Learning Fretboard......Opinions needed

[redbeard]

Good Morning all
I have a background of blues/classic rock/country so I've been able to get by with a few chord formations and the minor pentatonic scale. The more I learn It's become obvious I need to really know the fretboard and know the notes in order to be able to play different chord voicings in all positions. My question is this. What do you think is the best way to get this info to sink in.... By learning every note string by string, or by learning by note, ie learning where every B note is on the guitar, then pick another note. Thanks for your time

[GodinFan]

Jimmy Bruno's Five Shapes concept really helped me learn the fretboard better. IIRC, you can d/l the fingerings PDF for that from his guitar institute site without becoming a member.

[fep]

I don't think it matters, I prefer string by string (as though each string is like a piano keyboard i.e. same order of white and black keys).

Try learning the notes of the C scale first. Then have some fun doing some modal jams playing all the way up and down the fretboard playing on just one string.

When you know the C scale you really just about have the fretboard licked as all the sharps and flats are just one fret away from the notes you already know.

[FatJeff]

I used a dedicated tool for this purpose early on (a year or so ago), and spent about 15 minutes a day drilling myself on it for a couple of months. I used a Windows program called "Absolute Fretboard" that was pretty good for this purpose. It was a bit pricey in my opinion (I think I remember it was 50 bucks). But it did the job.

The other thing that lately has really been reinforcing the note names for me has been learning the major, minor, diminished and augmented triads, in all 3 inversions, on each string set (6-5-4, 5-4-3, 4-3-2, 3-2-1). The way my brain works, I like to memorize a triad shape and "anchor" it to the fretboard at the root of the triad. That way, when looking at a particular area of the neck and wanting to play a certain type of sound, I just seek the root (which is what the chord symbol is going to be showing). This has really helped out my note ID skills a lot. I am slowly breaking away from having to always play only root-position chords/triads on either the low E or A strings. This is super cool when playing in combos and you want to stay out of the way of the bass or piano.

[derek]

Learning the fretboard started two ways for me. Since most of us know the notes on the 6th and 5th strings due to our playing power chords in rock, I just use octaves from those strings to locate the rest of the notes on the board. I find very few short cuts on guitar, this is one.

From there, there is a freeware program called fretboard warrior that is a fun way to reinforce this knowledge. www.fretboardwarrior.com I use this with students all the time.

From there, working on reading studies in all positions really nailed it for me. Good luck with the process.

[rabbit]

Sign up with the Jimmy Bruno Guitar Institute for
at least on 3-month period if you can possibly
afford to ($60, I think.)

You can study & download reference materials and
watch all kinds of entertaining & educational stuff.

Here's my real point. You need to know the fretboard
as interval relationships also. The combination of the
'Five Shapes', chord studies (his are excellent, direct
& practical) and arpeggios all fit together.
This allows you to do ii-V-I's all over the fretboard
and also attaches your ear to your fretting hand.

Unless you are broke, this is a no-lose investment.

[FatJeff]

+1 for Jimmy Bruno. What I really got out of it was (a) fingerings for the modes of major (although he'll vehemently deny that's the intent), and (b) the ability to solo melodically over a given key center at a given place on the fretboard.

[cosmic gumbo]

You should be able to learn the notes on your guitar without paying Jimmy Bruno.

[FatJeff]

Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo

You should be able to learn the notes on your guitar without paying Jimmy Bruno.

How would you recommend he go about doing it?

[cosmic gumbo]

Learn string by string, then note by note. You only need to learn where, not why.

[redbeard]

Thanks for all the insight and info. Seems like the best way is to keep the guitar in your hands and practice, practice, practice. Seems like everyone wants a shortcut but they are seldom found. I am in the middle of converting a spare room into a combo gun/music room so then I'll have a dedicated place to practice without any distractions which should help a bunch.

[bkdavidson]

If you're really going to try to learn the notes on the fretboard, you might want to keep your guns away from your guitars. Seriously, though, another approach would be going position by position, only if one string at a time doesn't work. Another thing that might work is playing any reading study in different positions, just find the first note, then adhere strictly to a one-finger-per-fret style of playing (like classical guitarists) to keep all the notes close.

[ftz]

I agree with bkdavidson, I'm also learning the fretboard, and going through the Leavitt book, it moves from positions to positions (frets 0-3, 2-5, etc..) with reading studies, it really helps me make the link between the music sheet and the fingerboard. I mean the whole thing, from this black point on the staff, to the note name, to the place on the fingerboard depending in which position I am. The great thing with that is that it improves your sight reading skills too, and you're playing music (ok, etudes are not always very musical.. but still, better than taking one string at a time, I believe)

[rabbit]

Box of rocks.

[Bill C]

Originally Posted by derek

there is a freeware program called fretboard warrior that is a fun way to reinforce this knowledge. www.fretboardwarrior.com I use this with students all the time.

thanks for the heads-up - I'm enjoying this and "Sight Warrior" from the same site.

[Bigmagic]

Way back in the stone age when I learned the neck I started by memorizing the notes across each fret. Once I realized B to C and E to F were one fret apart the C diatonic scale leaped off the neck at me and the rest was easy.

