The Six Strings, Thickest to Thinnest
- 6th string: low E, the note E2, at 82.41 Hz.
- 5th string: A, the note A2, at 110.00 Hz.
- 4th string: D, the note D3, at 146.83 Hz.
- 3rd string: G, the note G3, at 196.00 Hz.
- 2nd string: B, the note B3, at 246.94 Hz.
- 1st string: high E, the note E4, at 329.63 Hz.
The number after each letter is the octave, in the notation where A4 is the A that orchestras tune to. The frequencies come from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) note table, which uses equal temperament with A4 at 440 Hz.
UNSW's guitar acoustics pages give the same anchors in round numbers. The A string vibrates at 110 Hz. The lowest note on a standard guitar is E, at about 83 Hz.
Why Two Strings Are Called E
Standard tuning starts and ends on E. The high E vibrates four times as fast as the low E: 329.63 Hz against 82.41 Hz. Each doubling of frequency is one octave, so the two strings are two octaves apart and share a name.
The same doubling shows up along the neck. UNSW gives these three A notes:
- The open A string: 110 Hz.
- The 2nd fret of the G string: 220 Hz.
- The 5th fret of the high E string: 440 Hz, the orchestral tuning A.
Guitar music is written an octave higher than it sounds. UNSW notes that the open A string plays the A at the bottom of the bass clef, but guitar parts write it an octave up.
How to Tell the Strings Apart
Fender calls the thickest string the 6th string, or the low E string, because it plays the lowest note on the guitar. The numbers then count down to the thinnest string, the 1st, or high E.
On a steel-string guitar, the strings get thicker from high to low. A classical guitar is less tidy, according to UNSW. Its nylon E, B, and G strings get thicker in that order. Then the denser wire-wound D, A, and E strings get thicker again.
Fender traces the tuning back to the lute. By the 16th century, A D G B E (the top five strings of a modern guitar) was in common use. The six-string classical guitar tuned E A D G B E appeared around the mid 1800s.
Phrases to Remember the Order
Fender suggests a phrase whose first letters spell the strings. From the thickest string to the thinnest (E A D G B E):
- Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie
- Every Amateur Does Get Better Eventually
- Eat All Day Get Big Easy
From the thinnest string to the thickest (E B G D A E):
- Easter Bunnies Get Dizzy At Easter
- Every Boy Gets Dinner At Eight
Fender's advice is to make up your own: the stranger the phrase, the easier it is to remember.
Tune Each String to Its Note
Open the guitar tuner, tap Start Tuning, and play one open string at a time. It listens through your phone or computer mic and shows the nearest note and how many cents sharp or flat the string is. Turn the peg until each string reads its note, from E2 on the 6th string to E4 on the 1st.
For drop D, the 6th string goes down a whole step, from E2 to D2 (73.42 Hz). The drop D tuner has those notes preset. A 7-string guitar tuner adds a low B (B1, 61.74 Hz) below the low E.
The tuners use A4 = 440 Hz unless you change it in Settings. See 432 Hz vs 440 Hz for what the other reference pitches do.