Standard notation is a two-dimensional map. The vertical axis is pitch and the horizontal axis is time. Guitarists often learn tablature first, and tablature is useful, but it cannot show rhythm exactly and it cannot show how a piece of music is built. Reading notation fixes both limits. This guide starts with an empty staff and ends with a short melody in open position.

The staff and the clef

The staff has five lines and four spaces. A clef at the left end fixes the meaning of the lines. Guitar music uses the treble clef, also called the G clef, because the curl of the symbol circles the second line from the bottom, which is G.

The guitar sounds an octave lower than written. A passage that looks high on the page is played in a comfortable register on the instrument. Keep this transposition in mind when you compare a written pitch with a piano or a tuner.

Ledger lines extend the staff above and below. Middle C sits on the first ledger line below the treble staff. The lowest open string of the guitar is written with ledger lines below the staff, and the highest open string sits in the fourth space.

Note names on the staff

From the bottom line upward, the lines are E, G, B, D, F. The spaces between the lines are F, A, C, E. The phrase Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge names the lines, and the word FACE names the spaces. Use a phrase only until the names become automatic. After that, read by distance: a note on the next line is a third above, and a note in the next space is a second above.

The same note name repeats at the octave. The distance from one C to the next C is eight letter names and twelve frets. On the staff, an octave usually moves from a line to a space or from a space to a line, with the same letter name.

Rhythm: note values and rests

A note head gives pitch. The stem, flags and beams give duration. In 4/4, a whole note lasts four beats, a half note lasts two beats, a quarter note lasts one beat, an eighth note lasts half a beat, and a sixteenth note lasts a quarter of a beat. A dot adds half of the value, so a dotted half note lasts three beats. A tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one longer sound.

Every duration has a rest of the same length. A rest is not empty space to be skipped. It is part of the rhythm and it must be counted. Stems point up or down for readability, and eighth notes and shorter values are joined with beams. The beams group notes into beats, which gives a visual clue to the pulse.

Time signatures

The time signature sits after the clef. The top number is the number of beats in a bar. The bottom number is the note value that counts as one beat. In 44 there are four quarter-note beats in a bar. In 34 there are three. In 6/8 there are six eighth notes, grouped as two beats of three.

Count 44 as 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and for eighth notes, and as 1 e and a 2 e and a for sixteenth notes. Count 68 as 1 2 3 4 5 6, with a strong accent on 1 and a secondary accent on 4.

4/4:  1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
6/8:  1 2 3 4 5 6

Accidentals and half steps

A sharp raises a note by a half step. A flat lowers it by a half step. A natural cancels an earlier sharp or flat. On the guitar, a half step is one fret and a whole step is two frets.

The chromatic scale uses every half step:

C  C#  D  D#  E  F  F#  G  G#  A  A#  B  C

Two notes with different names and the same pitch are enharmonic. C# and Db are the same fret. The choice of name depends on the key and on the direction of the phrase.

An accidental applies to the rest of the bar unless another accidental cancels it. A barline resets it. A courtesy accidental may repeat a note that is already clear, as a reminder.

From the page to the fretboard

Standard tuning, from the lowest string to the highest, is E A D G B E. The open strings give six reference points. The chart below shows the notes on the first five frets, with the highest string at the top.

String  0    1    2    3    4    5
e       E    F    F#   G    G#   A
B       B    C    C#   D    D#   E
G       G    G#   A    A#   B    C
D       D    D#   E    F    F#   G
A       A    A#   B    C    C#   D
E       E    F    F#   G    G#   A

Read a written note by finding its letter name and octave, then finding that pitch on the fretboard. In open position, the natural notes are enough for most beginner pieces. Add the accidentals as they appear.

Key signatures

A key signature places the sharps or flats of a key at the start of every staff. The order of sharps is F, C, G, D, A, E, B. The order of flats is the reverse: B, E, A, D, G, C, F.

C major and A minor have no sharps or flats. G major has one sharp, F#. D major has two, F# and C#. F major has one flat, Bb. Bb major has two, Bb and Eb.

Every major key has a relative minor three semitones below its tonic. C major and A minor share a key signature. G major and E minor share one. The relative minor starts on the sixth degree of the major scale.

A first reading exercise

Play the C major scale from C on the B string to C on the high E string. Say each note name aloud as you play it.

e|-----------1-3-5-7-8-|
B|-1-3-5---------------|

The notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The B string gives C, D and E. The high E string gives F, G, A, B and C.

Then play the first phrase of Ode to Joy by Beethoven. The notes are E E F G G F E D C C D E E D D. Find them on the B and high E strings: E is the open high E or the fifth fret of the B string, F is the first fret of the high E, G is the third fret of the high E, D is the third fret of the B string, and C is the first fret of the B string. Count four quarter notes per bar before you play.

How to practise reading

Ten minutes a day beats one long session each week. Clap the rhythm before you touch the guitar. Say the note names aloud for the first few weeks, then say them silently. Read one bar at a time, loop it, and join two bars only when each bar is clean. Use a metronome at a tempo where you make no mistakes. Read new material, not only music that you already know by ear. Keep a short list of notes that slow you down and review that list at the start of the next session.

Common mistakes

• Reading tablature only and never connecting a written note to a fret.
• Guessing at ledger lines instead of counting them.
• Forgetting that guitar music is written an octave higher than it sounds.
• Ignoring rests because they look like empty space.
• Watching the fretting hand instead of the page.
• Playing faster than you can read.

Where to go next

The intermediate guide covers intervals, keys, chords, cadences, and the markings that tell a player how a passage should be played. Learn the material in this guide first. A reader who can name the notes and count the rhythm has a foundation that makes the next step much easier.