START SMALL
Find your anchors.
Pick a key and watch that root note repeat across the strings. The note at the 12th fret is the same as the open string, one octave higher.
Free interactive guitar fretboards
Savor every note.
Different tuning. Same curiosity. Find the notes, connect the scales and get to know your guitar a little better, across Standard, Drop D, DADGAD, Open D, Open G and Blues.
Start exploringSix fretboards.
Each tuning has its own page with the same interactive fretboard, set up for that tuning's open strings. Pick one to explore every note, scale and chord tone, and hear each pitch.
Standard
EADGBe
E A D G B e. The tuning most lessons and songbooks assume.
Drop D
DADGBe
D A D G B e. A deeper bass string and one-finger power chords.
DADGAD
DADGAd
D A D G A d. A suspended, open sound loved in folk and Celtic music.
Open D
DADF♯Ad
D A D F♯ A d. The open strings ring a D major chord.
Open G
DGDGBd
D G D G B d. The open strings ring a G major chord.
Blues
EADGBe
Standard tuning set up for blues, with the blues scale and pentatonics in every key.
Less memorizing.
You do not need to learn the whole neck at once. Start with one note, one pattern, one small discovery.
CONNECT THE DOTS
Think in intervals.
Switch the labels to scale degrees. The root, 3rd and 5th make the same pattern in every key, even when the tuning changes.
LET YOUR EARS IN
Hear what you see.
Tap any note on the fretboard or the piano to hear a reference pitch. Then play it on your guitar and match the position to the sound.
How do I read the fretboard?
The fretboard is drawn on its side, as if you were looking down at your guitar. The thick bar on the left is the nut, the end of the neck by the headstock, and the guitar body is off to the right. The thin vertical lines are the frets, and each space between two of them is one fret, numbered along the bottom. Each horizontal line is a string. By default the thinnest string is on top, the way tab is written. Switch the View setting to put the thickest string on top, which is how it looks when you look down at your own guitar. Every fret you move to the right raises the note by one half step. Click any dot to hear its note, and use the Labels setting to show note names or scale degrees.
What changes when I change tuning?
Only the open strings change. Any string you retune sounds a different note at every fret, while strings you leave alone keep the same notes at the same frets. Drop D lowers the 6th (thickest) string from E to D. Open D and Open G retune several strings so the open strings form a chord, which rings out when you strum with no fingers down. DADGAD leaves out the 3rd, so the open strings sound suspended instead of major or minor. Each page rebuilds the notes, scales and chord shapes for its tuning.
Are these chord shapes or a guitar tuner?
These pages show notes, scales and chord shapes. They are a learning tool, not a tuner, and they do not listen to your guitar. Click a note to hear a reference pitch, and use a clip-on tuner or a tuner app to bring your strings into tune.
Is Fretlicious free?
Yes. Every fretboard is free to use, with no account or sign-up. The site is supported by ads.