10 Things You Gotta Know About the Fingerboard -Page 2-

3.ADD ACCIDENTALS ON PURPOSE

The remaining five tones within any octave (an increment of 12 half-steps) are annotated using accidentals, or sharp and flat symbols. A sharp (#) raises a note by one half-step, while a flat (b) lowers it a half-step. Enharmonic notes occur when two different accidentals are used to indicate the same pitch, i.e., A#=Bb, C#=Db, D#=Eb, F#=Gb, and G#=Ab. The grid illustrated in Fig. 2 fills in the holes in Fig. 1 with all of the missing accidentals, completing the “big picture.” Think of it as your universe. Now, let’s start breaking down this giant cluster***k and find out what’s really going on here.

4.REPEAT YOURSELF

 

Fig. 3 diagrams the guitar’s five middle Cs on five different strings. (Fact: Standard guitar notation sounds an octave lower than written.) Notice how the notes on any pair of adjacent strings are equidistant (five frets apart) except between the second and third strings, where the distance is reduced by one fret. Once you realize that this relationship is always maintained regardless of what note you start with, you can find unisons on higher or lower strings by using the same formula, except in the extreme low and high registers where notes only appear once. (Lick of the Day: Pick any pitch that appears four times and play it sequentially on four adjacent strings. Repeat many times in either direction as quickly as possible.) Next, we add some octaves and…

5.ENTER THE MATRIX 

Any given note can be found in various octaves at six locations between open position and the 12th fret. Because the fretboard repeats itself one octave higher starting at the 13th fret, so do any notes and shapes you apply to it. In Fig. 4 we pinpoint on the matrix all Cs below the 12th fret, and connect them to form a six-point template that can be moved to any position on the fingerboard. Like a constellation, this “Big Dipper” maintains its shape as it floats around to different positions in the note matrix. As the “dipper” moves towards the nut, any points in the shape that vanish below open position reappear an octave higher below the 12th fret. Conversely, any points that rise above the 12th fret reappear starting at the 1st fret. Let’s get moving and…