Guitar players who know the names and location of all the notes on the fretboard have a distinct advantage over players who learn via guitar TAB.
In fact, the guitar offers many alternative ways to play most musical phrases.
The trick is to know your options and the way to do that is to know how notes of the same pitch can be re-located to different parts of the guitar fretboard.
Let's start by learning the names of the notes on the first string of the guitar.
First string open = E First string/first fret = F First string/second fret = F#/Gb First string/third fret = G First string/fourth fret = G#/Ab First string/fifth fret = A First string/sixth fret = A#/Bb First string/seventh fret = B First string/eight fret = C First string/ninth fret = C#/Db First string/tenth fret = D First string/eleventh fret = D#/Eb First string/twelfth fret = E Now, here is where the guitar differs from other instruments such as the piano.
On the piano there would be only one place on the keyboard where you would be able to play these notes.
On the guitar it is possible to play these exact same notes on different strings.
Here is how it works, for those guitarists who ready know how to tune their guitar on the fifth fret without an electronic tuner it should be fairly easy to follow how I'm working this note duplication out.
Here is a quick reminder of how to tune your guitar without an electronic tuner.
Tune your 5th string open to match the pitch of the sixth string at the fifth fret.
Tune your 4th string open to match the pitch of the fifth string at the fifth fret.
Tune your 3rd string open to match the pitch of the fourth string at the fifth fret.
Tune your 2nd string open to match the pitch of the third string at the fourth fret.
Tune your 1st string open to match the pitch of the second string at the fifth fret.
You will notice that all the open strings (except for the second string) get their reference pitch from the fifth fret of the string above.
For example the 3rd string open gets it's reference pitch from the fourth string/fifth fret.
This is our clue ...
if the first string open is the same pitch as the second string 5th fret, remember that's what we did when we were tuning our guitar by ear (without an electronic tuner).
Then it stands to reason that the remaining notes on the second string above the fifth fret will be a duplication of the notes that we already know on the first string.
You will need to re-read the last paragraph a few times to get the idea, it's like reverse engineering for guitar, but stick with and you will be very pleased with the results.
To help you with the concept here is a summary of what we now know: first string open (E) = second string 5th fret (E) first string first fret (F) = second string 6th fret (F) first string second fret (F#/Gb) = second string 7th fret (F#/Gb) first string third fret (G) = second string 8th fret (G) first string fourth fret (G#/Ab) = second string 9th fret (G#/Ab) first string fifth fret (A) = second string 10th fret (A) first string six fret (A#/Bb) = second string 11th fret (A#/Bb) first string seventh fret (B) = second string 12th fret (B) Take your time playing and listening to these notes.
Listen carefully and you will discover that notes on the second string sound darker than their counterparts on the first string.
Being able to not only select the correct pitch of a note a guitarist is playing but also to know exactly where the guitarist is playing that note on the fretboard (identifying the note by it's tone) is a big step towards playing the guitar by ear.
In fact, the guitar offers many alternative ways to play most musical phrases.
The trick is to know your options and the way to do that is to know how notes of the same pitch can be re-located to different parts of the guitar fretboard.
Let's start by learning the names of the notes on the first string of the guitar.
First string open = E First string/first fret = F First string/second fret = F#/Gb First string/third fret = G First string/fourth fret = G#/Ab First string/fifth fret = A First string/sixth fret = A#/Bb First string/seventh fret = B First string/eight fret = C First string/ninth fret = C#/Db First string/tenth fret = D First string/eleventh fret = D#/Eb First string/twelfth fret = E Now, here is where the guitar differs from other instruments such as the piano.
On the piano there would be only one place on the keyboard where you would be able to play these notes.
On the guitar it is possible to play these exact same notes on different strings.
Here is how it works, for those guitarists who ready know how to tune their guitar on the fifth fret without an electronic tuner it should be fairly easy to follow how I'm working this note duplication out.
Here is a quick reminder of how to tune your guitar without an electronic tuner.
Tune your 5th string open to match the pitch of the sixth string at the fifth fret.
Tune your 4th string open to match the pitch of the fifth string at the fifth fret.
Tune your 3rd string open to match the pitch of the fourth string at the fifth fret.
Tune your 2nd string open to match the pitch of the third string at the fourth fret.
Tune your 1st string open to match the pitch of the second string at the fifth fret.
You will notice that all the open strings (except for the second string) get their reference pitch from the fifth fret of the string above.
For example the 3rd string open gets it's reference pitch from the fourth string/fifth fret.
This is our clue ...
if the first string open is the same pitch as the second string 5th fret, remember that's what we did when we were tuning our guitar by ear (without an electronic tuner).
Then it stands to reason that the remaining notes on the second string above the fifth fret will be a duplication of the notes that we already know on the first string.
You will need to re-read the last paragraph a few times to get the idea, it's like reverse engineering for guitar, but stick with and you will be very pleased with the results.
To help you with the concept here is a summary of what we now know: first string open (E) = second string 5th fret (E) first string first fret (F) = second string 6th fret (F) first string second fret (F#/Gb) = second string 7th fret (F#/Gb) first string third fret (G) = second string 8th fret (G) first string fourth fret (G#/Ab) = second string 9th fret (G#/Ab) first string fifth fret (A) = second string 10th fret (A) first string six fret (A#/Bb) = second string 11th fret (A#/Bb) first string seventh fret (B) = second string 12th fret (B) Take your time playing and listening to these notes.
Listen carefully and you will discover that notes on the second string sound darker than their counterparts on the first string.
Being able to not only select the correct pitch of a note a guitarist is playing but also to know exactly where the guitarist is playing that note on the fretboard (identifying the note by it's tone) is a big step towards playing the guitar by ear.
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