The Fret Board: Chord Theory

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The first that you will need to learn is the notes on the fretboard. It is very important to any theory on guitar to know where the notes are on the neck. At first, memorize the notes on the first couple of strings. Then figure out what the notes on the rest of the strings will be. In a pretty short amount of time you should be able to do that. In time you'll develop more of a feel for where the notes fall, without having to think about it, but that's not necessary for chord theory. What you really need to be able to do is to be able to figure out what notes you're playing in a given chord.


e||-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|
B||-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--| Note: # = sharp
G||-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--| b = flat
D||-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|
A||-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|
E||-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|


Notice that there is a full step between all notes except for B and C, and E and F. For the sake of simplicity I have only shown sharps, but it is important to understand where.the flats are. A#
(# = sharp) is equal to Bb (b = flat). D# is equal to Eb. B# is equal to C, and Cb is equal to B. Once again, for the purpose of chord theory, it is not necessary to be instantly familiar with
every note on the fretboard. What is necessary is to be able to figure out the notes of any given chord that you are playing.