Yo,
Ive been playing guitar for a while now but ive been wanting to learn the theory more to speed up my process. Specifically i was wondering if anybody had a technique to memorize which note is which on the fretboard?
Love
Guitar Memorization
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- KVRAF
- 7762 posts since 13 Jan, 2003 from Darkest Kent, UK
I'm not aware of anything that'll make it easier, just hard work, repetition to build your mental muscle memory etc. Obviously learning scales and rememebring the actual notes and not just the pattern, things like that. Then there's little tricks to flesh out the mental map, things like knowing the octave of a note on the bottom two strings is two strings up, two frets along.
I say all this but I'm very pattern based to my detriment, couldn't just point to all the Cs on the fretboard without thinking. Nice skill to have, wondering how many people can do that? Or do most people have their anchor 'points' then use patterns from there, find a note then know a 3rd is there in relation to it, a 5th over there etc...?
I say all this but I'm very pattern based to my detriment, couldn't just point to all the Cs on the fretboard without thinking. Nice skill to have, wondering how many people can do that? Or do most people have their anchor 'points' then use patterns from there, find a note then know a 3rd is there in relation to it, a 5th over there etc...?
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- addled muppet weed
- 106269 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
run through scales and riffs as you would normally, slowly at first then faster...
while naming the notes. think in note names, not intervals
although, intervals is probably more useful. im useless there
while naming the notes. think in note names, not intervals
although, intervals is probably more useful. im useless there
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- KVRAF
- 6027 posts since 16 Aug, 2017 from UK
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- KVRist
- 36 posts since 28 Nov, 2018
I learned the notes simply by preforming drills on the Fretonomy app on m Android phone, though it is also available on iOS. I practiced the first couple of frets until I had them down easy, then kept adding another fret until I had the whole fretboard memorized. Simple but effective.
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- KVRist
- 489 posts since 24 Nov, 2008
Knowing the caged system can also help.
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- KVRer
- 7 posts since 25 Nov, 2022
Hi,
it's pretty easy if you understand the logic of the progression. It follows the notes of the scale and every 5th fret, (except the 4th string) you move to the next string. This makes it quite easy to memorize. I found some interesting diagrams on the Decibel-Score website in "guitar lessons".
it's pretty easy if you understand the logic of the progression. It follows the notes of the scale and every 5th fret, (except the 4th string) you move to the next string. This makes it quite easy to memorize. I found some interesting diagrams on the Decibel-Score website in "guitar lessons".
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- KVRer
- 8 posts since 26 Nov, 2022
In my opinion music is about intervals, the movement from one note to another.
In this sense it does not matter which note you start with, if you go up and down the same distances (the same intervals, ot use the technical term), you will always come up with something out mind recognize as the same melody.
Guitar is a wonderful instrument in that respect, because it makes it so easy to understand the above.
If you play a pattern (a melody) somewhere, and then you shift your hand to play it starting from another note, you will come up with exactly the same melody (the same up and down pattern of intervals), no thinking required.
There is also another point, which is that in lots of music genres old and new, moving to a chord to another by small steps feels more pleasant, effective and musical. But the way chords are normally learned makes this very hard, because the chords shapes which are normally learned first are disconnected and requires lots of movement around to pass from one to another.
Sorry for the long preamble and for perhaps mentioning things you know already, I just wanted to clarify what I am going to suggest next, which made a considerable difference to my playing and improvising on guitar (and other instruments, but guitar is my main one).
In my opinion the best way to learn the fretboard in a meaningful way is to learn at least partially Pat Martino's approach.
Martino is not the only one who reasoned that way but he made it very clear and specific to guitar in his teaching.
While the best course I know of from him (The Nature of Guitar) is not free, if you google around you might be able to find some stuff and videos.
To know what to search, given he of course talked about a lot of stuff, look for "martino parental augmented forms".
The whole thing can sound confusing but it is actually simple once you get into it.
I could describe how it works, but it would take me a bit of effort and time. If you want me to, let me know and I will.
But in terms of results it will allow you to take a pattern on any three strings, so a three notes chord, and turn it into three major chords and three minor chords by just moving down any of the three notes a fret down or up. So you have 6 different chords under your fingers with little to no movement.
If you shift the whole pattern a fret down you get other 6 different chords, and moving it up again other 6. Which is 18 chords with little movement. Moving the shape two steps up OR down will give you the other 6 chords to make 24 chords, 12 min, 12 major.
So any basic minor or major chord within the space of 4 frets and three strings, enabling to move between any to any chords with very little movement.
If you apply this to some easy rock or pop songs you know the "big" chords for, you should get the hang of it relatively quickly.
