Please note: this only applies if your bass is tuned in standard 5ths.
There have been a few posts on total fret board command recently, so i would like to tell you guys the method i am using to help me learn the freatboard. (i am not there fully, but i'm getting there
)
this isn't a quick fix solution; it is a logical way of learning the frets.
(as a student engineer i can only understand things in patterns/formations).
1. Learn the first 5 frets of each string. I say only the first five because the 5th fret becomes the same note of the next string.
2. The tuning of the bass provides a useful pattern, frets 6-10 on any given string are the same as frets 1-5 of the next string up.
Example:
Frets 1-5 of the A string are Bb B C Db D
This means that frets 6-10 of the E string are also Bb B C Db D
This pattern repeats on the entire fret board, so you have to be able to visualise the notes of the first five frets of each string repeating the same pattern on the whole fretboard.
So;
The first 5 frets of all the strings are
C string : Db D Eb E F
G string : Ab A Bb B C
D string : Eb E F Gb G
A string : Bb B C Db D
E string : F Gb G Ab A
B string : C Db D Eb E
The same pattern of notes keeps repeating itself over and over again.
So the following occurs:
D string:
Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db D
A string:
Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A
E string: F Gb G Ab A
Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G
At the 12th fret, the pattern starts over. so frets 13-17 of the A string are Bb B C Db D
It also helps to learn what notes if PHYSICALLY above another.
i.e. the same fret but one string higher.
You can see from the list i have made above that C is always above G, D is always above A, Bb is always above F; etc.
I hope this helps. i am not a teacher, nor do i pretend to be one. this is just my method for learning the notes on the fretboard.
