Any exercises...

are there any good exercises to help you learn all the notes on the fretboard? I got all the notes on the 6th and 1st string memorized as those strings use the same notes and there in the exact same spot..but the notes in the middles strings...5,4,3,2....are the ones Im having more trouble with memorizing.
Any good exercises to learn the notes and be confident about knowing the notes?

Check this link out, its a game you can play that will help you memorize the fretboard:

http://www.fretboardmaster.com/fretboardgame.html

Originally Posted by: Slipin LizardCheck this link out, its a game you can play that will help you memorize the fretboard:

http://www.fretboardmaster.com/fretboardgame.html

Thats pretty cool. I'll be sharing that with my students!

Actually what helps is to know that there are only 12 notes anyway.

A / A# or Bb / B / C / C# or Db / D / D# or Eb / E / F / F# or Gb / G / G# or Ab

and then it start from the beginning again. This you have to know by heart.

Now you have the 6 strings

E
A
D
G
B
E

now you just fill in the form above and thats it. :cool:

HP

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'll start working on it!

Another thing you can do (might take a little longer but I think it will engrave it into your mind better) is to start by memorizing the "dotted" frets. Frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12 and the open string of course. Do this for just the top 2 strings for maybe a week. You know you can visually see the numbers of those dotted frets, so all you have to do now is memorize the letters instead. In a week, add another string. Another week, another string.

Once you have them all down you'll have a pretty good basic visual. Then it's just a matter of applying what hpcrazy suggested and fill in the missing frets. Since you'll have practically every other fret already memorized (dotted ones) you should be able to quickly thing what is the one to the left or right of it. Makes it easier than trying to just memorize from 1-12 on every string.

Make sure you don't rush it. When I say a week, it could even take longer. Don't fool yourself into thinking that it's easier than it is. Memorizing the fretboard takes time so just make sure you put the time into it.

Another helpful tip is the harmonics. Example the 3rd fret sixth string is the same note as the 4th string 5th fret.m good luck

Originally Posted by: KynManAnother helpful tip is the harmonics. Example the 3rd fret sixth string is the same note as the 4th string 5th fret.m good luck

I think you mean octaves

What really helped me was doing one string at a time and saying the note names to myself as I went up the fretboard one step at a time.
Another thing that helped was taking a diagram of the fretboard and writing the notes out on that so that I could see the fretboard. Doing this was an activity that pushed me to memorize the notes.
Visualizing is the next step where you can see the fretboard without actually playing the guitar and know what the notes are.
You can check out this article about some visual techniques.

http://www.shredaholic.com/fretboard-visualisation.html

Thanks,
Joe Pinnavaia
http://www.joepinnavaia.weebly.com

Nice article Joe! I will definitely try some of those visualization techniques!

Thanks Dan! Glad you got something out of it.

Originally Posted by: Joe PinnavaiaWhat really helped me was doing one string at a time and saying the note names to myself as I went up the fretboard one step at a time.


http://www.shredaholic.com/fretboard-visualisation.html

Thanks,
Joe Pinnavaia
http://www.joepinnavaia.weebly.com

I did something similar to that, but instead of doing it chromatically, i used major scales.

Great article too, Joe!

Originally Posted by: Grandslam15are there any good exercises to help you learn all the notes on the fretboard? I got all the notes on the 6th and 1st string memorized as those strings use the same notes and there in the exact same spot..but the notes in the middles strings...5,4,3,2....are the ones Im having more trouble with memorizing.
Any good exercises to learn the notes and be confident about knowing the notes?

You might want to connect the same notes on different strings. Example, if one plays a power chord and play the octave with the 4th finger like some do - the notes on the 1st and 4th fingers are the same...the higher note is just an octave higher than the root.

This is only one way though.

You can also start with just one or two notes, find these notes all over the fretboard them focus on memorising them. Then pick two more notes and do the same again.

I am going to tell you the fastest way to really do it. Memorize all of the natural notes first. Here is the method:

The fastest way to do it is to memorize the four note "core" of BCEF and the two notes above them, D and G, then memorize the two notes below them, A and D. Play in the key of C for about a month straight, and don't falter from it, stay in the key of C only until you can visualize it up and down the fretboard, then start on this task of BCEF, then the two notes above and below that.

Divide the fretboard into two-string playing areas, the EA area, the DG area, and the BE area, and then connect all of those four-note per string patterns together (all of the ABCD-DEFG patterns). Once you have done that, then memorize the remaining pattern of EFG-ABC, which is an offset pattern. Then practice connecting every one of these patterns while naming the notes out loud every day for 10 minutes every day for a week, and go back to it at least once a week every week after until you know every one.

Once you know all of the natural notes you will know all of the enharmonic names for all of the notes in between with little more than a second's thought.

These videos have been tremendous in helping me learn the individual notes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuzB2_O8GGM

Originally Posted by: treederThese videos have been tremendous in helping me learn the individual notes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuzB2_O8GGM

Nice.....!

Originally Posted by: Slipin LizardCheck this link out, its a game you can play that will help you memorize the fretboard:

http://www.fretboardmaster.com/fretboardgame.html

This is very cool ,Thanks

Just start off with the notes in the C Major scale, learn the modes and learn to improvise over a back track with those modes...this way you will internalize the modes faster and also apply them in a musical setting which is great!