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BEST WAY TO MASTER FRETBOARD NOTES
- Thread starter Clark Westfield
- Start date
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Uhhh.... play.
When I was first starting I would write out the neck on a piece of paper to help me memorize the neck. Mind you I was also still in high school at that time and had nothing else to do in class... I wasn't about to learn...
When I was first starting I would write out the neck on a piece of paper to help me memorize the neck. Mind you I was also still in high school at that time and had nothing else to do in class... I wasn't about to learn...
1. Write notes on manuscript paper and label their names. Just as students learn to read through writing.
2. Play notes and say their name aloud as you play them.
2. Play notes and say their name aloud as you play them.
I took some lessons with Kai Eckhardt a while back. He recommended playing every E on every string, then every F, then every F#, every G, etc.. That was helpful and different for me. Maybe take one note per day. Play every E on the fretboard. Tomorrow play another note. You get the idea.
I've been trying to do this too. Right now I'm just trying to learn the notes on the "Dotted" frets (3, 5, 7, 9, 12), assuming that once I've got those down I can get where I'm going quickly from there and the rest will come naturally.
That's how I learned as well. Except I started with C, then G, and went around the circle of fifths. It didn't take much time at all. A few minutes at the start and end of practise, and in a month or so, I couldn't forget the notes if I tried. I always sung them too - good for ear training.
Read, read, read! And not just bass lines - melodies too!
There are two problems with learning bass, especially in the last couple of decades (I know that makes me sound old!) that often lead to people in your situation or worse...
1. People get obsessed with learning patterns/copying other people without actually knowing what they're playing.
2. TAB - the worst thing ever invented IMO. It is a shorthand, and not very descriptive at that, that encourages you to play by numbers... says it all!
Learn to read a little at least.
Practice your aural skills and start to write down things you hear without playing them, then play them back from what you've written.
Before long, you'll be reading fluently, transcribing with ease, playing better because you'll be able to think in notes and know where they are which will expand your musical vocabulary exponentially.
Even if none of that works for you, it can't do any harm!
There are two problems with learning bass, especially in the last couple of decades (I know that makes me sound old!) that often lead to people in your situation or worse...
1. People get obsessed with learning patterns/copying other people without actually knowing what they're playing.
2. TAB - the worst thing ever invented IMO. It is a shorthand, and not very descriptive at that, that encourages you to play by numbers... says it all!
Learn to read a little at least.
Practice your aural skills and start to write down things you hear without playing them, then play them back from what you've written.
Before long, you'll be reading fluently, transcribing with ease, playing better because you'll be able to think in notes and know where they are which will expand your musical vocabulary exponentially.
Even if none of that works for you, it can't do any harm!
This is one of Ed's videos that explains a method for finding all the occurrences of a note on the fretboard:
i started doing this just this month/year. One note per month, I practices scales, modes, key signatures etc. in C. I will follow each month with the next note/key in the circle of fifths. Killing alot of birds slowly over the course of 2013!
^ That's half the battle, but it's additionally useful to learn how to identify patterns (melodies, intervals, progressions, arpeggios, etc.) and transpose them through different keys. For example can you pick up the bass right now and play "Happy Birthday" in every key? Learning the **** out of C Major and Db Major (and so on) is super-valuable, but so too is the transformational ability to transpose familiar patterns to new keys. (And I'm not just talking about sliding box patterns up and down the neck; I mean actually knowing the note names and scale degrees and being able to write it out. Choose a bass line you know by heart, and without access to a bass or piano, write it out in all 12 keys.) The skills are complimentary.
Definitely reading sheet music would help. Even if you have to start off with a beginning book or beginning songs it will still help you familiarize yourself with your instrument which is an integral part of being a musician.
Also, learning scales and what notes go into each scales. Start with the major scales, then minor scales, then maybe penatonic or harmonic. They get progressively more technical but it helps with learning the notes alot. Also helps with finger/playing speed as you practice over time.
Also, learning scales and what notes go into each scales. Start with the major scales, then minor scales, then maybe penatonic or harmonic. They get progressively more technical but it helps with learning the notes alot. Also helps with finger/playing speed as you practice over time.
The nice thing about learning a little bit of piano (I recommend all musicians should have at least a teensy bit of keyboard practice) is that it doesn't map out "one half step per fret" like on bass or guitar, so you can't just move the same pattern up/down. Piano really forces you to learn each scale as a specific combination of natural notes (white keys) and sharps/flats (black keys).
This worked for me...I also used Flash Cards but needed a chromatic(sp) tuner when I couldn't find (or bribe) an assistant.
I'm new to bass...one thing that is helping me...is to use my clip on tuner as I practice my scales. You HEAR the note...and get VISUAL confirmation. Also..if you hit a sharp accidentally...that registers also. Since the tuner is on the the headstock a mere glance for confirmation is still within your sight line of your left hand. No need to glance to a piece of paper off to your right or left. Works for me. 
is still within your sight line of your left hand. No need to glance to a piece of paper off to your right or left. Works for me.
:scowl: Why are you looking at your left hand? You need to get to a point where you just know where the notes are without looking, something I try to enforce from lesson one so the habit doesn't begin. Your arm/fingers/muscles to to know, not your eyes as you don't play with those!
Very true. But I am new...so at this point I still look...especially when a finger lands directly on a fret....not behind. I am getting better. Incrementally....but slowly learning my way around the board.
