Tools
Fretboard Note Trainer
Knowing where every note is on the neck makes soloing, building chords and reading music much easier. The fretboard trainer asks you to name a highlighted fret or to find a given note on the neck. Pick guitar or bass, choose which strings and frets to include, and drill a little every day. No install needed.
How to use it
- Choose guitar or bass and your tuning.
- Choose the mode: name the fret, or find the note.
- Limit the quiz to one or two strings and frets 0–12 at first.
- Answer as quickly as you can; wrong answers are shown on the neck.
- Add strings and higher frets as your score improves.
A system for learning the neck
Trying to memorise all notes at once rarely works. Build the map step by step:
- Natural notes on the low E and A strings. These are the root strings for most chord shapes, so they pay off first. Remember that E–F and B–C are only one fret apart; all other natural notes are two frets apart.
- Octave shapes. From any note on the low E string, the same note is two strings higher and two frets up. Use octave shapes to transfer what you know to the D and G strings.
- The 12th fret. Everything repeats from fret 12. Learn frets 0–12 and you know the whole neck.
- Sharps and flats. Once the natural notes are solid, add the accidentals: one fret higher is sharp, one fret lower is flat.
How long does it take?
With five minutes a day, most players know the natural notes on the lowest two strings in a week or two and the full neck within a few weeks. The 4-week fretboard path gives you a daily plan.
Related
Read the lesson on guitar fretboard notes and, for bass players, bass basics. Practise on paper with guitar fretboard worksheet 1 or bass fretboard worksheet 1. Print the guitar fretboard notes chart or the bass version, and a blank fretboard to fill in from memory. To see scales on the neck, open the scale explorer.