How do I know which note/fret to start at?

by Rick
(Atlanta, Ga.)

Question: At 49 years old I thought I'd teach myself to play the guitar. I kinda get the notes, flats, sharps and I am the process of learning to read music. But as I read the fret board there are A's up and down the board, sooner or later it will come to me. But since ya'll have a question & answer section and your site is so well crafted I thought what the heck! How do I know what fret to start at.

Answer:

Hi Rick, the question of what fret to start at is one that will be answered in your own mind when you come to learning and using scales. It's all about context...

Let's say the note A is the root note of the scale you're about to solo in. That means the scale will be in the key of A. Now, you could start your soloing phrase on that A root note, but just knowing where that note is on the fretboard will help you see other starting points in that same scale.

For example, if it's the A major scale, you could also start your solo on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th or 7th tone of that scale. By knowing the root (1st) note is A, you'll know by association where these other "starting notes" lie.

Of course, these relationships become much clearer when you spend time learning guitar scales.

Learning guitar theory is like piecing together a map - the big picture gradually reveals itself and each piece makes more sense the more you add to it...