How To Memorize The Notes On The Fretboard (Two Methods) - Guitar Gear Finder PDF

4/26/2020 How to Memorize the Notes on the Fretboard (Two Methods) - Guitar Gear Finder
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How to Memorize the  To search type and hit enter
Notes on the Fretboard

(Two Methods)
BY AARON MATTHIES · SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
https://guitargearfinder.com/lessons/memorize-the-fretboard/ 2/50
Learning the notes on the fretboard is one SHARE
of the most important things you can do

when learning the guitar. While it is possible 
to become a great guitarist without
learning the notes, it’s going to make things

much harder than it needs to be. 
Memorizing the notes on the fretboard is
something you can do in a very short time.
I’m not going to lie to you like some
YouTube videos and say you can memorize
the notes in 10 minutes, but if you follow
the method in this article, you can
memorize the entire fretboard in no time.
In this article, you will learn:
Why learning the notes on the fretboard

is worth the e ort
What you can do after you memorize the
fretboard
Two e ective methods to strengthen

your memory of the notes
A practice plan to follow with step-by-
step instructions
While you might be tempted to skip ahead

to the methods, I highly recommend
reading everything so you can memorize
the notes in the most e ective way
possible.
Memorizing the notes on the fretboard is

also something you can do when you don’t
have a guitar with you. Find out more on my
guide on How to Practice Guitar Without a
Guitar.
Table of Contents [ show ]
Why Learn the Notes

on the Fretboard
Putting the e ort into memorizing the
notes is much easier if you know why it’s
worth doing. So let’s look at some useful
things you can do if you memorize the
fretboard.
Barre chords become

easier
Barre chords allow you to take a chord
shape and play it anywhere on the
fretboard. It allows you to play chords like
C#m, Ebm, F#m, Gm, all with the same
chord shape. There isn’t an open chord
shape for C#m, but you can easily play it if
you know the barre chord shape and you

know where to nd C# on the fretboard.
Barre chords are only useful if you

know where to play them. Knowing the
notes on the fretboard (especially the low E
and A strings) will let you play any barre
chord anywhere you want.
Build chords and scales

from scratch
Let’s say you’re playing in a band and the
rhythm guitarist has come up with a nice ri
using the E Harmonic Minor Scale and asks
you to try coming up with a solo over the
top of it. What do you do?
If you have memorized the notes on the

fretboard, all you need to know is the notes
to that scale. You don’t need to nd any
scale shapes, you just need to know the

notes. If the guitarist tells you the notes are
E F# G A B C D#, you now know all you need
to play the scale all over the fretboard.
Build chords from

scratch
A lot of guitarists can only play some basic
open chords and barre chords because they
never learned the notes on the fretboard. If
the only place you can play Em is in the
open position, that limits what you can play.
If you know the chord formula or the notes

in a chord, you can build the chord
anywhere you want on the neck. Here are a
few examples of the di erent ways you can
play an E minor chord across the neck:
You might recognize a couple of the chord

shapes (especially the rst two), but all of
them are E minor chords. When you learn
the notes on the fretboard, you’re able to
build any chord you want in almost any
position. Try playing some of the above
chords. While they all sound similar (they’re
all E minor), they’re all di erent. Di erent
chord shapes can be used in di erent songs
and open up so many doors for your
playing.
Instead of being stuck with one or two

chord shapes, you can unlock all the chord
shapes across the entire fretboard.
If you learn the notes on the fretboard, you

can do this with any chord.
Get better at
improvising
If you haven’t already, at some point you
might want to start improvising or soloing
over some backing tracks. It’s great fun and
an excellent way to build your skills. Most
guitarists learn by memorizing a few
Pentatonic box shapes.
The box shapes make it easy to get started

with improvising, but there’s a downside. A
lot of guitarists eventually get stuck in a rut.
The problem with memorizing scale shapes
is that you don’t learn why certain notes
sound better than others.
When you learn the notes on the fretboard,

you can start targeting speci c notes that
work over the backing chords. For example,
if the chord in the background is C Major,
while you’re improvising you can target the

