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Learning the Fret Board - Beginner

Learning the fret board has always seemed like such a monumental task to me. I know it probably is not for allot of you. At the risk of overstating the obvious, I would like to pass along some things I have learned. I have noticed many people neglect to go over what they consider obvious and for the musically inept (such as myself) I often miss something simple yet important. The first thing to realize is the dots on a guitar are your friend. On many guitars there is one dot at the 5, 7, and 9 fret and two dots at the 12 fret. Depending on the string you are playing, the open string note and 12 fret notes are the same. In other words the 12 fret of the open E sixth string is also an E note. The 12 fret of the open A string is the A note...and so on. I have also found it helpful to map the notes found at each dot for each string. I used power point to make a diagram. Knowing the 12 fret note and memorizing the notes corresponding with the dots helps me to find the notes on either side or close to the notes. You can either map it out yourself (this helps me to learn) or there are plenty of resources on the web and possibly on this site. Speaking of the obvious, keep in mind your notes are:

A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#

Understand the # indicates a sharp note. A# is the same as A sharp. Not to confuse the matter, but A# is also the same as Bb, or B flat. Also observe the B and E notes are the only notes without a sharp note. I remember this by remembering they are almost the same letter except the E does not have the curves the B has. Anyway, there is a really great application that helps me to learn and remember the notes. It is a game called Fretpro and can be found at the following link:

http://www.tabguitarlessons.com/free-downloads.htm

I hope this may help someone else the way it is helping me. Remember, play for the love of playing and let the rest take care of itself. God Bless!

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