Read Notes한국어ONE SMALL PRACTICE
How to read guitar notes: the written octave
Standard guitar notation uses treble clef, but the sound is one octave lower than the notes look on the page. Read the written note first, then keep that octave convention in mind when comparing it with a piano or another instrument.
Separate written pitch from sounding pitch
A written E5 in a standard guitar part sounds E4. The letter stays E; the octave changes. The same rule makes written G4 sound G3 and written B4 sound B3. In this guide and quiz, note labels refer to the written pitch unless they are explicitly called sounding pitches. Middle C is C4.
Connect three notes to open strings
In standard six-string tuning, the sounding pitches from the lowest string to the highest are E2, A2, D3, G3, B3 and E4. Their written pitches are E3, A3, D4, G4, B4 and E5. The quiz uses the last three written notes: G4 on the second staff line, B4 on the middle line and E5 in the top space.
Staff notation and tablature answer different questions
A staff note identifies a pitch and, through its shape, a duration. Guitar tablature identifies a string and fret. An open string is fret 0. Learning to read G4 on the staff does not by itself tell you every possible way to play that pitch on the fretboard.
Check the octave before comparing instruments
If you compare a guitar part with piano notes, avoid matching the printed octave numbers directly. Read G4 in the guitar part, then compare its sounding G3 with the piano. Keep the two labels together while learning, rather than memorizing a second set of staff positions.
Check with three notes
Choose the written note G4, B4 or E5. On a standard-tuned guitar these open-string examples sound G3, B3 and E4. Answer with the pitch on the staff; this quiz is not asking for a fret number or listening to a played note.
Which written note is shown?
Notation references
Instrument lessons are being prepared for release
Repeat the written-note quiz here, then read the transposing-instruments guide for more examples. Guitar note-reading lessons in the Read Notes app are part of a release-preparation version. The current store download may not yet contain those new lessons.
Store links open the currently released app.