notes C, E, & G (the chord notes of C Major).
If the background chord changes to Dm7,
you can target the notes D, F, A, E (the
notes in Dm7).
Until you try this out for yourself, it’s hard

to understand how much control this gives
you over your playing. Instead of playing
random notes in scale shapes, you can
choose the perfect notes at the perfect
time.
Understand music
better
Possibly the most important reason to learn
the notes on the fretboard is that it
improves your understanding of music.
Instead of ri s, chords, and solos being a
series of patterns and shapes, you can
understand why certain chords work well

together and others don’t. You can
understand why the licks you’re trying to
play over a backing track don’t sound quite
right when they sounded ne over a
di erent backing track.
Learning the notes on the fretboard opens

you up to a new level of understanding
music. It will help you build a better
understanding of the songs you play as well
as anything you write.
Making the
Fretboard Easier to
Memorize
It’s no surprise that a lot of guitarists put
o learning the notes on the fretboard.
At rst, memorizing the notes on the

fretboard seems overwhelming. Just look
at the below diagram:
Insane, right?
If it looks overwhelming to you, don’t

worry. Let’s break the fretboard down and
make it easier to learn.
Everything repeats at
the 12th fret
Ever wondered why there are normally two
dot markers on the 12th fret and the 24th
fret (if your guitar has 24 frets)?
Take a look at the notes on the open

strings, the 12th fret, and the 24th fret
below:
There are 12 notes in music, so everything

repeats if you move up 12 frets. The 12th
fret is where the open string notes repeat
and the 24th fret is where they repeat
again.
This means you only need to memorize half

of the fretboard because the other half
repeats. If you memorize the notes up to
the 12th fret, the exact same notes repeat
above the 12th fret.
Great, right?
We’ve already cut the number of notes you

need to memorize in half, but let’s cut it
down some more.
Removing chromatic
notes
Take a look at the six notes below and think
about how you would memorize them:
Do you really need to memorize all six?

What do you notice about the notes with
the # (sharp) sign?
What might notice is that all the sharp

notes have the same note letter as the note
to the left of it. F# is always one fret higher
than F, G# is always one fret higher than G,

etc.
This means you don’t need to memorize all

of the above notes. You don’t need to
memorize the position of F and F#. You can
simply memorize the position of F and
remember that F# is one fret to the right.
It’s the same with at notes. The note Gb is

one fret to the left of G. Eb is one fret to
the left of E. So you don’t need to
memorize any at notes either – just
memorize the ‘natural’ notes (eg: A, B, C, D,
etc.) and remember that if you want a at
note, move one fret to the left.
Here’s our fretboard again with all of the

sharp notes removed as well as all the notes
above the 12th fret removed:
The above diagram is all you need to

memorize to know all the notes on the
fretboard. Not too bad, right?
It’s also worth mentioning that the above

diagram is the C Major scale. So by
memorizing the natural notes on the
fretboard, you will also memorize one of
the most important scales to learn on
guitar.
Now let’s get into how to memorize the

notes on the fretboard in the easiest and
most e ective way possible.
Using Two Methods

to Memorize the
Fretboard
The best method of learning to memorize
the notes on the fretboard is to use two
methods together.
The reason I strongly recommend using two

methods is due to the way our memory
works.
How our memory works
The more di erent ways we study

something, the easier it is to
memorize.
Think of it like cutting a tree down with

an axe. If you only cut from one side of
the tree, it’s going to take a long time
and will be a lot of work. Instead of
only cutting from one side, it’s far
easier to cut half-way from one side,
then cut from the other side of the
tree.
Our memory works in the same way.

