Do you know the note names on the fretboard?

  • Thread starter Thread starter HangDawg
  • Start date Start date

Do you know the note names on the fretboard?

  • I know all of them instantly

    Votes: 90 19.3%

  • It takes 1-2 seconds

    Votes: 195 41.8%

  • I only know the open strings and the most common.

    Votes: 47 10.1%

  • More than 1-2 seconds. I use a known note and go from there.

    Votes: 104 22.3%

  • What are notes?

    Votes: 27 5.8%

  • What's a fretboard?

    Votes: 2 0.4%

  • Who are you calling a broad?

    Votes: 2 0.4%
  • Total voters
    467
didgijimmy said:
all i'm saying is that just like you think i am being closed minded for recommending learning the notes on the fretboard, i think that saying you couldn't care less is far more close minded.
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hello!.....
 
Roguetitan said:
I know Exactley what you are talking about. IMO not too accomplished guitarist if a person don't know the notes on the fret/finger board or chord structures.
try this, a lineless fretless bass pretty darn inportant knowing the notes and what they sound like and where they are located on the fret board if you plan to get anywhere on it:)
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now all that being said, there is a guitarist that posted earlier in this thread (about when it was started...maybe) that doesn't read music, know music theory, and maybe doesn't even know the notes that well....but he's totally badass. superhuman. (that's his username and describes his guitar playing pretty well too.)

i haven't heard GOYA play but that very well could be the case there too.
 
castlerock said:
now all that being said, there is a guitarist that posted earlier in this thread (about when it was started...maybe) that doesn't read music, know music theory, and maybe doesn't even know the notes that well....but he's totally badass. superhuman. (that's his username and describes his guitar playing pretty well too.)

i haven't heard GOYA play but that very well could be the case there too.
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Very true, I just think he is denying himself an opportunity to improve. I have seen countless amazing bedroom guitarists who can shred like no other but don't even know the musical alphabet. He's great on his own but once he was in a band setting with other people and trying to play in a live setting where he had to solo over something unfamiliar or with an odd key or progression he was utterly lost.
James
 
castlerock said:
now all that being said, there is a guitarist that posted earlier in this thread (about when it was started...maybe) that doesn't read music, know music theory, and maybe doesn't even know the notes that well....but he's totally badass. superhuman. (that's his username and describes his guitar playing pretty well too.)

i haven't heard GOYA play but that very well could be the case there too.
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didgijimmy said:
Very true, I just think he is denying himself an opportunity to improve. I have seen countless amazing bedroom guitarists who can shred like no other but don't even know the musical alphabet. He's great on his own but once he was in a band setting with other people and trying to play in a live setting where he had to solo over something unfamiliar or with an odd key or progression he was utterly lost.
James
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this describes a guy I know who is just unreal on a guitar but if you put him with other musicians he is lost.
 
Roguetitan said:
this describes a guy I know who is just unreal on a guitar but if you put him with other musicians he is lost.
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exactly, lets call it the bedroom phenomenon. This dude got way too into drugs and I'm not sure what happened to him now, but I'm convinced that dudes who can shred like that can prolly pick up on the note names and theory pretty quick and just be incredible all around players. Personally though, I'll take being a functional and versatile musician over being strictly a shred head anyday.
 
castlerock said:
now all that being said, there is a guitarist that posted earlier in this thread (about when it was started...maybe) that doesn't read music, know music theory, and maybe doesn't even know the notes that well....but he's totally badass. superhuman. (that's his username and describes his guitar playing pretty well too.)

i haven't heard GOYA play but that very well could be the case there too.
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Castle, do you have a link to any of Superhumans recordings? I scanned the first ten or so pages of the thread and couldn't find him. Would be interested in hearing him. Thanks
James
 
GOYA said:
I couldn't care less what the name of the note is.
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didgijimmy said:
See how far that gets you
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Just a remainder of where this began.

Roguetitan said:
if you are talking to me I have assumed nothing.

that is like someone wanting a job as a welder saying they don't need to know how many amps to set the machine at to weld certain thickness metals. or what polarity to set the machine to tig weld.
for you to say not knowing the fretboard is not needed is just plain wrong with a few exceptions like if you have a God given talent and can shred a guitar then it don't really matter but for the rest of us it does matter a great deal.
sure if your only goal is to play for your own enjoyment or with your buddy's in a cover band and can play by ear and read tabs or have your buddy to show you how certain song's are played (who does BTW know the notes ) you will do just fine. but if your goals are a little higher like playing professionally as a studio musician ect you are not going to get very far.
and I will go as far to say if anyone out there who is an accomplished musician ( accomplished = successful as in making a living as a musician) at least know the root notes and chord progressions.
generally speaking, not even a Church band will use you if you don:t at least know the notes on the fretboard.
that is not being hateful or making any assumptions. that is just the cold hard facts.:)
if I am missing something here please inform me because otherwise I am going to be very pissed for spending all that time and money on my music education if it was all for nothing.:confused:
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Your analogy fails miserably. Playing a guitar isn't welding. There is no setting on a guitar/guitarist that makes it/him play well. And knowing that a note you are playing is an F# doesn't make it sound any better. Maybe I was blessed with talent although "shredding" is not what I do or even have a desire to do. Perhaps I have a limited understanding of what shred means but would you say that B. B. King shredded? You see, the vast majority of my gigging has been playing the blues. The musicians I've played with know the blues and there is no need of telling someone which notes to play. No need. In fact, I wouldn't dream of telling someone else what to play. Maybe you feel that a blues guitarist can't be accomplished. By the way:

ac⋅com⋅plished
–adjective
1. completed; done; effected: an accomplished fact.
2. highly skilled; expert: an accomplished pianist.
3. having all the social graces, manners, and other attainments of polite society.

