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Use This Simple Guitar Secret And You’ll Instantly Rule The Neck

By Mike Hayes | June 30, 2010

Just about every guitar player understands the importance of
learning the notes on the fretboard, once you know the names of
the notes and their location on the neck the whole fingerboard is
unlocked and you are free to express yourself on the guitar.

O.K. we all know how important it is but how many of us know how
to do it? I heard the guy’s that know how to do this had their
last meeting in a telephone box (just kidding); but let’s just
say there isn’t too many who have this aspect of their guitar
playing under control.

If you have already tried to learn the notes on the fretboard you
will know how frustrating it is, just when you think you have
learned the notes on the first string and you begin to study the
notes on the second string all of a sudden your mind goes blank
and without warning the first string notes disappear out of your
head and soon it will seem as if you’ve forgotten all the notes
on both strings.

The trick is to learn the strings in a specific order and relate
what you have already learned to the new material that you are
studying. This type of connected learning will make it easy to
recall the information at high speed.

Step 1: learn the notes on the first string

First string notes (thin string)

Note name is on the left; numbers indicate fret position.

E = open

F = 1

F#/Gb = 2

G = 3

G#/Ab = 4

A = 5

A#/Bb = 6

B = 7

C = 8

C#/Db = 9

D = 10

D#/Eb = 11

E = 12

Step two: learn the notes on string four

That’s right I said string four, the reason why guitar players
have so much trouble recalling the positioning of notes on the
fretboard is that when you try to learn the strings in a
consecutive order there isn’t any easy way to link the
information together consequently almost everyone has trouble
remembering and recalling the names and location on the notes.

Important: you can instantly learn and remember the notes on the
fourth string if you apply one simple rule…

=> skip one fret <=

Here’s how that works.

Let’s say you have learned that the first string, first fret is
the note “F”; now go over to the fourth string and remembering to
skip one fret, you should now be on the fourth string, third fret
which is also the note “F” (one octave lower than the first
string F).

See how easy that is? All the notes on string four are in exactly
the same note sequence as the notes on string one only offset by
one fret!

I’ll give you another example to work on: first string, third
fret is the note “G” moving over to the fourth string and
skipping one fret we land on the fourth string; fifth fret which
is also the note “G” one octave lower in sound than the “G” on
the first string.

If you learn the notes an the first string and apply our “skip
one fret” rule you will be able to link the first and fourth
strings together in your mind and have a visual shape to help to
recall the names of the notes.

Topics: Guitar Fretboard, Guitar Tips | No Comments »

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