Ask Alex about... Guitar Fretboard Chart

Key ideas:

In order to fully understand the guitar fretboard, you need to grasp 2 things: note layout along the fretboard, and the underlying principle of note organization across the fretboard. Start there if you haven't done so already.

Merely being able to see all the notes on the fretboard plotted on a chart is pretty useless. What's important is to understand all the relationships within it.

We guitarists need a way of grasping the fretboard visually, the way piano players do.

One way to start is to look at the fretboard chart without accidentals: only "white keys".

An even better way to start is to use only strings 6 through 3 ( E A D G ), which is the same as the bass fretboard. This eliminates much confusion stemming from changing fingering patterns.

Tip: take each string and explore it individually both from a theoretical perspective, and simply by improvising on it.

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Guitar Fretboard Chart

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Ask Alex about... Guitar Fretboard Chart

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Aug 10, 2011

not a fastball at all...
by: Alex

Hi, Neptunande,

There are several ways to look at this. The short answer is that it is "dissonant"... that is just to say that we are not culturally used to the tritone in chords, with the exception of the dominant 7th chord.

Having said that, tritones are heavily used in Jazz and contemporary harmony, in a variety of ways.

The long answer is that the ratio of a tritone produces less stable vibrations than an octave, or a fifth, or a third, etc.

The ratio (in terms of Hz) of the high note of an octave to the low one is 2:1

The ratio (again, in terms of Hz) of the high note of a tritone to the low one is √2:1

This is way more complex than a simple 2:1

Hope this helps, and feel free to ask as often as you wish

Cheers,

Alex

Aug 10, 2011

I might be throwing you a fastball here but...
by: Neptunade

Why is it that the strongest relationship between notes is the octave, but not half way up, that is to say, not the 6 half-step relation?

Both its neighboring notes are in nearly every scale, (anything with a #4/b5 has this note) and it is used in scales to keep the momentum going, but for it to be in a chord? Forget it. Why is that?

May 25, 2011

Notes and music are not the same thing...
by: Alex

Hi Alan...

So now you know that notes and music are not the same thing. That's a good starting point. After all, it's not about the notes, it's about what you do with them. Merely knowing the names of notes on the fretboard is no good:

You need to understand the relationships between the notes...

You need to experiment...

You need to be curious and read up, take lessons, talk to other musicians: do anything and everything that helps you in any small way. Small things add up, you know?

You may want to check out my first eBook, Fretboard Essentials. It's full of tips on the above points, sliced and diced in such a way that even a beginner can grasp complex music theory concepts.

Cheers,

Alex

Oct 11, 2010

about notes
by: alan

ive learned the notes all across the fretboard and i want to know how to turn it into music please help

Jul 26, 2010

Actually... great question!
by: Alex

This is the simplest possible diagram of the circle of fifths. This is where it all starts...

Jul 24, 2010

This might be really basic...
by: meg

I'm new here. I'm just trying to grasp your concepts. I've looked at the guitar fretboard diagram but I don't see any patterns.
What are these patterns you speak of? Where is the symmetry?
I feel like I'm looking at a magic eye picture and I can't see the image...

Jun 29, 2010

Thanks!
by: Alex

Thanks, Joe, for your comments and for your generous donation!
This keeps the coffee-fueled content engines churning away!
Feel free to stop by any time and ask anything you wish!!!

Alex

Jun 29, 2010

Awesome!
by: Joe Hanly

Thanks so much for answering my question so quickly. I realized after I asked this on your site that I should study the history of guitar a bit! 8)

It does seem that the modern guitar has evolved organically, like you say. Completely fascinating!!! Pat's story is also amazing. I hope teacher's everywhere will embrace this new way of looking at things. Thank you again, I'm very happy to have stumbled on to your site!

