3 Basic Numbering Systems For Guitar - Free Guitar Lesson

In this beginner guitar lesson, we'll be going over the three basic numbering systems for the guitar. These three systems are for your fingers, the frets on the guitar, & the guitar strings. Knowing these three systems is an essential piece of the foundation you're building for everything you'll learn on the guitar.

Fingers

The first numbering system we'll look at is for your fingers. This one is pretty easy. Your index finger is number one, your middle finger is number two, your ring finger is number three, and your pinky finger is number four. You'll usually see numbers for your fingers inside the little circles on a chord or scale diagram.

Finger Numbers

Frets

The next numbering system for the guitar is for the frets. We simply start at the first metal strip which is number one. The next is two, then three, and so on and so forth.

Fret Numbers

Strings

The last numbering system is for the strings on the guitar. We have six strings on the guitar, so we'll number them one through six. The first string will be your thinnest string, and your sixth string will be your thickest string.

String Numbers

Now that you've got these three systems down, it will be easy for you to be able to tell exactly where you should be putting your fingers when you're looking at any chord or scale diagrams. It's also important to know when you're trying to communicate with other guitarists.


This lesson is just a small excerpt from Guitareo. There, you can fast track your progress on the guitar with step-by-step video lessons, fun play-along songs, and all the community support you need. If you want to watch the rest of the series that this lesson was taken from and continue to build on your momentum, you can head over to Guitareo.com and try it risk-free for 90 days.