You could try repeating the same
method over and over and eventually
it will sink in. But if you combine two
methods, you’ll memorize it faster and

easier.
It’s why people who memorize decks

of cards use words and images to
memorize cards rather than the card
number and suit. It’s how people are
able to memorize 10,000+ digits for
the number pi. They don’t sit down and
try to memorize all those numbers.
Instead, they use images or words to
memorize groups of numbers.
It’s also why when we smell or taste

certain things (eg: a cooked apple pie),
it can instantly bring back childhood
memories. Those childhood memories
are strengthened by smells and tastes
(this is called ‘multisensory
integration’).
The reason this is important to know is

that a lot of what you do on guitar
depends on memorization. If you use
methods that are better suited to how
our memory works, you’ll learn things
faster and easier. The methods I cover
in this article apply good memorization
practices.
If you combine two methods to memorize

the notes on the fretboard, the notes will
sink in deeper into your memory. You can
even use three di erent methods at once
and you’ll learn faster and develop a
stronger memory. But too many methods
can get confusing. I’ve found that my
students memorized the notes fastest
when we combined the two methods
covered here.
Let’s look at the two methods, then I’ll give

you a practice plan so you can get the most
out of the methods.
Method 1: One
String at a Time
This is an incredibly easy way to start
memorizing the notes on the fretboard.
The basic idea is to look at each string
separately instead of trying to learn
everything at once.
The below diagram shows how you would

practice memorizing the notes on the high
E string:
When you practice one string at a time,

you’re able to completely focus on that
string. In the above diagram, you only need
to memorize eight note positions.
Once you memorize those eight notes, you

continue past the 12th fret:
Before I explain how to memorize the

notes, let’s look at what happens after you
nish memorizing the high E string notes.
Once you memorize the notes on the high E

string, you only need to memorize four
more strings. Why? Because the high E
string and the low E string use the exact
same notes in the same positions:
For this reason, I highly recommend starting

with either the low E string or the high E
string. Once you memorize those notes, you
only need to memorize four more strings.
How to practice using

this method
This is a great method to use because it’s
easy to practice. Even if you’re a beginner,
you’ll nd this method easy to use. Let’s
look at how to practice the high E string

notes with this method.
Here’s what you would play for the high E

string:
You start o on the open string and play

one note at a time moving up the
fretboard. Once you reach the 12th fret (E),
you move backward one note at a time until
you reach the open string.
Important: as you play, you must call

the note names out loud. So while
you’re playing, you need to be saying
“E, F, G….” as you play each note. The
reason this is important is because of
the way our memory works. You’re

making use of multisensory integration
when you call the note names out
loud.
It might feel strange to say the note

names out loud while you play, but it
will make a huge di erence to how
quickly you memorize the notes.
Here are some tips when using this method:
Start o as slow as you need to. Don’t

rush. If you rush the note names won’t
sink into your memory. Take it easy in
the beginning
Focus hard while practicing. The more
you focus on each note name and
position, the faster you will memorize
them
Don’t worry about what ngers you’re

using to play the notes. Your focus
should be completely on the note names
and positions – not on playing technique
Focus on any areas you don’t feel
con dent in. Turn your weak areas into
your strong areas
The rst few times you do this might feel

frustratingly slow. That’s okay. If something
feels hard, it’s a good sign that you’re
learning. Don’t get frustrated. Be patient
and keep practicing as slow as you need to.
Over the next few days, you’ll notice that it
gets easier to remember the right positions
and note names. You’ll gradually get faster
and won’t get stuck in certain areas of the
fretboard.
Here’s the exercise for the B string so you

can see how to continue across the rest of
the strings:
Follow the same method as before. Make

sure you call the notes out loud and really
focus on each note’s position. You can even
think to yourself something like “the note
on the fth fret is E, 6th fret is F, 8th fret is
G”. The more focus and e ort you put in,
the faster the notes will stick in your
memory.
Practice each string at least 15-20 times

before moving on to the next. In each
practice session, make sure you practice
each string at least twice. You’re going to
become an expert with the E strings very
quickly, so make sure you give the other
strings more attention.
Why this method works