You appear to have assumed the wrong definition of that word.

I have and do play other kinds of music and the same things apply. But if you want to be a studio musician, more power to you. I can feel quite satisfied simply sitting in my bedroom playing music that I like and playing it well.

Also note that I'm saying that I don't need ANY knowledge of the neck. If a key is called you need to know where to start. But knowing which notes are in a riff or some solo phrase is not helpful to me. The positions are simply based on the root.

There is more I could say but I feel as though it would be pointless and I have better things to do.
 
GOYA said:
Just a remainder of where this began.



Your analogy fails miserably. Playing a guitar isn't welding. There is no setting on a guitar/guitarist that makes it/him play well. And knowing that a note you are playing is an F# doesn't make it sound any better. Maybe I was blessed with talent although "shredding" is not what I do or even have a desire to do. Perhaps I have a limited understanding of what shred means but would you say that B. B. King shredded? You see, the vast majority of my gigging has been playing the blues. The musicians I've played with know the blues and there is no need of telling someone which notes to play. No need. In fact, I wouldn't dream of telling someone else what to play. Maybe you feel that a blues guitarist can't be accomplished. By the way:

ac⋅com⋅plished
–adjective
1. completed; done; effected: an accomplished fact.
2. highly skilled; expert: an accomplished pianist.
3. having all the social graces, manners, and other attainments of polite society.

You appear to have assumed the wrong definition of that word.

I have and do play other kinds of music and the same things apply. But if you want to be a studio musician, more power to you. I can feel quite satisfied simply sitting in my bedroom playing music that I like and playing it well.

Also note that I'm saying that I don't need ANY knowledge of the neck. If a key is called you need to know where to start. But knowing which notes are in a riff or some solo phrase is not helpful to me. The positions are simply based on the root.

There is more I could say but I feel as though it would be pointless and I have better things to do.
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aight, no harm done. I prolly went off on a tangent myself. FWIW alot of what I play is the blues too. And BB shred? It kinda depends on what you mean, If you mean play some badass guitar, then yess he shreds. I understand where you are coming from, just not why you yell at me for being close minded while you don't think what I had to say was worth anything. Thats all sir. But let's leave in a good attitude about it and just play our guits.:D
James
 
GOYA said:
Just a remainder of where this began.



Your analogy fails miserably. Playing a guitar isn't welding. There is no setting on a guitar/guitarist that makes it/him play well. And knowing that a note you are playing is an F# doesn't make it sound any better. Maybe I was blessed with talent although "shredding" is not what I do or even have a desire to do. Perhaps I have a limited understanding of what shred means but would you say that B. B. King shredded? You see, the vast majority of my gigging has been playing the blues. The musicians I've played with know the blues and there is no need of telling someone which notes to play. No need. In fact, I wouldn't dream of telling someone else what to play. Maybe you feel that a blues guitarist can't be accomplished. By the way:

ac⋅com⋅plished
–adjective
1. completed; done; effected: an accomplished fact.
2. highly skilled; expert: an accomplished pianist.
3. having all the social graces, manners, and other attainments of polite society.

You appear to have assumed the wrong definition of that word.

I have and do play other kinds of music and the same things apply. But if you want to be a studio musician, more power to you. I can feel quite satisfied simply sitting in my bedroom playing music that I like and playing it well.

Also note that I'm saying that I don't need ANY knowledge of the neck. If a key is called you need to know where to start. But knowing which notes are in a riff or some solo phrase is not helpful to me. The positions are simply based on the root.

There is more I could say but I feel as though it would be pointless and I have better things to do.
Click to expand...
the analogy was a pretty good one in my opinion, some of the more intellectual folks just have to have things explained to them more specifically than others I guess:p

Thanks for the spelling lesson but I am fully aware of the definition of accomplished:)
the highest form of accomplishment is getting paid for what you are accomplished at;) that is my form of the definition in a nutshell.
like I said before if you are not looking to playing as a career then not knowing is fine that is all I was saying and pretty much what you just pointed out in this post and like Digijimmy pointed out before me not knowing is not going to get you much further than the door of your bedroom;)
I think that is pretty much all either one of us was saying so with that I guess we are finished here:cool:

Have a good one
 
Greg_L said:
I know all of the notes and real chords but don't use any of them.
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Any two or more notes at the same time is a real chord. Nothing escapes the omnipotent realm of music theory.
 
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