The Easy Way to Learn Open Strings on Your Guitar
Updated 2024
Estimated time to read: 2 minutes
Don’t stay stuck not knowing anything about the open strings on your guitar. Discover the open string note names, how they are tuned, and a few mnemonic devices to help you memorize them.
Sections:
It’s All About the Tuning
6 Strings but 5 String Names
Guitar Open String Names
Play Open Strings on Your Guitar
Acronyms/Mnemonics to Learn Open String Names
Wrapping it up
It’s All About the Tuning
Most guitars are tuned in what’s called Standard Tuning. This is why chord shapes and sounds are consistent and popular. However, many guitarists write and play songs using alternate tunings.
When you’re just starting out on guitar, you’re going to want to follow the standard tuning: E, A, D, G, B, e.
We tune guitar strings to the pitches we want them to be, so this is the short answer. Keep reading to learn how you can memorize these easily.
6 Strings but 5 String Names
You’re probably thinking to yourself, “I have to memorize 6 different string names right now just to get started?” Well, it’s only 5 since one of them is repeated. Score!
The lowest (thickest) string and the highest (thinnest) string have the same name, E. To keep them separate, the highest string is often written in lower case “e” to help us remember the difference. I like to think that since it’s such a high pitch compared to the other strings, that’s why the “e” is so small.
Guitar Open String Names
Now that we know the first and last string names, we only need to learn 4 more names. They are A, D, G, and B. When we write out the string names from lowest (thickest string) to highest (thinnest string) they would look like:
E, A, D, G, B, e
E-A-D-G-B-e
But you might also see the high e string written in upper case like the rest.
E, A, D, G, B, E
E-A-D-G-B-E
If you’re just starting out, this might be confusing, especially since some guitar teachers teach the order in reverse from the thinnest to the thickest string. This is why we must memorize the order or create an acronym to help us remember.
Play Open Strings on Your Guitar
Diagram example: When you see a chord diagram like this one, the string names at the top are read from left to right (usually) since you’ll pick or strum a chord from the lowest string to the highest (low E to high e).
Full fretboard example: When you see a fretboard like this one, you’ll read the string names from bottom (thickest string, closest to the ceiling) to top (thinnest string, closest to the floor).
The view is similar to when you look down at your own guitar, you’ll see the fretboard in a similar way.
Acronyms/Mnemonics to Learn Open String Names
People have come up with different acronyms or mnemonics to help them learn and recall the open string names easily. Here are a number of common ones you may find helpful:
Eat A Dog Get Big Ears
Eat All Day Get Big Easy
Eat All Day Go to Bed Early
Eat Apples Daily Grow Big Ears
Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie
Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears
Every Amateur Does Get Better Eventually
Every Amp Deserves Guitars/Basses Everyday
Every Apple Does Go Bad Eventually
Every Apple Does Good Being Eaten
Even Average Dogs Get Bones Eventually
If none of these work for you, make up your own and leave a comment below. It just has to align with the open strings on your guitar: E A D G B E.
Wrapping it up
The hardest part of just starting out is that everything is so new. Pick a mnemonic phrase to help you run through the correct order of the guitar strings. Once you’re familiar with the open strings on your guitar, it’s time to learn the musical alphabet and some notes on your guitar. You can read the post here: Everything You Need to Know About Guitar Notes and the Musical Alphabet.