This method works because it teaches you
to think linearly. Instead of memorizing a
shape or scale position, you’re thinking
about how the notes on a string are
connected together. When you practice this
method, you learn things like ‘G is always
two frets up from F’, ‘B is always one fret
down from C’, etc.
This means, in the future when you’re

improvising, you will always know what
notes are above and below the current note
on each string. If you’re playing an ‘E’, you
will instinctively know that F is one fret to
the right and D is two frets to the left.
Practicing each string separately means you

won’t develop ‘weak areas’ on the
fretboard. A lot of guitarists feel
uncomfortable playing on some areas of

the fretboard because the shapes and
patterns they memorized don’t cover those
areas. When you practice using this method,
you learn to feel con dent all over the
fretboard.
Method 2: One Note

at a Time
With Method 1, you’ll get really good at
nding notes up and down a string. But we
don’t just play up and down strings, we also
move across strings. If you only use Method
1, you’ll end up with weak areas in your
fretboard knowledge. That’s where Method
2 comes in.
This method is completely di erent from

method 1 and at rst, it will feel far more
di cult. That’s why it’s so e ective – it

forces you to memorize the notes in a way
where you can’t ‘cheat’. If you nd this
method hard, it means the notes haven’t
sunk into your memory properly. Once you
master this method, you will be able to
instantly nd any note you want in any
position on the fretboard.
This method teaches you to memorize the

positions of any note across the entire
fretboard without needing to refer to other
notes. For example, at the moment if you
want to nd the note ‘A’ on the B string,
your mind will probably think “well the 12th
fret is B, so A must be two frets lower on
the 10th fret”. That’s ne, but this method
will teach you to instantly jump to the 10th
(or 22nd) fret.
Here’s how the method works:

1. Pick a note. With this method, we focus

on one note at a time. The goal of the
method is to nd all the positions across
the entire fretboard for the note you’re
working on.
2. Find that note on the low E string up
to the 12th fret. As explained earlier,
we have a full octave from the open
string up to the 12th fret. That means
you will nd your note once (unless it’s
the open string which will also be the
12th fret). Find that note as quickly as
you can then play it.
3. Move to the next string and nd the
note up to the 12th fret. After you nd
the note on the low E string, move to
the next string and nd the note on that
string.
4. Continue moving across all strings.
Each time you nd the note, move up to
the next string and repeat the process.

Once you get to the high E string, move
back through the strings until you return
to the low E string (or lower if you play 7
or 8 string guitars).
5. Repeat the steps and pick a new note.
Gradually work your way through all
notes (including notes like A#/Bb)
It’s a simple method, but it might feel

strange. It removes any memorization of
shapes if you do it properly. Try to avoid
cheating by thinking in rules like “the note
on the next string is ve frets down”. While
these shortcuts might make it feel like
you’re making progress faster, they actually
hold you back. The goal of this method is to
memorize the note positions without
needing to refer to any other position. If
you use this method properly, you will
become free over the entire fretboard.
How to practice using

this method
Let’s look at an example of this method in
action so you can see how to practice it. The
below fretboard shows the position of the
note ‘A’ across all six strings up to the 12th
fret:
As you can see, the note shows up once per

string apart from the A string. The goal of
this method is for you to be able to nd all
of these notes instantly without rst
needing to think about any other positions
or notes. So even if you can see some
shapes or patterns that might make it easier
to nd the note positions, ignore them.

You’ll end up with a far stronger memory if
you ignore any shapes or patterns as you
practice using this method.
Here’s what you would play if you follow

the steps listed earlier:
Notice that we don’t play the open A string?

The chances are you’ve already memorized
the open string notes, so you can skip those
notes and focus on the fretboard notes.
Once you get to the end, you pick a new
note and repeat the steps. Here’s the
exercise again with C# as our focus note:
What you might notice after you do this for

all notes is that some notes are harder to
nd than others. For example, you will be
really good at nding notes like E & A
because those notes are used regularly on
guitar due to the tuning. But other notes
like C# or Bb aren’t used as often so you
might notice it takes you longer to nd
those positions.
That’s the point of this exercise – it shows

you what your weak areas are when you
remove any ‘cheats’ like memorized shapes.
If one note is easy to nd and the other
note is hard to nd, that’s a sign you haven’t
properly memorized the fretboard. When
you get to the point where all notes are

