Learning Chromatic Notes on the E String
So you’ve studied our natural notes on the E string lesson and are left wondering how to name those mysterious blank spaces in between? Well, these are the ‘chromatic notes’ and we will learn how to name them in this lesson
In our natural note lesson, we learned a pattern where between most natural notes there is a two fret distance, or a ‘whole-step’. The exceptions was between natural notes ‘E to F’ and ‘B to C’ where only one fret, or a ‘half-step’, separated them.
The spaces between are the ‘chromatic’ notes and are like the ‘black-key’ on the piano. They get their names in relation to the natural notes. That’s why we learned the natural notes first! Chromatic notes have names like “A#” (read ‘A sharp’) or “Db” (read ‘D flat’). When a note is sharp it means it is one fret, or a ‘half-step’, higher in pitch than the natural note. A flat note is the opposite, one fret (or half-step) lower than its natural note counterpart.
We will repeat our exercise from last lesson of naming the notes on the E string, starting on the open string and ascending to the 12th fret octave E. This time, however, we will play every fret and use sharp names for the chromatic notes as we go up the neck.
Once you can do this, descend through the same chromatic scale from the 12th fret to the open string but now use flat names for all the chromatic notes.
Notice there are two possible names for each chromatic note. Which name is correct depends on the song’s key and the direction the melody is moving. Either way you name them you are naming the same pitch! Like our natural note lesson, once you can do the chromatic notes naming on the E string you should move to the remaining five strings and name them as well.
Here again is our chart of natural notes:
Try to mentally fill in the blanks before looking at the information overload of our chromatic note chart at the end of the lesson! Congratulations! You know every note on the neck of the guitar! Give yourself a pat on the back and buy yourself some new gear as a reward. 
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Learning Note Names on the E String
I want all my students to know their note names in two ways: on the music staff and on the fretboard. This lesson deals with learning the natural notes on the neck.
Let’s start off learning the notes on just one string, the low E string. And instead of learning all the notes here, we will learn just the ‘natural notes’. Natural notes are the ‘white-key’ notes on a keyboard and have simple letter names like ‘A’ and ‘B’. For now we will skip the notes with sharp and flat names, like “A#” or “Db”. This reveals a pattern that will help us quickly learn the notes all over the neck.
Notice that the open string note name is repeated at the 12th fret, the same note name one ‘octave’ higher. The exercise is to name the notes ascending in pitch, start on the open string E and working to the octave E at the 12th fret. Then, importantly, repeat the 12th fret E note and descend in order through the notes until reaching the open low E.
Notice that there is most often two frets, or a ‘whole-step’ between each of the natural notes. But between two pairs of natural notes, from ‘E to F’ and from ‘B to C’, there is only one fret, or a ‘half-step’. This is the rule, the unbreakable pattern that is true everywhere on the guitar neck and on every instrument in the western world.
Notice this pattern holds true if viewing every note on the neck.
Any place you find a B note the C note is one fret higher. Same for E to F. If you know this pattern and the note the string is tuned to you should be able to name any note on the neck. It might take a bit of counting your way there but give it a try. Once you feel confident on the E string try naming the A string notes next.
We will look at the chromatic notes in an upcoming exercise.
Update: I’ve added a Naming Chromatic Notes lesson.
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