Learning the Fretboard

Learning the fretboard is often a challenge untaken by guitarist in a mostly TAB driven world; and with the guitar being an instrument that tends to thinks of chords and scales as numbers, shapes and patterns rather than notes of melody and harmony it's no surprise that the fretboard remains a mystery to many modern players.

Here's list of good reasons to start memorizing the guitar fretboard.

- It connects you (in language) to other musician such as piano players, string and horn players,   educated bassist and drummers, composers and producers.

- It gives you another musical perspective in thinking about and creating with chords and scales.

- It means you won't be the only illiterate musician in the room. (a joke!  - I think))

- it will help you find those cool target tones other guitarist find in their solos and riffs.

- it helps breaks the barrier between hearing and seeing and of the abstract and reality: bridging the gap between the exterior package and the interior soul of music.

- it's a tool that will expand your overall knowledge on the guitar.

- it's recommended by top guitarist all around the world to get the most out of guitar playing.

If all you want out of the guitar is strumming a few of your favourite songs and enjoyment of the guitar at the ground floor level, you can exempt yourself from this sort of project, but if you want the most out of your guitar playing adventure, learning the fretboard should be on your list of things to work on over the next little while.

My advice is to start with one string and memorize the notes forwards and backwards (up and down) the neck of the guitar. Once you have achieved that, begin to master the rest of the guitar and try to connect the tab your playing with the name of the notes and the dissect the chords your playing into group of notes that make up the harmony of the songs your playing.

HAPPY PLAYING!