Originally Posted by: dlwalke

Just curious if this is one of the things that develops over time without any intentional effort (does this ability sneak in through the back door while you are learning other things) or if fretboard awareness is something people work on.[/quote]

It depends on the individual. But in general the more you practice the more it becomes second nature.

Even experienced pro guitarists look at the neck for visual cues, especially when they are changing position. But it's more subtle, and here's the important point: they often sneak a quick peek ahead of time to see where they are going next. Once they see the next position to aim for, they are done looking, until it's time to look out for the next position shift.

Watch SRV closely in this video. Half the time he has his eyes closed. The other 45% of the time he's not looking at this hands. But that last 5% is him taking a quick peek further up the neck to see where he's going next. You can watch him telegraph it in real time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5H9P4F5Uk

Watch :10 looking down low, :50 looking up high, :54 looking back down low.

Joe Pass moves around quite a bit. And he was so good he doesn't really need to look. :) But you can still see even this guy sneaking peeks slightly ahead of the position shifts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyjQv52Nzno

I find myself doing the same thing all the time. I look ahead of time to see where to aim. Once I see where to shift next, I don't need to look. And once I've been playing for a couple of hours, I'm really warmed up & playing a very familiar Strat I don't need to look at all.

[quote=dlwalke]Should I do any exercises to become more proficient at this? Thanks.

You should practice. A lot. And then more. A lot more. :) Hope this helps!