Once you know one note, you can find every other note with the same name on the neck. In standard tuning, the same note always repeats in the same few shapes. Get those shapes under your fingers and the fretboard starts to look like one connected map.
What an octave is
An octave is a note with the same name but twice the pitch. The simplest octave on the fretboard is 12 frets higher on the same string. But you rarely jump 12 frets while playing; in practice you'll use octaves two strings over far more often.
Two strings over: 2 frets or 3 frets
- 6th → 4th and 5th → 3rd: two strings over, 2 frets higher. G at the 3rd fret of the 6th string is one octave below G at the 5th fret of the 4th string.
- 4th → 2nd and 3rd → 1st: two strings over, 3 frets higher. G at the 5th fret of the 4th string continues to G at the 8th fret of the 2nd string.
The extra fret whenever the 2nd string is involved comes from the tuning. Every pair of neighboring strings is a perfect fourth (5 frets) apart, except the G and B strings, which are a major third (4 frets) apart. That one-fret difference carries into every shape that crosses the B string. Remember this one rule and you don't need to memorize any exceptions.
The 6th and 1st strings share fret numbers
The 6th and 1st strings are both tuned to E, two octaves apart. So the same fret number gives the same note name. If the 3rd fret of the 6th string is G, the 3rd fret of the 1st string is G too. Learn the 6th string and you've learned the 1st.
Same pitch: the 5th-fret rule
Apart from octaves, the exact same pitch also appears in several places. Each open string is the same note as the 5th fret of the next thicker string. Open A on the 5th string equals the 5th fret of the 6th string, and open D on the 4th string equals the 5th fret of the 5th string. The exception, again, is the 2nd string: open B equals the 4th fret of the 3rd string. It's the same principle you use to tune by ear.
Finding one note across the whole neck
Chain these shapes together and you can find a note anywhere on the neck. Here's how it works for G.
- Start at G on the 3rd fret of the 6th string.
- The same fret on the 1st string is also G.
- Two strings over and 2 frets up is the 5th fret of the 4th string; from there, 3 frets up on the 2nd string is the 8th fret.
- Add the open and 12th-fret G on the 3rd string and G at the 10th fret of the 5th string, and you have all seven Gs between frets 0 and 12.
It's fine to be slow at first. Once finding notes by shape becomes a habit, you'll start to see the spots before you even think about the shapes.
Practicing with the trainer
The Unison training in Fret Drill is exactly this exercise. When a note name appears, play every spot of that note within your range, then check the answer on a small fretboard diagram.
- Start with a narrow range such as strings 4–6, frets 0–7. With only two to four spots to find, it's a good way to learn the shapes.
- Once that's comfortable, widen it to strings 1–6, frets 0–12.
- Check time per note in Records to see which notes take longest, and try recalling those first in your next session.
If the note names themselves are still unfamiliar, start with how to learn the notes on the fretboard.