How To Become A Great Guitarist

Want to become not just merely a good guitarist, but achasing an Ape with a Dog but tripped over a Gator
great one, then you must master the guitar fret board.out popped a Bird eating an Emu, helps you learn the
A guitar fret board is the flat section on the front ofopen notes of fret 12 and 24. The capitalized letters in
the neck of the guitar. You play guitar chords andbold are the open notes. If you are witty enough, you
select notes to play on the fret board. There are metalcould come up with your own mnemonics to make
bars embedded across the board dividing it intoyour learning the guitar fret board much more fun.
several parts and these parts are called frets.It is also critical to know your 'sharps' and 'flats' very
Yes, it may seem at first almost impossible, especiallywell. C sharp and D flat is the same note, right?
for the novice guitarist to know every single note onHowever, when you are playing away on your guitar,
every single fret, however, if you want to be a greatdo you remember that? You must know how it is
guitarist, it is critical to learn them all. It may be moreplayed, both ways, equally well. This will show that
difficult than learning the notes on the piano but withnothing can confuse you or make you hesitate while
dogged determination, you can master all the notesplaying the guitar. This makes you an expert on the
and chords on the guitar fret board.guitar fret board.
Some people suggest that you can practice the guitarThe guitar fret board has pearl markers strategically
mentally. Frederick Noad the author of "Solo Guitarlocated which are embedded in the wood. Usually,
Playing" suggest mental practice methods such asthese markers are laid in the exact same positions on
"Learning by Equivalent Notes", "Transfer of Position"every guitar. A standard guitar will have these
and "Learning by Fret". You must keep memorizing themarkings on the third fret, the fifth and the ninth.
notes and positions until you know when to play theThe twelfth fret has two markers because it is
notes instinct even with eyes closed.exactly one octave higher than the open string. The
Position-to-note and note-to-position are also mentalfifteenth fret again has a single marker. These
practice methods. This means that whenever you thinkmarkings are not only useful but important as well
of or see a position you must know exactly whichbecause they can guide you to find and play the right
notes are there. Similarly, whenever you see or thinknotes on the fret board more easily.
of a note, you must know exactly where to play it onMastering the guitar fret board is an extremely time
the fret board.consuming and tiring work. However, the effort is well
You can also design yourself some memory gamesworth it because once you mastered learning the
or download some that are available on the internet.guitar fret board because you will become an
These games usually use memory cards, which haveawesome guitarist. This is because most guitarists do
on them either the fret numbers or the position, or both.not master the fret board and your guitar playing skills
You must look at each card and give the relevantwill be far ahead of them.
information straight out from your memory.Motivate yourself by learning one fret a time and set a
For instance, if you pick up a card which says "Fret 3",realistic time table when you will know every single
you will have to say "G C F A# D G" out loud.note on the fret board. Simply mastering the guitar fret
Mnemonics are used for all sorts of learning includeboard will make you a much more proficient guitarist
learning how to play the guitar. It is a very useful tool inand who knows, you may one day become a great
helping you to master the guitar fret board.superstar guitarist.
Here is an example of Mnemonics - An Elephant was