Fretboard Knowledge

How well do you know the fretboard?

June 25, 2009 Fretboard Knowledge | No comments yet

Chess masters can play chess in their mind without having chess board at sight, but how many guitar players have a clear picture of all the notes on the guitar fretboard? Too say the least many have no idea what notes are there on the fretboard even when they are looking at it.

Visualizing fretboard is a great exercise that can be done literally at any time and any place. It is not easy at first, so take your time. Start with a single string on just one fret (remember open positions!) and build your fretboard step by step going from fret to fret and from string to string. Practice visualizing scale patterns, chords, arpeggios, riffs, solos, anything you can think of.

When you feel comfortable with naming the notes, try to learn degrees of the scale (interval from the root) as well. That will come in handy for many things like building chords.

Learning Guitar Notes on the Fretboard: Satriani Exercise

June 22, 2009 Fretboard Knowledge | No comments yet

Here is a great exercise for testing how well you know the guitar notes on the fretboard. It comes from Joe Satriani (aka Satch)’s Guitar Secrets book, which is a treasure chest for any guitar player.  »

Guitar notes on the fretboard: full-Color Fretboard Diagram

June 19, 2009 Fretboard Knowledge | No comments yet

Knowing the notes on fretboard is essential for any guitar player and fretboard diagrams come in handy for this task. Here is a nice full-color fretboard diagram with all the notes you need to know.

full color guitar fretboard diagram
click the fretboard diagram for a full-size version

Here is a simplified diagram that does not look so dreadful. It shows only diatonic notes (the ones with no sharp and flat), the ones you should learn first!  »