Notes on the fretboard....

[Big-E]

I've strummed, finger picked and flat picked for 54 years but with the exception of the first five frets, I've never been able to remember where the notes sit higher up the fret board (I'm quite happy to open myself up to good humored ridicule at this point!!).
In the past I've played individual notes round chord positions and really never grasped the concept of learning scales and subsequently, working out alternate chord shapes was very time consuming.
Earlier this week I decided that I would do something about it now I have the time and inclination. While working on one particular method, it struck me that I could still remember notes on the stave using mnemonics I learned at school. So last night I applied mnemonics to positions 5-12 and , voila, within and hour I had it nailed. More importantly, it was still there in the grey matter this morning. I'll now be able to use this to extend my limited knowledge of scales, voicing etc which make me a very happy bunny!
Which got me thinking-I would be really interested in hearing from other forum members what learning methods suit you best as we don't all have the same learning styles. Some of us start off being self taught and some with formal training.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi Big-E

Unlike you, I had no formal training at school or thereafter, apart from fleeting sessions with various teachers.

So I pretty much developed what I needed to know, and as I am mostly a country/bluegrass/blues style flat picker, I haven't felt that limited.

however, with my new (lockdown imposed) direction of helping others by giving Zoom meetings, I have found a way of helping some others, in this aspect.

[Big-E]

Good morning Andy, to my regret, the only formal music training I had at school was learning the recorder. It sounds like we have both walked a similar pathway musically. I did have a brief dalliance with lessons in '85 but couldn't get my head round it at the time. Keep up the good work!

[CarolD]

Well, I’m not quite 4 months in, but I have a leg up because I was a trumpet player as a youngster (no theory, though). I already understood the chromatic scale and the intervals that make up any scale (W,W,h,W,W,W,h), so each fret as a half step and two frets as a whole step made a lot of sense. I bought the Guitar Heads fretboard book which has a clever system for learning the low E and A strings (so you already have 3 strings pretty much down). I’m learning guitar through guitar tricks online classes and the second beginner module has us learning major scales in two octaves. Even though we are learning based on positions, I assigned the notes to the position and when I practice, I say the notes out loud to reinforce their position on the fretboard.

[SprintBob]

I thought I needed to do a deeper dive into music theory but my wise teacher advised me to consider learning as much music theory as will be practical for the current playing I am doing (unless I just have an interest in it as I would have an interest in learning math theory). His advice could be summarized as learn what you need when you need it and commit to use it. If you learn it and subsequently don’t have a reason to use it, it probably won’t stick.

Hope that helps.

[Big-E]

Originally Posted by CarolD

Well, I’m not quite 4 months in, but I have a leg up because I was a trumpet player as a youngster (no theory, though). I already understood the chromatic scale and the intervals that make up any scale (W,W,h,W,W,W,h), so each fret as a half step and two frets as a whole step made a lot of sense. I bought the Guitar Heads fretboard book which has a clever system for learning the low E and A strings (so you already have 3 strings pretty much down). I’m learning guitar through guitar tricks online classes and the second beginner module has us learning major scales in two octaves. Even though we are learning based on positions, I assigned the notes to the position and when I practice, I say the notes out loud to reinforce their position on the fretboard.

I think I pushed the scale intervals to the back of my mind years ago. Now I've dragged them back again it's making a lot of sense!

[Big-E]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

I thought I needed to do a deeper dive into music theory but my wise teacher advised me to consider learning as much music theory as will be practical for the current playing I am doing (unless I just have an interest in it as I would have an interest in learning math theory). His advice could be summarized as learn what you need when you need it and commit to use it. If you learn it and subsequently don’t have a reason to use it, it probably won’t stick.

Hope that helps.

That's good advice, especially for someone like me who has a learning style where I need information to be applicable to the task in hand rather than just theoretical knowledge, if that makes sense.

[TBman]

I had piano lessons as a very young child, then in elementary school we had good music classes. I also took a few guitar lessons.


The guitar is a funny instrument in that you could play for years and not "know" the notes on the fretboard. You can learn movable chords and play all over the neck and through that get a backdoor sense of the scales. It doesn't take long to learn the fretboard and helps when you want to construct some triads/chords on your own.

I usually play in DADGAD, CGDGAD and CGDGCD tunings. I haven't really explicitly tried to learn the fretboard notes for each tuning, but it isnt rocket science.

[rick-slo]

I rarely think about note names and even less so when playing. Hearing intervals and knowing where the whole and half steps in a scale is useful.

[godfreydaniel]

I use a note trainer app on my phone for a few minutes a day. I also use an interval app.