The open position of the guitar (in this example C Major) contains the notes of the open strings and the first three frets. The following diagram shows the notes on the stave and the positions on the fretboard in the Tab. Also shown is an example of two separate octaves, an octave being two notes that have the same letter name and are eight consecutive notes apart. All the songs and examples in this book use notes in the open position.
A sharp (#) raises the pitch of a note by one semitone (1 fret). A flat (b) lowers the pitch of a note by one semitone. In music notation the # and b signs are placed before the note on the staff.
Here is a fretboard diagram of all the notes on the guitar. Play the notes on each string from the open notes to the 12th fret. The note on the 12th fret is one octave higher than the open note e.g., the open 6th string is an E note and the note on the 12th fret of the 6th string is also an E note, but is one octave higher.