This also works vertically, by moving the pattern one or more string up (the shape of the augmented starting pattern will change in this case, because of the way the B string is tuned).
Incidentally, the suggestion you got to learn where you octave notes are is very useful. However, learning the notes on the fretboard as they were single distinct things is not a very musical way to spend your time, becasue the distance between notes make music, not the notes in themselves, while the approach I suggest is all about the distance and what different distances sound like.
I hope this helps a bit
In this sense it does not matter which note you start with, if you go up and down the same distances (the same intervals, ot use the technical term), you will always come up with something out mind recognize as the same melody.
Guitar is a wonderful instrument in that respect, because it makes it so easy to understand the above.
If you play a pattern (a melody) somewhere, and then you shift your hand to play it starting from another note, you will come up with exactly the same melody (the same up and down pattern of intervals), no thinking required.
There is also another point, which is that in lots of music genres old and new, moving to a chord to another by small steps feels more pleasant, effective and musical. But the way chords are normally learned makes this very hard, because the chords shapes which are normally learned first are disconnected and requires lots of movement around to pass from one to another.
Sorry for the long preamble and for perhaps mentioning things you know already, I just wanted to clarify what I am going to suggest next, which made a considerable difference to my playing and improvising on guitar (and other instruments, but guitar is my main one).
In my opinion the best way to learn the fretboard in a meaningful way is to learn at least partially Pat Martino's approach.
Martino is not the only one who reasoned that way but he made it very clear and specific to guitar in his teaching.
While the best course I know of from him (The Nature of Guitar) is not free, if you google around you might be able to find some stuff and videos.
To know what to search, given he of course talked about a lot of stuff, look for "martino parental augmented forms".
The whole thing can sound confusing but it is actually simple once you get into it.
I could describe how it works, but it would take me a bit of effort and time. If you want me to, let me know and I will.
But in terms of results it will allow you to take a pattern on any three strings, so a three notes chord, and turn it into three major chords and three minor chords by just moving down any of the three notes a fret down or up. So you have 6 different chords under your fingers with little to no movement.
If you shift the whole pattern a fret down you get other 6 different chords, and moving it up again other 6. Which is 18 chords with little movement. Moving the shape two steps up OR down will give you the other 6 chords to make 24 chords, 12 min, 12 major.
So any basic minor or major chord within the space of 4 frets and three strings, enabling to move between any to any chords with very little movement.
If you apply this to some easy rock or pop songs you know the "big" chords for, you should get the hang of it relatively quickly.
This also works vertically, by moving the pattern one or more string up (the shape of the augmented starting pattern will change in this case, because of the way the B string is tuned).
Incidentally, the suggestion you got to learn where you octave notes are is very useful. However, learning the notes on the fretboard as they were single distinct things is not a very musical way to spend your time, becasue the distance between notes make music, not the notes in themselves, while the approach I suggest is all about the distance and what different distances sound like.
I hope this helps a bit
Last edited by mcsardus on Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 6027 posts since 16 Aug, 2017 from UK
Pat Martino's The Nature of Guitar $10 BF Salemcsardus wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:44 pm In my opinion the best way to learn the fretboard in a meaningful way is to learn at least partially Pat Martino's approach.
Martino is not the only one who reasoned that way but he made it very clear and specific to guitar in his teaching.
While the best course I know of from him (The Nature of Guitar) is not free, if you google around you might be able to find some stuff and videos.
https://truefire.com/pat-martino/the-na ... itar/c1002
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- KVRer
- 8 posts since 26 Nov, 2022
While I enjoyed it a lot, Martino's course can feel a bit daunting for a beginner because he covers a lot and also assumes viewers will essentially be already experienced musicians.
If the OP gets it, I suggest that they stick initially to the parts where he talks about the augmented forms and take it easy and slow, until they grasp it and can apply them to several chord progressions. Following the rest will be much easier after, and just that will be enough to play better numerous songs.
If the OP gets it, I suggest that they stick initially to the parts where he talks about the augmented forms and take it easy and slow, until they grasp it and can apply them to several chord progressions. Following the rest will be much easier after, and just that will be enough to play better numerous songs.
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- KVRer
- 6 posts since 7 Jan, 2023
In addition to fretboard memorization, I really reccomend diving into inversions and memorizong them both across and up the neck. Even if you dont fully retain a concious awareness of every F on the fretboard, knowing inversions will allow you to infer where they are through what i believe to be a more musical lense on guitar.
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
I would teach recognition of the fingerboard as objectively what it is and not try and convey all this music theory at the same time. Do know where “every F” is - all ten locations if not 2 or 3 past the edge - and never think of it again.
Because: You can’t think and play at the same time.
Because: You can’t think and play at the same time.
