Fretboard Note Map
How to Use This Map
Section titled “How to Use This Map”This sheet names the note at every place on all six strings, from the open string to fret 12, in tables. It is for looking up, and it is what you check your note-name cards against. Every table of notes has the columns Note, String and Fret.
The course asks you to know by heart the fourteen natural notes on strings 6 and 5 up to fret 10: Session 17 teaches them, and they have cards. Session 21 names the places of the fifth position. Every other row is for looking up.
The course plays no higher than fret 9 for power chords and fret 8 for scales. Frets 10 to 12 are on the map so that it is whole: nothing in the course is played there.
One fret is one half step. Each in-between note has two names, a sharp name and a flat name. The map prints the sharp name in the Note column, with the flat name under “Also called”. E and F are one fret apart, and so are B and C. Every other pair of neighbouring letters is two frets apart.
On string 6 the natural notes are E (open), F (fret 1), G (fret 3), A (fret 5), B (fret 7), C (fret 8) and D (fret 10). On string 5 they are A (open), B (fret 2), C (fret 3), D (fret 5), E (fret 7), F (fret 8) and G (fret 10). A sharp note is one fret above its letter; one fret above B is C and one fret above E is F, so no fret lies between those two pairs.
Your Saga SF-600C-BK has dot markers at frets 3, 5, 7 and 9, and a double dot at fret 12. Fret 12 has the letter of the open string.
All Six Strings, Frets 0 to 12
Section titled “All Six Strings, Frets 0 to 12”The map has 78 places: six strings, thirteen frets each (0 to 12). There is one table for each string, from string 6 to string 1.
String 6 (low E)
| Note | String | Fret | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 6 (low E) | 0 (open) | |
| F | 6 (low E) | 1 | |
| F# | 6 (low E) | 2 | Gb |
| G | 6 (low E) | 3 | |
| G# | 6 (low E) | 4 | Ab |
| A | 6 (low E) | 5 | |
| A# | 6 (low E) | 6 | Bb |
| B | 6 (low E) | 7 | |
| C | 6 (low E) | 8 | |
| C# | 6 (low E) | 9 | Db |
| D | 6 (low E) | 10 | |
| D# | 6 (low E) | 11 | Eb |
| E | 6 (low E) | 12 |
String 5 (A)
| Note | String | Fret | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 5 (A) | 0 (open) | |
| A# | 5 (A) | 1 | Bb |
| B | 5 (A) | 2 | |
| C | 5 (A) | 3 | |
| C# | 5 (A) | 4 | Db |
| D | 5 (A) | 5 | |
| D# | 5 (A) | 6 | Eb |
| E | 5 (A) | 7 | |
| F | 5 (A) | 8 | |
| F# | 5 (A) | 9 | Gb |
| G | 5 (A) | 10 | |
| G# | 5 (A) | 11 | Ab |
| A | 5 (A) | 12 |
String 4 (D)
| Note | String | Fret | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| D | 4 (D) | 0 (open) | |
| D# | 4 (D) | 1 | Eb |
| E | 4 (D) | 2 | |
| F | 4 (D) | 3 | |
| F# | 4 (D) | 4 | Gb |
| G | 4 (D) | 5 | |
| G# | 4 (D) | 6 | Ab |
| A | 4 (D) | 7 | |
| A# | 4 (D) | 8 | Bb |
| B | 4 (D) | 9 | |
| C | 4 (D) | 10 | |
| C# | 4 (D) | 11 | Db |
| D | 4 (D) | 12 |
String 3 (G)
| Note | String | Fret | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | 3 (G) | 0 (open) | |
| G# | 3 (G) | 1 | Ab |
| A | 3 (G) | 2 | |
| A# | 3 (G) | 3 | Bb |
| B | 3 (G) | 4 | |
| C | 3 (G) | 5 | |
| C# | 3 (G) | 6 | Db |
| D | 3 (G) | 7 | |
| D# | 3 (G) | 8 | Eb |
| E | 3 (G) | 9 | |
| F | 3 (G) | 10 | |
| F# | 3 (G) | 11 | Gb |
| G | 3 (G) | 12 |
String 2 (B)
| Note | String | Fret | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 2 (B) | 0 (open) | |
| C | 2 (B) | 1 | |
| C# | 2 (B) | 2 | Db |
| D | 2 (B) | 3 | |
| D# | 2 (B) | 4 | Eb |
| E | 2 (B) | 5 | |
| F | 2 (B) | 6 | |
| F# | 2 (B) | 7 | Gb |
| G | 2 (B) | 8 | |
| G# | 2 (B) | 9 | Ab |
| A | 2 (B) | 10 | |
| A# | 2 (B) | 11 | Bb |
| B | 2 (B) | 12 |
String 1 (high e)
| Note | String | Fret | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1 (high e) | 0 (open) | |
| F | 1 (high e) | 1 | |
| F# | 1 (high e) | 2 | Gb |
| G | 1 (high e) | 3 | |
| G# | 1 (high e) | 4 | Ab |
| A | 1 (high e) | 5 | |
| A# | 1 (high e) | 6 | Bb |
| B | 1 (high e) | 7 | |
| C | 1 (high e) | 8 | |
| C# | 1 (high e) | 9 | Db |
| D | 1 (high e) | 10 | |
| D# | 1 (high e) | 11 | Eb |
| E | 1 (high e) | 12 |
Of the 78 places, 48 are natural notes and 30 are in-between notes: eight natural and five in-between on every string.
