Unlock the fretboard. Learn the notes. Get confident with each string and fear not the ‘the swamp’ (that’s the zone we all venture into by accident and never come out ‘alive’!). Learning the fretboard can be boring – we introduce faster and more interesting and fun ways to approach this daunting but necessary task.
‘Why is it important to know the fretboard?’
We all learn chord shapes and scale patterns. We might know the names of the strings, maybe all the notes up to the 5th fret and even the notes on the low E (and possibly A) for barre chords. And this serves us very well.
BUT can we point to a fret and just know the note and say it! Can we play those scale patters in multiple places over the fretboard, move to chords with roots in other places or use different fingerings, delve into cool inversions, target the notes that make a song, put into practice theory knowledge that you might have.
To improve as a player we need to understand and learn our field of play – the fretboard.
Learning the fretboard is generally a process of osmosis – we tend to pick things as we go but there are more entertaining, creative, faster and fun ways of achieving the knowledge.
If we’re guessing where to fret a note then we can get nervous, tentative; we can become reluctant to explore other parts of the fretboard with totally different sounds for chords and scales. With fretboard confidence we can breathe new life into our standard songs.
Key point – learning is directly proportional to the amount of proper work we put in. Learn the ‘games’ and enjoy playing them.
(BTW, it also helps if players read standard music notation! Although we take it up a level here as we need to not only know a note and the octave it lives in.)
All guitarist and bassists.
The session is 60 minutes long; don’t expect to master everything during the session. The tutor will go through all the key parts, demonstrating them and discussing the associated techniques and know-how.
The real work is done by you afterwards. Armed with the materials (PDFs and video recording), you’ll have all the tools to work on things at your own pace.
When you book you’ll have two options:
1. You want to join the live Zoom session.
You’ll receive the joining instructions on the day. Being live, you’ll be able to put your own questions directly to the tutor during the session. Choose option 1, Lesson and materials.
2. Maybe you’d like to attend but can’t make it on this occasion?
You can buy the materials and receive them after the session (i.e. lesson PDF(s) and access to a Zoom recording of the live session). Choose option 2, Materials only.
These sessions are most suitable for intermediate players (i.e. maybe some barre chords, a tad of music theory/knowledge, etc.). But lightbulbs will be flashing for players of all standards as you pick up some great ideas and approaches.