Memorize Your Guitar Fret Board & Basic Music Theory

Learning the fretboard is like the most important thing an advance guitarist should do , It makes you understand the bigger side of the music theory over your entire fretboard. And knowing all the notes on the fingerboard will help you to open a whole new world.


When learning the fretboard I must tell you that its not for the total beginners . This is for the one's who have learned almost every barre chord and know where to play them or you must know atleast two or three barre chords to start with.


For those of who, who does'nt have any idea about barre chords i'll soon be writing an article for that and will also give reference here.


So let's start with the most basic thing .....

Basic Music Theory

As Im writing this article for most of the indian viewers i would probably rely on the indian style teaching this thing i.e. by giving the seven music notes.


In music we have 7 natural notes : Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa
If we see this in english the 7 notes are : A B C D E F G A


Within these natural notes there are sharp notes:
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G
OR flat notes :
A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G


Yeah , I know its going above your head . So let me take simple definitions to show whats sharp and flat.


When you raise a natural note , for example: A by half step(1 fret) it becomes a sharp note: A#


When you lower a natural note, for example B by a half step (1 fret) it becomes a flat note: Bb


This applies to all of the natural notes except for B & C and E & F.
There are no sharps or flats between B & C and E & F.


In other words if you raise a E by a half step it becomes F (and not E#). If you lower a F by a half step it becomes a E (and not Fb). The same applies to B & C.


Example 1: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A


Example 2: A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A


As you can see A# and Bb are the same notes
as well as:
C# and Db,
D# and Eb,
F# and Gb,
G# and Ab.


So the natural notes follow the alphabet from A to G.
After that it starts all over again: A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C… etc.
Natural, sharp and flat notes: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C D D# E F F# G G# A A#… etc.

Now let’s take a look at the notes on the fingerboard:

    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11   12   13   
e:|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|
B:|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|
G:|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|
D:|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|
A:|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|
E:|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|

Memorizing Your Fret Board :

After the long Music Theory the main thing comes to memorize your fretboard . Here are a few execise and tips to memorize your fretboard quickly :

Step 1 : Start by memorizing only the natural notes on every string :

like on low E string :

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|-F-|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---| low E-string

then on the A-string :

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G-|---| A-string
E:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| low E-string

and so on...

Step 2 :Memorize all single notes on the fingerboard . 

Like for A note 

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-A-|---| B-string
G:|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---| low E-string

and same for B,C,D,E,F and G

Step 3 :Memorize the Octates ( Yeah this seems tricky !!!)

To find octates on fingerboard :

- Play a random note on the low E or A-string, then move up 2 half steps (2 frets), move up 2 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #1 )


- Play a random note on the D or G-string, then move up 3 half steps (3 frets), move up 2 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #1 )


- Play a random note on the high E or B-string, then move up 2 half steps (2 frets), move down 3 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #2 )


- Play a random note on the G-string, then move up 3 half steps (3 frets), move down 3 strings and you’ll find an octave. (See example #2 )

Example #1
    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|---|---|---|---|-A-|---|---|---|---|---|---| high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|-E-|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|-A-|---|-B-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|-E-|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|-B-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| low E-string

Example #2
    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  
e:|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|high E-string
B:|---|---|---|---|-E-|---|---|---|---|---|---| B-string
G:|---|---|---|---|---|---|-D-|---|---|---|---| G-string
D:|---|---|-F-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| D-string
A:|---|---|---|---|---|---|-E-|---|---|---|---| A-string
E:|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-D-|---| low E-string

So get the most out of your fret board . Pick your guitar and discover it ..


Leave a comment anytime you want , I appreciate it.