Understanding the Fretboard better

[oren]

I think (as has been mentioned) that having patience and allowing your internalization to happen over time is key. I do have a few suggestions:

Practice reading standard notation. The Simandl method book can be very helpful in teaching where the notes are on the fingerboard (while maybe not the most advanced fingerings for electric bass, it won’t hurt to learn them). Also, practice reading the melodies for standards out of fakebooks - start with the easy ones like Autumn Leaves, not Some Skunk Funk. When you can do that, try playing them up an octave. If you want to play jazz you’re going to need to know a bunch of standards anyway.

Practice playing all the notes - for example play every E up the fingerboard, starting with the low open E, then E on the D string, then the octave on the G string and then back down. Then do all the As, then Ds, and so on. Do it as slow as you need to and speed it up over time. Of course most notes can be played in multiple places on different strings, so take that into account as you progress.

Things like his don’t come all at once, and expect to continue learning for many years. For instance my teacher (I’m studying classical on upright, after a lifetime of playing jazz and rock) asked me a couple of months ago how I practice scales. I told her I do all the two octave major scales around the cycle of 4ths as a daily warmup. She said that was good, then asked me if I ever played them starting at the top and going down first, then back up. And I couldn’t do it! So I’ve been practicing my scales that way every day since, and it has made a huge difference in my facility up high on the neck.

best of luck, and enjoy the process!

 

[phaneo]

No mention yet of the Fretboard Accelerator Course from SBL. It's been a game changer for me. game-changer
https://scotts-bass-lessons.teachable.com/p/the-fretboard-accelerator

 

[phaneo]

Here's a master pattern you can explore with your bass and maybe find hidden treasure. (the treasure just being those enjoyable a-ha moments of understanding)
View attachment 5360765 View attachment 5360765

Can you explain this to me??!!

 

[Michael Milner]

Hey all,
I'm a freshman music student studying the electric bass. I play some other instruments and understand basic music theory, and I've been getting into jazz recently on the bass, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fretboard. I've been playing for about 6 years now, and up until my first semester here, I've been using tabs to learn. I know the shapes of root-3-5-7s of different chords on the fretboard, but knowing where all my notes are at all times, and being able to visualize my notes outside of the one position has been rough. I've started to pick up upright a little bit, and it's been helping, just getting rid of tabs altogether, but I'm not sure how well it's been translating to electric bass. I take lessons on electric, and they're super helpful, but compared to everything else my lesson instructor and I have worked on up to this point, I'm not seeing nearly as much progress as I would like in terms of being able to see notes if this makes sense. The biggest thing is that I have trouble seeing my frets as notes rather than just numbers or dots. If anyone has experienced anything similar, what are the best exercises, things, or practices I can do to overcome this hump?
Any tips or advice would be strongly appreciated.
Thanks!

Try this:

 

[BigBadBen67]

I agree that learning two-octave scales is invaluable, both for learning the fretboard and for wrapping your brain around modes. Learn to play them in different ways, like all on two strings, across all four strings, across three strings, etc. Avoid just learning patterns so you can learn both the notes and the intervals.

 

[mambo4]

Can you explain this to me??!!

Its just all 12 notes, arranged in 4ths, represented as otherwise useless abstract symbols. Colors encode pentatonic or something. For my money a simple neck diagram is better. Here it is rotated, with a bass neck diagram super imposed.

While creating such diagrams yourself is a worthy exercise that may lead to new understanding, (my old notebooks are full of such exercises), especially understanding that the various 4 fret "box" scale patterns of strings tuned in 4ths is actually just one larger pattern, I suggest there are better abstract symbols for understanding music, like notation.

 

[FearNoEvil65]

Adding 10 minutes daily or at every practice sessions of reading musical practice Etudes in standard notation will teach the fretboard easily. There's many different books and programs available.
It's really that simple, learning patterns or practicing scales etc., is all good but won't do the same thing.
Reading standard notation and learning at least basic theory goes a long ways.

 

[Topkat13]

Regardless this stuff takes time. Be patient.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

YMMV, but I don't get it. I mean of course I get it - it is blindingly obvious what it is trying to represent. But I don't see any value in substituting letter names and/or intervals for obscure glyphs that have absolutely nothing to do with music. Doesn't adding further layers of translation from non-musical language hinder the task? YMMV

I seriously thought this pic was a troll post.

 

[Whale guy]

1)begin sightreading as soon as possible. Super easy music is fine. Keep at it.
2)remember the 3 positions on the fingerboard. You probably know the first position well (first 5 frets). Spend as much time as you can on the 2nd position (frets 5 through 9). At first, start with just a few notes that you know by heart.

Knowing the fretboard opens up your world, but if you are like me, you will need to practice fingerboard knowledge for the rest of your life.

Good luck.

