A sure way to tell a beginner from a more seasoned guitarist is by where they play their notes on the fretboard. Someone who is new to the guitar or who hasn't explored their instrument fully will concentrate on the lower end of the instrument, typically playing within the first four frets. A guitarist with a firm grasp of the neck, however, will make use of its entire length.
One of the keys to fretboard mastery is the ability to play in position. Playing in position allows you to fret any group of notes in different places on the neck, on different strings and in different keys, all with the same fingering pattern. When you play in position, your fretting hand remains in a fixed location on the neck with each finger assigned to a specific fret. Every note is fretted. There are no open strings.
Playing in position helps to build strength and dexterity in the fretting hand and allows you to better express your musical ideas on the guitar. The ability to play shapes up and down the neck makes your playing more economical by eliminating any unnecessary jumping about the fretboard. The result is soloing that is more fluid and comfortable to play.
As you know, the fingers of your fretting hand are numbered as follows:
1 = Index
2 = Middle
3 = Ring
4 = Pinkie
For those of you who don't use your pinkie and instead rely on your first three fingers to hit all your notes, now would be a good time to beef up the little finger with some exercises and put it to work. By limiting your fretting hand fingers to three, you likewise limit your reach on the fretboard. This only makes playing harder as you have to stretch your hand even further to reach notes, which also puts the fretting hand at risk for injury. And if you're not stretching too far to reach the notes, then you're moving your hand back and forth along the neck more than you need to, which makes for poor technique and a choppy sound, not to mention one tired hand. It's so much easier to just use your pinkie! You can't play in position without it.
Okay. Now think back to when you first picked up the guitar. You learned to play all the natural notes found on all six strings in frets one through five, including the open notes, which are played on open strings and require no fingering. This is known as playing in open position.
The name of each position is determined by the fret location of the index finger. As you begin to move up the fretboard while playing in other positions, you will be playing the same notes in different frets and on different strings . In first position, for instance, your first finger assumes the role of the nut and is assigned to playing notes in the first fret. Your second finger plays notes in the second fret, your third finger plays notes in the third fret, and your fourth finger plays notes in the fourth fret. All open strings are fretted.
When you play in second position, you shift your fretting hand up one fret so that your first finger plays notes in the second fret, your second finger plays notes in the third fret, your third finger plays notes in the fourth fret, and your fourth finger plays notes in the fifth fret.
If you are playing in seventh position, your first finger plays notes in the seventh fret, your second finger plays notes in the eighth fret, your third finger plays notes in the ninth fret, and your fourth finger plays notes in the tenth fret. You get the picture.
Identifying guitar positions with the first finger only applies to single notes, not chords. When you form a chord you have to play several notes at a time. That means your fingers will often have to move to a different fret in order to play the chord. Also, playing in position is not to be confused with playing the position of a scale, which is more about the notes you play than the frets you play them in.
Now that you know what playing in position is (and isn't), let's try an exercise to help put the concept into practice. Using a major scale, which has that familiar do-re-me-fa-sol-la-ti-do sound, start by playing a one-octave C scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) in open position:
C = fifth string, third fret, third finger.
D = open fourth string
E = fourth string, second fret, second finger
F = fourth string, third fret, third finger
G = open third string
A = third string, second fret, second finger
B = open second string
C = second string, first fret, first finger
Good? Okay. Let's try this same C major scale in second position:
C = fifth string, third fret, second finger
D = fifth string, fifth fret, fourth finger
E = fourth string, second fret, first finger
F = fourth string, third fret, second finger
G = fourth string, fifth fret, pinkie
A = third string, second fret, first finger
B = third string, fourth fret, third finger
C = third string, fifth fret, pinkie
Take things up the neck a bit and play the same C scale in seventh position:
C = sixth string, eighth fret, second finger
D = sixth string, tenth fret, pinkie
E = fifth string, seventh fret, first finger
F = fifth string, eighth fret, second finger
G = fifth string, tenth fret, pinkie
A = fourth string, seventh fret, first finger
B = fourth string, ninth fret, third finger
C = fourth string, tenth fret, pinkie
Now, turn this one-octave C major scale in seventh position into a two-octave C scale in seventh position:
C = sixth string, eighth fret, second finger
D = sixth string, tenth fret, pinkie
E = fifth string, seventh fret, first finger
F = fifth string, eighth fret, second finger
G = fifth string, tenth fret, pinkie
A = fourth string, seventh fret, first finger
B = fourth string, ninth fret, third finger
C = fourth string, tenth fret, pinkie
D = third string, seventh fret, first finger
E = third string, ninth fret, third finger
F = third string, tenth fret, pinkie
G = second string, eighth fret, second finger
A = second string, tenth fret, pinkie
B = first string, seventh fret, first finger
C = first string, eighth fret, second finger
Another exercise you might try is to take a two-octave C major scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) and number the fifteen notes as 1 through 15. Next, create your own exercises by making up a few simple combinations that you can practice playing, like 1-2-3-1, 2-3-4-2, 3-4-5-3 and so on up to 13-14-15-13. Play these combinations in different positions, and then make up new combinations.
To see playing in position in action, check out John Petrucci's "Glasgow Kiss" . First try listening to the song's main riff without watching the video. You might imagine Petrucci's fretting hand flying up and down the fretboard, but when you watch the video, notice how his hand remains in the exact same position! That's the beauty of learning to play in position.
