This is an abridged and shorter version of a lengthier article that can be found on Guitarchalk.com.
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The easiest way to master the fretboard is by root note memorization, and not merely memorizing the
This is an abridged and shorter version of a lengthier article that can be found on Guitarchalk.com.
The easiest way to master the fretboard is by root note memorization, and not merely memorizing the notes of all the frets on each string. That's a part of the process, but I want to go a step further and show you how to anchor root notes in your memory based on chord progressions.
Here's the process I'll follow in this guitar lesson:
1. Identify a common key.
2. Locate the most convenient fretboard positions for that root.
3. Memorize the chord progressions that expand from those roots.
Let's start by talking about this process, and how keys, scales and chord progression roots are all connected.
The Process: Keys, Scales and Common Chord Progression Roots
Every key has a list of chords that correspond to the key's root notes and resulting group of "common" chord progressions. For example, let's assume we're trying to establish ourselves on the fretboard in the key of C. We would first call to memory the C major scale, which is the following:
Now, consider the chords in the key of C, from these seven scale notes:
Now we can establish a few common chord progressions to "plot" the root notes on the fretboard and begin memorizing a pattern. In most scales, I, IV and V is the most common sequence of degrees, meaning the first, fourth and fifth degree of the scale provide the chords.
We should also consider I, ii and V, since that gives us C, D and G chords, which is another common guitar chord progression.
Now that we've established some common chord progressions in the key of C, we need to plot each chord's root note