Guitar
Fretboard Lessons Part
2 - Note/Fret Relationships
In the previous fretboard guitar lesson, we
learned the note positions on the first 2 strings on
the guitar, the E and A strings.
Now, you could also apply the
method we used in part 1 to the other 4
strings (using your knowledge of the order of notes), but this lesson
will show you a more productive way to learn
the notes for the other 4 strings and at the same time
get you thinking
about note relationships.
What do I mean by note
relationships? Basically, how one string at
a certain fret produces the same note as another string at another
fret!
The below video (by the
creator of Guitar
Notes Master) shows how note relationships can be found
within chord shapes and across the fretboard...
Note relationships on the fretboard
In a moment we'll look at some
fretboard diagrams to
see how the 6 strings relate to each other. Assuming you've learned the
first 2 strings from part 1, this shouldn't take too long to master,
and what you end up with is the ability to shift these visual
relationships up and down the fretboard.
So just bear in mind that
these diagrams apply to any position up and down
the fretboard. These relationships are movable...
1 - E, D and e (high
E) strings
Look at the diagram above.
We established in part 1 that
the low E string is the same note as the high
E string, so if you were at fret 3, you should know that the
low E string would be the note G,
therefore the
high E string at fret 3 would also be that note.
Straight away then, if you've
learned the low E string notes, then you'll know the high E string
notes automatically.
The other related string in
that diagram was the D string. All you need to do is look at its
position in relation to the high or low E string -
it's 2 frets higher.
So if you fretted the D string at fret 5
it would be the note G
because the E string in
its related position would be at fret 3, which you'd know is also G.
Try it - play those string
positions in the diagram above anywhere on the
fretboard. They're the same note.
2 - A, G and B strings
Again, in part 1, you should
have learned all the notes for the A string. So we can use this as our
"base"...
Once again, look at the visual relationship between those three strings
- they're all the same note.
The B string note is 2 frets
below the same note on the A string and 4 frets below the same note on
the G string.
If you're getting bored, try Guitar
Notes Master for a more interactive, fun way of learning the
fretboard.
3 - E, D, B and e
strings
This diagram links the first
and the second previous diagrams together...
Again, all the same notes.
The note positions on the E, D
and high E strings we learned from the first
diagram in this lesson, and the B string position we learned from the second
diagram, so we're in effect linking those diagrams together.
The link bridge is between the
B string and D
string positions - they're 3 frets apart. Once you then establish what
the note is on the D string from its relationship
with the B string, you'll know how it relates to both the E strings
from the first diagram.
4 - E, A, G and e
strings
Notice anything familiar in the diagram above? Namely the
relationship between the A and G strings and both the E strings? We've
just linked these together.
The G string position lies 3
frets below the E string positions.
Then, once you know the note
on the G string, you also know how the A string relates to that from
the 2nd diagram!
Link them ALL together
Work on all 4 diagrams above
and learn their relationships. If you were to play the note C,
you should be able to visualise it in all its positions based on the
movable relationships we've learned...
You can probably pick out those individual diagrams we've been looking
at. It's just a case of linking them together and practicing
until you can do it almost instantly (no, it won't take long to get to
that stage - you'll surprise yourself!)
Try another one... find all
the note positions (including beyond the 12th fret octave) for G
