Guitar Fretboard Obstacles And How To Blast Them Into Tiny Pieces

When it comes to the guitar fretboard you need a solid grasp of these 3 concepts… IF you want to learn and master guitar. There are a couple of exercises at the end of the lesson to help you blast through to new levels of understanding, but I recommend reading through and watching the video first.

This guitar lesson assumes that your guitar is in standard tuning. The principles I'm about to point out may seem very obvious to you. And that's exactly why they are so frequently overlooked. You don't want any unnecessary "weak links" in your guitar playing chain do you?

Simple Guitar Fretboard Concept #1

The same note occurs more that once on the guitar neck! You may be thinking, "Yeah, so what? I know that already." Fair enough. But do you know where those notes are? If I were to ask you to find all the middle C's on your guitar could you? Perhaps you could…but by the time you did, the rest of the band might be starting on the next tune ;-)

By simply noticing when the same note occurs on your guitar your brain will begin making subconscious connections with "pictures" on the guitar fretboard. In other words, you'll start to find new pathways and sounds on your guitar!

Simple Guitar Fretboard Concept #2

The guitar has both a horizontal and vertical axis! "Yes, I can see that" you say, "but so what? How does that help me to learn the music I want to play?"

Even after playing guitar for a few years many people get stuck in the fingerings they learned in the beginning from a guitar teacher or online guitar course. Not to knock these approaches at all. We all need somewhere to start :-)

But if you're here, I'll bet you want to take learning guitar to the next level. If so, you're going to need to find new ways around the guitar fingerboard. By learning some major scales both horizontally and vertically you'll be making new connections. You'll be breaking out of old conditioned muscle memory and building new designs and sounds.

Simple Guitar Fretboard Concept #3

This one never ceases to amaze me. Even students who have been playing for a couple of years quite often fail to see this. When doing the traditional fingerboard patterns for either the pentatonic scales or the major scales they don't notice that the patterns all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The last note on the bridge side of each string is the first note in the next pattern up the neck!

Notice how the squares are common tones to both scale forms?

Click here to read this graphic as a PDF in your browser, or right-click to download it.

If you've already discovered what the graphic points out, congratulations! You're really paying attention. If not, you probably haven't been playing music for long enough. I noticed it when I started teaching myself how to play guitar from books and courses as a young teenager. But I'd been playing piano on a consistent basis since I was a small child.

That said, let's help you understand what I mean :-) Begin by watching the guitar video. I go over everything we just discussed. Then take a look at the suggestions below and give them a try. I also briefly demonstrate the exercises in the video but with a different note.

• Choose a note on your guitar. Find it in at least 2 other places. Then find it an octave higher or lower. Rinse and repeat.
• Starting at C on string 2, fret 1 find the major scale BY EAR along that string.
• Starting at C on string 3, fret 5 do the same thing.
• This time starting on C on string 3, fret 5 find the major scale in a Vertical Axis. Hint: Your 1st finger will always line up with the 5th fret and you should end with you 4th finger on the 8th fret of string 1.
• Starting again on string 3, fret 5 try going horizontally for 4 notes and then vertically for 2 and again vertically for 2 more.

These are only some of the possibilities. But I hope it opens your mind and helps you to explore new territory on you guitar fretboard. If you're still having difficulty, watch the video again. You can also download these guitar lesson videos and load them into your i-pod if you wish :-)

The following link will take you to a guitar lesson page that will greatly help in learning the guitar fretboard. If you're really motivated, do the recommended exercise there for ALL your strings! Click here to learn guitar notes.

BONUS POINTS: I make this suggestion all the time. I've done it myself countless times over the years. It's one of those "little things" that mean going the extra mile. It really pays off. Ready? Print out the free PDF guitar fingerboard charts and draw scales, arpeggios and chords on it . Do one picture each day. This little practice will turbo charge your ability to visualize the different shapes on your guitar neck. Print out as many as you like!

That's it! I hope you found this free guitar lesson helpful. Thanks for tuning in and tuning up :-)

Dave

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