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r/guitarlessons
• 19 days ago
Posted by VNTBLKATK

FOR THOSE LOOKING TO START LEARNING THE FRETBOARD

IMO THIS IS THE BEST AND EASIEST WAY TO START MEMORISING THE FRETBOARD, I PROMISE!!

Forget sharps altogether and anything above the 12th fret for now, that already cuts what you have to remember
by 2/3rds.

(Ideally have your guitar handy while reading this)

To begin, im assuming you know the notes in music are A-B-C-D-E-F-G this is fundamental! If you didn't know, now
you know.

think of the string of notes C-D-E and F-G-A-B as two seperate groups or patterns of notes, (C-D-E is pattern one, F-
G-A-B is pattern 2), now learn the positions of those groups on the first 2 strings up to the the 7th fret, F-G-A-B is
fret 1-3-5-7 on 1st string and C-D-E is fret 3-5-7 on second string.

focus on memorising those as your base, you will always be able to use those as a jump off point when looking for
other notes!, if you the major or minor scale then it won't be too hard to find the octaves of those and if you know
that E-A-D-G-B-E is the open notes you can find notes using those too. eg, if you want to find first B on the A string
you know A is open so you know through your 2 groups that B is always 2 frets up from A and without even
memorising sharps you instinctually know A# must be between those

Literally everything is about finding patterns and bases to start from, over time youll start to notice how all these
little patterns and bases you've memorised overlap and you'll form them into bigger patterns and bases
subconsciously through playing and being relatively mindful of them, and it all starts with C-D-E as pattern 1.

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CookBaconNow • 19 days ago

Octave shapes are the key for me.

16 Reply

fretflip • 15 days ago

Yes, for me too, here is a write up on octave shapes with some charts if anyone else interested.

1 Reply
 i-opener • 18 days ago

r/guitarlessons Use App
This isn't specifically for learning the fretboard, but here's a great mnemonic for learning your thirds. Thirds
are important because this is how (most) chords get built.

Forget your sharps and flats for now. Then the mnemonic is FACE GBD. Face is easy, then memorize GBD
(Get By Daily, Good Bye Dad, etc). Then the pattern repeats.

Face. GBD > FACEGBD

Want a C major chord? CEG. (root, major third, fifth. You can add the 7th with B, and keep going if you want).
G major? GBD.

Well, what about the sharps and flats? Well, for those, you need to know your chord formulas, (at least the
Major [root third fifth], and Minor [root, flat third, fifth]) BUT, the letters remain the same....and for a lot of
people, recalling the letters/notes quickly are the hardest part.

E major? E G# B.

E minor? E G B.

10 Reply

finn-the-bear • 18 days ago

.

6 Reply

AlexMullerSA • 19 days ago

This was useful thanks!

5 Reply

Dingo_cs • 18 days ago

To add to this, memorize the circle of 5th/4ths! This is literally how the guitar is tuned.

Circle of 5th: F, C, G, D, A, E, B, F#/C/Gb, Db, Ab, Eb, Bb

Circle of 4ths: B, E, A, D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb/C/F#

The pattern repeats its self twice, indefinitely; first with natural notes, then accidentals (sharps/flats). To
memorize the circle of 4ths, break the notes into two groups:

BEAD and GCF

The first group spells the word BEAD so it's easy to remember. To remember the second group I think back to
math class and think "Greatest Common Factor."

To memorize the circle of 5th, it's a little more tricky:

FCG and DAEB

I remember FCG by remembering it's the opposite of GCF. If you have something better let me know! I
remember DAEB by thinking DAE-B where you pronounce DAE as DAY, then throw the B sound

r/guitarlessons Useon
Appat the end.
DAY-B.

In the chart above you will notice a C that is crossed out, C. This note isn't part of the circle, but shows that
the pattern is preserved and is the point where we switch from sharps to flats. Also, F# and Gb are
enharmonic equivalents of each other. In other words, they are the same note. So the pattern should really be
said as followed:

Circle of 5th: F, C, G, D, A, E, B, F#/Gb, Db, Ab, Eb, Bb

Circle of 4ths: B, E, A, D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb/F#

With this knowledge you can view notes horizontally across the fretboard since this is how the guitar is
tuned. You will need to make a 1 fret adjustment up or down between the G and B string since this is tuned to
a 3rd. Once you have this down it becomes easy to find any note, flat or sharp, by having just a few reference
notes memorized.

