How to Memorize Guitar String Names & Pitches

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Musician Scott Cushman explains how to remember the names of the guitar strings

Co-authored by Scott Cushman and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: August 3, 2026 Fact Checked

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String Names

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Memorization Tips

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Why these pitches?

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More Resources

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Learning the guitar is a fun and rewarding musical hobby, but there are a few things you need to know before you get practicing—including the names of all the strings! We partnered with a musician and a professional guitarist to show you what each string is called, and we’ll provide helpful tips for memorizing their names, too. Plus, we’ll explore the history behind why these particular strings and pitches were chosen in the first place. Keep scrolling, and you’ll be tuned and strumming in no time!

What are the names of the strings on a guitar?

Musician Scott Cushman says that guitar strings are tuned to E-A-D-G-B-E. The low E (6) string is the thickest and sits closest to you when you hold the guitar; the high E string (1) is the thinnest and closest to the floor. Use “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie” to memorize them.

Section 1 of 4:

Guitar String Names, Explained

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The six guitar strings, from lowest to highest, are low E, A, D, G, B, and high E. As Professional guitarist Carlos Alonzo Rivera, MA explains, “you have to know the names of the strings” before you can learn to tune and play your guitar. “So, from the low (6) string to the top (1) string, the notes are E-A-D-G-B-E. The top and bottom strings are both E.”^{[1]
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Carlos Alonzo Rivera, MA
Professional Guitarist

Expert Interview} Here’s a breakdown of each string name along with its string number, exact pitch, and location on the fretboard:
- 6: Low E string (E2) – This is the thickest, lowest-pitched string. When you’re holding the guitar, it’s the top string (closest to you and farthest from the floor).
- 5: A string (A2) – This is the second-lowest string.
- 4: D string (D3) – This is the third-lowest string.
- 3: G string (G3) – This is the third-highest string.
- 2: B string (B3) – This is the second-highest string.
- 1: High E string (E4) – This is the thinnest, highest-pitched string. When you’re holding the guitar, it’s the bottom string (farthest from you and closest to the floor).
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Scott Cushman is a musician specializing in the bass guitar from Portland, Oregon. His band Rad Max has released two full-length albums and regularly plays throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Carlos Alonzo Rivera, MA, is a professional guitarist, composer, and educator with a Master of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Section 2 of 4:

Tips for Memorizing Guitar String Names

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Use the mnemonic device, “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.” Cushman says this classic mnemonic can help you remember that the string closest to your chin is the E string, the next one down is the A string, and so on. “Poor Eddie,” he adds.^{[2]
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Scott Cushman
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Expert Interview}
- You don’t have to stick with this phrase if you don’t like it, though. Feel free to create your own!
- Some guitarists prefer to memorize the string names from the bottom to the top (from high E to low E). You might use a phrase like “Every Banana Gets Digested After Eating.”
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Remember that the interval between (almost) each string is a perfect fourth. If you have some music theory knowledge, you can use musical intervals to find the name and pitch of each string as long as you remember that the lowest string is an E. The strings are all a perfect fourth (P4) apart, except for the interval between the G string and the B string. This interval is a major third (M3) instead.^{[3]
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- A P4 up from the low E (6th) string gives you the note A, so the 5th string is the A string.
- A P4 up from A is D, so the 4th string is the D string.
- A P4 up from D is G, so the 3rd string is the G string.
- A M3 up from G is B, so the 2nd string is the B string.
- A P4 up from B is E, so the 1st string is the high E string.

Section 3 of 4:

Why are guitar strings tuned to these pitches?

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The E-A-D-G-B-E system lets you play runs and chords without straining your wrist. “Standard tuning on a guitar is E-A-D-G-B-E [because] it’s comfortable. Having the strings at those intervals allows for a lot of available notes, clean chord shapes, and easy scale patterns,” explains Cushman.^{[4]
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Scott Cushman
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- It took centuries of experimentation to come up with the standard 6-string guitar tuning we know and use today. The intervals between the strings—4 perfect fourths and 1 major third—were eventually decided on by the 16th century to make playing chords and complex melodies easier on the left hand.
- If the strings were all tuned in fourths (E-A-D-G-C-F), you wouldn’t be able to use as many open strings to play chords, making them more difficult. The dissonant sound of having an E and F string (only a half-step apart) on the same instrument would also make the strings sound less harmonically pleasing together.^{[5]
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- So, to solve the problem, the interval between the 3rd and 2nd string was shrunk to a major third. This gives you two E strings (instead of an E and an F), and makes it more comfortable to play chords and barre chords.^{[6]
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- Other string instruments, like the violin or cello, use perfect fifths to tune their strings. Since you hold the guitar sideways at an angle and the fretboard is much bigger, stretching your fingers to reach for notes becomes a challenge. The smaller perfect fourth was chosen to make the guitar physically more comfortable to play.^{[7]
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- The lowest 4 strings (E, A, G, D) also match the 4 strings on a bass guitar and on a classical upright bass, providing some consistency between instruments.
- “There are plenty of other tunings (such as drop D that’s used a lot in metal), that allow for other convenient chord shapes and scales, but standard tuning covers most Western music needs” adds Cushman.^{[8]
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  Scott Cushman
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