Back in 2010 when LeftyFretz first launched, I offered a set of sticky labels that players could affix to their fretboards to help memorise all of the note positions. They were particularly popular with new players, but after a myriad of people copied the idea I decided to stop making them.
Since these fretboard stickers are no longer available, I’ve gone ahead and put together a kind of DIY version of the labels which you can download and print off yourselves. So there’s a little more work on your part, but hey – they’re free, and you can get started right away!
The fret labels are provided on a single A4 sheet (download link below) which you can print out at home. A week or two with these on your fretboard should be all you need to memorise all of the notes.
Guitar Fretboard Note Labels – Print & Learn!
How To Print
Well that’s up to you now, isn’t it? If you have an A4 printer and some scissors, you’re good! If you’re using regular printer paper you’ll need some sticky tape to secure each strip in place. You can trim the length depending on how you decide to affix them. I’ll leave the fine details up to you.
If you have some at home, an easier option would be to print these out on a sheet of A4 sticky label paper such as this. Now all you have to do is print, cut, peel and stick.
How To Install
First you’ll want to cut out each individual strip – I’ve provided a faint dotted line to make this easier. Each strip is numbered so that you’ll always know exactly which fret to place them on. To be super safe and make the installation process completely fool-proof, I’ve even indicated which side goes on the thickest string (Low E) side and which goes on the thinnest string (High E).
Position to the rear! Notice that in the picture above, each section is stuck to the back of the fret. This is to help prevent wear and tear, and also to aid visibility. If you are fretting correctly, your fingers should be pressing down towards the front of each fret, right up against the fret-wire if possible. So if you’re ripping and/or smudging these labels it could be a sign that you need to look at your fretting technique!
Remember that the notes will repeat themselves after the 12th fret, so you may even like to only label the first 12 frets. Once you’ve mastered the first 12, you’ll know the rest by default.
Download and Print
Hit the button below to open the full sized print-out. It’s important to make sure that you print it out at 100% size (no scaling) and in landscape orientation to ensure that they will fit your guitar. These should fit most 6-string electric and acoustic guitars without the need for any additional scaling. If they are a little small or large for your guitar you can adjust the scaling values in your printer properties to adapt.
Whole notes are shown in orange, and sharps in black. For now I’ve only provided a sheet using sharp notes, but if you would prefer flats please leave a comment below and I’ll whip up an additional sheet. If you have any additional ideas on how to improve these I’d also value your feedback.
I hope these help some of you out!
Additional Tips for Learning Fret Notes
For extra tips and advice you might like to check out this article – Guitar Fretboard Notes Diagram. In this post we discuss some basic theory and suggest some methods to quickly memorise the fretboard notes.