Does a piano player need to "memorize" notes on the keyboard? Of course not. Why? Because they are organized with a pattern that is easy to figure out.i’m still a beginner, despite being a total gear head, and i just wanted to ask for some tips on memorizing notes! it’s a bit time consuming hitting the open e or a or d or g string and being like “ok that’s a g... one two three...” etc and counting the half steps between b and c and e and f, just to arrive at a fret you’ll forget about once you move away for a second or two. beginners problems i guess. my picking technique and left hand technique are pretty okay, one finger per fret (sometimes i cheat and either use my middle finger or pinkie when i should use my ring finger), but i want to start getting into theory to better my playing. what’s the point of playing good if you play the wrong stuff??
The notes on the fingerboard of the bass are also organized with in a systematic, easy to figure out, manner. So there is nothing you need to "memorize" there. You should know them but not commit them to memory, just as you know the streets of your town. How did you learn the streets of your town? Not by trying to "memorize" them, but because you have visited them a lot.
So the way to learn (not "memorize") your fingerboard is to play a lot of simple material (scales, arpeggios, modes, tunes you know well, etc.) in all possible ways (along 1 string, across the strings, in all possible positions). Do this progressively, starting from the region of the fingerboard you are familiar with, and then exploring the neighborhood, just as when exploring a new town. If you don't know what note is there, then play it and listen to it, the sound will tell what note it is.
Do this a lot, and be patient. Sooner than you would believe,you will know your entire fingerboard like you know your town without commiting it to memory, because you will be at home there.
