Tricks to memorize notes on fretboard

[logdrum]

It will get better with time. Maybe you will be in a situation where you don't even have to know in 100 ms the note on fret 17 on the G string. Bonus points if the you can also name it if the tuning was on Eb or in D

C

 

[AboutSweetSue]

That should be chordify.net btw.

Indeed.

 

[James Collins]

Read sheet music. Put away tablature. Learning that when you need an A in sheet music on the G string you go to the second fret is different than reading tablature and seeing you need to play the second fret on the G string with no context to the note.

Tablature does a better job honestly of telling you where to put your fingers but it is awful at describing musically what is happening.

 

[jpmcbride]

I am having hard time to memorize notes on fretboard . . . . How can help myself?

Relax, it takes time. Don't worry so much about it. Just keep working on it and it will improve over time.

 

[Killing Floor]

On Old Olympus' Towering Top A Fin And German Viewed Some Hops.

That's how I remember things. It's called a pneumatic device because it hammers stuff into yer brain.

 

[Whale guy]

I learned where all of the Cs were in the first 12 frets, then F, until I learned the whole circle of 5ths. You don't have to do the circle of 5ths. Do it in any order. The best trick is to then do it with your eyes closed. You have to visualize the fingerboard. Then you will see progress.

 

[Swipter]

Learn to read music and get away from tab.

 

[Topkat13]

I’ve never found any of these “short cuts” so to speak that helpful. It’s like going on vacation…someone may tell me a better route but I still have to drive. I’m not saying they don’t have a place but to master our instruments takes years of practice. These so called short cuts, tips etc. go a long way IMO to help pro players market their online lesson packages. “You don’t have to practice hours a day to reach your goals” etc. How do you think they got good enough to make a living playing or teaching? And I’m not saying these don’t have a place or don’t create value but there is no substitute for sweat equity.

 

[MVE]

Do a search for “bass clef 12 Major keys” a number of pdfs will come up.
Print one.
Start by saying the names of each note to a metronome. (60bpm)
Do all 12 keys around the circle.
Then play each note and say it. (Again 60 bpm - all 12 keys)

Practice this every day for 45 minutes for 2 weeks and you will know your fretboard, know how to read bass clef, and know your circle of 5ths.

-just give me 45 minutes for 2 weeks.
You can do it!!!

here is one I found.
Again, start by just saying each note to a metronome at 60 bpm, for all 15 key signatures. (Its harder than it sounds)
After you can do that, start playing & saying (with metronome at 60)

…sorry it isn’t a “trick” its just the right way to do it.

 

[nutdog]

 

[logdrum]

I do not even think about it but I play wind instruments as well.

But what would probably help is what I learned at a John Pattitucci clinic as well in his video for DCI or maybe it was Hudson Music (~30 years ago - where he also teaches the spider finger exercise)

Do all you scales on one string and utilize the whole length of the string. So B minor on the G string, just do not go up, you still have A (2nd fret) and Open G. First do Major, Minor.
The do chord arpeggios on 1 string. Ascending and Descending
Then dominant - harmonic minor and diminished

A lot of shifting will be involved but you will learn those notes plus will teach you enharmonic relationships - fancy way of saying a certain pitch can have more than 2 note names as in F# is also Gb. But when you read you want to know this without thinking.

 

[El_Charro]

You’ll get it eventually. Give it time.

—————-
This…100%…

One way to learn the fretboard is to draw four lines on a sheet of paper and label them EADG…

Once you’ve done that-write out the remaining notes on the fretboard (if you’re super lazy like me, only go up to the 12th fret)…

Write it out every morning for a month (as a mental warm up exercise before work was when I did it)…

Eventually it just sorta stuck…

After a while, you will just somehow subconsciously “get it”…

Idk if this is even the best advice, but doing that or putting a diagram of the fretboard near your workstation (or even on your refrigerator) where you can see it every day goes a super long way towards helping you…

Writing it out helped me bc it made me stop and think about sharps and flats and the whole B/C E/F connection…

