How to Memorize the Fretboard - My Top 6 Tips!

Hello friends,

Earlier this week my patrons at the Contributor and Premium levels received my Weekly Challenge to begin learning the names of the notes on the fretboard. Folks, this is the #1 thing you can do to quickly improve your guitar playing! Learning the names of the notes on the fretboard will allow you to understand wide range of concepts including the connections between scales and chord harmonies, how lead lines fit over progressions, and how to read musical notation. Let's take a look at my top 5 tips for learning the fretboard:

1) Memorize the Musical Alphabet - The strings on your guitar are tuned to a specific note in the musical alphabet, E, A, D, G, B, E - From there, each ascending fret produces the remaining notes in the musical alphabet until you reach the octave on the 12th fret, this is where the entire sequence starts over.

2) Memorize the Notes on E & A Strings - I recommend learning these strings first so that you can quickly recognize what key a scale is in, or the names of power chord, or barred shapes. 

3) Learn Your Octaves - Once you have learned your E and A strings, you can use them to quickly identify the notes on the D and G strings.

Example: The 5th fret of the E string produces the note A. If you look to the D string and move up one whole step to fret 7, you will find another A note. This trick can be applied all over the fretboard! 

Additionally, you can also use the A string to determine the notes on the B string. Example, the 3rd fret A string and 1st fret B string will both produce the note C. 

4) Memorize the First Three Frets, All Six Strings - This is a small but very important area to map out because it's where all your open position chords are performed. Take a look at the diagram provided in tip #1 and see if you can spot the notes in basic chords like Amaj or Emin.

5) Drill in 5 Fret Batches - The mind can only memorize so much at one time, this is why I suggest you choose five frets on a given string and play each note in a random order, giving yourself a moment to identify them. As this becomes easier, I suggest you attempt to identify a series of two or three notes. Apply this learning technique up the neck until each string is fully memorized. 

6) Apply Your Fretboard Study to All Areas of Practice - The fastest and best way to memorize the fretboard is to apply your knowledge and curiosity every time you learn something new on the guitar. This means that the next time you learn a scale or lead line, ask yourself what notes are in it, and recite them as you play. Even better, I suggest singing the notes as you move through each technique.