For my first post, I'm going to try to help the very beginners and/or the people who have learned how to play the guitar a bit but haven't quite figured out why certain sounds are what they are. I haven't seen a lot on this subject so I'm simply going to lay out the ideas that helped me when I was starting out. There are other methods for learning but this is how I did it, with the help of a very good instructor. For many this will be common knowledge but if you don't know it, I think you'll find it very valuable. You should go through this very slowly at first to make sure that you understand all of the information presented, and feel free to comment with questions!
WHY LEARN ALL THOSE NOTES??
For some reason, many people have learned to play the guitar without certain bits of information that I find very important. One example is knowing the notes on the fretboard.
I can't imagine how I would be able to play had I not taken the time to learn this seemingly very basic fundamental. Sure, guys like Eddie Van Halen were able to pick the thing up and just make it sing, but for a lot of us, we need to study the ins and outs of music to be able to get anything to come out of our guitar. We need to learn scales, triads, chords, etc. and then somehow figure out how to apply that knowledge to our instrument.
In my experience, trying to learn any of this without knowing the notes on the fretboard is similar to a dog chasing his tail. He can see it, so he knows that it's there, but even if he were to catch it, he wouldn't have a clue what to do with it!!
Think about it logically. Suppose you've learned how to create a scale and you now know that a C Major scale consists of C D E F G A B. Well great! But, where are these notes on my instrument? What does this scale sound like?
The other side of this coin is to learn shapes, patterns or boxes that create the sound of these scales and chords. So, now you know a fingering, but if someone was to say, "Play a Bbm7 chord" or "Just solo in F#", would you know what to do if you didn't know where to find Bb or F#?? Probably not!
So we need to learn the notes on the fretboard. Agreed? Good! But how? Well, it's really a lot easier than it might seem at first.
HOW THE GUITAR IS SET UP
The first thing to know is the name of each string. Low to high they are: E A D G B E. So we now know six notes on the fretboard! WOOOO!!! Okay. Let's look at how the guitar is laid out. Most standard guitars have fret markers. These are points of reference that you should become familiar with in order to know where you are on the neck. There are markers at the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th frets followed by a slightly different marker at the 12th. (This is assuming you have a normally marked guitar.) The reason for the different marker at the 12th fret is that this is where the Octave occurs on each string, meaning that the note found at this fret is the same as the open string, just the next highest version of it. From here, the markers start over. So, the 3rd and 15th fret are the same note, just an octave apart.
So, if the 12th fret is the same as the open string, then we know that the notes at the 12th fret, low to high are E A D G B E. We know that everything starts over right here so if we learn the first 12 frets, we can easily apply that to the upper octave of the fretboard.
Let's find a few more notes! One of the first things most people learn when they buy a guitar is how to tune it. That means that we can find E A D G B E somewhere on the guitar besides the open string, right? Well, there you go! You just learned the notes at another part of the neck!!
WHOLE STEPS AND HALF STEPS
Okay, now you have to start to put in a little work and a very small amount of music theory, BUT DON'T WORRY, it's really quite simple and logical. We know that there are seven letter names for notes (A B C D E F G). From the open string to the 12th fret is an octave, right? That gives us 12 notes! So there are five notes somewhere between the seven natural notes?? Yup! Okay, relax, it's not that hard!
The frets on a guitar are set up so that they are a half step (or semi-tone) apart. Most natural notes are a whole step apart, meaning that from one letter name to the next would be two frets, or a whole step. BUT THAT GIVES US 14 NOTES!!! This is where you have to start to remember stuff!! All of the natural notes are separated from the next by a whole step with two exceptions: B to C and E to F. We've taken out two half steps leaving us with 12 notes!! (The notes between the natural notes are your sharps and flats. A sharp (#) raises a note a half step. So, G# is up one fret from G. A Flat (b) lowers a note a half step. So, Bb is down a half step from B.) For now, we are just dealing with natural notes though.
So, now that we know where the half steps and whole steps are, we can start to apply that knowledge based on what we already know. We know the open strings, right? Find the next natural note on each string. Low to high - E-F, A-B, D-E, G-A, B-C and E-F. If you can remember that all natural notes are a whole step apart with the exception of E-F and B-C, this should be pretty easy for you. E-F is one fret (half step). A-B is two frets (whole step), etc.
OCTAVES
Okay, let's stop here for a minute. Did you notice that we found a few notes that we found earlier? Notice that one whole step (or two frets) up from D is the note E. We have an E on the low E and high E strings, right? Familiarize yourself with where these notes fall relative to each other. Internalize the idea that the octave up from the low E string is up two strings and up two frets. It should fall very naturally under your fingers. The same thing happens on the A and G strings.
It does NOT happen the same way from the D to B strings or G to E strings. The octave up for these two string pairings are up two strings again, but this time up THREE frets. It's two little shapes, you can remember this, I promise!!
STAY WITH ME!!
Okay, so far this might seem like a lot of information, but if you go through it slowly and deliberately you should start to get it a little. I know, it's a little boring, but well worth learning!!
So, we've learned the open strings, the 12th fret, the notes for tuning, the next natural note on each string and how to find octaves. We also know where our whole steps and half steps happen. At this point, you should be able to figure out the notes anywhere on the neck. Work slowly. I can't really do this part for you, but I'll try to get you headed in the right direction.
I've TABed out a few octaves here. DO NOT learn this as a set of fingerings though!! This is meant to be an example of how to find the notes on your own using the information above. It won't help you if you don't put a letter name to each fret with your finger on it!!
YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR!!
With the above information and some patience, you'll be able to find any note, anywhere, at any time! And that's the idea! Using octaves you should be able to start to learn two strings at a time. The main thing to remember is where your half steps are, between E-F and B-C. Beyond that, it's really not too difficult but it is up to you to put in the time.
NEVER-ENDING SCALES
If you've made it this far, I have a fun and challenging way to start to really get this stuff under your fingers a little better. This was taught to me years ago and I think it was the best thing for me to really grasp finding notes on the fretboard! It's called a Never-Ending Scale.Once you start to know the notes on the fretboard a bit, this can add an element of musicality and challenge. The idea is this: Pick a scale. We'll start with C major, because we are only using natural notes, (no sharps or flats). Find C on the low E string. Play it. Next, find the next note in the scale (D in this case) and play it on the next string. Continue up and down the strings until you play the original C that you started with. If you get through it then you have played every note from the C major scale on every string.
Once you can do this within the first 12 frets, start to switch between the lower 12 and the upper 12 frets. When you come across a note that falls on the open string, you can play it open, at the 12th fret, 24th fret (if your guitar has 24 frets), 12th fret harmonic or 5th fret harmonic, just to add a little more of a challenge.
From here, use the circle of fifths and try some new scales. The next scale to try would be G major which has one sharp, F#. Then move on to D major (F# and C#). Etc. I would recommend going through this stuff for a brief period during your practice routine and always use a metronome. Start slowly as this is more challenging than it may appear. Only move your speed up when you have played through perfectly!
GOOD LUCK!!!
I hope you made it through this because I'm positive that it can help you become a better player! There may be other more efficient ways to go about it, but this is how I learned. I don't claim that this is the only, or even the best way to do it (I haven't personally used another method), but I know it is effective. I look forward to hearing about your progress and will gladly answer any questions left in the comments!
Rock Hard!!
-Schnozz
