The guitar’s range in notes and hertz
| Sounding | Written | Frequency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical low | E2 | E3 | 82.41 Hz |
| Practical high | B5 | B6 | 987.77 Hz |
| Extreme high | E6 | E7 | 1318.5 Hz |
The top depends on the neck: a classical guitar has 19 frets (B5), an electric 21 to 24 (up to E6). Drop tunings take the bottom down — drop D to D2. Guitar music is written an octave above the sound.
Written and sounding pitch
The guitar is a transposing instrument: it sounds an octave lower than written. So the range on its part is E3–B6, while the notes you hear are E2–B5. The transposing-instrument tuner reads out the written note as you play.
Instruments with a similar range
The instruments whose normal range shares the most notes with the guitar’s:
- Cello · C2–A6 44 notes shared
- 7-string guitar · B1–C♯6 44 notes shared
- 8-string guitar · F♯1–C♯6 44 notes shared
- Brazilian 7-string guitar · C2–B5 44 notes shared
- Baritone guitar · B1–B5 44 notes shared
- Harp · C2–A6 44 notes shared
Tune it, play it
- Guitar tuner — tune by microphone, with the guitar’s own target notes.
- Play a guitar online — the same range, playable in your browser.
- Guitar chord chart
Songs that fit the guitar
36 songs from our public-domain library fit inside the guitar’s range, each written out in the notation guitar players read:
- Hot Cross Buns
- Lightly Row
- Going Home (New World Largo)
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Happy Birthday
- Ode to Joy
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- Jingle Bells
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Yankee Doodle
- Silent Night
Frequently asked questions
What is the range of a guitar?
The guitar’s normal range runs from E2 to B5 — 82.41 to 987.77 Hz, about 3.6 octaves. At the extremes it reaches E2–E6. Its part is written E3–B6, because it sounds an octave lower than written.
What is the lowest note on a guitar?
E2 (82.41 Hz).
What is the highest note on a guitar?
B5 is the top of the normal range, and E6 (1318.5 Hz) is reachable at the extreme.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Guitar
- Range computed from the open strings (E2 to E4) and the fret count (19 to 24 frets).