String Names of a Guitar

It doesn't have to be hard to remember the string names of the guitar. With one of these printable acrostic guides students - or you - will be able to review the order of strings on guitar each lesson and practice session until it is memorized!

A chart of the guitar strings, with words

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

As you can see, here in our Alaskan town, kids have come up with the (not so poetic) acrostic:

Every

American

Dad

Gets

Burgers

Everyday

This line may not light your fire, so I have a second chart that does not feature any words, but shows the string names of a guitar.

What works for one kid may not work for another.  But a new student, a six-year-old little boy, found the above phrase JUST RIGHT for helping him sort out the string names.  As he slowly plucked strings 6 through 1, my newest guitar student murmured under his breath, "Every American Dad Gets Burgers Every NIGHT..."  ("Everyday" apparently didn't ring true enough for him.)

A plain acrostic chart

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Here is a plain chart to which you can add your own more imaginative or funny acrostic, or encourage your students to make up their own!

The Order of Strings on Guitar

The order of strings on guitar is a mystery to beginner students, especially if they have no background on piano. Get them started with this easy chart of the six strings, a tablature + standard notation chart for guitarists, and a chart of the piano keyboard - the Rosetta Stone for all musicians.

"Low" and "High" on the guitar

At first it may be hard and even seem backward to your student, that the "low" strings are physically higher up when the guitar is held correctly against the body.

String one is the closest to the floor, but it's known as the "highest" string.  String six, closest to the ceiling, is the lowest-sounding.  Who decided to name them that way?  Good question.

And then the acrostic starts with string six - more perplexity, perhaps!  But my students eventually catch on.

Acquaint them with the piano keyboard

Even if your students don't have a piano or keyboard at home, it can remove much of the mystery of the guitar fretboard to see where on the piano layout the guitar strings occur.  There is overlap from one string to another (the same "note" can be played on different strings), a potentially confusing aspect of stringed instruments when compared to other musical instruments.

The links for the string names guides:

Download the acrostic guide with words for each string

Download the guide with no words associated with the guitar strings

Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!

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Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church?  Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!

Songs Old & Songs New

All the first-year material I give my beginner students. 

Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!

Queen Esther in the Bible

This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This",  available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when  Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a  brave young queen risked her life to save her people.

A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!

This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.

Just the Black Keys

This book is available as a digital download  from this site.  Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.

It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!

This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.

And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!"  They will be spending more time at the piano.

The Adventures of Tonsta

A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls. 

The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.  

With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.

Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!

Available at Amazon

About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana!  (Say that like "Anna".)  I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.