How well do you know the notes on the fretboard?

[Gear_Junky]

I dont know them well at all but understand I should.
I know the nut to the 12th on the 6th and 5th strings well but its spotty after that, beyond finding the octave based on the 5th of power chords.

Yep, that was me 3 days ago, but not anymore. I feel I'm about half-way there knowing the naturals. And I tried today going after sharps and flats relative to the natural and it's very fast, so possibly no need to specifically learn them, just practice them as such. I suspect that's how sight readers operate - the natural is written on the staff, the key signature (or accidental sign) tells you to sharpen or flatten... just guessing...

[Tonray's Ghost]

I don't know squat except that when I strum without fretting I get a G Major when tuned to Open G.

I just play for enjoyment and play what sounds good to me

[Lacking Talent]

One of these days I'll learn to play the guitar properly and I'll come back and share how I did it.

One of these days I'll learn to play the guitar properly and I'll come back and ASK how I did it.

[UrenragK]

What's a fretboard?

[Stoli]

I think I have a pretty good handle on the notes on the low E, A, and high E. I pretty much learned these learning to play the E and A shaped barre chords. I do not know them on the other strings without counting them off. I also tend to think more so in patterns like a I, IV, V or ii, V, I or other common chord progressions. For rhythm playing, once I got to where I could change those chords somewhat efficiently it opened up playing for me as that gives you the knowledge to play major chords, minor, 7s, major 7s, minor 7s, 9s, etc. by just learning a few basic shapes and knowing where to go play a specific chord.

I do not have much ear and to the extent that I can hear something it just seems to be very slow and has come with just practice and playing. I know some people who play who sound good but they have no idea what chords they are playing, how chords are constructed, major scale, etc. but they are light years past me with their ear.

[Gear_Junky]

I do not have much ear and to the extent that I can hear something it just seems to be very slow and has come with just practice and playing. I know some people who play who sound good but they have no idea what chords they are playing, how chords are constructed, major scale, etc. but they are light years past me with their ear.

That is VERY true - I've always felt that learning theory and other "knowledge" things would help me compensate in some measure for the lack of innate musical ability. No illusions, though, there's no becoming one of the Beatles by any kind of learning, especially as an adult. Just about any musically accomplished person grew up around music and musicians, an edge I certainly didn't have. But I'll say that I don't regret learning anything that I did and still am.

[Stoli]

I do not have much ear and to the extent that I can hear something it just seems to be very slow and has come with just practice and playing. I know some people who play who sound good but they have no idea what chords they are playing, how chords are constructed, major scale, etc. but they are light years past me with their ear.

That is VERY true - I've always felt that learning theory and other "knowledge" things would help me compensate in some measure for the lack of innate musical ability. No illusions, though, there's no becoming one of the Beatles by any kind of learning, especially as an adult. Just about any musically accomplished person grew up around music and musicians, an edge I certainly didn't have. But I'll say that I don't regret learning anything that I did and still am.

I think most everything that I have learned has been useful or will be at some point in the future. I took a guitar class at the local community college (was a class intended for non-music majors) and the guy that taught it had a Masters in music and had studied both classical and jazz but he could play anything he was motivated to I think. He tried to teach the course as if I would never take another course so he exposed me to a lot of things that I have worked on for months that he called how music works. We did that rather than hey here is how to play some song. At first it was hard to see how it really helped until my physical playing and muscle memory could catch up. Also, he was really good at demonstrating how those concepts related to real music that I had heard. I still refer to those concepts and materials all the time and delve deeper on things I am interested in. Would like to do another class with him when Covid ends. Most of what we went through is buried out on the internet someplace in bits and pieces but the internet and books do not always tie things together well or just forget to tell you something really important that the authors assume you already know. I have a "Guitar Theory for Dummies" book that is a pretty good reference on things but much of it is more advanced than where I am. I use it more like an encyclopedia than a book that you start on page one.

I did not pick up any instrument until I was 50 or know the first thing about music. I could see a child or teen progressing at this a lot faster than I do that is immersed in it and spends the time with it. I do not play music to make a living though so no real pressure. I do think what I have learned helps compensate a little for the ear limitations.

I have not dug into it but learning chord inversions tied to some of the other strings might give some more chord shapes and help learn the notes on the other strings. I seem to do better if I can relate root notes to a chord shape. I run across some chords like that in some things that I try to play but have not studied it other than to maybe learn a specific chord for a piece of music.

[Longblacktie]

I do, but I rarely think of them when I’m playing. I think it’s infinitely more valuable to develop your ear, understand intervals and chords by ear, note and key resolutions etc. I took a few years of music theory in college and , while I have forgotten a lot of it, a lot of is ingrained in the ear even if I don’t remember the exact theory.

[tlarson58]

Me (to myself): "I know that there's an E here, and an E there, which means that the next one is... here. Wait, you missed one back... here and...maybe here."

[nomadh]

I've kind of figured that possibly I can learn anything. But I also figured out i cant learn everything. So do i spend time memorizing notes? Or how to use them? Or perhaps songwriting? Or do i take what i have already learned and play with someone and use what i got and enjoy it. Or do i learn singing? And of course i still need to sleep, work to earn money and spend time with the wife. So where do you invest the time to get the most out of it before your time is up.