Guitar root notes

The root note is the first note in a chord. On guitar, this is usually the lowest sounding note in a chord. The root note defines the 'key of a chord'. For example, if you were playing a major chord, and the root note was a 'C'.

1. What are the 6 notes on a guitar?
2. What are the 12 notes on a guitar?
3. Do you always start on the root note?
4. What is the root note of a key?

What are the 6 notes on a guitar?

The guitar has 6 strings. Listed from low to high, the guitar string notes are: E, A, D, G, B, E. To help memorize these string names, there are a couple of sayings that we can use: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie or Eat A Dead Grasshopper Before Everything.

What are the 12 notes on a guitar?

The full set of notes is:

• A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#
• Notice that there is no such thing as E# or B#. E and B do not ever have sharps, and the notes simply skip from E→F. As such, there is no C♭ or F♭ either. If you remember this small exception to the rule, memorizing the guitar will be easy.

Do you always start on the root note?

You don't even have to begin with the root note. Thirds and fifths always work out.

What is the root note of a key?

The root note of the key acts as the center of the key. Similar to the root notes of chords, the root note of a scale is the note on which a scale is built. For example, the root of the C major scale is C. The root note of an Eb minor scale would be Eb.