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GMC Forum _ THEORY _ Learning Notes On The Neck

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 18 2012, 04:54 PM

Hey guys! I was reading a Joe Satriani's book called "Guitar Secrets" and there was a cool article about "Learning notes on the neck", he shares it as a game for practising and here is the idea explained by a guy at youtube...




Posted by: Alex Feather Jan 18 2012, 05:07 PM

QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jan 18 2012, 03:54 PM) *
Hey guys! I was reading a Joe Satriani's book called "Guitar Secrets" and there was a cool article about "Learning notes on the neck", he shares it as a game for practising and here is the idea explained by a guy at youtube...


Really cool concept! It is a very important subject! If you don't know notes on the neck you are very limited!

Posted by: Saddlefall Jan 18 2012, 10:00 PM

Here is another video in three parts about this subject, I think this method is great! I still haven't learned all the notes though, I'm lazy! unsure.gif


Posted by: Daniel Realpe Jan 19 2012, 07:51 AM

This is great. I never intentionally tried to learn the notes, I think I ended figuring them out by practice, but this will cut time in the learning curve I guess,

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 19 2012, 11:42 AM

I totally agree with the fact that learning your neck is a very important thing, regardless of how the guitar is tuned. I am constantly dealing with 3, even 4 types of tunings (E standard, Drop D, Drop C, Drop A) so knowing where the notes are saves me from a lot of trouble. But yeah, I figured everything out by practice and trying to be conscious as much as possible when I am playing.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Jan 19 2012, 11:47 AM

That's a cool concept. Although, I wish the guy had waited to turn the metronome on after he had explained everything tongue.gif

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 19 2012, 05:11 PM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Jan 19 2012, 07:42 AM) *
I totally agree with the fact that learning your neck is a very important thing, regardless of how the guitar is tuned. I am constantly dealing with 3, even 4 types of tunings (E standard, Drop D, Drop C, Drop A) so knowing where the notes are saves me from a lot of trouble. But yeah, I figured everything out by practice and trying to be conscious as much as possible when I am playing.


how do you do to remember the notes in 4 different tunings man??? biggrin.gif

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Jan 19 2012, 07:47 AM) *
That's a cool concept. Although, I wish the guy had waited to turn the metronome on after he had explained everything tongue.gif


hahaha it's true!!! laugh.gif

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 19 2012, 06:23 PM

Great vid! If players learn the notes on the E string, up to the 12th Fret, they are in pretty good shape going forward in that it repeats at 12, and just starts further up as you shift to higher strings. Once you memorize the basic sequence, E, F, F# etc. You can start with A on the A string, D on the D string etc.

It's hard to believe most music comes from only 7 base tones and their sharps/flats. You would not think it possible upon hearing a symphony that the number of tones is that limited.

So Memorize

E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D#
(Using all sharps to keep it easy).

That starts with the open E and repeats up to the 12th fret where it starts over.

Starting on the A string, just start at A, it also repeats to 12th and starts over. So on and so forth smile.gif

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jan 19 2012, 09:58 PM

The way I learned is first learning C major scale across the neck, and then it became easier to find other notes.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 20 2012, 01:17 AM

It doesn't always work, but I get by pretty much biggrin.gif when I'm on stage it's the most difficult, because I tend to move a lot and everything is a blur laugh.gif


QUOTE (Gabriel Leopardi @ Jan 19 2012, 04:11 PM) *
how do you do to remember the notes in 4 different tunings man??? biggrin.gif



hahaha it's true!!! laugh.gif


Plus, drop D is almost the same as the standard one - it's the dropped E string which changes wink.gif

Posted by: jaredvanearle Jan 20 2012, 12:48 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Jan 19 2012, 08:58 PM) *
The way I learned is first learning C major scale across the neck, and then it became easier to find other notes.



i learnt it as Am just to think of it as darker sounding laugh.gif

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 20 2012, 07:15 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Jan 19 2012, 05:58 PM) *
The way I learned is first learning C major scale across the neck, and then it became easier to find other notes.


that's a good approach! I first started learning G - A - B in the 6 string and C - D - E in the 5th string and then I related all the other notes using those notes as a guide...

Posted by: The Professor Jan 28 2013, 12:13 PM

We just started a series on learning the notes on the neck here at GMC. Check it out for more info on the subject.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=47441

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 28 2013, 02:08 PM

QUOTE (The Professor @ Jan 28 2013, 08:13 AM) *
We just started a series on learning the notes on the neck here at GMC. Check it out for more info on the subject.

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=47441



That's very interesting and important for every guitar player. Thanks for sharing it here Professor! smile.gif

Posted by: The Professor Jan 28 2013, 03:02 PM

NP just finished the second part in the series, should be live shortly!

Posted by: osiris Jan 28 2013, 03:22 PM

I so suck at this. Went to an audition and had to stand there in shame counting notes ("it's C on the G string man!")

So - I second the need to get this right.

However, it's only E and A that actually sticks in my brain. D and G strings can be pretty quickly figured out when you know those, but I still can't just point to a fret and say instantly what note it is. And don't ge me started about the B string.

On a side note (pun intended), I just recently realized that the name of Homer Simpson's barbershop quarted "The B sharps" is a pretty funny insider joke for musicians :-)

Posted by: The Professor Jan 28 2013, 03:27 PM

Yeah it's a tough thing to get down when you are first working on it. Try the improv exercises, soloing on just the C scale notes on one string and saying the notes out loud as you do. That's a fun and good way to learn the notes on each string.

You might be surprised how spending just 5-10 mins a day can really make a difference with this stuff. It's more about consistency I think when learning notes, rather than cramming.

Posted by: David.C.Bond Jan 29 2013, 11:24 AM

Cool! Learning the note names was one of the biggest breakthroughs I had when I was studying smile.gif

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