Originally Posted by: dfaris
Memorizing all the notes on the neck and the scales in them is extremely painful for an old guy like me.
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Memorizing the note names is unavoidable. Keep at it and gradually you will find it becomes automated.

Also, about scales: at first, do not look at scales as "groups of notes". If you do this then you will wind up with "12 different major scales" and "12 different minor scales". Yikes!

Instead, grasp that every major scale has the same formula, the same set of intervals that result in a similar fretboard pattern for every single major scale (likewise for minor scales).

The difference in "groups of notes" is merely a consequence of starting the scale formula on a different note each time to start a different scale.

So, rather than be confused and overwhelmed by the fact that ...

C major is c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c
D major is d-e-f#-g-a-b-c#
E major is e-f#-g#-a-b-c#-d#

... and so on ...

Stop! And realize that every major scale only has one formula and shape. The different notes in each scale are only a result that you can learn after you get the idea of the scale down and you are more comfortable with the location of the notes on the fretboard.

Originally Posted by: dfaris
I was wondering tho, why did they call some notes sharp and some flat?

bB and bE is A# and D#, why did they mix it up like they did? Why not make everything in sharp or flat?

I covered the issue of accidentals (sharps and flats) extensively in this thread:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27368
[QUOTE=dfaris]
Would it be wrong for me to memorize the notes all in sharp or flat?

It is much easier and more efficient to memorize the location and organization of the natural letters A-G. Then later you can fill in the blanks with sharp or flat as necessary.

So once you grasp that A and B are always two frets apart, then you are ready to understand that the open fret between can be either A-sharp or B-flat depending upon the musical context.

In general it is best to avoid using the same letter in a scale sequence in order to achieve clarity. Therefore, the G major scale is:

G - A - B - C - D - E - F-sharp

Instead of:

G - A - B - C - D - E - G-flat

Notice that this amounts to the exact same notes. However, the first is better because it uses all the letters in a specific order and thereby avoids using the G twice in the pattern.

Make sense?