How To Read A Guitar Fretboard
The fretboard of a guitar can look like a big mystery sometimes
. It's not as logically laid out as a piano keyboard which can be learned very quickly. But there's a couple simple little tricks that will have you able to find any note you need on the guitar very quickly and easily.
Let's expose the big mystery, shall we?
As with anything, having a system is much easier than memorizing. We'll attack the fretboard that way. The first memorization point is the names of the two lowest open strings. The sixth string is E, and the fifth is A. It's good to memorize the others as well, but we only need the 5th and 6th for our purposes here.
The next point of memorization is the combination of half steps and whole steps that make up a major scale. On your guitar, a half step is a one fret movement. A whole step is a two fret movement. Taking a C Major scale - C D E F G A B C - everything is a whole step except for E to F and B to C, which are half steps. Simply memorize where the two half steps are and remember that everything else is a whole step.
Now, let's apply that formula to figure out the notes on the 6th string. Starting on E, move up a half step to F, whole step to G, etc. Take it all the way to the 12th fret where you'll again arrive at E. If you get to the 12th fret and you're not on E, or you hit it before the 12th fret, you made a mistake somewhere along the way. Use that 12th fret as an error check.
Next memorization point... The 5th fret of the 6th string is A. By having a memorization point at the fifth fret, you've cut the first octave in half with a landmark so you don't always have to start with the open note to figure out where you're going. And if you're familiar with tuning your guitar, you probably already know the 5th fret anyway.
To practice and test yourself, give yourself random notes and poke them out on that bottom string until you can do it fairly quickly.
Repeat the above steps on your 5th string (A) using the same combination of half steps and whole steps.
At this point you'll know the natural notes on the 5th and 6th strings. To add in sharps and flats is very easy. Sharping a note raises it a half step. Flatting it lowers it a half step. Do the same practice and testing technique with all 12 notes and poke them out on the 5th and 6th strings.
Now you know the bottom two strings, plus the 1st string since it's the same as the 6th.
Here's the big secret for the rest. Ready?
Pick a note on your 6th string. Now go up two strings and up two frets. That's the same note and octave higher. So G is on the 6th string, 3rd fret. The octave higher G is on the 4th string, 5th fret. Easy! The same pattern works from the 5th string to the 3rd string.
That leaves us with just the 2nd string to conquer. There's one extra step here. Start with a note on the 6th string. Go up two strings, up two frets to get to the 4th string. Now go up two strings and up THREE frets to the octave higher note on the 2nd string.
That's all there is to it! Practice in the same way, giving yourself random notes, covering all 12. Poke them out on each string. Start by working the patterns (string 6-4-2 then 5-3-1). Once you can do that, try doing the strings in order. That will give you practice shifting the patterns in your head for a real playing situation.
And that, my friend, is the big magical secret to reading a guitar fretboard. Get to it!
How To Read A Guitar Fretboard
By: Phil Johnson
5 Tips On How To Switch Chords On Guitar Intermediate Music - How To Transpose A Song How To Use The Dorian Mode On Guitar How To Use The Melodic Minor Scale On Guitar How To Use Tritone Substitution For Jazz Guitar How Your Guitar Heroes Learned To Play So Fast How To Play Eighth Notes On Guitar Making The Most Of Guitar Practice Time Get Better At Guitar By Avoiding Memorization Anchoring Your Right Hand On Guitar Stretching Exercises For Guitarists Tips For Mastering Tricky Chord Progressions On Guitar Tips For Memorizing Guitar Scales