Do you know the note names on the fretboard?

[HangDawg]

So how many of you are masters of the fretboard? How did you learn it? I hear that alot of the self taught never bother to learn the entire fretboard.

[apl]

I need to practice that stuff, man.

[reshp1]

Don't they sell stickers that label all the frets. I think I may need to get some of those. Notes only take all but a second of thought, but when I'm trying to figure out chords voicings, it takes forever because I can't focus on figuring out multiple notes.

[sile2001]

http://www.guitarscalesmethod.com/

A little pricy, but worth every penny. One of my friends is going off to LA Music Academy to study guitar, and he worked with this program for several months. The difference was night and day! I'm slowly working through it myself, but I don't have as much time to devote to it. The guy who wrote the program has a very organized method of learning the fretboard, breaking it down into various boxes and whatnot (haven't gotten through all of it yet). They have a free trial, so you may want to check it out.

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by reshp1

Don't they sell stickers that label all the frets. I think I may need to get some of those. Notes only take all but a second of thought, but when I'm trying to figure out chords voicings, it takes forever because I can't focus on figuring out multiple notes.

I put stickers on my very first guitar (a crappy Harmony acoustic) up to the 12th fret. It worked well at the time. I played piano before, so I always just thought of the fretboard as 6 keyboards stacked up.

Now, I don't think so much about notes, so it would take me a second to orient myself to which ones I'm playing.

[Artist Unknown]

I picked up this book called "Fretboard Logic" a year or two ago and it taught me everything I really want to know about the fretboard and more....and I didn't even finish the book. I really don't see the point in memorizing every single note of every single string.

[HangDawg]

Originally Posted by Artist Unknown

I picked up this book called "Fretboard Logic" a year or two ago and it taught me everything I really want to know about the fretboard and more....and I didn't even finish the book. I really don't see the point in memorizing every single note of every single string.

I have that book too. I didn't see the point either until a friend of mine, who is a guitar instructor and a freakin animal on guitar, just couldn't believe that I didn't know this most basic thing about the instrument I've been playing for 25 years. There's just no way you can reach your full potential until you know the fretboard like the back of your hand. I played a long time without this knowledge but I'm got to a point that I wanted to advance and this was the first step.

[mikeh]

Although guitar is not my main axe I spend a fair amount of time learning the notes (Knowing every note on a keyboard has been very valuable, and logically the same applies to a fret board).

I know about 70% of the notes immediately the rest may take a second or two to figure out.

When I only played drums (decades ago) I taught myself all the notes on keyboards & fretboards (which is relatively easy), simply to allow myself to communicate with other musicians - after that it is simply a matter of playing enough so you don't have to think about it.

[ibanezrocks]

When I first started learning guitar before I learned anything else my teacher made me learn all of the notes everywhere on the fretboard, so I don't mean to brag or say that I'm great, because I've always known where they were even before I knew a chord.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Try Fretboard Warrior: http://www.francoisbrisson.com/fretb...rdwarrior.html

It's free.

[glnflwrs]

I just discovered this site today, so... Howdy!

I started playing mandolin at six yrs old. That was in '58. (Old dude huh.) My dad was a really good country fiddler and needed someone to play music with so he bought me a mandolin and taught me to play, notes and all. At seven he bought me a cheap Mexican guitar and taught me that. I took piano lessons for eleven years from age nine all the way through high school, even after I started playing bass, at fourteen.

By the time I started on bass the notes on any fingerboard were just second nature and didn't really require any thought. I never thought about the notes while playing, that just confuses me, but I can call or sing the note names of everything I play, even the first time.

Knowing the notes is only necessary if you can't learn by ear. Sheet music is only used to teach the song. If you can learn by ear then you should learn the notes.

Glenn

[Shakuan]

Originally Posted by sile2001

http://www.guitarscalesmethod.com/

A little pricy, but worth every penny. One of my friends is going off to LA Music Academy to study guitar, and he worked with this program for several months. The difference was night and day! I'm slowly working through it myself, but I don't have as much time to devote to it. The guy who wrote the program has a very organized method of learning the fretboard, breaking it down into various boxes and whatnot (haven't gotten through all of it yet). They have a free trial, so you may want to check it out.

That program looks very nice. I'm seriously thinking about buying it. Been playing for 5 years and I'm not where I'd like to be... If that thing gives me control of the fretboard in 3 months... I'll be a happy musician.

[Purge]

Self taught, and I learned all the notes. Any guitar player who plans on being worth a shit owes this to themselves.

[sile2001]

Originally Posted by Shakuan

That program looks very nice. I'm seriously thinking about buying it. Been playing for 5 years and I'm not where I'd like to be... If that thing gives me control of the fretboard in 3 months... I'll be a happy musician.

