Throughout this app, you will see notes displayed in two ways: fretboard diagrams and tablature (tab). Both are set up for fourths tuning, with six strings labeled E-A-D-G-C-F from low to high. Once you know how to read them, every lesson will click faster.
Fretboard Diagrams
Fretboard diagrams show the neck laid out horizontally. The lowest string (E) sits at the bottom, the highest string (F) at the top, and frets run left to right with fret 0 (the nut) on the far left.
Each highlighted dot is an active note. The pink dot always marks the root, so you can spot the tonal center at a glance. Colored dots show other scale or chord tones, and dimmed dots fill in the remaining notes for context. Here is the G major scale across the full fretboard.
Here is a G major triad (G-B-D) highlighted across the full fretboard. Notice how the three-note pattern repeats in every position - that is the symmetry of fourths tuning at work.
Reading Tab in P4
Tab in fourths tuning looks the same as standard tab - six horizontal lines with fret numbers. The only difference is the string labels. From bottom to top: E-A-D-G-C-F. If you see tab written for standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E), the bottom four strings translate directly. Notes on the B and high E strings will need to shift up one fret to account for the half-step difference.
Throughout this app, you will see interactive notation that you can play back. Here is Happy Birthday arranged with melody and bass in fourths tuning - press play to hear it:
Tips for Reading
Start by finding the root note (the pink dot). It anchors the whole pattern and tells you the key. Next, look at the shape the notes make -- in fourths tuning, that same shape repeats on every string pair, so you only need to learn it once. On zoomed diagrams, the fret numbers along the left edge tell you where on the neck to place your hand.
Practice
Find the G major triad diagram above and spot the root (G) on each string by its pink highlight. Play each note from the low E string up to the high F string, listening for how the voicing sits within the first 3 frets. Then slide the entire shape up 2 frets and you have an A major triad - in fourths tuning, every shape is fully movable.