Guitar String Names: Complete Guide to Remembering Each String

You picked up a guitar because you wanted to make music, not memorize a list. Fair enough. But here’s the thing about guitar string names: they’re the vocabulary that makes everything else make sense. When someone tells you to “play the A string,” or a tutorial mentions “your low E,” or you’re trying to figure out which replacement string to buy at the music store—knowing these names turns confusion into clarity.

There are exactly six strings on a standard guitar, which means there are exactly six names to learn: E, A, D, G, B, and E again. That’s it. You’ve memorized longer coffee orders. The beauty here is that once you know these names, you’ve unlocked the ability to communicate with every guitar teacher, every tab, every chord chart, and every other guitarist you’ll ever meet. They all speak this same simple language.

This guide walks you through everything about guitar string names, including:

• The standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E) and why it matters
• Memory tricks that actually stick in your brain
• How to tell which string is which without second-guessing yourself
• The relationship between string names, numbers, and thickness
• Practical ways you’ll use this knowledge every time you play

When you look at a guitar in playing position, the thickest string sits closest to your face, and the thinnest string hangs closest to the floor. Here are the guitar string names from thick to thin:

• 6th string (thickest): E – the low E
• 5th string: A
• 4th string: D
• 3rd string: G
• 2nd string: B
• 1st string (thinnest): E – the high E

Standard tuning didn’t emerge from some committee decision or mathematical formula. It evolved over centuries because it works. This particular arrangement—E-A-D-G-B-E—gives you enough range to play bass notes and melody simultaneously, makes common chord shapes physically possible for human hands, and creates a balance between ease of playing and musical versatility. Other tunings exist, and some genres favor alternatives, but standard tuning became standard because it’s genuinely useful for the widest range of music. When you learn a song, join a band, or watch a tutorial online, chances are overwhelming that everyone’s using this same setup.

The strings aren’t just random notes thrown together. They follow a pattern that makes musical sense:

• Moving from the 6th string to the 5th string (E to A) spans five notes
• The 5th to 4th string (A to D) also spans five notes
  Same with the 4th to 3rd string (D to G)
• Then something different happens: the 3rd to 2nd string (G to B) spans only four notes
• Back to five notes from the 2nd to 1st string (B to E)

Remember: That shift between the G and B strings—where the pattern breaks—is why some chord shapes feel intuitive and others require you to adjust your fingers slightly. Once you internalize this quirk, the whole fretboard starts making more sense.

Your brain remembers stories better than lists. That’s why mnemonics have been helping guitarists memorize string names since before the internet existed. The most popular ones turn E-A-D-G-B-E into memorable sentences:

• Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie (low to high)
• Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears (low to high)
• Every Amateur Does Get Better Eventually (low to high)
• Eat A Dead Green Bug Everyday (low to high)

Here’s the truth about mnemonics: the ones you create yourself stick better than the ones everyone else uses. Your brain already has associations built around your own experiences, interests, and sense of humor. Think about words that start with E-A-D-G-B-E that mean something to you. Maybe you’re obsessed with cooking, so “Every Appetizer Deserves Good Butter, Eric” works. Maybe you have pets, inside jokes with friends, or favorite movies. The weirder and more personal your mnemonic, the harder it is to forget.

Not everyone thinks in sentences. Some people need different approaches to make guitar string names stick:

• Touch while saying: Pluck each string and say its name out loud—the physical action creates a stronger memory
• Color coding: Temporarily mark each string with a small piece of colored tape and associate colors with notes
• Number association: The 6th string is always E, the 5th is always A—counting down becomes automatic after a while
• Spatial memory: Low E lives at the top (closest to your face), high E lives at the bottom—the physical location becomes the reminder

You can skip all the clever tricks and just play the strings. Say the name, pluck the string. E-A-D-G-B-E, over and over. Do this while tuning. Do this before you practice. Do this when you’re bored. After enough repetitions, your fingers know where A lives without your conscious brain getting involved. It’s not glamorous, but repetition builds the kind of automatic knowledge that stays with you when you’re trying to play an actual song.

Pro tip: Combine methods. Use a mnemonic to get started, then reinforce it through physical practice. Your hands and your brain working together beats either one working alone.

Once you know the guitar string names, the next level is understanding why they’re arranged this way. The pattern reveals something about how the guitar works—and once you see it, you’ll stop feeling like you’re memorizing random information and start recognizing the logic built into the instrument.

Most adjacent strings are separated by what musicians call a “perfect fourth”—that’s five half-steps, or five frets on a guitar. From E to A: perfect fourth. From A to D: perfect fourth. From D to G: perfect fourth. This consistent spacing makes it easier to move chord shapes around and play scales without completely rethinking your hand position. But then something changes between the G and B strings. Instead of five frets, there are only four frets between them—a “major third” interval. Then it goes back to five frets between B and the high E.

