Practice guides
How to learn the notes on the fretboard, recall them fast and keep it going every day. If you're new, read them from the top.
- 01Do you really need to learn the guitar fretboard? Using it for chords, scales and improvWhy self-taught guitarists who play from chord shapes and tabs still benefit from knowing the note names: chord roots, moving scales to any key, improvising and playing with others, plus how far to go.
- 02How to learn the guitar fretboard: recall notes instantly instead of countingLearn the fretboard notes with two natural-note rules and landmarks on the 6th and 5th strings, and practice recalling them instantly instead of counting.
- 03Find notes on the guitar fretboard with octave shapes (and find any root)The two-strings-over rule (2 or 3 frets), the B-string exception and the 5th-fret rule for finding one note across the whole guitar neck.
- 04Pentatonic basics: the minor pentatonic and its five positionsPentatonic basics for beginners: the five notes of the minor pentatonic, the position 1 shape, the five positions across the neck and how to change key.
- 05A fretboard practice routine for self-taught guitarists: 10 minutes a day, 4 weeksSplit ten minutes across Basic, Reverse and Unison training, with a sample four-week plan for widening your practice range.
- 06Practice the fretboard with an audio interface: answer with guitar mutesHow to use muted strums through an audio interface as input, the calibration steps, and what to check when detection isn't working.