Wow, what a bold claim that many of you will think is some sort of clickbait title, but I assure you, it isn’t. It’s 100% true, as long as you have a little bit of guitar playing experience.
I was asked by a publisher to write a book on the subject four or five years ago, they loved the book, but they wouldn’t accept my proposed title because it was unbelievable, it was published as Memorize the Fretboard in less than 24 hours.
But today I’m going to go over how to do it in much less than 24 hours (90 minutes, in fact!) as I share a compressed version of the best method in my book, but there are some provisos. First, this is not a method for beginners, but to be perfectly honest (and going against what so many players post on forums and groups), beginners don’t need to know how to name every note on a guitar fretboard.
What use is it to them at that early stage of learning?
None at all, they should concentrate on the important building blocks of playing guitar - learning chords and how to change between them quickly, learning basic rhythms and using them with the chords they know to play simple songs, and learning a few scales and maybe some exercises.
The best guitar fretboard learning method requires some knowledge of guitar playing so is suitable for advanced beginners, intermediate players, and those who are more advanced.
What background info is needed?
Most guitarists who have been playing for a while will be familiar with the E and A-shape barre chords. These are based on the root E and A chords which when barred and moved up the neck allow you to play - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - and back to E on the 12th fret.
The note that you are playing on the low E string signifies the chord name, therefore, if you play an E-shaped barre on the 1st fret, the root (on the E string) will be F, which makes the chord an F major. This is shown in the diagram below, with the red circles marking the root and the other two F notes in the chord.
F Major Chord on the first fret
If you use an E minor shape you will get the same chords but minor. The same is the case for the A shape and Am shape barre chords but the root is on the 5th string, the A.
Assuming that you know your E and A-shaped barre chords, you already know half the notes on the fretboard! You know the notes on the low E-string up the 12th fret. They then start again, so you probably know them from the 13th fret to the end of the neck as well. The same is more than likely true for the A-string. Plus, since the low E-string and the high e-string have the same notes along the fretboard, it is easy to work out the notes on the higher string by comparing them to the low E.
But what if I don’t know my barre chords up the neck?
The best way to learn the position of the different barre chords is to play the songs you first started learning but without using any root chords. For example, most guitarists learn Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan at some stage, it contains the chords G, D, Am - G, D, C.
You started off playing it using simple root chords to improve your chord changes and rhythm playing. But you can now re-learn it but using barre chords. Start with an E-shaped barre chord on the third fret (G), then move to an A-shaped barre chord on the fifth fret (D), then play an Eminor-shaped barre chord on the fifth fret (Am). Now play the G chord again, followed by the D, then move it back two frets to the third fret to play a C.
Then play it even further up the neck starting with an A-shaped barre on the 10th fret (G), followed by an E-shaped barre chord on the 10th fret (D), and then an Am-shaped barre chord on the 12th fret (Am). Now play the G again, followed by the D, and then back to an E-shaped barre chord on the 8th fret (C).
Do this with a few more simple songs containing 3 or 4 chords, then try a more complicated song, such as House of the Rising Sun. You will know your barre chords all over the neck in no time at all.
Since you know your E and A-shaped barre chords up and down the neck, you must know the root note of each chord, i.e. every note on the E, A, and high e-stings. These will be our anchor notes to learn the rest.
Octaves
Depending on how long you’ve been playing, you may have encountered octaves. These are the same two notes, but they are an octave (eight notes of a major scale) apart. There are seven common octave shapes that can be played on a guitar, let’s go through them.
Root C octave shape (5th and 2nd strings)
Play a root C chord and remove your second finger. Now play the A string (5) followed by the B string (2) and you have a C note and an octave of C. Move the shape up one fret and you have a C# and an octave of C#, as shown in the following diagram, up another fret and you have D, etc.
C# Octaves
Root G octave shape (6th and 3rd strings)
Play a root G chord and remove all fingers except the second, which should be on the low E-string on the 3rd fret. Now play the low E-string (6) followed by the open G-string (3) and you have a G note and its octave. To move the octave shape you need to play the note on the low E-string with your little finger, then as you move up a fret place your first finger on the 1st fret of the G string. You now have a G# and the octave of G#, as shown in the following diagram. Move both fingers up one more fret and you have an A note and its octave, two frets and you have A#, etc.
G# Octaves
F octave shape (3rd and 1st strings)
Play a barre F chord on the first fret. Now lift your first finger and place it on the 1st fret of the high e-string. Next, remove your second and fourth fingers, and you are left with an F note and its octave, as shown in the following diagram. Move it up a fret and you’ll get an F# note and its octave, up one more and you get G, etc.