The short answer: because it makes the guitar more playable. If every string followed the perfect fourth pattern, certain common chords would require you to stretch your fingers in physically awkward ways, and some voicings wouldn’t be possible at all. The shift to a major third between G and B allows for easier fingering of standard chord shapes and creates a more balanced range across all six strings. This quirk seems annoying when you’re learning, but you’ll appreciate it every time you play a C chord or an E chord without dislocating your knuckles.

Understanding the intervals between strings changes how you approach the fretboard:

• Chord shapes make more sense: You’ll understand why bar chords shift slightly between certain strings
• Scale patterns become predictable: Once you know a scale shape on one part of the neck, you can translate it elsewhere
• Finding notes gets faster: If you know where D is on the A string, you can quickly find the next D by counting frets and strings
• Tuning by ear becomes possible: Matching the sound of one string to a fret on another relies on knowing these intervals

Think of it this way: Learning guitar string names is like learning the alphabet, but understanding the intervals is like learning how letters combine to form words. One gives you the basics; the other gives you fluency.

Standard tuning is exactly that—standard. But plenty of guitarists adjust their tuning to access different sounds, make certain songs easier to play, or explore new sonic territory. When tunings change, so do some of the guitar string names. You don’t need to memorize every alternate tuning, but knowing they exist saves you from confusion when you encounter them.

This is probably the most common alternative you’ll run into. Drop D keeps five strings in standard tuning but drops the low E string down one whole step to D:

• 6th string: D (instead of E)
• 5th string: A
• 4th string: D
• 3rd string: G
• 2nd string: B
• 1st string: E

Drop D gives you a heavier, deeper sound and makes power chords ridiculously easy to play—just bar one finger across the bottom three strings. Rock and metal guitarists love it. Some folk players use it too. If a song tutorial mentions Drop D, this is what they mean.

Open tunings adjust multiple strings so that strumming all six without fretting anything produces a complete chord. Different open tunings serve different purposes:

• Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D): Popular in blues and slide guitar
• Open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D): Common in folk and bottleneck playing
• DADGAD (D-A-D-G-A-D): Celtic music loves this one
• Half-step down (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb): Same intervals as standard, just lower—Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan used this

There are dozens more, each creating its own character and fingering patterns.

You’ll run into alternate tunings in specific situations:

• Learning specific songs: Some tracks are written in alternate tunings and sound wrong in standard
• Genre exploration: Blues, folk, and certain metal subgenres rely heavily on non-standard tunings
• Jam sessions: Someone might suggest retuning for a particular vibe or to match a recording
• Online tutorials: The instructor will tell you upfront if you need to retune

The Bottom Line: Learn standard tuning first. Get comfortable with those guitar string names until they’re automatic. Alternate tunings are tools you add to your toolkit later, not obstacles you need to worry about right now.

Knowing guitar string names isn’t just trivia for impressing other musicians. This knowledge shows up every single time you interact with your instrument, from reading music to basic maintenance. Here’s where that memorization pays off in actual playing situations.

Chord diagrams are those little grids that show you where to put your fingers. The vertical lines represent strings, and they’re always arranged the same way: the leftmost line is the low E string, and the rightmost line is the high E string. When a diagram tells you to place your finger on the third fret of the A string, you need to know which string that is without counting. The faster you recognize guitar string names on diagrams, the faster you learn new chords. What used to take five minutes of squinting and counting becomes instant recognition.

Tablature (tabs) is how most guitarists learn songs online. Instead of traditional notation, tabs use six horizontal lines, each representing a string. The top line is always the high E, and the bottom line is always the low E. Numbers on the lines tell you which fret to play. When you know your string names cold, reading tabs becomes as natural as reading text. You see “3 on the A string” and your finger just goes there. Without knowing the names, you’re constantly counting lines and second-guessing yourself.

Musical communication relies on shared language. When someone says “play that riff but start on the D string instead,” or “try using the B string for that melody,” they expect you to know what they mean. Jam sessions move fast—nobody wants to stop and count strings. Online forums, lessons, and casual conversations all assume you speak this basic vocabulary. Knowing string names lets you participate instead of standing on the sidelines nodding and pretending you understand.

Eventually, you’ll break a string or need to change your whole set. Guitar strings come individually labeled: “High E,” “B,” “G,” and so on. If you don’t know which string goes where, you’re stuck:

• Wrong string in wrong position = terrible sound and possible damage
• Package labels assume you know the names
• String thickness varies by position—mixing them up creates tuning nightmares
• Asking “which one is the skinny one?” at the music store marks you as someone who needs help with everything

Quick tip: When buying individual replacement strings, always specify both the name (like “high E string”) and whether you play acoustic or electric. The gauge matters, but the name gets you most of the way there.

The guitar string names stay the same across different types of guitars, but the strings themselves feel and sound different. Whether you’re playing electric, acoustic, or classical, you’re still tuning to E-A-D-G-B-E in standard tuning. What changes is the material, thickness, and tension.

