Learn the Guitar Fretboard in 4 Easy Steps
Be My Master
An important step you need to take when learning guitar is to learn the guitar fretboard. There are only 12 notes, so things will repeat quite often. It might not seem like much fun at first, but if you can just learn the fretboard and get it out of the way you’ll be on to funner things in no time.
Note: you should have a grasp of the basics of guitar before you attempt to learn the guitar fretboard. You should know how to hold a guitar, how to hold a pick, and know some guitar chords first. If you these things (more or less), congrats!
If you can follow these steps, you will learn the guitar fretboard in no time. Keep in mind that patience is probably your best friend here. If you can just get in the habit of working on things just a little bit every day, you’ll improve over time.
Which is better – 10 hours of practice in one day, or doing a half an hour every day for 2 weeks? The answer is number 2, you’ll burn yourself out trying to do it all at once.
Step 1: Learn the Guitar String Names
You can start by learning and memorizing all of the guitar’s strings. In standard tuning, the guitar’s string are -
E String – Fattest, on Top
A String
D String
G String (hehe)
B String
E – Thinnest, on Bottom
Now, this is pretty basic and hopefully you know this already, but if not no worries. Just make sure you know the names of the guitar strings before going any further. That’s the foundation we’ll build on.
Step 2: Learn Where the Sharps and Flats Are
The notes B and C are connected, so are E and F. If you can remember that, you’ll be able to find any note on the neck. What I mean when I say “connected” is that those notes are right next to each other on the neck, there’s no gap in between. All the other notes, A, D, and G, have a Sharp and a Flat on either side of them.
==> So, the notes look like this: (E-F) F#-G-G#-A-A#-(B-C)-C#-D-D#-repeat
Notice how the E&F hang out together, and so do the B&C? Keep that in mind.
Step 3: Find Repeating Notes (Octaves)
An Octave is a the same note name at two different pitches, one is lower and one is higher. For example, the open low E note (fattest string) is an octave lower than the D string, Second Fret. We be using the process of finding a note, and then going two strings down and two frets over.
Step 4: Repeat the Process All the Way Up the Neck
Learn every note on the E string. Again, this is just (E-F) F#-G-G#-A-A#-(B-C)-C#-D-D#-repeat. Then, from any note you’re on, move two frets over and two strings down, and you’re at the octave. Repeat this process on any note on the E string, and you’re learning all the notes on the D string.
Repeat this process on the A string. Learn all the notes on the A string, then find the Octaves.
Repeat this process again on the D string, except this time move three frets up from the original note and two strings down.
Finally, repeat this process on the G string. Find the note you want, then move two frets over and two strings down, and you’re at that same note an octave higher.
That’s it! If you can get comfortable with the ideas in this article, you’ll be able to learn the guitar fretboard very quickly.
I wish you the best of luck. If you’re looking for some seriously comprehensive video guitar lessons, I highly recommend you check out Guitar Tricks. They rock!
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[...] resources online Learning basic skills is important, and you should be able to play some chords and learn the guitar fretboard within your first few months of playing. So what are the best guitar lessons? some require that [...]
[...] resources online Learning basic skills is important, and you should be able to play some chords and learn the guitar fretboard within your first few months of playing. So what are the best guitar lessons? some require that [...]
[...] resources online Learning basic skills is important, and you should be able to play some chords and learn the guitar fretboard within your first few months of playing. So what are the best guitar lessons? some of them come at [...]