Learning all the notes on the fretboard is one of the simplest steps you can take to elevate your playing.
Before you curse us out for recommending such an arduous task, consider the following: a doctor must know the body’s anatomy, an accountant must know basic arithmetic, and a webmaster must know the code that makes up a webpage.
Knowing the fundamentals of the instrument will make it easier to tackle the more difficult aspects of playing that you’ll encounter down the road. You’re probably familiar with the adage that you must learn to crawl before you can walk. That saying can be applied here as well.
Besides, learning the neck’s notes won't be very difficult if you follow the simple steps in this lesson. As you’ll see, some of the information in here is about things you already know—we’re just including it to help put all the knowledge into perspective.
So put on your thinking caps and let’s get cracking.
THE CHROMATIC SCALE
The chromatic scale is a series of 12 tones that ascend or descend in half-step increments, or one fret at a time. In other words, this scale names every note on the neck, one by one, in succession.
Before you put it into playing terms, it’s a good idea to memorize the scale itself without playing the notes on the guitar. There are two simple rules to follow when memorizing the chromatic scale.
First, the notes follow a sequence that starts on C and ends on B (C D E F G A B). Second, between these notes you’ll find sharps (#) or flats (b). A sharp raises a tone by one fret, and a flat lowers a note by one fret.