Electric guitar strings are typically made of nickel-plated steel or pure nickel, and they’re generally thinner and easier on your fingers than acoustic strings:

• Same E-A-D-G-B-E tuning as all standard guitars
• Lighter gauge options available (like .009 or .010 inch for the high E)
• Magnetic pickups require metal strings to work
• Smoother feel makes bending notes and fast playing easier
• Lower tension means less finger strength needed

Acoustic strings are usually bronze or phosphor bronze, thicker and under higher tension to produce more volume without amplification:

• Identical guitar string names: E-A-D-G-B-E
• Heavier gauge is standard (often .012 or .013 inch for the high E)
• Higher tension creates louder, brighter sound
• Tougher on fingers, especially for beginners
• The extra thickness takes more pressure to fret cleanly

Classical guitars use nylon strings (or nylon wrapped with metal for the bass strings), creating a softer, mellower tone:

• Same six string names: E-A-D-G-B-E
• Three plain nylon treble strings (G, B, high E)
• Three wound bass strings (low E, A, D)
• Much gentler on fingertips
• Wider neck spacing and different body shape, but the tuning remains consistent

Bass guitars usually have four strings tuned to the same notes as the lowest four guitar strings, just one octave lower:

• Standard bass tuning: E-A-D-G (same as guitar strings 6-5-4-3, but deeper)
• Five-string basses add a low B below the E
• Six-string basses add both low B and high C
• Completely different role in music, but the naming convention connects to guitar

If you switch between guitar types—borrowing a friend’s acoustic when you usually play electric, or trying classical guitar at a music shop—you won’t need to relearn anything about string names. The muscle memory transfers. Your fingers might need adjustment to the different feel and spacing, but when someone says “play something on the A string,” you know exactly where that is regardless of what type of guitar you’re holding.

The Bottom Line: Guitar string names are universal across guitar types. Learn them once, use them everywhere.

Here’s everything about guitar string names in one place for when you need a fast answer:

• 6th string (thickest): E (low E) – String number 6
• 5th string: A – String number 5
• 4th string: D – String number 4
• 3rd string: G – String number 3
• 2nd string: B – String number 2
• 1st string (thinnest): E (high E) – String number 1

Musicians use both numbering systems and note names, sometimes interchangeably. The thickest string is called both “the 6th string” and “the low E string.” The thinnest is “the 1st string” or “the high E string.” This can feel backwards at first—you’d think the first string would be the biggest one—but the numbering goes from highest pitch (1) to lowest pitch (6), not by physical size. In practice, you’ll hear both systems. Someone might say “fret the 5th string at the third fret” or “fret the A string at the third fret.” They mean the same thing.

String gauge refers to the diameter of the string, measured in thousandths of an inch. Thicker strings produce lower notes and require more finger pressure. Here’s a typical light gauge set for electric guitar:

• High E (1st string): .010 inches
• B (2nd string): .013 inches
• G (3rd string): .017 inches
• D (4th string): .026 inches (wound)
• A (5th string): .036 inches (wound)
• Low E (6th string): .046 inches (wound)

The bottom three strings (E, A, D) are “wound” strings—they have a thin wire wrapped around a core to add mass without making them too stiff. The pattern always holds: as you move from high E to low E, the strings get progressively thicker.

When you’re holding a new string or looking at your guitar, use this checklist to confirm you’re dealing with the correct one:

• Check the package label: String packages clearly mark each string by name and number
• Compare thickness: Hold it next to an existing string—thicker = lower pitch
• Look for color coding: Some brands use colored ball ends (the little knob at the string’s end) to identify strings
• Feel the string: Wound strings (low E, A, D) have a bumpy texture; plain strings (G, B, high E) are smooth
• Tune it up: Once installed, tune the string to its intended note—if it feels way too tight or too loose, you’ve probably got the wrong position
• Listen to the pitch: The low E should sound deep and rumbling; the high E should sound bright and thin

Quick tip: When restringing, do one string at a time. That way you always have the other strings as reference points for thickness and position.

You now know the six guitar string names—E, A, D, G, B, E—and how they organize everything from chord diagrams to conversations with other players. But here’s what actually matters: this information only becomes useful when you stop thinking about it. Right now, you might need to pause and count strings or recite a mnemonic. That’s normal. In a few weeks of regular guitar playing, your hands will move to the A string without your brain consciously processing “fifth string from the bottom, second-thickest.” The knowledge becomes automatic, the same way you don’t think about individual letters when you read a sentence. Playing actual songs, making actual music—that’s where memorization transforms into understanding.

Learn a few basic chords. Follow some tabs for songs you like. Tune your guitar regularly and say the string names while you do it. Each time you interact with your instrument, you’re reinforcing what you’ve learned here. The string names will fade into the background as other skills come forward: rhythm, tone, finger independence, musical expression. That’s exactly what should happen. Guitar string names are the foundation, not the destination. Now go play something.