easy to nd, nothing will hold you back.
Here are some extra tips for this method:
Listen carefully to what you play. It

should be obvious whenever you play a
wrong note because it will stand out.
Playing a C# when you meant to play a C
will be obvious if you’re listening
carefully.
If you played the above exercise, you
should notice that as you move to a
higher string, the note will either stay
exactly the same, or it will jump up an
octave. Try to remember what happens
for each string as it will be handy in the
future when you’re improvising or
songwriting.
Call the note names out loud while
playing. This might feel silly, but it helps
strengthen your memory. The idea is

that you want to link the note position
with the note name in your memory. It’s
much easier to link the two together by
calling the note name out loud.
Time yourself for each note and record
the results. This is a great way to keep
track of your progress and nd any weak
areas. You might nd that within a week
you halve the time it takes to go through
the exercise. Or you might nd that
some notes take you twice as long as
others.
With consistent daily practice, you should

start to feel really con dent in your
fretboard knowledge within a couple of
weeks.
Taking this method

further
With enough practice, this method will start
to feel easy. This could mean one of two
things. Either you’ve memorized the
fretboard perfectly, or you’ve memorized
the pattern of jumping between strings. A
quick way to check whether you have
properly memorized the notes or not is to
jump randomly between notes without
moving across adjacent strings.
Here’s an example of what you might play

to test your knowledge:
If you can randomly jump between strings

like in the above example, that’s a good sign
you’ve properly memorized the notes. If
you get stuck in certain positions or it takes
you longer, it means you still have work to
do.
Memorizing the
Fretboard Practice
Plan
When you combine the two above
methods, you end up with a very fast and
e ective way of memorizing the fretboard.
Let’s look at an example practice plan to
give you an idea of how you might like to
practice.
Week 1
It’s important you don’t put too much

pressure on yourself in the beginning. The
last thing you want is to get frustrated
because you don’t feel like you’re making
progress. So a good way to start is by using
Method 1 at a slow tempo.
Here’s what you might practice in a 5-10

minute practice session:
Play up and down the low E string 10

times slowly while calling the note
names out loud
Play up and down the A string 10 times
slowly while calling the note names out
loud
Play up and down the D string 10 times
loud
Play up and down the G string 10 times
loud
Play up and down the B string 10 times
loud
Play up and down the high E string 10
times slowly while calling the note
names out loud
Take a short break, then come back and
repeat the above
This is a good way to get started because it

gives you time on each string to start
feeling comfortable with the note positions
before you move on to the next string. Even
if you’re really slow at rst, you’ll nd that
after a couple of days you’ll already be
gradually speeding up and nding it easier
to call the right note names out loud.
Week 2
At this point, it’s a good idea to gradually

bring in Method 2. If you rely too much on
Method 1, you’ll get stuck. We’ll also make
Method 1 a bit harder to work on to keep
you pushing yourself.
Here’s what you might practice in a 10-

Play up and down the low E string 5

times as fast as you can while calling the
note names out loud
Find all note positions for ‘A’ across all
strings, moving up and down one string
at a time
Play up and down the A string 5 times as
fast as you can while calling the note
names out loud
Find all note positions for ‘B’ across all
at a time
Play up and down the D string 5 times as

fast as you can while calling the note
names out loud
Find all note positions for ‘C’ across all
at a time
Continue across all strings and all note
positions
By trying to play Method 1 as fast as you

can, it tests how well you really know those
notes. If you nd you get stuck, slow down
and practice the string 10 times instead of
5. Mixing up the practice session by
alternating between Methods 1 and 2 is a
great way to keep you working hard.
Remember that if something feels hard, it’s
a good sign that you’re learning.
Week 3
If you’ve been practicing consistently, you

should feel pretty con dent at this point.
So let’s ramp up the intensity to check how
well you know your fretboard.
Here’s what you might practice in a 10-

