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
I've got a couple of people who stop by my place once a month and I take the time to teach them a little about music in addition to how to play the guitar.You don't have to be a master,but it certainly doesn't hurt to know the basics,as the LtBob refered to,it's a language that links musicians from all backgrounds.IMHO it makes it easier to move between instruments.
 
Learning is fungimental. :lol:

In yer average guitar, bass, & drums band, you can communicate just by looking at each others hands. Throw in keys or horns and thats out the door.

We can all do as we please; learn this, forget that, make this up, etc. No rights or wrongs in music, just opinions.

I like learning new techs and tricks on my bass, my writing, in music. But I can't tell you how you should play. Don't want to, shouldn't have to. If I need a part played, say for one of my tunes, I can ask you, and show and teach you, whatever it takes, but I wouldn't ask you if I didn't like how you play. Flipped, you wouldn't want to learn and play something you don't like or enjoy.

I'm not trying to wax poetic or sound true here. Learn or don't. We can still jam. Or not. :cool:
 
To learn the fretboard you first need to know the names of the strings. E A D G B E Next step is very simple, no half steps betwixt B&C or E&F. So starting on the E string it would be E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E you should end up playing the last E at the 12 fret. So from the A string A A# B C C# ect. ending with an A on the 12 fret. Do this with every string to get the feel of it.
The key is to do it in your head without your guitar several times a day. Start with one string a day.
 
When i first started i wanted to learn all the notes on the fretboard. I do now but after all that what helps me more is knowing the notes function in respect to the key or chord you are playing over rather than the note itself.

But if you are just starting to get to know the fretboard, little bits at a time work best rather than all at once. get to know what the notes are on the dots of each string. then as time goes on you learn a little more then a little more etc.

think of it as moving to a new town. your never gonna know your way around instantly. but as you walk arund over the months/years you find roads that you know linking to other roads you know and before long youve built a map of the area in your head!
 
I remember if I'm looking at a book with them written down, otherwise no. :)
 
If you play guitar then you gotta know the notes on the fretboard. It's not that hard. If you get stuck, look at a chord shape in that position and you should be able to figure it out. I'd hope. If not, then there's always drums.
 
I know their names and I know where they live but they still won't give me their phone numbers.
 
Its easier than people think to learn the notes of the fretboard. If you know your power chords and the roots/5ths of these chords then the only string that you should have to stop and think about the notes for is the B string.
 
I know where most of the notes are...

At least: E F G A B C D E on the 6th string :P (I guess the first string too! :laughings:)

and A B C D E on the 5th

without thinking that is...

The rest of the time I have to count or something...
 
Hi,

I've never really seen a lot of point to learning all the names of the fretboard positions. I do pick up some of them along the way when and if there is actually a reason to know them, but otherwise I don't bother. It takes only a second or two to count from a known one if I really needed a name.

For me the importance goes something like this:

  • 1. Learn the sounds themselves, and the intervals between them. E.g. If I want a sound a minor third above the one I just played, where would I find it? The object there isn't to be thinking the actual term "minor third" either, but to think only in terms of two sounds a certain space apart.

    2. Their relative positions in the particular scale. E.g. If that's the Root, then the 3, 5, 7 etc are here, here and there...

    3. The names.

I never need to know the names at playing speed - ever, but I do need to instinctively know where to find the next sound. So that's where I put my effort. If I do want to know the name for any reason then I won't be in a hurry so I'll take the second or two it takes to work it out. It's not unnecessary to know, but it seems to be the least important thing. For me anyway, music is about the relationship of sounds, not names. So I find it more useful to think in terms of intervals and scale degrees than names.

Also, if you change way the guitar is tuned they all shift to different parts of the fretboard anyway.

But, hey, we're all different so if other people find that learning all the names is enjoyable or useful then that's surely fine too. We don't all have to do it the same way. :)
 
I'm self taught, but overtime of playing I've managed to get most of them down. I have all of them down on the E and A string, bit on the D, and the high E, only place of confusion is usually G and B in which I just use the lower strings to figure out (power chord forms and such).
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Hello guys. Ok, let me say something here. First off an apology for the "holier than thou" attitude. Grumpy old farts on batteries get that way. :D But the truth is, I have something I want to pass on to you guys who can't seem to find the key to seeing your fretboard as a whole. Thats not to say I think I know it all, cause my friends, NO ONE does. And I won't even say that every word is gospel either. I, even though I hate to admit it :p , make mistakes once in a blue moon...hahahahahaha. What a moron. Well, enough of that.
Ok, heres the deal.
:eek: :) Cool. Thats enough for me. If someone has enough gumption to actually look at it, that gives me a little hope that what I have to say might really do someone some good. On that note, I will continue. Here is a little analogy.

