Why You Should Learn the Fretboard

You should learn the fretboard for one simple reason.   You want to play faster!

Usually, when people talk about speed, they talk about the physical aspects of learning the guitar.  Usually, I think of shredders finger tapping their way to insane flurries of notes.  Shredding takes a lot of practice, but it is a different type of speed.

When you learn the fretboard, you play faster because you can instantly recall a note.  Instant recall allows you to find and play any note as fast as possible.  It is a mental speed, which allows you to decide, find, and play faster.

Why Deriving the Fretboard Doesn’t Work

Most guitarists claim to know the fretboard because they can find any note.  Many songs have a tempo of 120bpm, which is 2 seconds per measure.

• Whole note = 2 seconds
• Half note = 1 second
• Quarter note = 1/2 second
• Eighth note = 1/4 second
• Sixteenth note = 1/8 second

You need to recall notes in fractions of a second!  This is why knowing how to find any note does not work.  Without instant recall, you cannot keep up!

How to Learn the Fretboard

Learning the fretboard is not hard, but it takes practice.  Most guitarists find the task boring because they learn it the wrong way.  On top of that they try to take shortcuts that don’t work!  The best way to learn the fretboard is by incorporating multiple ways of remembering the note.  This is not only more interesting, it is more effective.

Use Associations

The human brain remembers by using associations.  When you play a note, you think of the note you want.  You find it on the fretboard.  You hear the note.  You see the fretboard.  All these items can be associated with each other to form multi-dimensional exercises.  Later, I will give you exercises that associate what you see, hear, and feel to maximize your efficiency.

Practice to Remember

Did you ever cram for an exam and forget what you learned?  When you try to cram to learn the fretboard, you will forget it.  Your brain transfers your short term memory into long term memory when you sleep.  I recommend practicing the fretboard for 10-20 minute per day until you know it.

Avoid These Methods

Here is a list of inefficient or boring ways of learning the fretboard.  This is my anti-recommendation list.

• Do not try to visually memorize the image of the notes atop the fretboard. It is probably the most boring method and you aren’t associating the sound
• Do not try to take shortcuts by only learning frets 1 – 12. Frets 13+ are closer together, so it feels different and they have a higher pitch.  Instant Recall requires mental and physical recall!
• Do not limit yourself to the 5^th and 6^th Many guitarists learn these two strings and derive the rest of the notes.  It just isn’t fast enough.
• Do not practice too many notes in one session. Most people can memorize around 7 items in one sitting without too much extra effort.  Ironically, there are seven natural note names (A, B, C, D, E, F, G).  I recommend tackling those first.