Play up and down all six strings one-

after-the-other as fast as you can while
calling the note names out loud
Find all note positions for ‘C#’ across all
strings including the positions above the
12th fret. Jump randomly between
strings
Play up and down all six strings one-
after-the-other as fast as you can while
calling the note names out loud
Find all note positions for ‘Ab’ across all
strings including the positions above the
12th fret. Jump randomly between

strings
Continue for all note positions
At this point you want to focus most of your

practice time on the notes you feel the
least con dent in. There’s little point
practicing notes like E & A because you
would have easily memorized those notes
by now. Time yourself for each note and
practice your worst ones.
If you follow this practice plan and practice

it daily, you will quickly build a stronger
knowledge of the fretboard than most
guitarists. Most guitarists aren’t willing to
put this type of e ort in. It’s much easier to
memorize a few shapes and use them to
nd the notes. But if you’re willing to put
the e ort into following this practice plan,
you’ll end up with a stronger fretboard
memory and you won’t need to rely on any

shapes or patterns. Whenever you need to
play a C# or an F, you’ll instantly know
where all the positions are for those notes.
Next Steps
The above methods will only help you
memorize the note positions on the
fretboard. While that fretboard knowledge
will be extremely useful, it’s not enough on
its own. To really get the most out of
memorizing the fretboard, you need to
practice applying it.
Here are some ways you can take your

fretboard knowledge further:
Learn scales using notes rather than

shapes
Practice nding new chord shapes across

the fretboard using notes rather than
memorized shapes
Improvise over backing tracks in
di erent keys and practice shifting your
attention to di erent notes
Write ri s and licks, then transpose
those parts to di erent areas of the
fretboard
The goal of the above ideas is to get you

used to think with notes instead of shapes
or patterns. If you can create any chord or
scale without needing to think about
shapes, it gives you freedom. It might be a
lot of work to get to that point, but it’s
worth the e ort.
Save
Last Updated on November 14, 2019

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4/26/2020 How to Memorize the Notes on the Fretboard (Two Methods) - Guitar Gear Finder

HOW-TO GUIDES / LESSONS FOLLOW:

Notes on the Fretboard

Learning the notes on the fretboard is one SHARE

of the most important things you can do

In this article, you will learn:

Why learning the notes on the fretboard

Two e ective methods to strengthen

While you might be tempted to skip ahead

Memorizing the notes on the fretboard is

Table of Contents [ show ]

Why Learn the Notes

Barre chords become

you know the barre chord shape and you

Barre chords are only useful if you

Build chords and scales

If you have memorized the notes on the

scale shapes, you just need to know the

Build chords from

If you know the chord formula or the notes

You might recognize a couple of the chord

Instead of being stuck with one or two

If you learn the notes on the fretboard, you

The box shapes make it easy to get started

When you learn the notes on the fretboard,

while you’re improvising you can target the

Until you try this out for yourself, it’s hard

understand why certain chords work well

Learning the notes on the fretboard opens

At rst, memorizing the notes on the

If it looks overwhelming to you, don’t

Take a look at the notes on the open

There are 12 notes in music, so everything

This means you only need to memorize half

We’ve already cut the number of notes you

Do you really need to memorize all six?

What might notice is that all the sharp

than F, G# is always one fret higher than G,

This means you don’t need to memorize all

It’s the same with at notes. The note Gb is

Here’s our fretboard again with all of the

The above diagram is all you need to

It’s also worth mentioning that the above

Now let’s get into how to memorize the

Using Two Methods

The reason I strongly recommend using two

How our memory works

The more di erent ways we study

Think of it like cutting a tree down with

Our memory works in the same way.

methods, you’ll memorize it faster and

It’s why people who memorize decks

It’s also why when we smell or taste

The reason this is important to know is

If you combine two methods to memorize

Let’s look at the two methods, then I’ll give

The below diagram shows how you would

When you practice one string at a time,

Once you memorize those eight notes, you

Before I explain how to memorize the

Once you memorize the notes on the high E

For this reason, I highly recommend starting

How to practice using