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What Is The Order of Guitar Strings?

  • Post published:August 26, 2022

Dear fellow guitarist,

If you’re sitting with your instrument, feeling a little disoriented about the proper order and names of your guitar strings,

Let me Help.

Your starting point is knowing that the strings’ order is the SAME in acoustic, electric, and Spanish (or classical) guitars.

Moreover, all three types are also TUNED to the same notes to align with what we call “standard tuning”.

You probably noticed that some of your strings are thick, and some are thin.

Why is that?

The thinner the string, the higher sounding PITCH it will produce.

Pitch is the way your ear grasps a sound. High or low.

 

For example:

 

A whistle or a bee buzz produces a relatively high pitch, whereas punching a pillow will produce the opposite, A low pitch.

The three strings that produce the low pitch on the guitar are sometimes called the BASS strings. These are the thicker fatter strings.

If you’re not with your guitar right now, pick it up for a moment and hold it as if you’re going to play.

Now, when you look down at the neck, the first and thickest string you see is named the low E string

In many cases during your studies, you’ll see the low E string referred to as the 6th string.

If This string is where we start, the following strings will be called 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st.

 

Important:

 

The first string is also called the E string, but it’s the High E string this time.

Yes, two strings out of the six have the same name.

The Difference?

Low E = 6th String, thickest and produces low sound. 

High E = 1st string, thinnest, and produces high sound.

 

Next,

 

Guitar String Names:

 

Guitar strings are named after the TONES produced.

  • The thinnest string is the first one (1st remember?). It produces the E note when played open. Moreover, it is normally shown in lowercase.
  • Above the first string is the second one that produces the B note.
  • The third one is the G string.
  • The fourth one is the D string.
  • The fifth one is the A.
  • The last one is the low E string which is the thickest.

 

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Order of Guitar Strings From Top to Bottom By pitch:

 

The guitar strings’ names include E, B, G, D, A, and E. The standard tuning starts with the high E string and ends with the low one. Therefore, many players may be confused.

The bass guitar strings’ order is the same. However, it doesn’t have the first string (E) and the second one (B). The correct order of the bass guitar is G, D, A, and E.

 

Order of Guitar Strings From Top to Bottom By Thickness:

  • Low E (6th string) – Produces the low E note
  • A (5th) – Produces the A note.
  • D (4th) – Produces the  D note.
  • G (3rd) – Produces the G note.
  • B (2nd) – Produces the B note.
  • High E or e (1st) – Produces the high E note.

The simplest method to memorize the right order of the strings is with the next acronym:

Go over it a couple of times, and you’ll get it quickly.

 

Elvis Ate  Dynamite Good Bye Elvis
6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st

How to Tune Your Guitar

Why it’s important?

If you don’t tune your guitar, the chords don’t sound how they should.

Use the following step-by-step on how to tune a guitar:

Start with the low E string.

It should be tuned correctly using a guitar tuning app or a guitar tuner. Or at least with a tuned E reference.

For example, you can use other musical instruments for this purpose—the piano or keyboard.

Comes the 5th string

Press the fifth fret on the low E string and strum that single note. This will give you the reference note for the A string since it’s the A note.

Pick the 5th string when adjusting the tuning peg of this string gently. The note will be higher if you tighten the peg. On the contrary, it will be lower if you loosen it.

The fourth string

To tune this string, you need to put your index finger on the fifth fret of the A string. Please do it again from the previous step.

The third-string

Your index finger should be placed on the fifth fret of the D string. Also, repeat it.

The second string (B)

It is essential to keep in mind the tone for the second string comes from the fourth fret of the string. Therefore, you can tune it properly.

The high E string

Your finger should be placed on the 5th fret of the second string. Then, tune the first string. It must match the reference tone.

Conclusion

Now, you know the order of guitar strings. Also, we have just shown you how to tune your instrument correctly. This process is not hard at all. The next natural step on your guitar journey would probably be to learn the guitar fretboard notes’ names to find barre chords and scales and better understand the instrument.

We hope you got the answer to any question you have about the guitar string notes order. 

This is a cool website with free PDF downloads and resources for guitar students: Guitaration.com