Tricks to memorize notes on fretboard

[sokolasty]

I am having hard time to memorize notes on fretboard.
Right now I find next reference: what string I am on and what's the distance either to root, octave or note on 0th, 7th and 12th fret, then I need to look how many halfsteps from reference point I am and then add or deduct the distance. I feel like 5yr old connecting letters to words.

When I play note passages over a single chord or known and excersised chord changes, it flows wells, but new chord overloads my CPU and RAM and disturbes playing.
When I play and say notes loud, even the good 'ol C major scale kills.

How can help myself?

 

[DaveAceofBass]

Learn the piano first. Learn the half steps and whole steps and the names of the sharps and flats. Then make a neck diagram after you understand that. There is always a half step (one fret distance) between E and F and B and C. All other natural notes that move by step are a whole step (two frets apart). Start there. Learn to play in positions…learn what notes are under every finger in each position. Memorize where the octaves are. Then learn where all the notes are…like all Es, all Ds, all Gs, all Bbs, etc.

 

[DaveAceofBass]

PS—find a good private teacher. I’m in Charlotte

 

[Hummergeist]

I made myself an Ableton Live (software) project which plays a beat, and every bar or second bar, a recording of my voice calls out a different note - it's randomised so I never know which is coming next. That's helping me.

 

[Papageno]

The notes on your fingerboard are like the streets of your town. You know them, not by means of an effort of memory, but simply because they are (or should be) very familiar to you.

The only way to get familiar with the notes on your fingerboard is to practice a lot your scales, modes, arpeggios etc. When doing this do not rely on predefined boxes or patterns that you shift around. Do this for all scales in all keys. Use many different fingerings. Don't look for fingerings in a book; find them out yourself.

When practicing your scales, it is important to always name the notes you are playing; you should also be able to sing them and should also be aware of the interval with respect to the tonic.

Playing scales on a single string is an excellent to learn your fingerboard.

I notice you are registered on TB since 2006. I can't imagine someone living in a town since 15 years and not being able to "memorize" the station, the pub, or their friends home is. If you go there frequently enough, there is no need to "memorize" anything; you simply know it automatically.

 

[Groove Doctor]

You’ll get it eventually. Give it time.

 

[Mushroo]

Playing scales on a single string is an excellent to learn your fingerboard.

Great advice! This is what did it for me. Major scale in all 15 keys, on each of the strings. Not just from root to octave, but from lowest note to highest note that fits the scale. For example if I was practicing C Major on the G string, I wouldn't just go from C to C! I would start from the open G and go up to D at the 19th fret.

 

[WrapRough]

You’ll get it eventually. Give it time.

This.

No tricks - just experience.

I found funning the circle of 4ths on single strings helped me, but it wasn't the goal.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

There really aren't any tricks, just practice. I would suggest going incredibly slow and playing scales in different positions, limiting yourself to playing on two or even one string, playing double octave scales with different fingering going up and going down the scale, but play slow and say out loud the name of the note you are playing. Initially it may take a few seconds per note, but it will come faster as it cements in your brain. This is also a good time to pull it all together and learn to read music.

 

[DrayMiles]

The way to enlightenment is reading the dots. That has always been a good measurement of how much you know the fingerboard. You don’t have to be an excellent reader, just enthusiastic, inquiring, and patient with yourself.
Also, these things take time…

 

[Williethump]

The notes on your fingerboard are like the streets of your town. You know them, not by means of an effort of memory, but simply because they are (or should be) very familiar to you.

The only way to get familiar with the notes on your fingerboard is to practice a lot your scales, modes, arpeggios etc. When doing this do not rely on predefined boxes or patterns that you shift around. Do this for all scales in all keys. Use many different fingerings. Don't look for fingerings in a book; find them out yourself.

When practicing your scales, it is important to always name the notes you are playing; you should also be able to sing them and should also be aware of the interval with respect to the tonic.

Playing scales on a single string is an excellent to learn your fingerboard.

I notice you are registered on TB since 2006. I can't imagine someone living in a town since 15 years and not being able to "memorize" the station, the pub, or their friends home is. If you go there frequently enough, there is no need to "memorize" anything; you simply know it automatically.

Sorry, way too lazy for this amount of buzz kill work. With my old brain it would take frequent, lengthy rote memorization and then I'd forget it. Bass is my therapy and happiness, not my job. I'll risk your distain and remain ignorant of which sweet note I'm playing. Because I want joy. Not toil.

 

[jallenbass]

Ed has 5 videos in this series.

 

[lfmn16]

There are no tricks, secrets or short cuts, just hard work. Spend time each and every day playing your major scales, minor scales and arpeggios. If there was an easy way, everyone would know their fretboard.

 

[SteveCS]

...
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How can help myself?

When learning the notes on the fingerboard it is really helpful to think in the context of keys.

