Knowing the Neck

bread

bread

Power User
Hs anyone got any good tips for learning all the notes on the neck of the guitar please?

Thanks in advance
 
you've just got to brute force it really. there aren't any shortcuts, except one tip i can give you is to write down all the notes on a neck grid (see attached) and you'll see patterns forming. don't use the grid to learn the notes, you have to commit them to memory and that will just slow down the process, but it will give you an overview and help you understand the relationships. when trying to learn things, it often helps to approach the information from different angles.
 

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Theres 12 notes. They all repeat. Once you figure out those 12 and where they repeat, you know the whole fretboard.

the question is, what do you actually want to accomplish with this?
 
Friend once had me write down the 7 notes (A-G) on 3x5 index cards, then shuffle and place upside down on the desk. Flip one over and play every occurrence of that note on the guitar neck. Practice a couple of times each day, I think I had it in less than a month
 
One way I like teaching this is going for memorising the bottom two strings first. Then use octave shapes to see the others in relation to them. After a while every note on the neck should be instantaneously recognised, but doing it this way is a good way to start.

I would also recommend trying Tom Quayles app “Solo”. This app has other functions as well ( that I would really recommend checking out), but if you set the app to “root” it will ask you for notes and only move on once you play the right one.
 
I wouldn't focus on memorizing the fretboard out of the gate. Much more important is to understand intervals as they relate to scales and chords. As soon as you change tunings the notes on the fretboard will change.

But as long as you are in any standard tuning the interval relationships between the strings are the same no matter what note the bottom string is tuned to. Intervals, scale shapes and chord/triad shapes will always be the same.

Then after you understand those basic theory concepts knowing where the "root" notes are on any string is very helpful. Once you know the intervals you can derive any scale or chord from any root note anywhere on the fretboard starting on any string. This approach will work for different chord voicings/inversions too.

Understanding intervals is also the first step to understand modes. Modes and their chord relationships are probably the single most important concept for improvisational guitar. That is the key skill to have that will enable you to solo all over the neck across chord changes and never play a sour note.

One more tip: When you are ready to memorize the fretboard a tuner is very handy. It will tell you what note you are playing anywhere on the fretboard. So it's a great way to quiz yourself.
 
You can prevent boredom by making up structured activities.

For example, learn to play the cycle of 4ths and the cycle of 5ths on each individual string. Say the names of the notes out loud.

Pick a given note and find it on every string.

Improvise with a track, but only play a note if you can say its name out loud.

Play modes, scales, arpeggios, etc. on one string, calling out the note names as you go.

Use a random note generator online and play along in a position or on one string.

Etc. etc.
 
Thanks for your help I guess I just got to memorise the notes and work out the intervals.
 
This has worked for me as a set of shapes that one can memorize and track how they move around the neck. The shapes are consistent across modes with only the root locations changing in each shape per mode. Knowing interval locations on top of this takes it to anothet level. I can noodle around on the neck with this in any key/mode without having to really know the note names as I play them - I only need the to know the note name / location for the first note played to get myself started.



 
There was an ebook that a guy from this forum was giving away at one point. It was super helpful. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

Related question- How do you guys see/interpret the notes on the fretboard when you're tuned down? Do you still look at them like they're the same notes in standard but with a mental note that everything is tuned down, or do you memorize the notes for every tuning? Does that phrasing make sense?
 
sprint said:
This has worked for me as a set of shapes that one can memorize and track how they move around the neck. The shapes are consistent across modes with only the root locations changing in each shape per mode. Knowing interval locations on top of this takes it to anothet level. I can noodle around on the neck with this in any key/mode without having to really know the note names as I play them - I only need the to know the note name / location for the first note played to get myself started.



Click to expand...

+1 on the BBGS method. It really helped me quickly know how to play all the modes up and down the neck, both vertically and horizontally.
 
When I started learning note names, I used a couple of exercises and apps to quiz myself and they help to a certain degree. One thing I did though was map out a few boxes to help learn the notes in chunks rather than just sitting down and memorizing them in an unorganized fashion.

The first box (BOX 1) is in the first position, open to 3rd fret, which every guitar player should know IMO. The next box (BOX 2) was actually pretty cool once I saw it - using the fret dots/markers. Starting on the 3 fret, low E the natural notes for the octave +1, from G to A. are all found on the fret dots through the D string. The other boxes are an extension or continuation of another box. Flats and sharps are easy once you know the natural notes.

1689712569584.png
 

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bread said:
No but it will stop me looking an idiot when my keyboard player asks me what on earth I'm playing
Click to expand...

What you want to shoot for is the ability to ask your keyboard player either, "What key is it in?", or preferably "What are the chords?", and then if you are armed with the knowledge I described above, he will never need to ask again.

Edit: I love this from Victor Wooten and it is universally true “You are never more than a half-step away from the right note…”.

Even without any knowledge of theory the right note is always just a half step away from the wrong note you might play. That means on guitar you can often bend your way out of sour notes as soon as your ears hear them. If you have a trem bar you can drop by a half or without a trem slide down by a half. Half steps are always 1 fret. Many great ear players I have played with do exactly this while soloing. They use a lot of chromatics and if their ear detects something wrong they just go up (or down) by a half step until it is right. If note length is short enough it will sound great. The trick is to avoid lingering for longer than say an 1/8th or a 1/16th note in atonal land. So just go up or down 1 fret to resolve the sour note and everything will sound fine.

So even if you do happen to land on wrong notes, the right note is always only 1 fret away! Victor’s suggestion is to practice the Chromatic scale when soloing. This will get you comfortable with hearing both the “wrong” and “right” notes and how you can incorporate them in your playing. The goal here is to not be afraid of making a mistake by playing a wrong note. Try to not be timid in your playing due to the fear of a mistake. Just learn how to detect it by ear resolve it by 1 fret without lingering on the bad note.

Which notes are sour goes back to intervals. But you can train your ears without understanding the theory behind intervals. If it sounds dissonant or sour go up (or down) 1 fret.
 
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@bread,

TBH, I just began targeted guitar lessons myself with an instructor in person at one of our local music shops. After delineating what some of my music history regards knowledge and understanding was, we set about practicing an A mixolydian arpeggio and scale in the 5th position. That was this past Saturday. Since then, I riffed a few notes outside the 5th position box, but made a concerted effort to learn the arpeggio and scale forwards and backwards. The next step, I imagine, is playing cascading notes in the same scale ascending and descending. My feeling is that while this may not add a lot to my vocabulary, it will increase my understanding and how to build upon that knowledge base.

One of my short-term goals is to learn triads up/down/across the fretboard. There are 4 basic triad types, major, minor, diminished, and augmented. Learning these shapes the length of the fretboard will not only increase your knowledge of the fretboard, but also regards the theory behind how chords are built with various notes. Once you learn about the 1, 3, 5 / 1 ♭3, 5 / 1, ♭3, ♭5 / and 1, 3, ♯5, you'll have learned basic jazz voicings that can embellish your blues or rock playing. Not only will you discover that triads are useful tools, you'll have learned basic theory that can help you learn the individual notes up/down/across the fretboard.
 
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