KNOW YOUR NOTES!!! ;D

[HEART-BEAT]

THEY SAY THAT MANY GUITARISTS DO NOT KNOW THEIR NOTES.. I'M TRYING TO LEARN THEM. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE, SUGGESTIONS, OR METHODS IN LEARNING AND REMEMBERING NOTES???    

GOD BLESS!!

[gtrdave]

Time spent with the guitar, studying scales, arpeggios, triads, inversions, chords, etc...

There are no short cuts and no easy learning methods. There is simply time spent with the guitar and the desire to extract and become familiar with what already exists on the fretboard.
The notes are already there. You just have to take the time it takes to become familiar with them.

fyi: it can take years.

[JayP5150]

I agree with Dave, it can take years, and there really are no shortcuts, but hopefully, you'll start noticing patterns between the note positions.  Such as how your octaves fall, where your 4ths, 5ths, etc. are in relation to your roots.

Other than that, it's all memorization.

Good news, though: there are only 12 notes to learn! After that, it's all repetition.

I'm assuming you know your alphabet: A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#... and repeat.

That pattern will never change. If it helps, draw your fretboard, and list the notes so you have a chart in front of you.

Hope that helps a bit.

[gtrdave]

Taking that chromatic scale that JayP listed and then walking up the fretboard, fret by fret, speaking the notes as you fret them, is a good exercise.
Again, it takes time and repetition but it will help you learn your notes all over the fretboard.

[T-Block]

THEY SAY THAT MANY GUITARISTS DO NOT KNOW THEIR NOTES.. I'M TRYING TO LEARN THEM. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE, SUGGESTIONS, OR METHODS IN LEARNING AND REMEMBERING NOTES???    

GOD BLESS!!

You start with the knowing the notes of the strings.  Then take each string and down each fret naming the notes.  Each fret is like a 1/2 step on the piano/keyboard.  The first thing I tell people wanting to take piano lessons from me is to first learn ALL your notes.

[funkStrat_97]

What worked for me was to learn the modes.  By doing this, I have found that I don't get get confused as much and feel a greater sense of freedom on the neck. 

[HEART-BEAT]

What worked for me was to learn the modes.  By doing this, I have found that I don't get get confused as much and feel a greater sense of freedom on the neck. 

modes??? 

[jlynnb1]

modes??? 

the modes of the major scale....

[Sonar]

Seek out and buy this book:



A Modern Method For Guitar by William G. Leavitt

It ain't fun....it's hard work. But if you follow the plan, you'll know everything you'll ever need in terms of knowing, remembering and READING your notes.

It's still good enough for first year Berklee Music.   

It's like a years worth of private lessons from a really mean serious instructor.   

[funkStrat_97]

modes??? 

As Jlynnb1 pointed out, the modes are derived from the major scale.  Here's how one person put it: playing the same scale 7 different ways. It's the same notes, just played in a differnt order so regardless of the mode played, you are still in the same key.  After a while, you don't think in terms of modes and just "let your fingers do the walking".  There are other applications of the modes, but let's try to keep it simple for now.

[JayP5150]

modes??? 

Here's some stuff from long ago that might give you a bit of introspect.

http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,5101.0.html

It never went past that discussion, but it gives you an idea of what modes are.

[momuzik]

...It's the same notes, just played in a differnt order so regardless of the mode played, you are still in the same key....

"Modes" sounds a lot like "inversions" or "inverting" on the keys - same notes, same key but in a different order.

[HEART-BEAT]

Here's some stuff from long ago that might give you a bit of introspect.

http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,5101.0.html

It never went past that discussion, but it gives you an idea of what modes are.

whoaaaaaaaaaaaa Jay!!  easy easy.. I'm a rookie. lol

[JayP5150]

whoaaaaaaaaaaaa Jay!!  easy easy.. I'm a rookie. lol

My bad lol. 

It helps to know your major scales early on, though. I was playing for years before I learned them, and it blew my right of the plateau I was stuck on--even though I don't play in that scalar-approach style (my teacher was a shred head--I didn't take lessons for the first 6 years I played... then I only took them for like 6 months).

Well, bookmark that thread and save it for reference. 

[T-Block]

If you think of modes in terms of u still playing the major scale, they are no problem at all.

[JayP5150]

If you think of modes in terms of u still playing the major scale, they are no problem at all.

Right, the way I tell people is that all that changes is the note you start or land on (in the most basic sense, that is).

[JayP5150]

"Modes" sounds a lot like "inversions" or "inverting" on the keys - same notes, same key but in a different order.

I just saw this.

Actually, it's the same notes, but a different key. Such as playing a C major scale over an Am progression (Aeolian), or a C major scale of a Dm prog (Dorian), etc...

[T-Block]

I just saw this.

Actually, it's the same notes, but a different key. Such as playing a C major scale over an Am progression (Aeolian), or a C major scale of a Dm prog (Dorian), etc...

A mode is not in a different key if it's related to the same major scale.  C major and Am use the same notes as well as C major and D dorian mode.  A key has to do with all the notes, not just the starting note.

[JayP5150]

A mode is not in a different key if it's related to the same major scale.  C major and Am use the same notes as well as C major and D dorian mode.  A key has to do with all the notes, not just the starting note.

Umm, that's what I said. Same notes, used in a different key.

If you are playing D dorian, (using a Cmajor scale obviously), you're in the key of D. Same scale, but the key you're soloing over is different, otherwise you'd still be in C major. You can't be playing a D dorian solo over a C major, is what I mean--it'll just be C major, regardless of what the stopping and starting notes are.

I only used the starting and stopping thing as an example of how to hear the difference in the modes, and that was to another question, not the one I specifically responded to here.

I think we're saying the same thing, but not understanding each other.  I'm not trying to be argumentative.

[funkStrat_97]

I think you guys mean the same thing, but saying that the modes are the same notes in a differnt key is a contradiction.  When you say that the key is different, it would mean that the key signature changes.  If the key signature changes, then you'll end up with notes clashing with each other.  The key of D would indicate that a song has modulated to the key of D major (along with all of its related modes) rather than implying the D Dorian mode of the C major scale.  For tonal contrasts, a common ploy is to substitute, for example, an A Dorian scale in place of A Natural Minor (the A Dorian is actaullay from the key of G major).  Playing "outside" the established tonic can adds an edge to the sound, but you don't want it to have too much of an edge or else it will start sounding rather "avant-garde" (and not in a nice way either).