Learning the Fingerboard

NOTE: This article applies to any fretted string instrument, any tuning. Examples are shown using ukulele and C tuning low or high G.

The Ukulele, like the guitar and many other fretted stringed instruments, is capable of playing notes horizontally along a string as well as vertically across the strings. It can also play the same note(s) at alternate locations.

This flexibility adds a bit of complexity to actually learning the names of all the notes on the fingerboard, a.k.a., the neck, and their locations. Especially without a plan, Stan!

Well, Stan!, Here's your plan. Now, let's get to work and finally check that to-do item off your musical list.

There are two types of players as far as knowing the note names of the fingerboard.

1. Ones that think they know them and

2. Ones that know they don't know them: Plenty of players can "figure" them out. But when you really know them and they become "second nature," it is quite liberating.

I would add a small third group. The ones that do truly know them. The pro players know them. And a lot of my students. And once you venture past the third fret, you really see that you should know them.

There are three elements of a note:

1. Name

2. String

3. Fret

Given any two of the three elements, you can name the third. This is the goal, and there are many ways to get to it.

1. G, fret (3) is string _______.

2. String one, fret (7) is named _______.

3. A on string four is fret _______.

And learning the notes of the fingerboard is one of the few things that you can do away from the instrument.

Start here:

Vertical, ACROSS the strings with the Key Frets:
- open strings
- fret (5)
- fret (7)

These key frets are natural notes with no sharps or flats. There are exceptions, but we don’t need to know them at this point.

And being able to play the notes along a single string knowing that EF and BC adjacent letters are always the next or previous fret and other adjacent pairs, A B, C D, F G, and G A, have a fret between them.

Horizontal, ALONG each string (start on the open string name):

A B C D E F G (A...)

Close your eyes and put your finger on any string, any fret. Open your eyes and instantly name it - any pause and you don't really know it.

That's it. You're well on your way to actually knowing the ukulele fingerboard - and I mean really, really knowing it.

Answers to above:

1. String One,

2. D

3. Fret (2)

LearningUkulele.com links:

Lessons Series

• QuickStart Scale and Arpeggio Fingerings for Ukulele, Getting Beyond Shapes ->

• Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - C Tuning ->

Book

• Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - C Tuning ->

• Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - G Tuning (Baritone) ->

• Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - D Tuning (Baritone) ->

  Good Trade!

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