9 Reply

Just-looking-1983 • 18 days ago

I can’t say it’s necessarily better, but I teach:

Father Father Christmas Gave Dad An Electric Blanket

Blanket Exploded And Dad Got Cold Feet

6 Reply

everardproudfoot • 18 days ago

This is eye-opening. I can kinda follow but I’m not seeing the connection to how it’s tuned. Which
direction?

It seems going revere (going high to low) E, B, Gb (the one fret adjustment to G, but then Db? I see
perhaps Ab with an adjustment too. But then it goes to Eb. Thought we only needed adjustment on 2/3.

Always wanted to get the point and use of circle of fifths so this seems great just missing some gaps in
what’s being explained how to apply.

3 Reply

Dingo_cs • 18 days ago

From low E to high E it's the circle of 4th. From the high E to the low E it's the circle of 5ths. When you
adjust between strings 2 and 3, you stay on the new fret you went to. Here's a pretty good video that
explains it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDo8nLdV4Wk

2 Reply

everardproudfoot • 17 days ago

I feel like I should pay you, I watched that video and it changed everything. I was so confused on
how to know what chords are in a key and the circle of fifths answers that question!
 I've been playing my whole life (on-off, in shit bands, etc) and never knew this. Literally blown
away.

r/guitarlessons Use App

Now one more question - how should you think of the circle/chords in a key? Using flats or
sharps? The enharmonics. Is there a proper convention given a situation?

1 Reply

Dingo_cs • 17 days ago

Well to use the circle in this way, pick a note. Lets say C. C is your I chord and therefore our
key. To the left of C is F. This is your IV chord. To the right is G. This is your V chord.

The I, IV, and V chords are major, hence the capital roman numerals.

To the right of G is your D, A, and E chords. These are the ii, vi, and iii chords within the key of
C. Move one more to the right and you get our dim vii chord, in this case B dim.

The ii, iii, and vi chords are minor, hence the lower case roman numerals.

Now lets say we pick A as our I chord. Our IV and V chord are D and E major. B minor is our ii
chord.

Now the key of A major is a sharp key, so there are no flats within the key. Therefore between
F# and Gb we choose to call our vi chord F# and we get an F# minor. According to the chart
our iii chord should be a Db minor, but remember, there are no flats within a sharp key. To fix
this, we need to change Db to an enharmonic equivalent. In this case, C#. And our iii chord
becomes C# minor. Our dim vii chord would be G# dim.

EDIT: I'd like to add that as a guitarist I don't much use the circle this way. I mainly use it to
identify notes with the method I stated above. To figure chords in a key I use any one octave
major scale shape that I know and visualize it on the fret board. Notes 1, 4, and 5 are the
roots of the major chords. Notes 2, 3, and 6 are the roots of minor chords. Note 7 is the root
of a diminished chord.

2 Reply

everardproudfoot • 17 days ago

Okay that tracks well with how I've been interpreting it (albeit gabs in theory knowledge). I
feel really good being able to take any major key and looking left and right to get the
major chords + going right the next 3 for the minors and one more for the diminished.

I'm thinking in all flats at the moment; so while this works I'm definitely missing a piece of
understanding that A major is a "sharp key." I am unsure why we need to fix the flat to
sharp if it's the same chord/note?

I also do not understand how the roman numerals line up or fit into the circle of fifths (or
if that's unrelated and not an easy pattern to fit in). I do get going through the scale
starting at root is I, etc. So that makes sense! Not sure if there is a way it fits into the
circle.

To your point about not using the circle this way I never knew of an easier way to know
what chords are in a key until now so hearing there is yet another way is shocking and
overwhelming but I'm all ears.

To figure chords in a key I use any one octave major scale shape that I know and
visualize it on the fret board.

r/guitarlessons Use App
Let's see if I can take that and get there.

A Major: A B C# D E F# G#.

