Did you memorize your frets going up or down?

[cogicguy]

This is a pretty quick/simple question . Did u learn your notes going up the fret board or down the fret board? For example did you learn F "F#"G or did you learn G "Gb"F? My brain thinks too much, and I wonder why one fret has to notes, meaning the f sharp and g flat are the same fret. So to be safe am I better of learning up or down

[KurzLand]

Both ways. Some people post chords in #'s (sharps) others in b's (flats). I have notice that in this site people post chords in flats more.

[Cherri]

This is a pretty quick/simple question . Did u learn your notes going up the fret board or down the fret board? For example did you learn F "F#"G or did you learn G "Gb"F? My brain thinks too much, and I wonder why one fret has to notes, meaning the f sharp and g flat are the same fret. So to be safe am I better of learning up or down

To fluently know the fret board you must know it up and down. I would say you are thinking right.  Learning up Sharps (#'s) and down Flats (b's) will be beneficial to progress.

[Godsbassman]

To fluently know the fret board you must know it up and down. I would say you are thinking right.  Learning up Sharps (#'s) and down Flats (b's) will be beneficial to progress.

The flat and sharps are like that because they was wrote and meant to played by standards.
 Meaning just what they do. The note G forward from G would be like this G# backwards from G
would be Gb


 Keep in mind when you playing the major notes to watch for this, will help you to really find the right scale.

Also keep in mind of the notes that do not have any sharps #'s or Flats b's.

They are  B got no sharps #,C got no flats b,F got no flats b. By knowing this will help you a lot.

I do not know theory, but I remembered my mother saying this when she taught piano, many years ago.

But I think the formula have been changed for looks on the ledger.

I remembered seeing old songs wrote with b and # in the ledger at the same time.

But we also know, way way back in the days Blacks was self taught with help from God.

[MikeGee]

I taught myself everything is sharps, I still feel more comforatble with sharps. Due to me having to sight read chord charts. Flats have become better for me as of lately. I now can handle both on the fly. Which is mostly what I have to do.

[rebuked]

I learned it different because if im trying to yell the key to someone, so many of them sound alike.  LIke D sharp, C, sharp, G sharp, so i would use the flats because they dont sound the same, as far as yelling the keys.

[Andrzej]

Bit of both really.  This always confused me in the first few months of learning as my friends refered to notes on the fretboard to either a sharp or flat and I never understood why one note was a sharp and then a flat??  I learned the major and minor keys and then memorized the flats and sharps.  It was confusing at the start, but the girl I was dating at the time was a very good pianist and helped me out a lot to understand when is a not a flat or a sharp depending on which key you are playing.  I have heard a lot of players refer to the wrong notes in the key that they are playing and it causes a lot of confusion.  She told me the best way to remember was to understand that the major key uses 3 flats...Ab, Bb and Eb.  The minor key uses only 1 flat...Bb.  Everything else other than the major root notes are sharps.  Here's how to break it down:

Major Key: E   F   F#   G   Ab   A   Bb   B   C   C#   D   Eb
Minor Key: E   F   F#   G   G#   A   Bb   B   C   C#   D   D#

You will probably notice that bass players use the minor key and guitar players will use the major key when referring to notes not matter what key they are in.  It's a common mistake to make and I have done it many times myself.  For a quick reference when you are learning a song, don't worry about it too much.  When you get deeper into learning theory then it becomes very important.

[cogicguy]

Yeah u hit it right on the head. Just how u were confuse thats the same state of mind I'm in now. So I should really worry about it, until I get deep into theory?

[Groovesmith]

The quickest way to learn it is to learn the first two strings for example on a five string the B and E string and every thing else is the octave and you on reallt need to know the major notes bc when people say c sharp you know where 6 c's are by knowing only the firts two strings and sharp means up 1 Remeber when you sit on something sharp you jump up and when a car tire goes flat in goes down.  but eventually you have to learn the proper way of citing notes example people dont say D sharp they say E flat from the time of Bach and The other classical greats that how it is.  And you dont want to look the fool when playing with other people outside your church.

[Andrzej]

Yeah u hit it right on the head. Just how u were confuse thats the same state of mind I'm in now. So I should really worry about it, until I get deep into theory?

Yes and no.  What most people do when they start to learn theory is the progression of the mode and scale that they are playing, not necessarily taking into account what notes they are playing.  That's okay because it get's you off the ground to get you on your way to making good music, recognising the different shapes and fingering positions you will need to play your modes and scales and to also excercise your fingers.  When you start to go a little further by studying chord harmony and chord structure for example then knowing your flat and sharp notes in the major and minor keys is very important when working with other musicians.

You may argue that a D# sounds the same as an Eb when played on it's own, so why be concerned about identifying the correct note?  The only way I can describe it is by trying to speak a foreign language.  You may use the right words and pronounce them correctly, but the grammar is all wrong.  If you hook up with a well trained keys player and you get it wrong you will get a confused look from them.  Every other person that plays a classical or modern instrument is expected to follow the same law, so bass players are not exempt!  Don't put it off for too long because it will become harder to understand the longer you leave it.