 

[Jimmy Howe]

It’s all about the 3,5 and 7 and whatever key I’m playing in, I’ve found that the 3, 5 and 7 are useful targets for learning the ‘board/ chords etc…

 

[MCF]

Hey all,
I'm a freshman music student studying the electric bass. I play some other instruments and understand basic music theory, and I've been getting into jazz recently on the bass, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fretboard. I've been playing for about 6 years now, and up until my first semester here, I've been using tabs to learn. I know the shapes of root-3-5-7s of different chords on the fretboard, but knowing where all my notes are at all times, and being able to visualize my notes outside of the one position has been rough. I've started to pick up upright a little bit, and it's been helping, just getting rid of tabs altogether, but I'm not sure how well it's been translating to electric bass. I take lessons on electric, and they're super helpful, but compared to everything else my lesson instructor and I have worked on up to this point, I'm not seeing nearly as much progress as I would like in terms of being able to see notes if this makes sense. The biggest thing is that I have trouble seeing my frets as notes rather than just numbers or dots. If anyone has experienced anything similar, what are the best exercises, things, or practices I can do to overcome this hump?
Any tips or advice would be strongly appreciated.
Thanks!

I found this guy’s series of vids with a systematic step by step approach to be useful. It takes patience and time. Start at the beginning, even if you’re past that or the first few stages. And do drawings with him along the way.

This is the first vid:

 

[Old gold]

Just remembered a little ‘game’ that I played when starting out learning to read (still learning). I’d pick a simple song like Happy Birthday in C. I’d look at the sheet music and pick a starting place, say a fretted G on the E string. Then I’d play the song starting with a fretted G on the A string and so on. Same notes, different strings. Should sound the same if you don’t make a mistake. Also helps to break the reliance on a single fingering pattern. Then I’d try a classic riff like Smoke on the Water (using whatever key you choose as a starting place). Start on the E string, then go to the A string, and so on. Then I’d pick a song based on a pentatonic scale such as Sir Duke in B and move it around a bit after starting on the E string. Again, mistakes were evident to the ear. At least I thought it was fun.

 

[J Wilson]

I had tried and applied most of the usual methods, all of which seemed sorta dry and uninspiring.

After several years, two things happened and things fell into place:

I began to play more country gigs and in the process came to be fluent in the number system.

Then after that I switched permanently to five string basses. That gave many more options for fingering and where I wanted to be on the fingerboard.

In the number system, essentially you only need to know where one note is, that being the key where you're going to perform the tune. After that you hear the changes in the intro, the verses, the choruses, and how you're going to end it.

Those chord changes become intervals and those intervals becomes notes on the fingerboard:

In A major . . .

1-4-5-5 ( or, A-D-E-E)

. . . and on and on. So over time playing in many different keys, I learned the fingerboard much better in a playing form.

This is when the little light came on, and wherever I was, I could call off the notes.

I've never seen this in a lesson form, but for me learning by doing is always best.

 

[Polish Thunder]

I will share what worked for me learning the fretboard. I would set a metronome to a real slow pace and the would start on the open E and say the note out loud. Then play the E on the 12th fret of the E string, then the E on the A string, D string, and finally the G string. Then I would reverse the order stating on the G string all of the way down to the open E. Then I would do F, F#, G, and so on. When I started I sometimes had to stop and count the frets. Now I can set the metrome to 120 BPM and go up and down pretty easily.

Good luck.

 

[conttador]

If you’re playing the four focus on the low strings (E & A). Start by learning the dots and memorize the notes. Once you learn those two strings everything else will fall into place because I’m sure you already know the octave shape.

I tried all sorts of things but it wasn’t sticking this is what finally stuck. I too play jazz and when I finally learned the fretboard my playing improved exponentially. It’s definitely an important endeavor.

 

[wysiwyg248]

 

[2F/2F]

Outside of knowing what key I'm in, I favor thinking largely in intervals, which I find seamless and intuitive to deal in – not notes. Intervals look and feel the same on the bass, regardless of what key you're in. Been playing bass for 36 years now, and aside from knowing my key, I haven't thought about note names since about 35 years and 50 weeks ago. Even when reading, I read the lines and spaces as intervals from the tonic, not notes. You say you know basic theory, so this should be an easy transition for you. Just simply stop thinking note names. Think intervals, and how they relate to finger positioning.

 

[fdeck]

Here's an idea. Put down the electric for a few months and focus exclusively on the upright. My thought is that it will help you forget whatever mental habits you developed from using tabs for so long. And the upright is a bunch of fun anyway. Once you're gaining proficiency on upright, then ease your way back into electric.

 

[bigboy_78]

Problem is a lot of bass playing is shape based. R-3-5-7 etc. As long as you know the root, the rest is just there.

To get away from mindless shapes, play some progressions finding the closest note to start the next arpeggio. C7/F7 = C-E-G-Bb/A-C-F-Eb/ E-C-Bb-G/F-Eb-F.........etc makes you think about chord spelling and where you are on the fretboard.

Like basically everyone has said, play from standard notation, bass or treble clef, as often as you can. Forces the connection between note name and location.