search for any "pickup comparison" clip). Learn to hear bright versus warm before you touch the switch.

Concept 5

Rhythm is most of it

People forgive a wrong note. They never forgive bad time. Most songs are in 4/4: four beats per bar, counted "1 2 3 4". Split each beat in two and you count "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &". Those are eighth notes, and they're where guitar rhythm lives.

The universal strum

Your hand always moves down on the number and up on the "&", even when it doesn't hit the strings. That keeps time for you. The pattern below appears in thousands of songs.

count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &
strum:  D       D   U       U   D   U

Say "down, down-up, up-down-up" while you play it. Miss the strings on the "&" after 1 and the "3": your hand still moves.

Riffs are rhythm too

Most electric riffs are eighth-note power chords with a few notes muted. "Smoke on the Water" is five notes and the rhythm makes it. Practice riffs with a metronome long before you practice them fast.

Try it: metronome

80

Start at 60 to 80. Strum the universal pattern on one chord for a full minute. Then two chords, changing every bar. Then four. Speed only comes from doing it slowly first.

Without a guitar

Start the metronome and tap your right hand on your leg in the universal strum pattern. Count out loud. Then tap along with a song you know and find the "1" of each bar. Being able to feel the 1 is the difference between playing with a band and playing near one.

Concept 6

Train your ear and your mental fretboard

These two quizzes need no guitar. Ten minutes a day on the train adds up to more than most people's practice.

Interval ear trainer

Two notes play, low then high. Name the distance. Each interval has a song that starts with it, which is the fastest way to learn them.

0 / 0
Press Play to hear the first pair.
Song references for each interval
Major 2nd2 frets"Happy Birthday" (hap-py)
Minor 3rd3 frets"Smoke on the Water" (first two notes)
Major 3rd4 frets"When the Saints Go Marching In"
Perfect 4th5 frets"Here Comes the Bride"
Perfect 5th7 frets"Star Wars" main theme, "Twinkle Twinkle"
Major 6th9 frets"My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean"
Minor 7th10 frets"Somewhere" from West Side Story
Octave12 frets"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Name that fret

Which note is highlighted? Work it out from the open string and the E–F, B–C rule.

0 / 0
Putting it together

A practice plan that fits real life

Twenty focused minutes a day beats two hours on Sunday. The routine below touches every concept on this page. Keep the guitar on a stand where you can see it; the hardest part of practising is picking it up.

3 MINWarm upChromatic crawl: frets 1-2-3-4 on every string, up and down, with the metronome at 60. One finger per fret.
5 MINChord changesOne-minute change drills on two chords you're bad at. Write the count down. Then the four-chord loop with the universal strum.
7 MINPentatonicBox 1 up and down at a metronome speed that's clean. Then the first lick. Then two minutes making up phrases using only box 1 notes and one bend.
5 MINPlay somethingA riff or song you actually like, even badly. This is why you're doing the rest.

Eight-week roadmap

Tick these off as you go. Progress is saved in this browser.

Try it: today's session

  1. Metronome to 60. Chromatic crawl, three minutes.
  2. Two chords, one-minute change count.
  3. Explorer: A minor pentatonic, Box 1, "Play position". Match it.
  4. First lick, five times, bending to pitch.
  5. Play something you like.

Without a guitar: today's session

  1. Interval trainer, ten questions.
  2. Name-that-fret, ten questions on the low strings.
  3. Play box 1 on the explorer and hum it back.
  4. Pick a song you love and find the "1" of each bar while you listen.
  5. Say the I, IV, V, vi chords of the key of G, C, D, A and E.
When you're stuck: slow down until it's clean, then speed up. Every plateau on the guitar is a speed you haven't earned yet.