Notes on the fretboard.

[ak0693]

How do I memorise the notes on the fretboard. I’ve memorised the notes on 1st, 5th and 6th string. But having a hard time memorising the notes on other strings. 

[John Wells]

This is the Steve Krenz School of Music, not John Wells’s, but to answer your question, it comes in time. We really don’t sit down and memorize them. If it were so, Steve would have us do it. Trust him. He's taught thousands of our fellow students to play the guitar.  In the early lessons we’re dealing with the Key of C and the Chromatic Scale. Later we learn the other keys and their scales, and as we practice, our mini-brains absorb the knowledge our fingers and ears are teaching them. However, there’s a drill you can do if you want to speed the process. Memorize the frets on the fingerboard. Play them back and forth from the Low E string to the high E and back again, LISTENING to the tones as you pluck them and saying them out loud. It goes like this for Position One (first five frets):

Open:  E – A – D – G – B – E

F 1:      F – A# - D# - G# - C – F

F 2:      F# - B – E – A – C# - F#

F 3:      G – C – F – A# - D – G

F 4:       G# - C# - F# - B - D# - G#

F 5:      A  - D – G – C - E - A

 

Play them backwards and forward. Several things you’ll find later are that Frets are usually numbered in Roman numerals, and that the sharps (#) and flats (b) for adjacent notes sound the same and occupy the same fret, but don’t worry now. One thing more: The three P’s are Practice, Patience, and Perseverance! If your fingertips get sore, wipe them with rubbing alcohol, which will ease the soreness and hasten the development of calluses. In time the calluses will fall away and your fingertips will become inured. Lotsa luck.

Edited December 16, 2018 by John Wells

[Wim VD1]

1 hour ago, ak0693 said:

How do I memorise the notes on the fretboard. I’ve memorised the notes on 1st, 5th and 6th string. But having a hard time memorising the notes on other strings. 

Learning all notes on the fredboard is part of Session 17 of the LMG course. So you could want till you are in that session, in case you are following LMG.

I used as complementary materials these video tutorials I found on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/MuzB2_O8GGM

https://youtu.be/qnsL9DAuOSM

https://youtu.be/EtrTeWrTZrM

 

Good luck,

Wim.

[Dave White]

4 hours ago, ak0693 said:

How do I memorise the notes on the fretboard. I’ve memorised the notes on 1st, 5th and 6th string. But having a hard time memorising the notes on other strings. 

Learning chord triad inversions is another great way to learn the notes on the fretboard.

[Plantsman13]

@ak0693  Excellent advice above.  It seems everyone has a theory on learning the fretboard.  I now believe it is achieved with repetition and time.  I personally, utilize Steve's shapes/patterns of scales across the fretboard and only focus on one starting note.   For instance, for 6th string C I start the scale with my index finger.  Then I use my middle finger, and finish starting the scale with my pinky.   Next I find C on the 5th string and repeat the shapes associated with the starting finger.  I shift to the 15th fret C to utilize the pinky.  Find C on the 4th string and repeat the starting finger regiment.  The 3rd string (G) is where I only start with the index finger to finish the pattern on the 1st string C.

Each day I pick a new note to repeat this process.  My basic understanding of the fretboard is progressing.

Another method I've tried is to select a note, say G, and try to locate its occurrence on each string and play it (don't overlook frets above 12). Over time, my need to "count up" a string is diminishing.

An electronic app I've experimented with is Fret Tester.  You can select a range of frets and it will play "guess this note (and tone)".  I find it helpful when I don't have a guitar in my hands.  I'm sure there are other apps as well.

Be patient, and things will come along for you.

Bryan

 

[NeilES335]

13 hours ago, Wim VD1 said:

Learning all notes on the fredboard is part of Session 17 of the LMG course. So you could want till you are in that session, in case you are following LMG.

I used as complementary materials these video tutorials I found on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/MuzB2_O8GGM

https://youtu.be/qnsL9DAuOSM

https://youtu.be/EtrTeWrTZrM

 

Good luck,

Wim.

Great method. Im currently at S17 on LMG so this is very relavant to me. I know the fret board reasonably well as @Plantsman13 says through time and use and using the "octave method " but with a few gaps in the zone above 5th frey on the D,G,&B string. This will help. Thanks @Wim VD1  This will also be handy identifying and or building chords.

[Randy120]

I recommend three notes on a string scales which forces you to use scales and move on all 6 strings. I also found another lesson where you find all the A on each string then the same for the rest of the notes. It takes time and practice, but you can do it! 

[Randy120]

The L Trick

[NeilES335]

1 hour ago, Randy120 said:

The L Trick

Same as the "Octave Method", just a different name. 

This has been my "method" for a while, but of course it's not perfect... you have to remember the  1/2 step on the B string. And rather than just knowing the note name in it's given position, you are always referring to the 6th or 5th string.

BTW... what a classy guy .. (not). Compare the presentation of this video to Steve Krenz's video's.(No comparison really)

[K9kaos]

I have used the Octave method (as mentioned above), as well as taking one note at a time, and locating it all over the guitar. String by string, then jumping around. If you are doing pentatonic scales, saying the notes as you play them helps greatly too. 

One additional thing I did, to really solidify some of the notes, was to go back to the early sessions of L& M (if you are using it, if not just go back to very basic songs...) and I played them in the fifth position (as much as possible). You'd be surprised how difficult some of those songs can be in fifth position if you have only played them in first, lol! That really helped me get most of the notes solidly in my memory from frets 5-8. Then from 8-12 I could deduce what the notes were by referring to the 12th fret. 

[colder]

There are tricks you can learn like the octave method people mentioned, but the best way I found was to say the notes aloud as you're practicing scales. This has the benefit, obviously, of helping you learn scales too. :)