1, 4, 5. A D E (majors)

2, 3, 6. B C# F# (minors)

7 G# (dim)

Compare that to circle.

DAE (major ) - B Gb Db (minor) - Ab (dim)

Woah, it matches. I feel better getting the chords from the circle because off the top of
my head I have no idea the notes in a scale for all the keys major and minor (pentatonic is
just first 5 of the major? 1, 3b, 4, 5, 7b and flattening the 3/7).

1 Reply

YveTen • 19 days ago

I appreciate this! Thanks! 🎸

2 Reply

Beartrkkr • 19 days ago

Thanks

2 Reply

tctony • 18 days ago

Nice trick here. "Octave shapes" (as I just learned they are called) and a mnemonic device (Eat All Day Get
Big Easy or Easter Bunnies Get Dizzy At Easter) are also helping me learn the fretboard. So anytime you have
an E on your fretboard, there is an A under it and a B above it. Adding this one to my mental list of patterns,
thanks!

2 Reply

3 more replies

WD40911 • 18 days ago

This is exactly how I learnt it! Except I memorized C-D-E only so was a bit hard.

2 Reply

VDKYLO • 18 days ago

im upset rn because i learned the fretboard a while ago now, and this wouldve been useful back then. i used
to just try to memorize where each note was, instead of patterns and shapes!

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2 Reply

hardhardhead • 18 days ago

Thank you. Just had a play it’s gonna open up loads for me, thanks for taking the time to write it out

2 Reply

VNTBLKATK • 18 days ago

Glad I could help :)

1 Reply

wormclaw • 18 days ago

This is at least vaguely similar to playing with just number intervals. Rather than C D E F G A B, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.
In the Major scale there is a whole step(two frets) between all notes except 3 to 4, and 7 to 1 where there is a
half step(one fret) between them. In minor the half steps are between 2 to 3, and 5 to 6. In C Major the open
strings are, moving from string 6 to 1, lowest to highest, intervals 3 6 2 5 7 3. So, since there is a half step
between intervals 3 and 4, note 4 is one fret up from note 3 on the open 1st string, making note 4 the first fret
on string 1. Since there is a whole step between intervals 4 and 5, note 5 is two frets up from note 4, so you
take the fret number from the previous interval and add 2, fret 1+2 = the 3rd fret. String 2 starts on interval 7
when it is open, goes up a half step to get to interval 1, making it fret 1, then a whole step to get to interval 2,
so fret 1+2 = fret 3, then another whole step for interval 3, so fret 3+2 = fret 5, etc.

Whether using numbers or letters it is just finding patterns, though. For me, I find it easier to change to a
different key by just using the underlying number pattern of the scale rather than trying to toil over letter
names, because you can just move the structure of the number pattern up or down a few frets and the key
changes with it, and if you know the number pattern then you know what notes you're playing in the context
of the scale already, even though the letter names have changed.

It is also at least somewhat helpful to understand interval types, which are called perfect, major or minor, if
you want to do more than use straight cut major and minor scales. These interval types have a similar
principle to sharps and flats in that they change by half steps, but the pattern of interval types stays the same
in every key, so you don't have to memorize a new pattern to change keys. These interval types apply to
numbers, not letters; there are Major and minor 3rds, but not Major and minor G's.

Obviously both letters and numbers are a good thing.

Anyway, this is long winded isn't it? Honestly I kind of like writing is probably why, that and the Adderall...
Alright, good luck out there.

1 Reply

BJsecurity • 18 days ago

Thanks I'm gonna save this and practice later

1 Reply

VNTBLKATK • 18 days ago

 Cheers, hope it works as well for you as it did for me :) Use App

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2 Reply

Vzey • 18 days ago

I just brute forced it, came up with my own nemonics for the 3rd 5th 7th and 10th fret.

3rd: Girl Chief F#nancial Advisors Do Great 5th: A Dope Grandpa Can Eat Ass 7th: BEAD F#or Butt 10th:
Drugs Get Cut For Amy’s Dad

1 Reply

solvitNOW • 17 days ago

I use: a dead guy can’t eat ass. It’s hard to forget that CAE after that!

1 Reply

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