baffled by fretboard

Hi i,m about to embark on learning to play the guitar and i can read music,know scales,circle of 5ths/4ths etc.So i thought apart from the practice i should pick up the guitar theory fairly easy,now remember this really is day one and my guitar hasn,t even arrived from ebay yet and i,m not familiar with callouses in any way shape or form in playing a piano and hadn,t reckoned on that when i got keen on this guitar learning course and that,s the first thing everyone is talking about and the no pain no gain macho stance anyhow here the real nitty gritty that baffles me a complete guitar novice on looking at the guitar fretboard i don,t see the usual CDEFGAB what happened to C ok i know there are only 6 stings so somethings gotta give and it looks like it,s C but how then do i relate the key of C to the fretboard as in my head i,m used to having the Key of C and it,s concrete presence.So will some one please reveal to me how do i get a C.......so i can move on and unravel this fretboard code.

Yes there is no c or f string but you can fret c notes in many places on the fretboard. The lessons for beginners explains this very well. I'm pretty new to playing myself so I don't completely understand this myself. I get it but I don't have a keyboard to refer too. It would make it easy if you have one handy.As far as the pain it is brief if you practice a lot, but I have to admit it does get painful at first now I have to cut the calluses so I can play and stuff falls off my fingers lol. Do the beginners course and you'll be playing songs and stuff in no time.

Welcome and have fun

I to Am Baffled by a fretboard that I got In Cali. People Where I Live Don't Like The Model. I suffer From Blisters on my fingers!

run-on sentences are fun

Thx guys and i,m still baffled no C and F,just shows how much i know about the guitar in that i hadn,t got past noticing there was no C to even notice there is no F but i will set aside a period each day to check out this site and see how i get on as a beginner.My main reason to learn the guitar is i want to get my grandson interested in music and guitar seems more appealing to the young un than keyboard,either way there,s a lot of time and effort involved to make any steady quick progress.Any advice from fellow beginners on which way to start learning guitar from scratch at this site will be welcome as it is obviously a very large site.Do i just take up the free beginner lessons until they run out and then fully enrol on site to move on from there with learning.I haven,t even checked out the free beginners tutorial lessons yet but do you reckon they will fill me in here as to how i,m baffled now that there are no C and F on a fret board /as to a keyboard which i,m more familiar with and how one gets around that to play C and F.

I would do the full access at 15 bucks a month, it is a lot cheaper than 40 bucks an hour for lessons. You could do the beginner stuff in a month and cancel if money is an issue. You will get hours of lessons for 15 bucks. The free beginner stuff isn't much help believe me I have searched the net and there isn't much stuff for free that will get you started. I too am familiar with a keyboard, and the fact there is no c or f string was a bit strange,but there is c and f "notes" in many places on a fret board it is an easy transition from a keyboard with the proper explications. If you can play a piano you can play a guitar..

run-on sentences are fun

Yes I prefer them myself

The Key of "C" is found on the following places on your guitar:

high e---8---20------
B---1---13------
G---5---17------
D---10--22------
A---3---15------
E---8---20------

I hope this answers your question.

I'm guessing that you're looking for the middle C, being a keyboard player. If memory serves the middle C is in the 3rd fret on the 5th string. Then just use your scale patterns to figure out the rest.

W W H W W W H is the major scale pattern

Whole step
Half step

The chords are made up of triads 1,3,5

You already know the musical alphabet, 5th string for instance is A is the open string, A# is the 1st fret, B is the 2nd, C is the 3rd, then C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, the next A should put you in the 12th fret.

By knowing the name of the strings, you can use this to figure out the notes on the other strings as well. I hope this helps, and good luck to you.

JD

Originally Posted by: sixpickerI'm guessing that you're looking for the middle C, being a keyboard player. If memory serves the middle C is in the 3rd fret on the 5th string. Then just use your scale patterns to figure out the rest.

W W H W W W H is the major scale pattern

Whole step
Half step

The chords are made up of triads 1,3,5

You already know the musical alphabet, 5th string for instance is A is the open string, A# is the 1st fret, B is the 2nd, C is the 3rd, then C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, the next A should put you in the 12th fret.

By knowing the name of the strings, you can use this to figure out the notes on the other strings as well. I hope this helps, and good luck to you.

JD

yes after working out the the string numbers and the application of frets to intervals i get it now.It,s another dimension using strings instead of keys but exactly the same in that the note & scale intervals are the same and one just works ones way along a string using fret intervals exactly spaced like note keys on a keyboard.No mention of enharmonics in the tutorials though ie an interval being either sharp/flat in relation to a relative key.

Location of musical alphabet notes is covered in the beginner course:
http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=1

Originally Posted by: sunfly...No mention of enharmonics in the tutorials though ie an interval being either sharp/flat in relation to a relative key.[/QUOTE]
This lesson (again in the beginner course) explains enharmonics in terms of natural notes versus accidental notes:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=11135&c_id=1&ch_id=5

We intentionally avoided the term enharmonic in that series of lessons, though. We did that to avoid using "big scary musical theory terms" in lessons for absolute beginners. :) Also, because it was just as accurate to use the term accidental and especially since we could contrast that term with natural.
[QUOTE=sunfly]...Now i need to relate what i,ve learned to the scale chord inversions using other strings.

