Guitar String Names, Notes & Order: Learn Them in Minutes

A normal guitar has 6 strings.

From the thickest to the thinnest string, the strings are named:
low E, A, D, G, B, high E

Now, notice that the thickest and thinnest strings have the same name: E. To tell them apart, we call the thickest string the "low E string" and the thinnest string the "high E string."

Keep in mind that when we say “low” and “high”, we’re talking about pitch and not about their physical location on your guitar. So the (thick) low E string produces a lower, deeper, bassier sound. And the (thin) high E string produces a higher-pitched sound.

Easy: the guitar string notes are the same as the guitar string names!

When you play a string without pressing any frets (called playing an "open string"), you hear that string's note. So when you hit the open A string, you hear the note A. Simple as that.

This is another reason why knowing your string names is so fundamental: you're actually learning your first six notes on the guitar!

These six open string notes become your reference points for learning all the other notes on the fretboard later on.

In addition to string names, guitar strings are also often referred to by number. Here's how the string numbering works:

• 1st string (thinnest) = High E
• 2nd string = B
• 3rd string = G
• 4th string = D
• 5th string = A
• 6th string (thickest) = Low E

Here's a quick image all the guitar string names with their numbers:

And, to summarise, here's everything you need to know about guitar strings:

There are different ways to tune a guitar. The most common way is called ‘Standard Tuning’, which is what we’ve covered above.

In standard tuning, the strings are tuned to the notes E, A, D, G, B, E.

There are also alternate tunings—but you don’t need to worry about those for now. Later on, they can be a lot of fun to play around with and explore new sounds!

There are lots of tricks to remember the names of the strings. For example:

• Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie
• Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears

But honestly, I’ve always felt that these tricks are actually more complicated than simply remembering the string names directly. Because first you have to try and remember that funny sentence you learned, and then how to use it.

So instead, I’ll teach you the guitar string names right now, with just a few minutes of focused practice.

The game below will highlight point out a string and ask you its name. Let’s see how fast you can get! And in the next level, uou can play the answers on your guitar!

Give it a go! You’ll be surprised how quickly you can master this essential bit of guitar knowledge.

Now that you know the names of all six guitar strings, you’ll be able to read guitar TAB, understand chord diagrams, and communicate with other guitarists more easily.

Want more super effective practice like the exercises above to level up your guitar skills? Join StringKick and start making real progress on the guitar! Find out more here.