Where is this note on the fretboard?

Answer and Play

Understand

Every fret step changes pitch by exactly one semitone, and the same pitch class legitimately appears in multiple octaves and on multiple strings at once: there is no single "correct" position for a note, only the full set of places it sounds. This tool never claims a "best fingering" or "only position"; a fingering choice depends on the surrounding musical context, which is a separate decision from where a pitch class simply exists on the instrument.

Worked example

On standard 6-string guitar tuning (E2, A2, D3, G3, B3, E4), the open low E string sounds E2 (MIDI 40); the 12th fret on that same string sounds E3 (MIDI 52), exactly one octave higher, and the 24th fret sounds E4 (MIDI 64), two octaves above the open string. Every string's 12th fret is an octave above that string's own open pitch.

Method and limitations

For string s at fret n, the sounding MIDI note is openMidi[s] + n. A capo is a separate transform that adds a fixed number of semitones to every open string before this same formula applies. Note spelling for the display favors a straightforward default spelling per pitch class rather than deriving it from a specific key context; a future key- aware spelling mode is not currently offered. Custom or alternate tunings beyond the four layouts above are outside this tool's current scope.

How a capo changes the map

Clamping a capo at a given fret does not change which strings you have; it changes what each open string now sounds, by the same fixed number of semitones for every string at once. That means every position map you see here is still valid after a capo, just shifted as a whole: the fingering shapes you already know relative to the "new nut" stay identical, while the sounding pitches those shapes produce move up by the capo's fret number. This is why players use a capo to keep a familiar chord shape while changing the actual key the song sounds in.

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