[Goofsus4]

I don't think it really matters how you learn them - all the notes on each string, C major scale notes first, etc. The important thing is to just get started and keep at it. As others have said, learning the notes on the 5th and 6th string are probably the most important to start because then you can find chord roots quickly.

Eventually you must be able to know every note in every fret on every string instantly, without hesitation, and without relying on spatial conversion (Ab is "one fret down from A" won't work in the long run - it's way too slow). You must also learn to recognize all the intervals in relation to any root the same way. The good news is that you don't need to get to that level of knowledge to play the guitar and make music and even improvise along the way, so don't sweat it, just never allow yourself to become overly dependent on patterns.

I agree with Derek about reading. Once you have a basic competency in identifying the notes on the fretboard, just try sight reading and playing notes in standard notation from lead sheets or any other sheet music you can find. Arranging your own chord melodies will also really help because you will be forced to identify other notes/intervals in order to harmonize the melody notes.

[knight46]

Originally Posted by derek

Learning the fretboard started two ways for me. Since most of us know the notes on the 6th and 5th strings due to our playing power chords in rock, I just use octaves from those strings to locate the rest of the notes on the board. I find very few short cuts on guitar, this is one.

From there, there is a freeware program called fretboard warrior that is a fun way to reinforce this knowledge. www.fretboardwarrior.com I use this with students all the time.

From there, working on reading studies in all positions really nailed it for me. Good luck with the process.

derek,
Thanks for the link, but...the file seems to be an unknown format (.sit). Can you shed some light on how to open the file?
Knight46

[akubra]

You can try method described in Essential Guitar Guide:

The Essential Guitar Guide

[Bill C]

Originally Posted by knight46

derek,
Thanks for the link, but...the file seems to be an unknown format (.sit). Can you shed some light on how to open the file?
Knight46

a free utility called StuffIt Expander will "unzip" this file

[knight46]

Thanks Bill.

[bass2man]

I used the Jimmy Bruno Method....essentially he uses the CAGED system for scales...it took about three months to learn but now I can play major ( and therefore relative minor and Dominant) in any key. After a while you just start to "see" the notes on the fretboard from the triads that make up the scales..

I also had a guitar teacher who said when you learn a chord, learn it in three positions...Bar Chord, Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicings...that really helped expand my chord vocabulary and essential notes in teh scale for arpeggios...

Don't really have any shortcuts to this...all great ideas here on this thread!

[redbeard]

Thanks for the advice Bass2man. Now back to showing my ignorance. Can you explain in laymans terms what drop 2 and drop 3 means?? That is a term I've never heard in playing blues/rock.

[Greg_Dubs]

Originally Posted by redbeard

Good Morning all
I have a background of blues/classic rock/country so I've been able to get by with a few chord formations and the minor pentatonic scale. The more I learn It's become obvious I need to really know the fretboard and know the notes in order to be able to play different chord voicings in all positions. My question is this. What do you think is the best way to get this info to sink in.... By learning every note string by string, or by learning by note, ie learning where every B note is on the guitar, then pick another note. Thanks for your time

Learn how to play what sounds good to you and also how to analyze it theoretically. Once you start to build relationships between the fret board and what you know based on the theory it gets easier. This ultimately takes a lot of time as you will be learning how to put theory into practice -- but you can build your own style in the process by experimenting with rhythm, harmony, melody, and phrasing.

[derek]

The other way I find useful for reinforcing the fretboard is picking a fret and just naming each note across the strings. Since the guitar is tuned in 4ths (except of course between G &B), you can just follow the circle of 4ths to name them.

I find this to be another shortcut, along with using octaves. I do find these to be shortcuts, certainly easier than rote learning each note on each fret on each string. Good luck with it.

[nado64]

Originally Posted by redbeard

[..] I need to really know the fretboard [..]

Already said, but "repetition is the pedagogy".
For working the fretboard, a good exercice is to play solos on one string.
After on two strings, B and e , e and G,...
I do again this exercice, I think it helps to open the mind.

[randalljazz]

Originally Posted by redbeard

Thanks for the advice Bass2man. Now back to showing my ignorance. Can you explain in laymans terms what drop 2 and drop 3 means?? That is a term I've never heard in playing blues/rock.

Guitar Lesson World: Lesson 43 - Drop 2 Voicings

and

http://www.chrisgrey.com/blockchords.htm

[bass2man]

Thanks Randalljazz.....I was going to try and explain what Drop 2 chords are but its a lot easier to show than explain. I an glad you found those links for Redbeard!!

Essentially you are taking the inversions of a chord, dropping the second note from top and putting it as the frist note of the inversion. This makes the inversions "guitar friendly" so you can finger the chords. Unlike a piano, we have more than one middle C...so using Drop 2 voicings are useful.

You probably already are using some Drop 2 voicings...the Am7 "Cowboy" chord is a Drop 2 voicing...





Most of the Drop 2 voicings are really useful when you start playing Chord Melody style and need to have a melody note on the top string.

[redbeard]

Thanks Randalljazz and bass2man for the links and info. Ive only been on this forum for a few days and I've been amazed at the amount of info I've acquired. This is a great site!!!

[bseltzer]

I am a newbie and what worked for me was remembering the notes on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and ninth frets. The others you can fill in, remembering B&C and E&F are half step apart(Next to each other)