Tutorials on how the physical layout of the guitar is unique since you can play exactly the same pitch in more than one physical location:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=453
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=370

Overall fretboard layout:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=419
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=462

Chord inversions and layout:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=383
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=148

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes for you!

Originally Posted by: CSchlegelLocation of musical alphabet notes is covered in the beginner course:
http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=1

This lesson (again in the beginner course) explains enharmonics in terms of natural notes versus accidental notes:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=11135&c_id=1&ch_id=5

We intentionally avoided the term enharmonic in that series of lessons, though. We did that to avoid using "big scary musical theory terms" in lessons for absolute beginners. :) Also, because it was just as accurate to use the term accidental and especially since we could contrast that term with natural.

Tutorials on how the physical layout of the guitar is unique since you can play exactly the same pitch in more than one physical location:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=453
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=370

Overall fretboard layout:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=419
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=462

Chord inversions and layout:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=383
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=148

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes for you!

Thx guys it,s only been a few days and a few hours but i have gained a thorough insight into the fretboard and how the notes progess along each string starting with the open string note and along the fretboard,thankfully i already have musical knowledge but i can see how beginners can become confused with a chord ie a three note chord or triad in inversion but as long as the three notes of the chord are played the chord is ok and a three note chord obviously has two alternative inversions C major chord can be CEG with it,s root note at 1st position, and then either EGC, or GCE either way there,s barely a difference in the sound in fact with most chords you could leave out the 5th with little affect to the sound enough said but it helps to make for convenient finger positions with this flexibility.Of course the C major or any other major chord will always have the root note,the 3rd and the 5th in its original theoretical 1st order as we have to know what is the original 1st 3rd and 5th of any chord especially as the 3rd gives the chord it,s major or minor quality ie a flat 3rd would make it a minor C chord.

I recommend the Guitar Fretboard Workbook by Barrett Tagliarino. The first five lessons in that book will teach you how to find any note on the fretboard. It's a great book for beginners.

The main differences between guitar and keyboard:

The instrument obviously is not color coded. Everything is in half steps. When playing guitar you don't have to be focused on scale formulas, you use visual movable scale shapes, which makes the thought process easier. It's pretty amazing learning a single minor pentatonic scale and being able to play most rock tunes ;). Enjoy. Don't worry too much about calluses, those things develop quickly.

Thx guys,I find i think about music theory a lot and it helps to remember things as one runs through them in one,s mind.A thought came to me today and i checked it out and it has enabled me to find any note on the fretboard quite easily and once i,ve spent a while running this through my mind i,ll be flying round the note on the fretboard,chords of course is another matter but for now i,m concentrating on the individual notes of the fretboard.I was advised to learn each fret individually and that wasn,t really getting me any where fast.So any how i thought well i,ll learn the E string {top string first} having music theory knowledge i soon worked that out fairly easily.Then i thought right all i have to do is learn each string but then it dawned on me that using the knowledge of knowing the two E strings then there,s only four to learn but even better was the thought that each note on each fret from the top down thick E to thin E .....was a perfect 4th which meant that if you know the circle of 5ths clockwise and go counter clockwise you have a circle of 4ths so you just fly through the circle and it sure helps me learn but there is an anomally that the string B or one nearest to the thin E string you use the same system but reduce it by a half step ie F# to an F in all working out of that strings notes.Hopefully i will find chords as easy too but it just goes to show you can learn so much just using the head to work things out and run through them in your mind to learn music theory and its application which in this instance is to the EADGBE stringed guitar.Many courses i,ve seen offering wonderful ways to learn the fretboard but i can,t think of any better than this way.But of course one has to know the circle of 5ths reverse its order in ones mind and run through from the top of each fret note,for instance
EADGBE BUT REMEMBER but remember BOTTOM THINNEST E string is not counted on after B string as it,s just a repeat of the top string E in note terms....... and using the the system remembering to reduce the B string notes on each fret a half step means each note tallys correctly
a half step down.So as you can see with the open note strings reading on the circle of 4th EADG THEN C BUT GO DOWN HALF STEP gives once again the correct note of B. I hope that helps other beginners on the guitar gain a little insight if they know the circle of 5ths in music theory and reverse its order to get the circle of 4ths.

You have got to get down to basics. I recommend fretboard roadmap books
Hal Leonard is the publisher. Anyways Learn all the notes on the E string
e f f#g...in the sharp format at first (no flats) this will be natural because you
are moving up the fret one fret at a time or 1/2 step at a time. Once you know this you can identify all the notes on the guitar. For instance a the 5 string starts as a then a# then b then c then c# then d ect. It is like this on
every string. Take the time to write it down or have a friend quiz you. Any kind of way to help you remember where the notes are. On the E string your
notes using mostly dots are e g a b c# and e. Remember for every rule there is at least one exception spanish guitars sometimes have dots on different frets. For all practical purposes e and b have no sharps (#s).
So another example (sorry to drag this out) Lets use g the 3rd string g
g# a a# b then c remember between b and c no sharps then c# then
d then d# then e now watch out here e has no sharp after e comes an f
then f# then g then g# then a then a# ect. I hope this cleared this up for you.

I've got a site coming soon, and our first app is a fretboard trainer for learning the notes on the guitar fretboard. It will help you learn and recognize where the notes lay on the fretboard.

We need some lessons, explaining it. This should get you started though.

For now you can find it at Here

We will update that link when the site goes live.