A New Way To Get Started Memorizing The Fretboard
I think I finally figured it out...
I’ve been playing guitar forever. I’m sure some folks don’t like my playing, but I think everyone would agree that I am not a novice player (finally, after 40 years). Sadly, though, in spite of probably being able to play 200 songs or more off the top of my head, many with note-for-note solos included, I never memorized the fretboard. I’ve only just started taking stabs at that over the past few years.
What I’ve learned on that journey is that there are a bunch of ways to do it. I have also learned that, at least for me, and I think for everyone, there isn’t supposed to be one single way we do that. Rather, different methodologies are good for different situations you might find yourself in. And, after going through a bunch of these methodologies, I actually made one up!
The SixString Jones Fretboard Memorization Method
Sounds official, right? LOL
The idea came to me when I was watching Gracie Terzian’s fretboard memorization challenge video. I realized that her method has elements from other methods. Then my brain wandered to other videos covering the topic, and somehow my brain landed on the simplest one I saw: a single-note-focused method where you play each note in one place on each string. I still do this exercise all the time. You’ll see YouTube videos of it all over the place. I think that single note method is good, but I also have seen it not really help me in certain live improve situations. This is probably because I don’t practice it enough.
But then I had an idea:
When I was a kid in the 80s, me and all of my friends could remember probably 20 of our friends’ phone numbers by heart. We could recite any of their numbers super fast without even thinking about it. We’d never get it wrong. Heck, I still remember some phone numbers from the 80s that I used to call regularly!
What if we just took that old single-note method, took the fret numbers, and created a kind of ‘contact list’ for all of the notes? For example, F#’s “number” becomes (from 6th string to 1st string): 2-9-4-11-7-2. A’s “number” is 5-12-7-2-10-5. You get the idea.
I’m going to work with this idea for the next couple of months and see if it helps with the specific circumstance I want help with, which is….
Rescue Navigation
If I’m in the key of A and I’m playing a solo, and I’m wanting to stick to the minor pentatonic, and I slide up from the 7th fret to the 9th fret on the G string, I’m doing that by ear. In other words, in the context of that scale, when I get to that 7th fret, my ear just wants to hear the note a whole step above it. I intuitively know it works. And it does. But… then what? I forgot what pentatonic position I’m in, and I forgot what arpeggio or CAGED shape I’m in. Damn!
But I know I’m in the key of A, and I know hitting the root always works, and it’ll also help get me grounded and centered and back in control. So what’s A’s “number”? 5-_12_- ah - that’s all I need. The 12 on the A string is right nearby. As soon as my eye lands on it I also know I can play a little slide up to the major 3rd before hitting the A so it doesn’t sound to jarring. I’m back in the driver’s seat, and car is no longer careening toward the cliff.
One Method Of Many
I searched for a long time thinking there should be “one true way” to memorize “the fretboard”. What I’m learning as I try a bunch of different things is that “the fretboard” can sort of mean different things in different playing situations, and the more ways you have to think about and visualize the fretboard, the better off you’ll be.
Sometimes, you want to compose, and have lots of time, and want to be able to make musical connections between where your song is and what’s nearby. Other times you want to improvise on the spot and play what’s in your head and need to find a note at the speed of thought. Still other times you want to find a short path from a low note to a high note to get a specific effect and you need a shape, arpeggio, scale run, or something like that that’ll help plot a musical, natural-sounding path to your destination. And, of course, like me, sometimes you’re just lost and are looking for a beacon that’ll get you back in control.
What’s Working For You?
Have you figured out a method that works for you? Do you have just one or two things you memorized, like single notes and triads, or arpeggios and scales, that “unlocked” the whole neck for you? Reach out! I’d love to hear about it!