Score
0/0
Accuracy
0%
Streak
0
Time
60s
60-second challenge
Read as many notes as you can before the clock runs out.
- Pick a mode — Find on fretboard (tap where to play the note) or Name the note (pick its letter)
- A note appears on the treble-clef staff; read its pitch
- Choose a difficulty, from first-position naturals on the top strings up to the full neck with sharps and flats
- Answer — each answer plays the note so you connect the written note to its sound and its place on the neck
- Set your tuning and sharp/flat notation to match how you read
- Race the timed challenge — 60 seconds by default, or pick another length, a custom time, or switch the timer off for free practice
About the Sight-Reading Trainer
The Sight-Reading Trainer builds the skill of reading standard music notation on guitar. A note appears on a treble-clef staff and you either find where to play it on the fretboard or name its letter — every answer plays the note back with real sampled guitar sound so you tie the dot on the page to the pitch and to the place on the neck. Guitar is written one octave above it sounds, so the staff shows notes exactly as they appear in real guitar sheet music, ledger lines and all. Four difficulty levels take you from first-position natural notes on the top three strings up to the full neck with sharps and flats. Switch between sharp and flat notation and any of 27 tunings, track your accuracy and streak, and race a timed challenge or practice untimed. This is note-reading (staff → guitar), the complement to the Fretboard Note Trainer, which drills note names on the neck.
- 01Read notes on a real treble-clef staff, written at guitar pitch (an octave above it sounds)
- 02Two modes: find the note on the fretboard, or name its letter
- 03Four difficulty levels — first-position naturals up to the full neck with sharps & flats
- 04Every answer plays back in acoustic, electric, or classical guitar sound
- 05Ledger lines above and below the staff, just like real guitar notation
- 06Sharp and flat notation toggle
- 0727 tunings including Drop D, Open G, and DADGAD
- 08Timed challenge by default — 30, 60, 90, 120s, custom, or untimed practice
- 09Accuracy, current streak, and best streak tracking
- 10Free — no account needed
Frequently Asked Questions
Start small and practice often. Begin with the natural notes in first position on the top three strings — the notes that sit on and just above the staff — and name or find each one until it is automatic, then add the lower strings, then higher frets, then sharps and flats. The Sight-Reading Trainer's Beginner level does exactly this: first-position naturals on the top strings. Because every answer plays the note back, you build the link between the written note, its sound, and its place on the neck.
Guitar is a transposing instrument: its music is written one octave higher than it actually sounds, so the whole range fits neatly on the treble clef without huge stacks of ledger lines. The trainer follows this real-world convention — the open low E string, which sounds E2, is written as E3 below the staff, and the open high E (E4) is written as E5 on the top space. That is why the staff positions here match printed guitar sheet music.
"Find on fretboard" shows a note on the staff and asks you to tap where to play it — the true reading-and-playing act, and the register matters, so an E written on the top space is a different answer from an E an octave lower. Feedback reveals every place that exact note can be played in the shown fret range. "Name the note" shows a note and asks you to pick its letter from buttons — a quick way to drill pitch recognition on its own.
Yes. After each answer the note plays back with real sampled guitar sound — an acoustic steel-string, a clean electric, or a classical nylon-string voicing. Hearing the pitch you just read is what turns note-reading into a reflex.
Yes. The Expert level includes all 12 notes, so accidentals appear on the staff with a ♯ or ♭ in front of the note. Use the Notation toggle to switch the whole tool between sharp and flat spelling so the staff and the answer buttons match how your music is written.
This trainer is built for six-string guitar and reads in the treble clef, which is what standard guitar notation uses. Bass guitar is normally written in the bass clef, so the clef and the range differ — but the underlying skill of turning a note on a staff into a pitch you play is the same, and the note-naming drill here is useful practice for any reader.
They are complements. The Fretboard Note Trainer drills the names of notes on the neck (it shows you a fret and asks the note, or names a note and asks the fret) — no notation involved. The Sight-Reading Trainer starts from standard notation on a staff and asks you to read it. Use the Note Trainer to memorise the fretboard and this tool to learn to read music.
Yes — completely free. No account, no download, and no payment required. It runs entirely in your browser.