Learning every note on the fretboard(without having to think about it)

guitarblaster

A method that worked really well for me is using the circle of 4ths on each string. So on each string I will play BEADGCF B flat E flat A flat D flat G flat and do that on each string in that order. I'd do that each time before I practiced and I'd say I know the know the notes really well in terms of being able to find them, 

grappagreen

There's lots of good stuff in here and I wont add to them other than a couple of things I learnt from my teacher;

1. Always, always do any exercise like this with a metronome. You just can't cheat when you've got a pulse to work too, it shows up areas of weakness straight away and you can push yourself/measure progress easily
2. Start slow - I mean really slow if necessary! Do your exercise at a tempo you can complete it correctly at before you move on.
3. Find a trigger. I ALWAYS do my fretboard note knowledge exercise whenever I pick up a guitar. If you do this without fail you will improve dramatically in a short space of time. It takes me about 30 seconds to complete so there's just no excuse.
4. Say the note names out loud as you do it. Easy? Say the next note name out loud as you play the first one! Easy? Say the fret number out loud as you play. Easy? Say the next fret number out loud. We're moving away from just the exercise now into the area of mental plate spinning.. about one of the most important things to develop imho. Be patient with this; it takes time but its very much worth the effort imho.

Here's the exercise I do when I was working it up to speed..

https://youtu.be/Iw_wArGz5Ms

Si

WeZ84

I have found this site quite useful too - especially when I don't have a guitar nearby to practice on.

The fretboard trainer gives you a game to help learn where the notes are on each string
https://www.fachords.com/tools/fretboard-trainer/

Here's another to help with intervals.
https://www.fachords.com/guitar-fretboard-interval-exercise/

duotone

WeZ84 said:

I have found this site quite useful too - especially when I don't have a guitar nearby to practice on.

The fretboard trainer gives you a game to help learn where the notes are on each string
https://www.fachords.com/tools/fretboard-trainer/

Here's another to help with intervals.
https://www.fachords.com/guitar-fretboard-interval-exercise/

Cheers for those @WeZ84 ;

Vinylfan

WeZ84 said:

I have found this site quite useful too - especially when I don't have a guitar nearby to practice on.

The fretboard trainer gives you a game to help learn where the notes are on each string
https://www.fachords.com/tools/fretboard-trainer/

Here's another to help with intervals.
https://www.fachords.com/guitar-fretboard-interval-exercise/

Nice - I like that.

stratman3142

People's brains work in different ways.

Right now, after nearly 50 years of playing, I don't know every note literally 'without thinking about it'. Probably because I've not needed that knowledge so it's not been retained.

Having said that, I could give the impression of pseudo instantaneous knowledge, but really I probably only have an instantaneous knowledge of the natural notes by rote, then it's quick to get to the sharps or flats by an offset of one fret. I could go through the process of relearning every note by rote, but it has limited value to my current musical situations and I would rather focus on other things.

I prefer a relational or meaningful learning approach than learning by rote.

An analogy is the multiplication tables. Whilst I could attempt to learn them again by rote, instead (as an example) I would think of something like 9×7, as 10x7 -7=70-7=63. 

sweepy

I break the fretboard down into octave patterns adding 3rds and 5ths etc, soon makes sense and falls under the fingers

Gianca

duotone said:

WeZ84 said:

I have found this site quite useful too - especially when I don't have a guitar nearby to practice on.

The fretboard trainer gives you a game to help learn where the notes are on each string
https://www.fachords.com/tools/fretboard-trainer/

Here's another to help with intervals.
https://www.fachords.com/guitar-fretboard-interval-exercise/

Cheers for those @WeZ84 ;

Hello, I'm Gianca, the creator of these tools. Happy you found them useful. If you have questions, comments or requests, feel free to write me anytime :-)

hollywoodrox

WeZ84 said:

I have found this site quite useful too - especially when I don't have a guitar nearby to practice on.

The fretboard trainer gives you a game to help learn where the notes are on each string
https://www.fachords.com/tools/fretboard-trainer/

Here's another to help with intervals.
https://www.fachords.com/guitar-fretboard-interval-exercise/

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

the FAChords fretboard trainer really really works just play it a few times a day 
even if you know nothing you can use it in practice mode . It really works well 
You will just flat out memorise them , no referring to known notes or positions 
,just Bang , you will name it 

allen

grappagreen said:

There's lots of good stuff in here and I wont add to them other than a couple of things I learnt from my teacher;

1. Always, always do any exercise like this with a metronome. You just can't cheat when you've got a pulse to work too, it shows up areas of weakness straight away and you can push yourself/measure progress easily
2. Start slow - I mean really slow if necessary! Do your exercise at a tempo you can complete it correctly at before you move on.
3. Find a trigger. I ALWAYS do my fretboard note knowledge exercise whenever I pick up a guitar. If you do this without fail you will improve dramatically in a short space of time. It takes me about 30 seconds to complete so there's just no excuse.
4. Say the note names out loud as you do it. Easy? Say the next note name out loud as you play the first one! Easy? Say the fret number out loud as you play. Easy? Say the next fret number out loud. We're moving away from just the exercise now into the area of mental plate spinning.. about one of the most important things to develop imho. Be patient with this; it takes time but its very much worth the effort imho.

Here's the exercise I do when I was working it up to speed..

https://youtu.be/Iw_wArGz5Ms

Si

Nice job!

I couldn't quite make out what you were saying, but when I learned that exercise I do it according to the circle of fifths so it serves the purpose of learning that too.