Guitar String Names and Order: Learn them in 3 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

These names all refer to the note you get when you play that string without pressing down any frets. We call this playing an ‘open string’. For example, when you play an ‘open’ A string, you get the note A!

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.

Guitar strings are also often referred to by number, where:

• the high E string is the first string
• the low E string is the sixth string

Here’s a quick overview of all the guitar string names with their number names too:

So, 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 using these tricks are actually more complicated than simply remembering the string names directly. Because first you have to try and remember than 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 little game below will highlight point out a string and ask you its name. Let’s see how fast you can get!

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.