Jun 28, 2010

Geometry, chords, and evolution...
by: Alex

Hi Joe:

That's a really interesting question. The tricky bit in trying to find out the reason behind the standard tuning system is nobody invented it! Or if they did, no-one knows who:

The instrument evolved, organically, so to speak, in 18th century Europe from the vihuela, the lute, and other plucked-string instruments. If you think about standard tuning, E A D G B E and analyze it two things become obvious:

It is not E A D G C F, a completely symmetrical system, because that makes playing 6 string tonal chords pretty hard.

So as to duplicate the most important note of a chord, its root, the most obvious thing to do is lower the 6th string one half-step: E A D G C E
However helpful this may be, you now have minor sixth (compound) up from the root on the fifth string: E C

So the most logical thing to do is to down-tune the fifth string too. This leaves you with a perfect fifth on the fifth string, which is very practical to have when playing chords.

The earliest notation systems for the guitar support this: they are all systems of chord fingering patterns!!!

In any case, what Pat Martino Points out about diminished and augmented chords holds true for any other instrument as well, so this leads me to believe that the true reasoning behind the standard tuning system has more to do with chords than with sacred geometry...

I hope I haven't spoiled your party!!! ;-)

Alex

Jun 28, 2010

Pat Martino, Scared Geometry, and Standard Tuning
by: Joe Hanly

I recently discovered Pat Martino's work, "The Nature of Guitar" with a friend.

It is an amazing revelation I can barely stop thinking about. I was excited to know that another friend and myself had been instinctively creating alternate tunings to produce "parent clusters" of sorts.

You say he was first in history to see fretboard this way. One of the things that struck me right away was that the guitar was a functioning sacred geometry, like the piano, but two-dimensional. And here's my question: wasn't this the creators intent, did not the inventor of the guitar create this instrument with it's standard tuning for a reason?

Over time the nature of the guitar was overlooked and forgotten by most, but it was always there, right? Everything is taught according to the nature of the piano, shadowing the nature of the guitar, hiding it's power from those who never discover.

This reminds me of Democritus theorizing about the Atom, and even naming it, then he is forgotten about until much much later when another confirms his work.

I attribute the popularity of the guitar to it's creators respect for sacred geometry, and brilliantly simple design to fit the human hand. One thing I know is that I could be wrong, I would love to know more from people educated in theory.

Thank you for your time!

Apr 09, 2010

PS...
by: Alex

A well known example of this is Voodo Child by Jimi Hendrix. The song is in E-flat minor... so to play that simply use all the scale and chord patterns you would usually use for E minor, having previously down-tuned your guitar.

This accordatura contributes to the exquisite darkness of the song...

Alex

Apr 09, 2010

Chords, scales, and new tunings...
by: Alex

What this means to chords is the following:

Let's say that you down-tuned each string by a half-step. Now, your 6th and 1st strings will both be E-flats.

Let's say you now stop -place a finger on- fret 2 of strings 4 & 5, and fret 1 of string 3.

What would usually be an E Major chord will now be an E-flat Major chord...

This means that all chord shapes, and scale patterns still work. The only difference is that you will now get the same scale or chord half a step downward (in this example).

This holds true for the entire fretboard.

Cheers!

Alex

Apr 08, 2010

Frets 9 and 7
by: Anonymous

What does this mean for the chords of a song? And how do you play it?

Apr 08, 2010

Tuning and freboard layout...
by: Alex

Hi Robert:

Thanks for your question.

The answer is that whenever you down, or up-tune your guitar, all notes change.

If you down-tune each string 1 half step, then you can use all the chords and scales you know:

If your new accordatura (fancy musical word for tuning) holds the same relationships between strings, then you can use the same fingering patterns you know, albeit a half step downward.

It is the exact equivalent of using a capo on the 3d fret, for instance...

If you want a chart for this, take this chart, and look only at the section from fret 11 to fret 23 (you can print it and cut it up if you want).

Hope this answers your question!

Alex

Apr 08, 2010

Do notes change if I tune my guitar down to e flat?
by: Robert

I was wondering if the notes on the guitar fretboard change when I tune down to e flat. I'm having trouble finding the answer to this. If so, is there a diagram that I can find to get these notes in their progression down the fretboard?

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