Knowing the names of the strings on a guitar is very important and one of the first things you need to teach your students. It’s part of the communication between you and your student. For example: When you say, “Put your index finger on the 2nd fret of the A string,” they need to know what you mean. Before teaching guitar chords to children, make sure they know the names of the guitar strings.
Or imagine that you need to tune your guitar. In this case, you also need to know the names of the strings. The same applies to changing guitar strings. It’s very helpful to know the names of the strings by heart and not have to look them up every time you need them.
The first thing to know is that a standard guitar has 6 strings. Sure, there are 12-string guitars, but let’s stick with the standard. Each string has a name and a number.
Learn the guitar string names
So here we have to the string names:
6th string – low E string
5th string – A string
4th string – D string
3rd string – G string
2nd string – B string
1st string – high e string
Remember, the low E string is always the thickest string and the high e string the thinnest string on the guitar.
Number of guitar strings
The guitar has 6 strings, and many guitarists use string numbers instead of string names. We count them from the bottom up. This works great for communicating with your students, but using the string names is much better. Why is that? Because this way your students are aware of the notes they are playing.
Remember the string names with acronyms
The easiest way to remember guitar string names is to use an acronym. You can come up with your own acronym or work with your students to create one. When teaching guitar to kids, try to make it visual. Draw a guitar neck with the strings on a piece of paper and name them with your students. Have your students draw or paint something next to it to reflect the acronym.
One acronym that I really like to remember the names of the guitar strings is this one:
Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears
Others are for example:
Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie
Easter Bunny Gets Drunk After Easter
Printable to teach kids guitar string names
I have created some free guitar lesson printables to help you with this part of your course. The color version can be printed as a poster and hung on the wall of your classroom. The black and white version is perfect for handouts and homework. Ask your young students to color it in and at the same time memorize the string names.
