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Casey
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Any tips on fretboard memorization? I've been working on it for quite awhile now and keep forgetting where all the notes are. Like when on the spot, I go blank.
Fretboard memorization tips?
- Thread starter Casey
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A fingerboard diagram stuck on the wall where you practice is a good way to learn the notes,or some of those little paper adhesive dots you can write the note on & stick it to your neck,this will make you look rather daggy though mate. :wink:
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People learn/remember things in different ways... so this may or may not work for you...
I don't even try to remember. Try some exercises... working through the circle of fifths (or fourths... go backwards if you get bored). So.. start with C major and play every note in the scale from the lowest note on the board to the very highest... then back again. Don't use the same route, just go whichever direction/string you want, as long as you're going up and down the scale. When you're confident about finding the notes, work to a metronome, and then try playing in triplets... or anything. Then move on to G major!
When you get bored with that... try minor scales (harder)... pentatonics... major and minor, blues scales. Doesn't work well with modes or the natural minor scale as you just end up playing through a major scale.
The whole thing takes hours at a time, but you'll end up getting an instinctive feel for where notes are... your fingers will start going in the right direction before your brain is even engaged!
Plan B... or try studying walking basslines!
I don't even try to remember. Try some exercises... working through the circle of fifths (or fourths... go backwards if you get bored). So.. start with C major and play every note in the scale from the lowest note on the board to the very highest... then back again. Don't use the same route, just go whichever direction/string you want, as long as you're going up and down the scale. When you're confident about finding the notes, work to a metronome, and then try playing in triplets... or anything. Then move on to G major!
When you get bored with that... try minor scales (harder)... pentatonics... major and minor, blues scales. Doesn't work well with modes or the natural minor scale as you just end up playing through a major scale.
The whole thing takes hours at a time, but you'll end up getting an instinctive feel for where notes are... your fingers will start going in the right direction before your brain is even engaged!
Plan B... or try studying walking basslines!
I assume that's a pretty dumb trick, but:
Don't try to learn the notes up to the 12th fret.
First five on every string are okay (in fact you will need only the first 4, - the 5th is the same as the next higher string, so mostly there's no need to memorize this specially).
Now the only thing to do is "count" - 6th fret E-string is same as 1st fret A-String. 9th E is 4th A, and so on.
Works well for me, because i pretty fast get sick of counting the notes - so i just memorize them after a while
Really works fine with me.
Only the G-string is a bit less memorable - but like one famous bass player said once "G-Strings are for strippers!"
(Forgotten who made this quote - anybody knows? - and doesn't apply to me either: I love g-strings...
)
Don't try to learn the notes up to the 12th fret.
First five on every string are okay (in fact you will need only the first 4, - the 5th is the same as the next higher string, so mostly there's no need to memorize this specially).
Now the only thing to do is "count" - 6th fret E-string is same as 1st fret A-String. 9th E is 4th A, and so on.
Works well for me, because i pretty fast get sick of counting the notes - so i just memorize them after a while
Really works fine with me.
Only the G-string is a bit less memorable - but like one famous bass player said once "G-Strings are for strippers!"
(Forgotten who made this quote - anybody knows? - and doesn't apply to me either: I love g-strings...
)
Everyone who's ever heard me say this for the first time starts shouting and disagreeing with me.
Then they try it. And then they stop shouting.
On a bass, a note is essentially a box bordered by frets. Each box looks no different from every other box, and it can seem completely random. The idea of assigning a different note name to each box can be very intimidating to someone who doesn't know any music theory.
The only instrument on which you can truly visualize all the notes in a way that they don't get confused with other notes is the KEYBOARD. People who study theory only on a bass or guitar neck seem to work very hard at memorizing the locations of all the sharps/flats, but piano and keyboard players think it's the easiest thing in the world, because it's laid out so easily on the keyboard... they get "White" and "Black" keys... all the white keys are natural notes, and all the black ones are sharps/flats.
I'm not telling anyone to go take piano lessons (although I'm not telling you not to...) but I am saying that learning how the notes are arranged on a piano keyboard makes way more sense than a fretboard, and once you've learned where the sharps and flats are, you'll never forget it.
You don't need a keyboard to do it (although it certainly helps). All you need is a diagram of one.
Then they try it. And then they stop shouting.
On a bass, a note is essentially a box bordered by frets. Each box looks no different from every other box, and it can seem completely random. The idea of assigning a different note name to each box can be very intimidating to someone who doesn't know any music theory.
The only instrument on which you can truly visualize all the notes in a way that they don't get confused with other notes is the KEYBOARD. People who study theory only on a bass or guitar neck seem to work very hard at memorizing the locations of all the sharps/flats, but piano and keyboard players think it's the easiest thing in the world, because it's laid out so easily on the keyboard... they get "White" and "Black" keys... all the white keys are natural notes, and all the black ones are sharps/flats.
I'm not telling anyone to go take piano lessons (although I'm not telling you not to...) but I am saying that learning how the notes are arranged on a piano keyboard makes way more sense than a fretboard, and once you've learned where the sharps and flats are, you'll never forget it.
You don't need a keyboard to do it (although it certainly helps). All you need is a diagram of one.
