KNOW YOUR FRETBOARD

Becoming a musician requires that you know the names of the notes you are playing and where they are found on your instrument.

Tablatures and other visual aids can be useful in the short run, but won’t help you function with non-guitar players.

LEARNING THE NOTES ON THE 6TH AND 5TH STRINGS (also see earlier section & diagram) should be the first step in mapping out the fretboard.

Knowing the notes on the 6th and 5th strings will give you the frame of reference needed to work out the other strings and understand the principles behind the use of barre chords, transposition, arpeggios, and chord substitution.

 

 

At this stage, the important thing is to know the positions of the natural (neither sharp nor flat) notes - E, F, G, A, B, C and D.

Please note that the same note can often be called by two different names. For instance F# and Gb are the same note. This can seem confusing at first but there IS a good reason for it!

FRET MARKINGS--are typically found at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th fret positions, and will give you a greater number of reference points to work from.

Make full use of the fret markings by learning that all but one of the natural notes are located on them. You can then use these as "home areas" from which to visualize the locations of the other notes.