diff --git a/neothesia-core/src/render/guidelines.rs b/neothesia-core/src/render/guidelines.rs
index 2d4e1f3e..1f202f03 100644
--- a/neothesia-core/src/render/guidelines.rs
+++ b/neothesia-core/src/render/guidelines.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
 
 use crate::{
-    render::{QuadInstance, QuadPipeline},
+    render::{QuadInstance, QuadPipeline, TextInstance, TextPipeline}, // Move text types to same level as Quad types
     utils::Point,
 };
 
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ pub struct GuidelineRenderer {
     horizontal_guidelines: bool,
 
     cache: Vec<QuadInstance>,
+    text_cache: Vec<TextInstance>,
     measures: Arc<[Duration]>,
 }
 
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ impl GuidelineRenderer {
             vertical_guidelines,
             horizontal_guidelines,
             cache: Vec::new(),
+            text_cache: Vec::new(),
             measures,
         }
     }
@@ -37,11 +39,13 @@ impl GuidelineRenderer {
     pub fn set_pos(&mut self, pos: Point<f32>) {
         self.pos = pos;
         self.cache.clear();
+        self.text_cache.clear();
     }
 
     pub fn set_layout(&mut self, layout: piano_layout::KeyboardLayout) {
         self.layout = layout;
         self.cache.clear();
+        self.text_cache.clear();
     }
 
     /// Reupload instances to GPU
@@ -74,6 +78,42 @@ impl GuidelineRenderer {
                 color,
                 border_radius: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
             });
+
+            // Add text instance for note label
+            self.text_cache.push(TextInstance {
+                position: [x, y],
+                text: key.note_id().to_string(),
+                color: [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0],
+                scale: 1.0,
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Helper method to convert key index to note name
+    fn get_note_name(key_index: usize) -> &'static str {
+        const NOTE_NAMES: [&str; 12] = ["C", "C#", "D", "D#", "E", "F", "F#", "G", "G#", "A", "A#", "B"];
+        NOTE_NAMES[key_index % 12]
+    }
+
+    #[profiling::function]
+    fn update_vertical_guidelines(&mut self, quads: &mut QuadPipeline, layer: usize) {
+        for key in self.layout.keys.iter() {
+            let x = self.pos.x + key.x();
+            let y = self.pos.y;
+
+            quads.instances(layer).push(QuadInstance {
+                position: [x, y],
+                size: [2.0, self.layout.height], // Use height field directly
+                color: [0.2, 0.2, 0.2, 0.5],
+                border_radius: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0],
+            });
+
+            self.text_cache.push(TextInstance {
+                position: [x + 2.0, y + 2.0],
+                text: Self::get_note_name(key.note_id() as usize).to_string(),
+                color: [1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0],
+                scale: 0.8,
+            });
         }
     }
 
@@ -113,6 +153,7 @@ impl GuidelineRenderer {
     pub fn update(
         &mut self,
         quads: &mut QuadPipeline,
+        texts: &mut TextPipeline,
         layer: usize,
         animation_speed: f32,
         time: f32,
@@ -128,5 +169,10 @@ impl GuidelineRenderer {
         for quad in self.cache.iter() {
             quads.instances(layer).push(*quad);
         }
+
+        for text in self.text_cache.iter() {
+            texts.instances(layer).push(*text);
+        }
     }
 }
+
diff --git a/note_names.rs b/note_names.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f514e76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/note_names.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+pub fn get_note_name(midi_note: u8) -> String {
+    const NOTE_NAMES: [&str;
\ No newline at end of file