Example 1. Consider, for a moment, the 6th fret of the A string. Is it D# or Eb? In isolation it could be either. In the key of B Major it is D#. In the key of C Minor it is Eb.

Example 2. Consider the 4th fret of the D string. In the key of G minor, the note at the 4th fret of the D string is F#. In Bb minor it is Gb.

The secret to success in this approach is to focus on learning one key at a time. For example, don't try to learn B major and and Db major at the same time as there are just too many enharmonics (note of the same pitch with a different name) between them:

B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#
Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C

 

[Papageno]

Sorry, way too lazy for this amount of buzz kill work. With my old brain it would take frequent, lengthy rote memorization and then I'd forget it. Bass is my therapy and happiness, not my job. I'll risk your distain and remain ignorant of which sweet note I'm playing. Because I want joy. Not toil.

We are all wired differently. Some people can do all of this without the need of any theory, scale names, note names, etc, just by ear. Maybe you are an ear player. If you know where to put your fingers to play the music you want to play (be it by ear or otherwise), then you know your fingerboard, and everything is fine. If not, how can you play and get joy from it?
The added benefit of knowing some theory about the music, the fingerboard, etc., is that it helps a lot for communication among musicians, for example on internet forums.

 

[PTSD]

Use reference points. Do you know about this?
E (open) F (first) g (third
A (open) B (second) C (third)
D(open) E (second) F(third)
G (open ) A (second) B (fourth)

Then you have the fact that every note has its higher self two strings down and 2 frets over, so you really only need to "memorize" the top two strings (i put it in quotes because you dont actually need to memorize every note on the fret board if you use the reference points). Also, the 7th fret of each string is the open string above it and you know about the 5th fret, Im sure. Use the reference points to determine what the surrounding frets are, like the ninth fret on the D string is B, because you know the 7th is A.... and so on. It sounds difficult to remember but you can do these without conscious thought, really, and you'll eventually just know .

In other words, you dont need to memorize the fret board, you can use reference points as described to know which note you are going to every time without memorizing the whole thing. Of course you will over time remember the notes but for now i wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Wfrance3]

For me, realizing that the fretboard repeats was a thing. EX) The 3rd Fret of the E string is a G, right next to it on the 3rd fret of the A string is a C. Right next to that on the D string is an F. Right next to that on the G string is A#(which is also Bb).
Go up to the 8th Fret of the E string. It's a C. go over a string to the 8th fret of the A, yup, it's an F. Go to the 8th Fret of the D string. You guessed it, it's A#(which is also Bb)...
I kinda thought about back when I was a wee lad and discovered that 3x4 was 12 as well as 4x3. With that lightning bolt, half of the multiplication table learning task took care of the other.
Maybe give this video a look, don't forget to download the PDF that goes with it:

This is G pentatonic.
Play it with a click going until you can do it without looking at the music.
If you have something that will hold a G note four you to have going while you are running these patterns all the better.
If you just move all of what you just memorized and got under your fingers up 2 frets to start on the A (5th fret of the E string), you will realize that you mostly have the A version of the G you just learned.
For homework, figure out on your own, what happens below the 5th fret on this A Pentatonic version of the G Pentatonic you just learned via SBL and your hard work.

Hope this helps!

 

[salmon256]

For a tip or life hack, I'm not sure, everyone has different tips on how they remember thing. What works for me is just finding exercise that focus on that, and practice practice and going slow. Start very slow and get slightly faster every time and said the notes out loud and think them. Best of luck!

 

[salmon256]

For me, realizing that the fretboard repeats was a thing. EX) The 3rd Fret of the E string is a G, right next to it on the 3rd fret of the A string is a C. Right next to that on the D string is an F. Right next to that on the G string is A#(which is also Bb).

Exact same thing! Once you see that the fretboard repeats, it helps learn it and just feel it out.

 

[40Hz]

Sorry, way too lazy for this amount of buzz kill work. With my old brain it would take frequent, lengthy rote memorization and then I'd forget it. Bass is my therapy and happiness, not my job. I'll risk your distain and remain ignorant of which sweet note I'm playing. Because I want joy. Not toil.

No disdain called for. We’re each into bass for our own reasons, and we’re each perfectly free to pursue it in our own way. No outside approval wanted nor required.

But hopefully the OP doesn’t share your feelings if he’s serious about what he’s asking help with. Because all the advice that’s been given about it taking some time, effort, and practice really is the only way to master the fretboard and know where all the notes are. There aren’t any tricks to it. Just like learning the multiplication tables. The only way to do it is to do it.

However, you can significantly shorten the time required by remaining focused and going about it in a structured fashion. It’s better to work smart than it is to just work hard at something. And much of the previous advice given by other posters in this thread will allow him to do just that if taken to heart.