Fretboard Question

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Permalink Reply by John Gundrum on April 27, 2009 at 9:18am

John,

It's great to know all the notes on the fretboard. Congrats! Scales are the basis of all music so you will want to start learning them. And at the same time start working on music theory. It'll all start to tie together.

I'm guessing you have learned some basic chords as well. The theory will help with forming chords beyond the basics.

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Permalink Reply by John Rauch on April 27, 2009 at 6:56pm

Thanks Anthony, I know lots of chords, and my scales, its the theory I'll need to work on.

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Permalink Reply by Jay on April 28, 2009 at 3:18pm

The advice depends a bit on where you are in your development as a player and musician. As far as a good introduction to theory, I'm a great fan of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory by M. Miller. Despite the title, this is a serious introduction to music theory that is well written and very informative, imo. He wrote a serie of other similar titles on Composition, Improvisation and Songwriting. Very good stuff.

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Permalink Reply by John Rauch on April 28, 2009 at 7:14pm

Thanks Jay, I'll check it out. I play rythem and know about fourty to fifty songs, most time I need my music book for the words. I play 60's & 70's music , Eagles, Buffett, Alman Brothers, Animals, Skynard just name a few. I jam with a few other guys about once a week and starting to get into my music. It's like a portal into the unknown, the more I learn about it the more I want to learn. I've been playing for ten plus years, but am just now wanting to go forward. I have been told that I'm pretty good but I only consider myself an advanced intermeiate. Anyway I'll ckeck the book out, thanks. John

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Permalink Reply by Susan Palmer of Lead Cat Press on April 28, 2009 at 7:48pm

That's great that you know the notes! Wow, what a project.

Do you know your C-A-G-E-D Major 7, Dominant 7 and minor 7chords too? I usually have my students start there. It also helps to reinforce the note names - I believe you that you have them memorized, but it can throw you a bit when you start working with them on all the strings in the different patterns.

I suggest you learn your major scales first, then memorize your triads so you can use them in your solos. But, I suppose I should ask what your goals are first. :)

Susan Palmer
Guitar Instructor at Seattle University
Author of "The Guitar Lesson Companion"
www.leadcatpress.com

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Permalink Reply by John Rauch on April 29, 2009 at 8:55am

Thank you Susan, I've put your site on my favorites, and I do know some of them and will learn , I guess my real goals are to know my chords and be able to work up and down the fretboard and throw in some solos as I,m playing. Right now it seems that I only play stright rythem with no fancy stuff in between and its getting BORING!!! I want to move my fingers and add that little extea to a chord. Thanks John.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Williams on April 30, 2009 at 11:20pm

It's great that you've learned the fretboard quickly. congrats ..
I'm always stressing the importance of knowing basic music theory.
BUT .. i also subscribe to a "yin yang" method ..
In this Yin Yang method .. knowing all the notes is importand .. and .. NOT knowing all the notes is also important.
By that i mean, both have equal importance ..
It's important to have good instincts and a good working knowledge of the "rules".
I'll offer the following example :
At one point in my playing, i was analyzing every single thing i did as i played it ..
I found this was somewhat distracting and i was loosing my ability to play by instinct and use my ear more than my brain ..
So, to counteract this .. i started playing the piano .. so that i would be somewhat lost and let my ear lead me.
BUT ... i soon learned that it was pretty easy to analyze the piano just as i was analyzing my guitar compositions.
So .. this is what i did .. i started to play the piano in a key that used all the black notes ..
This kept me pretty lost and i was forced to use my ear as my main guide ..

As it pertains to your desire to play leads in between chords .. here are the 2 most valuable things you can know ..
Learn the scale "patterns" .. both major and minor ..
once you know the patterns .. you don't need to know the actual notes ..
Once you've mastered the 2 scale patterns in 3 positions .. learn the arpeggio patterns ..
This way .. when you play .. you only need to know .. what key your in .. what the root note of the chord your playing over is .. and the arpeggio patterns for that chord ..
Any time you jump from playing a chord to playing a lead .. go straight for the Root .. or the 4th or 5th tone of the scale in that "mode"
The reason i say go for the root 4th or 5th is .. because they are ALWAYS the same pattern ..
It's the main tenant of playing the "pentatonic" scale ..
Regardless of whether your in major or minor or what mode your in .. the roots 4ths and 5ths are always in the same place.
The difference of every other scale lies in the 3rd , 6th and 7th.
These are your color notes .. and any note that is a half step is also a color note ..

In closing .. its great to know the mechanics of music .. use that to analyze your idea's BUT .. use your ear as much as you use musical mechanics .. use your eye's to recognize and utilize patterns.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Jeff

Jeff Williams / Acoustic Guitar Tapping
www.jeffwilliams-usa.com

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Permalink Reply by Richard Searle on May 5, 2009 at 6:49am

Hi, can you post a link to the fretboard trainer?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by John Rauch on May 5, 2009 at 9:24am

Richardt here is the web site that you asked for. Go to the second site for the free down load. I practiced in the free down load first before I ordered the course and after that course you'll see other courses to acompany this one. Good luck. Here's the web sight (AbsoluteFretboard.com) Once on the site pick the first on the 3.x free down load.
Richard Searle said:

Hi, can you post a link to the fretboard trainer?

Thanks!

x

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Permalink Reply by Michael LaRue on July 23, 2009 at 10:37pm

I'm on a MacBook. Too bad I can't download this program. Anyone know a fretboard program for Macs?

Thanks,
Michael

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Permalink Reply by Richard Searle on May 6, 2009 at 11:30pm

Thanks for that John. I've downloaded the trial version and looks like a well-thought-out tool.

I see on the "Other stuff" page they promote Guitar Scales Method and ByEar software. Has anyone used these, and how did you get on?

Cheers,
Richard

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Permalink Reply by John Rauch on May 7, 2009 at 12:34am

Richard, looks to me that they do have some good programs, my next one will be the scales, good luck and I hope it helps you as well as it did me.
Semper-Fi
John R.

Richard Searle said:

Thanks for that John. I've downloaded the trial version and looks like a well-thought-out tool.

I see on the "Other stuff" page they promote Guitar Scales Method and ByEar software. Has anyone used these, and how did you get on?

Cheers,
Richard

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