The Natural Notes on Strings 6 and 5
Section titled “The Natural Notes on Strings 6 and 5”These are the fourteen natural notes on strings 6 and 5 up to fret 10, from Session 17. There is one note-name card for each of the fourteen rows.
| Note | String | Fret |
|---|---|---|
| E | 6 (low E) | 0 (open) |
| F | 6 (low E) | 1 |
| G | 6 (low E) | 3 |
| A | 6 (low E) | 5 |
| B | 6 (low E) | 7 |
| C | 6 (low E) | 8 |
| D | 6 (low E) | 10 |
| A | 5 (A) | 0 (open) |
| B | 5 (A) | 2 |
| C | 5 (A) | 3 |
| D | 5 (A) | 5 |
| E | 5 (A) | 7 |
| F | 5 (A) | 8 |
| G | 5 (A) | 10 |
A note-name card has the string and the fret on the front and nothing on the back: the answer is the note, and you check it against the table of the fourteen places.
These are the eight frets in between on those two strings, up to fret 10. Each is named as a sharp, with its flat name under “Also called” and where it is.
| Note | String | Fret | Also called | Where it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F# | 6 (low E) | 2 | Gb | one fret above F (fret 1) |
| G# | 6 (low E) | 4 | Ab | one fret above G (fret 3) |
| A# | 6 (low E) | 6 | Bb | one fret above A (fret 5) |
| C# | 6 (low E) | 9 | Db | one fret above C (fret 8) |
| A# | 5 (A) | 1 | Bb | one fret above A (the open string) |
| C# | 5 (A) | 4 | Db | one fret above C (fret 3) |
| D# | 5 (A) | 6 | Eb | one fret above D (fret 5) |
| F# | 5 (A) | 9 | Gb | one fret above F (fret 8) |
F sharp on string 6 at fret 2 and C sharp on string 5 at fret 4 are the roots of two of the nine power-chord cards of Session 17, F#5 (string 6) and C#5 (string 5). Three of the eight are the roots of Ab5, Bb5 and Db5 under their flat names.
C#5 (string 5) and Db5 are the same three frets: C sharp and D flat are two names for one note.
The table of power chords by root is in Chord Chart, under “Power chords by root”.
The Two Positions
Section titled “The Two Positions”- Position — A place on the neck for the fretting hand in which each finger has its own fret, four frets in a row. It is named by the fret that finger 1 plays. (Session 21)
| Position | Finger 1 (index) | Finger 2 (middle) | Finger 3 (ring) | Finger 4 (little finger) | Taught in | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first position (open position from Session 7) | fret 1 | fret 2 | fret 3 | fret 4 | Session 7 | every open-position scale and both arpeggios |
| fifth position | fret 5 | fret 6 | fret 7 | fret 8 | Session 21 | A minor pentatonic and the A blues scale at fret 5 |
The course uses no other position.
-
First position — Where the fretting hand is in open position: finger 1 plays fret 1, finger 2 fret 2, finger 3 fret 3 and finger 4 (little finger) fret 4. (Session 7)
-
Fifth position — The position in which finger 1 plays fret 5, finger 2 fret 6, finger 3 fret 7 and finger 4 (little finger) fret 8. (Session 21)
Every place under the four fingers in fifth position: 24 places. The two places of the blues scale’s extra note are printed Eb, with D# under “Also called”.
| Note | String | Fret | Also called | Finger | In which scale of the course |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 6 (low E) | 5 | 1 (index) | A minor pentatonic | |
| A# | 6 (low E) | 6 | Bb | 2 (middle) | |
| B | 6 (low E) | 7 | 3 (ring) | ||
| C | 6 (low E) | 8 | 4 (little finger) | A minor pentatonic | |
| D | 5 (A) | 5 | 1 (index) | A minor pentatonic | |
| Eb | 5 (A) | 6 | D# | 2 (middle) | the blues scale’s extra note |
| E | 5 (A) | 7 | 3 (ring) | A minor pentatonic | |
| F | 5 (A) | 8 | 4 (little finger) | ||
| G | 4 (D) | 5 | 1 (index) | A minor pentatonic | |
| G# | 4 (D) | 6 | Ab | 2 (middle) | |
| A | 4 (D) | 7 | 3 (ring) | A minor pentatonic | |
| A# | 4 (D) | 8 | Bb | 4 (little finger) | |
| C | 3 (G) | 5 | 1 (index) | A minor pentatonic | |
| C# | 3 (G) | 6 | Db | 2 (middle) | |
| D | 3 (G) | 7 | 3 (ring) | A minor pentatonic | |
| Eb | 3 (G) | 8 | D# | 4 (little finger) | the blues scale’s extra note |
| E | 2 (B) | 5 | 1 (index) | A minor pentatonic | |
| F | 2 (B) | 6 | 2 (middle) | ||
| F# | 2 (B) | 7 | Gb | 3 (ring) | |
| G | 2 (B) | 8 | 4 (little finger) | A minor pentatonic | |
| A | 1 (high e) | 5 | 1 (index) | A minor pentatonic | |
| A# | 1 (high e) | 6 | Bb | 2 (middle) | |
| B | 1 (high e) | 7 | 3 (ring) | ||
| C | 1 (high e) | 8 | 4 (little finger) | A minor pentatonic |
String 2 at fret 7 is an in-between note (F sharp, also called G flat), and B, on strings 6 and 1 at fret 7, is not in the A minor pentatonic.
The A minor pentatonic and the A blues scale in fifth position go up to A on string 1 at fret 5: C on string 1 at fret 8 is a note of both scales that their blocks do not play.