Posted under Playing the Guitar
When playing the guitar it’s important to memorise the positions of all the notes on the fretboard. While you can ‘get by’ to some extent without doing this, it really helps if you want to play fluently, without having to stop to figure out where the notes you need are located.
Of course the sheer number of notes available on a guitar can make the process seem a bit daunting, but one tool that can help to speed the memorisation process up a bit is the free guitar trainer at Ricci Adams’ excellent site musictheory.net. This flash tool is one of many useful resources on the site, and it has a very simple to use interface.
It features a fretboard diagram, together with the names of each note of the scale. A marker is placed on the fretboard at random positions, and you select the note name that corresponds to that position. The program keeps score of how many notes you get correct, so you can track your progress. You can also select the range of frets (from 1 to 12) that you wish to be tested on, and to make it a bit easier when you’re starting out, you can opt to have some of the note names displayed on the fretboard diagram.
This is a great way to practice while you’re away from your guitar!
