Notes on the Guitar Fretboard

This is the first twelve frets of the guitar fretboard (thirteen if you count the open strings). When reading this diagram, bear in mind that the string closest to your head is on the bottom (the "E" string written in red).

"Why do I need to know this?"
There are a number of good reasons to learn the notes of the guitar fretboard. Here are some listed below:

1) Tuning the guitar: If you know, for example, that the fifth fret of the E string is an A, and you know that the 5th string is supposed to be tuned to an A (that's the green string in the picture), then both of those pitches should be the same (they might a bit different because one would be played with an open string, and one would be a "fretted" note, but they'll be close enough - imagine two brothers singing the same note). If they aren't, your guitar is out of tune. You can actually tune your guitar without a tuner this way (see my article on how to do that here: Tuning the Guitar, Step 2: Tuning the Guitar to Itself).

2) Chord names: Some chords are played using the same fingering (i.e. your fingers go on the same strings the same distance from one another), but on different frets. Naming them is easy if you know your notes on the fretboard. For example, if you know how to play an F barre chord (a chord many students have trouble with - see my article on How to Play an F chord (coming soon!)), and you know that an F and a G are two frets apart on the same string, you'll know that if you move your F chord two frets to the right, you'll now have a G chord. Moving it another fret over would give you a G# (or an Ab) chord. And so on. There are a number of chords where you can do this (any chord that doesn't contain open strings will work).

3) Learning songs faster (including guitar solos!): This one involves a bit more theory knowledge, but if you know the fretboard well enough, you start to discover that many songs are based on scales (guitar solos in particular), and knowing the fretboard (and the note names) will sometimes allow you to short cut the learning process.

Let me give an example: if you know where a Bb note is on the E string, and you know that the Bb chord starts on that Bb note, then knowing the location of that Bb chord makes learning that part of the song much faster.

Knowing where the notes are can even make a guitar solo easier for you to learn. If the song you're playing is in A minor, and you know where all of your A's are, chances are you'll be able to figure out that solo more quickly.

There are probably other reasons that I'm not even thinking of at the moment, but needless to say, learning the notes of the fretboard will make learning everything else on guitar a much easier process.

"Ok... so what's the best way to learn the notes of the fretboard?"

There are many ways to climb this mountain, but probably the easiest way would be by using scales. Learn a scale, and learn to name the notes as you're playing it. As an added bonus, you'll also be learning how to play your scales (which are also a crucial tool in your development as a guitarist).

Check out page on scales (coming soon!) to get started!