Memorizing Notes on The Fretboard

The objective of this lesson is to help memorize notes all over the fretboard. This is something that the majority of guitar players struggle with at least in their early years of playing, but is nevertheless a requirement for being called a guitarist. Below we will look at some techniques that will make the task easier.

Frets With The Same Notes

Below are a few observations regarding notes on the fretboard:

• Notes on the 1st and 6th strings are the same for every fret.
• Take a look at this image:
  
  
  The notes on the 5th fret (4th fret of the 3rd string) are A, D, G, B, E, and A (listed from 6th string down to 1st string). Observe that the note on each string's 5th fret (4th fret for 3rd string) is the same as the note the string below it is tuned to (e.g. the 5th string's 5th fret is D, which is the same note the string below it (4th string) is tuned to).



• Observe the following image:
  
  
  The notes on the 7th fret (8th fret of the 2nd string) are B, E, A, D, G, and B (listed from 6th string down to 1st string). This time, the note on each string's 7th fret (8th fret for 2nd string) is the same as the note the string above it is tuned to.
  
  Therefore, a note on 5th and 7th frets (4th and 8th frets for 3rd and 2nd strings respectively) can instantly be figured out by looking at the string above or below (you do fluently know notes on the open strings -- which are E, A, D, G, B, and E -- don't you?).



• Now look at another relation between same notes on the fretboard, a knowledge of which will prove very helpful:




The notes marked are all the C notes found on the fretboard (up to the 15th fret). You should convince yourself that the following relations hold for all notes on the fretboard, note just the C notes:
• A note on the 6th string is the same as the note 2 frets ahead on the 4th string, and 3 frets behind on the 3rd string. Example, the 3rd fret of 6th string, the 5th fret of 4th string, and the open 3rd string are all the G note.
• A note on the 5th string is the same as the note 2 frets ahead on the 3rd string, and 2 frets behind on the 2nd string. Example, the 3rd fret of the 5th string, the 5th fret of the 3rd string, and and the 1st fret of the 2nd string are all the C note.
• A note on the 4th string is the same as the note 2 frets behind on the 6th and 1st strings, and 3 frets ahead on the 2nd string. Example, the 5th fret of the 4th string is the same note as the 3rd fret of the 1st and 6th strings, and the 8th fret of the 2nd string, which is the G note.
• A note on the 3rd string is the same as the note 3 frets ahead on the 6th and 1st strings, and 2 frets behind on the 5th string. Example, the 5th fret of the 3rd string is the same note as the 8th fret of the 1st and 6th strings, and the 3rd fret of the 5th string, which is the C note.
• A note on the 2nd string is the same as the note 2 frets ahead on the 5th string, and 3 frets behind on the 4th string. Example, the 5th fret of the 2nd string, the 7th fret of the 5th string, and the 2nd fret of the 4th string are all the E note.
• A note on the 1st string is the same as the note 2 frets ahead on the 4th string, and 3 frets behind on the 3rd string. Example, the 7th fret of the 1st string, the 9th fret of the 4th string, and the 4th fret of the 3rd string are all the B note.

Take a look at an image of the fretboard with natural notes marked out to verify the above relations: Fretboard Showing Natural Notes.

Notes on the 12th Fret and Ahead

Note that the pattern of notes over the fretboard repeats after the 12th fret. Notes on the 12th fret are the same as those on the open strings, notes on the 13th fret are the same as the notes on the 1st string, notes on the 14th fret are same as the notes on the 2nd fret, and so on.