F Octaves
Root E octave shape (6th and 4th strings)
Play an E chord, then remove your first and second fingers. Now play the open low E-string (6), followed by the second fret on the D-string (4) to produce an E and its octave. Now move your third finger up a fret and place your first finger on the first fret of the low E-string. You now have an F note and its octave, as shown in the following diagram. Move the shape up a fret and you get an F# and its octave, etc.
F Octaves
Root A octave shape (5th and 3rd strings)
Play an A chord, then remove your first and third fingers. Now play the open A-string (5), followed by the G-string (3) to produce an A and its octave. Next, replace your second finger with your third on the second fret of the G-string, and move it up a fret. Now place your first finger on the first fret of the A string, to produce an A# note and its octave, as shown below. Move the shape up a fret and you get a B note and its octave, two frets to get a C and its octave, etc.
A# Octaves
Root D octave shape (4th and 2nd strings)
Start by playing a D chord, then remove your first and second fingers. Now play the open D-string (4), followed by the third fret on the B-string (2) to produce a D note and its octave. Next, replace your third finger with your little finger and move it up a fret. Then place your first finger on the first fret of the D string, to produce a D# note and its octave, as shown below. Move the shape up one more fret and you get an E note and its octave.
D# Octaves
High G octave shape (3rd and 1st strings)
Play a G chord, then remove your first and second fingers, leaving the third finger on the third fret of the high e-string. Now play the open G-string (3) and the high e-string (1) to produce a G note and its octave. Next, replace your third finger with your little finger and move it up a fret, then place your first finger on the first fret of the G string to produce a G# note and its octave, as shown below. Move it up one fret to become an A, two frets to become an A#, etc.
G# Octaves
Joining it all Together
Now that we’ve covered the 7 octave shapes, let’s join them all together. For this example, I’ll start on the C note on the third fret of the A string.
Place your first finger on the C note and using the Root A Octave shape, add the third finger on the G string (5th fret). Now move your first finger to replace your third finger, and using the Root G Octave shape, place your little finger on the low E-string (6) on the 8th fret to find the next octave. Now replace your little finger with your first and use the Root E shape to locate the next octave on the 10th fret of the D string. Replace the third finger with the first again and use the Root D Octave shape to find the next octave on the 13th fret of the B string. Replace the little finger with the third and then use the Root C Octave Shape to find the next octave. Then go back down the neck connecting octave to octave.
This all sounds very complicated while reading it, but in reality, it's relatively easy. Depending on what string you are on, you have a few options of where to go next to find the octave.
- Finger on Low E-string (6) - Use the G-shaped Octave or E-shaped Octave
- Finger on A-string (5) - Use the C-shaped Octave or A-shaped Octave
- Finger on D-string (4) - Use the E-shaped Octave or D-shaped Octave
- Finger on G-string (3) - Use the G-shaped Octave, F-shaped Octave, A-shaped Octave, or High G-shaped Octave
- Finger on B-string (2) - Use the C-shaped Octave or D-shaped Octave
- Finger on High e-string (1) - Use the F-shaped Octave or High G-shaped Octave
Putting it all into Place To Name any Note on the Fretboard in a Millisecond
It’s now time to try out the system for yourself, choose any note at random, then trace it back to its octave using any of the octave shapes.
For example, if you choose the 6th fret on the B string, you can use the C octave shape to trace the note to its octave on the 8th fret of the A string, which you know is an F note from your knowledge of A-shaped barre chords. Or you could use the D octave shape to trace the note to the 3rd fret of the D string, and then the E octave shape to trace that back to the first fret of the low E string, i.e. an F note.
Wrapping it Up
You’re probably now thinking that getting your head around all of this within 90 minutes is impossible. But I assure you it isn’t. Once you know the seven shapes, pick any note across the fretboard at random and use an octave shape to name it. Then play all of its octaves up and down the neck and name the note (which will always be the same) as you play it. Then choose another random note and do the same. After you’ve done this for 4 or 5 times, stop playing.
That’s right, now you do it in your head while only looking at the fretboard. Again pick a random note, then work out where its octave would be and say the name of the note. Now work out where the octave of that note would be and say the note as you find it. Again do this 4 or 5 times.
Now take a short break to process the information, then go back to your guitar and place a finger anywhere on it and see how long it takes you to trace it back to its octave and name it. You’ll be shocked at how quickly you can all of a sudden name every note all over the fretboard.
Keep practicing this and you will soon see the notes connected to their octaves all over the neck.
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