The hardest parts about it (as are with any method) are:

1. Making a habit of sticking to it. Nothing's going to help if you don't regularly work on it.

2. Being patient enough to work over EVERYTHING and not try and skip stuff, and not try and play faster just because it sounds cool, even though you're missing notes. I made a rule when I was practicing piano that I would not speed up a piece until I could make it all the way through at least 5 times in a row with no or very few mistakes (depending on length and difficulty of piece).

[Track Rat]

I'm completely self taught. But after 35 years of playing I have the fret board memorized so I not only can look at someones hands and know what they're doing note wize, most of the time when I hear a guitar (even recorded) I usually can visualize what key and position is being played.

[Cyrokk]

I can site read, but pretty much only in the first position. The remaining notes I can get from my training in intervals and relative pitch, typically by finding the equivalent note on the sixth string where I can instantly identify the pitch.

Like Track Rat, much of it for me is intuitive.. I can guage the key and position the guitarist is playing in through a combination of the sound of the guitar and a general idea of how the guitarist is playing it.

I think it's more important to know guitar this way, because you'd be surprised of the number of errors found in transcribed music. More often than not, if it looks impossible on paper, it probably is mistranscribed because the guy who transcribed it has no real knowledge of how guitarists approach their instruments.

[SHEPPARDB.]

I look at it like learning the "ABC's",only the musical alphabet has sharps
and flats,except the intervals between B and C and E and F.If you know
the name of each string,then the rest is easy.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Originally Posted by Cheeky Monkey

Try Fretboard Warrior: http://www.francoisbrisson.com/fretb...rdwarrior.html

It's free.

I hadn't played Fret Warrior in a while. When I say "Played", it's because it's done as a graphical game -- naming the notes on the fretboard against a clock. IMO, it's really good -- and it's FREE! Check it out.

[spectrescape]

I have no idea what note I'm playing at any given time - I just do it by ear. Guess I'm "not worth a shit."

[lbanks]

Notes!? I don't need no steenkin' notes!

[timmerman]

I know them all but I do know it takes time and a certain kind of personality to teach yourself this material . The whole art is to have fun FUN with all of this while you are playing [that is learning.....] When you are having a ball, you want more and more and...............until your body tells you that YOU need sleep as well..........................

You could use books to teach yourself this but what about writing down some fretboards and have them around you whereever you are: Put them in your car, in your pocket and...................and whenever you have a "free" moment, just dot down a few marks on your fretboard and say out loud which notes they are. [You could even try to hear these notes in your head as well..............]

People do often not realise what they already know [heh you know more than what you think you know!!] Get to know your low E and A string, the notes that is eh and relate this to your chords and other notes, so your E and A could guide as a reference to the notes on your D or other strings. Heh I could give so many tips but I guess this is not needed now eh? Oh well perhaps people could ask for it..................

Anyway, it is useful to know them, same as your chords [majors, minors] I see it as basic information, once you know it, it will stay with you for the rest of your life as you will be using it your whole playing life.

Eddie

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Some days you just need to make time to..............................

[keebob]

The more I know the more I don't know... and I'll never know it all... in some ways that's the fun part. I know most of the notes but it takes a while to get there. Man, I gotta work on this stuff.

[Shakuan]

Originally Posted by sile2001

The hardest parts about it (as are with any method) are:

1. Making a habit of sticking to it. Nothing's going to help if you don't regularly work on it.

2. Being patient enough to work over EVERYTHING and not try and skip stuff, and not try and play faster just because it sounds cool, even though you're missing notes. I made a rule when I was practicing piano that I would not speed up a piece until I could make it all the way through at least 5 times in a row with no or very few mistakes (depending on length and difficulty of piece).

I finally bought the software. Let's see how long I can stick to it =)

After reading 30 mins yesterday, I can already say that I learned stuff that made me go "oh that's it, nice."

And the exercices look interesting. Plus it's easy for me to work with that since I like beeing at the computer. I can really see where I could be in 3 months from now with the help of that software and it makes me happy =)

[lpdeluxe]

...let's see, Clarence, Bill, Wanda, Charles, Charles Sharp, Charles Flat, um, Fred, did I mention Wanda?

[wesley tanner]

i'm dun berklee edumacated, i kno um alllz.

the best way to learn them is to get with someone who knows them and can work with you to learn about theory and the like in a stimulating fun way. I give lessons, but only to people who want to learn. so I guess I'd have to say.... want to learn.

my dad always used to tell me "when you're not practicing, someone else is"

think of that in the nicest possible way.