Guitar Trainer

I posted a while ago about learning the notes of the fretboard, if you haven’t already read it I suggest you learn the notes on the guitar here. I also talk about the fretboard diagram accessible from the right sidebar (on the main site).

Once you reckon you’ve got a pretty good grasp on the layout of the guitar fretboard, it’s time to test yourself- and I’ve found the perfect program to help! If -and only if- you think you’ve really mastered where the notes are on the fretboard, go to this site and test yourself.

Different Ways to Learn the Notes

Ultimately, you want the method that works best for you, and finding that path might require a bit of experimentation. So what I’ve decided to do is: tell you about several different options that may or may not help (depending on how you learn). This is how I always teach to my students, because everyone learns slightly differently and what works well for you might not help the next person. You really want to find the learning style that suits you.

Memorising the Notes

First, flat out memorisation: you sit there, with the fretboard diagram and attempt to memorise every single note. No playing the notes, no relating to chord progressions-  just pure memorisation.

I really wouldn’t recommend this method (unless you happen to have an amazing memory!), because your brain (everyone’s brain) works better if you can combine two different types of information at once. For example: on the .pdf fretboard diagram I’ve coloured each note differently (all the A’s are one colour, all the B’s another etc,), and this helps you because then your brain is combining one type of information (note names) with another (colour). You might try the same thing with a mnemonic (a stupidly spelled word, not to be confused with pneumonic- also a stupidly spelled word that’s pronounced the same!).

Playing Songs

The second method is one that I use very often and would definitely recommend it. Basically, you play the chords to songs as barre chords (which sometimes means re-arranging them from being open chords). This method requires you to be familiar with the CAGED system, but is much more effective that just trying to straight-out memorise the notes!

Again, it’s linked to the processes in your brain. If you combine knowledge of a song (or the sound), with knowledge of where the notes are, you’ve got the two pieces of information you need. Using A and E shape barre chords you can play pretty much any song, and practicing this way will get you learning the notes on the A and E strings (where the root note of each respective chord lives).

Guitar Trainer

Oh yeah, this is what I was writing about originally! The guitar trainer is an online program that you can use to test yourself on your fretboard knowledge. It basically shows a dot on a picture of the fretboard and gives you a selection of notes to choose from. You simply click on the correct note for the position on the board.

Honestly, I found this method a bit odd, because seeing a picture of a fretboard on the screen is not the same as playing the note with your own two hands. So I would advise that you have your guitar on hand should you need help recognising the notes.

Above all, have fun!

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Rob.

April 20, 2010 at 11:00 pm | How to, Practicing and Practice Routine | No comments