Learning the fretboard...why?

[Phantoj]

P.S. Do any of you know what a slide rule is? I thought as much.

No, I'm too young, too. I've heard about them, though.

[Serenity]

Originally Posted by Phantoj

So, say, if I'm playing a chord with its root at the 5th string, seventh fret (E), I know that my major third is up one string and down a fret, and my major fifth is up a string and up two frets. And two strings up on my same fret, I can grab a dominant 7th.

And then I'll read those notes off the fretboard if I actually want to know the names of those notes. (G#, B, and D#, right?)

Or, suppose you're playing with someone in the key of... E and you want to play some melody lines up high. If you know your fretboard, you will know where the E's are on that fretboard and you can use them to position the appropriate scale pattern.

One thing that learning the fretboard and music theory does, that I've noticed since I've started learning it...is that when I first started here a post like this made no sense to me at all.

Now I can at least understand what this guy is talking about and even, as I learn more, start to apply it.

If you are just copying chords and runs by ear and trial an error...it is much more difficult to explain what you are doing or learn from someone else.

In other words, understanding like this gives you a common language with other musicians that helps you learn and teach.

[~j~]

Originally Posted by Phantoj

P.S. Do any of you know what a slide rule is? I thought as much.

No, I'm too young, too. I've heard about them, though.

I own a slide rule =) Can't read it. Logarithmic scale, probably not that hard to figure out.

[Phantoj]

what this guy is talking about

Oh, here's a tip: don't use the phrase "major fifth" like I did and expect the serious theory guys not to guffaw...


my knowledge of theory is definitely in the learning stage...

[Chicago Sandy]

You never know---some day you might want to solo (or have to---in my last band, everyone was taking solos while I was just keeping the bass line going, and then they said, "Your turn, Sandy." Thank goodness I knew where the notes were, not just patterns!). It'll enable you to play bass, too. Some day you WILL get bored just playing simple chords. You might also want to write. Saying that chords are all you'll ever want to do is like buying an entry-level computer, car, or guitar and saying you'll never need to upgrade.

[Jeff M]

Why not? You got anything better to do?

[freestyle]

Say you are playing some blues in the key of E. You want to play a few licks you learned in the key of C, how do you know where to start if you don't know your fretboard? It can get very frustrating, believe me. The more you play, the more you will want to learn. The more you learn, the more you can do with the guitar. This leads to making the music "yours." Today I was hearing Kansas City Blues in my head, and sorta playing air guitar runs and riffs to go with it. Trouble is, the riffs are in E7. Now, is this compatable? How can you tell? One way is to just play em and see if they fit. Another is to know the difference between E and E7 keys. Some slight adjustments may be in order, but it should work pretty well. Knowing what those adjustments are means you can sit down and play it thru, and take it to other places as well. Not knowing just leaves you sitting there with the guitar in your hand, wishing...

[mikeo2]

It is my opinion that all one really needs to do at first is memorie the 5th and 6th strings and then learn octave shapes from the 2-bass strings to the other four. This allows you to start using your fretboard knowledge more quickly and as a result you will more easily begin to commit the remainder of the strings' notes to memory.

If anyone is interested, I have put together some pages on this idea for some students that I could scan in and upload.

[waynep]

I am very interested!!

wayne

[tayloralf]

Originally Posted by mikeo2

If anyone is interested, I have put together some pages on this idea for some students that I could scan in and upload.

i am very interested...would love to see them!

[mikeo2]

Ok, I'll try to get to that tomorrow.... maybe it'll give somebody a few ideas...

[axememan]

tayloralf....you been talkin to my doctor?......im okay now......HEY,YOU DONT HAVE TO YELL...hehe....seriously learning all of the notes would be a boon to ya....but using tab will get you lots of songs...as fast as you can take them all in..then when you get new chords you find a new song that has the same chord,or same chord sequence, that you just learned.for that other song...then you are really cruisin!so i definetly say"go for the fun part"......but check with a normal person first..hehehe

[Gear_Junky]

I can't believe noone's asked this:

Why are you taking lessons? You don't need lessons to play from tab!

Knowing the fretboard is essential for improv and composing melody/bass lines on the guitar. I am still learning, but I can already "feel the power".

I suggest learning CAGED system (like in the book "Fretboard Logic", but you can get it online, too).

It puts things into perspective and makes for gradual meaningful learning instead of rote memorization of the frets (which doesn't work w/o applying it).

Hope this will help!

[Tom S.]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

Why are you taking lessons? You don't need lessons to play from tab!

Although I can read music and play some from standard notation, I take lessons and the songs we use are in tab. In general, I can agree with you, but in my case, I get tons of value from the lessons. For example, the teacher will show me better fingering to get through a difficult spot. Plus he keeps me progressing, sad as it is to pay someone for that. I also benefit from having to play in front of him. Of course, in theory, I could accomplish all of these things on my own.

[tayloralf]

thank you guys for all your tips and thoughts...(sigh), i guess i will have to go and memorize the fret board...HEY, does anyone know of a little song that will make memorizing the fretboard fun? Like an alphabet song or something? That will make it fun for me to memorize the thing!