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New Released in April 2026
Guitar String Notes for Beginners
The six guitar string notes, from the thickest to the thinnest, are E A D G B E. Learn those six letters and two simple rules, and you can find any note on the neck, which is what you need to name barre chords and power chords.
No account, no download. The demo has limited content. Advanced features are in ChordRunner Premium.
- MIDI keyboard
- Digital or acoustic piano
- Guitar
- Computer, phone or tablet
The open strings
- 6th string (thickest): E.
- 5th string: A.
- 4th string: D.
- 3rd string: G.
- 2nd string: B.
- 1st string (thinnest): E, two octaves above the 6th.
- A way to remember: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.
Two rules for every fret
- Each fret is a half step: E, F, F#, G and so on.
- There is no sharp between E and F, or between B and C. So the 1st fret of the E string is F, not E#.
Guitar String Notes for Beginners
ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps.
Play the demoThe two strings that matter most
Learn the natural notes on the 6th and 5th strings first. On the 6th: F at 1, G at 3, A at 5, B at 7, C at 8, D at 10, E at 12. On the 5th: B at 2, C at 3, D at 5, E at 7, F at 8, G at 10, A at 12. Those positions are where barre and power chords take their names.
Turn note names into chords
Once you know the root notes, a chord symbol tells your hand where to go. ChordRunner sends chord symbols and listens to your guitar through the microphone, so every round is practice in turning names into positions. It also has single notes in any octave for pure note finding.
The levels in ChordRunner
- Beginner: major, minor, augmented and diminished chords.
- Intermediate: adds sus2 and sus4.
- Advanced: adds 6th, 7th and 9th chords.
- Pro: adds 11th, 13th and altered chords; an adaptive mode adds the next family when you are ready.
Common questions
What are the notes of the guitar strings?
From the thickest string to the thinnest: E A D G B E.
How do I remember the guitar string notes?
Use a sentence like Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie, one word per string from the thickest.
Which notes should I learn first on the fretboard?
The natural notes on the 6th and 5th strings. They give the names of most barre and power chords.
Which instruments work?
A USB MIDI keyboard, detected automatically, or a piano or guitar through the microphone. Everything runs in Chrome or Edge on a computer, tablet or phone.
How is this different from apps where you tap the screen?
Tapping trains your eyes and fingers on glass. Here you press real keys or fret real strings, and the game hears the actual notes, so what you practise is exactly what you will play on your instrument.
Is everything in the demo?
The demo has limited content. Advanced features are in ChordRunner Premium.
Your instrument is the controller.
ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps. MIDI keyboard or microphone, both work.
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