Think of music as a journey through a maze. When you first started out on this jouney, something had inspired you to take this journey in the first place.
That was the destination. You think. Trouble is, you could hear the destination, but didn't have a clue on how to get there, nor did you have a vehicle to take you on this journey. All musicians must have a vehicle. That is their instrument. It will take you down all the paths of this journey. Trouble is, which path to take. Some are dead ends, some lead to other destinations, some meander endlessly, and some lead to doors, but the doors are locked.
So you get a vehicle, and you have a destination in mind, and there are many paths leading into the maze, but you have NO map of the maze. And you don't have a clue where to get the map. Oh, there are a million map sellers out there. They all have a "magic" pathway to the destination too. :rolleyes: Some even have "detours" around the doors. But if there are detours, why go through the door? What is behind the door that makes it important? I'll tell you what. Another door. And another. And another. And where do these doors lead? To the direct pathways to other destinations. But without a REAL map, you can't even see these doors till you get through the first one.
But like I said. These doors are locked. So where do you get a key to first door, let alone each of the others? That my friend is the riddle. And the solution to that riddle is right above this reply. That, is the Master Key Machine!!!
Do you know how a lock works? Actually, it is very simple. Look at a common house door key. You see all the little indentations on the edge. That jagged edge, is a mechanical combination. Each of those little "bumps" is a specific distance from the opposite edge of the key. When you insert the key into the lock, those little "bumbs" lift little springloaded rods. These are called "tumblers". And EACH of these tumblers are made up of two or three short rods, that ride in a cylinder, like a piston. However, each of these tumblers , are made up of two or more short rods that have a specific length. It is this length of the short rods, and the "bumps" on the key, that allow a lock to open. As the "bump" lifts each tumbler to a specific height, it aligns the break between the two rods to the outer edge of the KEY CYLINDER. When all the tumblers have been aligned, you can turn the key, which in turn, moves a deadbolt, or allows the handle to move the latch.
However, IF there are only two rods per cylinder, then only a key that is made for it will open it. Each lock has been set up with different combinations of rod LENGTHS. With 6 tumblers, there are MILLIONS of combinations. However, IF there are THREE rods per tumbler, it is a special lock that has ONE combination for one set of two rods, and Millions of combinations for the
other set of two rods. That allows any number of locks built this way to be opened by a MASTER KEY. And my friends, the doors to the musical maze have a lock with Master tumblers. The problem is the Key. Where do you get the Master key. Read on.
Think of a hotel that has 500 rooms. Each room has its own lock and key. But the maid has to get into every room. She isn't going to carry 500 keys. She only has ONE. A Master key. It opens every door in the hotel. In this case, the hotel is the maze. And the maze is called the 12 tone system. There are many doors to this system. Think of music as a journey through maze. There are many paths to this journey. And each path has door at the beginning of it, and many doors along its meanderings. When you carry a Master Key, you can open each and every door. You don't need a key to each one.
So where do you get this master key? Its very simple. You make it. And how do you make it. That too is simple, but you need a LOCK diagram. Think of it this way. Your fretboard is the LOCK. The strings are the TUMBLERS. Without a diagram of the tumbler combination, you have no way of making the Master Key. The Chromatic Scale is the rod lengths. The tumblers are the strings. When you apply the Chromatic Scale to the strings in the right combination, VOILA...a KEY!!! And how do you get this combination? My friends, I just gave it to you!! :) Now you have to make your Master Key. And how do you make it? MEMORY!!!! Simple as that. Your memory of the Chromatic Scale on each string is the MASTER KEY!!! :eek:



Guys, I guaruuuuntee, this is NOT an exercise in futility. There IS a goal. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And what you find at the end of that tunnel, is a Master Key to the 12 tone system door. Behind that door is a maze of other doors. But which door to chose to find the right path. You won't know untill you build your Master Key. And here is the reward. Once you make your Master Key, you can open the door that hides the MAP!!


But for the moment, let me apologize again, for my little diatribe on Hangdawgs thread. I will start a new thread that will I will attempt to RE ENTER the maze. However, let me say, for those of you who have already found the map, forgive me. I do not profess to hold all the answers. There are many doors I have NOT opened, and many that will remain unopened for me. I only hope to illuminate the path to a few doors for the unenlightend people to open themself. Till then, tune in next time. Same time, same station for the next episode of The Journey.
fitZ
Click to expand...

I think my head just exploded.
 
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