When I couldn’t fall asleep for a few months I tried to do it in my head at night as I fell asleep…If you wanna really get “good” try going forwards and backwards and naming the sharp/flat note…

I’m still a newbie and I’d can’t always name notes completely off the top of my head, but I usually I can come up with it if I think about it for a second (minus the notes on the E string and some on the A string-The more time I’ve spent there the easier it’s gotten on those two strings)…

Stick with it…Eventually it will make sense…

Best of luck to you whatever method you use…

Thanks! \m/

 

[Papageno]

I sincerely can't imagine a pianist with many years experience on the piano asking on an internet forum about tricks to memorize the notes on the keyboard.

What is special about bassists that this kind of question comes up all the time?

I hope nobody perceives this question as offensive. I am genuinely interested in understanding why we seem to be wired so differently.

 

[Rnr..........4]

There is a sticker set you can buy on Amazon. Maybe someone mentioned that already.

 

[Rilence]

Thinking in intervals as suggested by my teacher eventually worked for me where previous methods didn't.

 

[sokolasty]

I sincerely can't imagine a pianist with many years experience on the piano asking on an internet forum about tricks to memorize the notes on the keyboard.

What is special about bassists that this kind of question comes up all the time?

I hope nobody perceives this question as offensive. I am genuinely interested in understanding why we seem to be wired so differently.

Can you imagine panist playing roots only?
Can you imagine guitar player playing roots only?

Then check out AC/DC's Cliff Williams Check any metal, punk, hardcore bassists. Majority doesn't need to reach beyond tabs.

YMMV

 

[Robf]

There is a sticker set you can buy on Amazon. Maybe someone mentioned that already.

I actually tried this before with a label printer and placed the stickers all across a fretboard (maple is easier to clean off when you remove it). The problem for me wasn't the stickers but constantly looking down on the fretboard and not using the fret markers on the neck. I guess I didn't really zero in on the markers as being super helpful so the whole time I spent counting from the open string going up.

But now as I revisit the topic, I'm focusing on just using the fret markers, and getting in solid playing time. There's really no way around it, even after going over so many videos and books.

 

[WrapRough]

This is a really interesting thread. It seems like there are two camps - one camp who see notes on the fretboard as something to specifically learn, and the other who see it as something that you will just know over time.

I love the analogy of streets where you live. Yes, you just end up knowing all the street names over time. You don't set out to learn them. I can still remember all my friends phone numbers from when I was a teenager before mobile phones. I never sat down and tried to remember them. I just dialled them so much they were burned in.

I think the issue I have with specifically sitting down to learn the note names is that it is time that could be used for something more valuable, and the note names would come from those things anyway. I think our American friends call this a twofer. You get the value from, say, arpeggios, circle of 4ths, scales etc, but you also end knowing the fretboard, too. I think this is the best approach, personally.

 

[WrapRough]

What is special about bassists that this kind of question comes up all the time?

A combination of lots of things I think, but mainly because nowadays so many people are self-taught and rely on TAB and covers. I think a lot of guitarists are probably in the same boat. They learn on, say, an acoustic, and just know chord shapes from TAB.

You can blame TAB for a lot of things, I think.

 

[andare]

I sincerely can't imagine a pianist with many years experience on the piano asking on an internet forum about tricks to memorize the notes on the keyboard.

What is special about bassists that this kind of question comes up all the time?

I hope nobody perceives this question as offensive. I am genuinely interested in understanding why we seem to be wired so differently.

It's because unlike keys on a keyboard with the 2 and 3 black keys, every fret looks the same.

Add to that the fact that string instruments lend themselves well to learning shapes and patterns.

Every barre chord looks the same on a guitar and one only needs to know one reference note. Not so on a keyboard.

However I'm baffled by how some bass players don't know the intervals around the reference note. They must be those who only play root notes or those who only rely on tabs and never think of what they're playing. It's why I tell beginners to get a good teacher.