Trying to learn the Mandolin Fretboard...any hints or helps?

[Duane Graves]

This is a follow up to my post on seeing the advantages of learning the notes on the Mandolin Fretboard as oppossed to solid tabulature. I am encouraged by some of the replies to that post so have decided to get active in studying the mandolin fretboard. The question is do you have any hints or pointers, vids or lessons as to the best approach to this. A few years ago I learned the notes on the first 12 frets of the guitar and found some really great helps on u-tube but this time there doesn't seem to be the kind of helps that are there for guitar. So, I am reaching out to you to see if this forum has some tips and ideas, etc. for me--tks, dgg.

[Bill Foss]

One thing that helped me learn the fretboard was to take a tune or song melody (it can be a very simple melody) that I was very familiar with and then learn it in every key in closed positions. It's a good work out for the pinky too.

[Murphy Slaw]

As a guitar player 1st, mandolin 2nd, let me say when I decided to mess with a banjo, I sat in a totally dark room for about an hour a day with it.

Darkness is a great teacher.....

[Dave Weiss]

Hey Duane, try this http://www.mandolinsessions.com/?p=531
It really helped make sense of it for me.

[themelodist79]

Hi Duane,
If you happen to have an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad there is an inexpensive (I got it for $2.99) software on the Apple store called "Fret Surfer Mandolin Trainer" that is meant to help you learn the fretboard. It can be a nice way to kill some time while waiting in line at the store...

[Markus]

I've found Mike Marshall's DVD's very useful for seeing the patterns across the neck, not that I'm great at it.

FFcP as well.

What Smiley said is also good advice. Playing things in different keys and hand positions - starting in different places/fingerings I've also found very helpful. I know a couple tunes in multiple keys - it's quite useful to be able to say `name a key, any key' and function.

[mandotrout777]

This is a follow up to my post on seeing the advantages of learning the notes on the Mandolin Fretboard as oppossed to solid tabulature. I am encouraged by some of the replies to that post so have decided to get active in studying the mandolin fretboard. The question is do you have any hints or pointers, vids or lessons as to the best approach to this. A few years ago I learned the notes on the first 12 frets of the guitar and found some really great helps on u-tube but this time there doesn't seem to be the kind of helps that are there for guitar. So, I am reaching out to you to see if this forum has some tips and ideas, etc. for me--tks, dgg.

This helped me. http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/mandolins_00679.shtml

I'm not sure if it's still available or not, but the author was very accessible and helpful.

[Douglas McMullin]

Standard Notation for the Tab-Addicted Mandolinist by Debora Chen is a great resource. Available here:

http://stringthingm.com/Standard_Notation_Tab_Mando.html

[mandroid]

You should already know where some same named notes are , at the 5th and 7th frets ,

find all the G's, and D's , and A's and E's . on the fingerboard for a start..

scales up the same string , and across the fingerboard..

[Duane Graves]

Just throwing this back one last time to see if anyone has thought of any more hints or helps that will aid me in my attempt to memorize the mandolin fretboard. Just to say the advice I have received here in this post already is phenominal as I have applied some already. But, sometimes there are helps that are in the form of sort of a game you can park on desktop and whirl through quite often like "Fretboard Warrior, etc but they all seem to be for guitar. Just wondering if someone might have seen/have something similar for mandolin. --dgg

[Brent Hutto]

I believe I said recently on another thread that in my view there's no substitute for learning where notes are on the fretboard in the context of playing. Not necessarily playing songs--it could be exercises, scales, chords, arpeggios, etudes--or it could be songs. But time spent away from the mandolin playing memorization games seem to me just procrastination from the real learning that needs to be done.

Being able to think "Where is that C# on the E string" and then think of the answer "Ninth fret" is not what you need to be doing when you play something that has a C# in it. You need to see or hear a C#, reach out your finger and put it on C#. Not on "the ninth fret". Learning to translate note names to fret/string numbers is not learning to play notes.

Now sure, if you've just started playing it can be helpful to look at one of those diagrams with the notes all labeled. Or even have one printed out to glance at when you get stuck. But don't spend time memorizing pictures or lists of names and numbers, spend that time playing. And it is miserably slow trying to play when you don't know where the notes are. But you could go away for a month and totally memorize every note on every string all the way to the 20th fret, perfectly, and then when you start to play it will be miserably slow trying to play while you're looking up the notes in your memorized fretboard.

Either way, you have to put in some time going frustratingly slow. Best start today. It will get faster, quicker than you think at first. But there's no way to shortcut it by doing a bunch of rote memorization on paper then magically playing well and easily right away. That would be like learning to hit a golf ball 300 yards by looking at pictures of someone hitting a golf ball 300 yards.

[AlanN]

Yes to learning all the various places a given note pitch can be found (e.g., A on G2/G14, on D7/D19, on A (open) and A12, on E5/E17, etc.).

Tim O'Brien's A Scale in 7 Patterns exercise goes a long way to learning the fretboard.

[Brent Hutto]

I agree with the Tim O'Brien A-scale exercise suggestion. A daily dose of that for a month or two would probably be all most people need to build up a solid feel for the fretboard.

[Perry]

Here's an approach without the use of any books/aids/videos:

First memorize the notes on the open strings. GDAE; they are the same at the 12th fret. Then memorize the notes on each string at the fret markers on frets three, five & seven. Think of these as "home" positions then count up or down alphabetically from there to "find" the other notes.

[Markus]

I agree with Brent. I am far more interested in having my fingers hit the right note than being able to place that on a visual image in my head - and that's something I do with the instrument in my hands.

I find fretboard diagrams can be like reading the dictionary - useful information, but so divorced from context that when the time comes to use that information it's normally forgotten or not immediately available.

Alan's point about learning where every note is across the fretboard is helpful. Being tuned in 5ths, the notes on a mandolin fretboard are a repeatable pattern and I found it starts to `click' a lot faster than the guitar with that pesky B string throwing off a pattern which can be applied across the fretboard without exception.

[Jesse Harmon]

Learn the first position notes with open strings by playing some standard notation simple songs and then move the same songs up the fretboard using the ffcp position scales. The guitar book Melodic Rhythms for guitar is great for this and should work for mandolin also. added to the benefit of this book is its emphasis on down/up picking and the gradual working through of note values and syncopation. When you gain the knowledge of the fretboard and reading you will learn to love the excercise and look at the "work" in a whole different light. I'm working on the mando fretboard right now and believe me I do not regret my standard notation experience. Stay away from Tab in the music you choose for learning so your eyes don't drop to that. Notice I said in music for learning, not trying to start that issue. Love Tabs in the right place.

[Capt. E]

Learning FFcP technique is, to me, imperative. Learning to play without using open strings enables you to transfer a key pattern up and down the neck and thus change keys up or down with little thought. For example: if you know how to play B scale without open strings, moving up just one fret gives you C, three frets D, etc. You'll have to get your pinky fully involved, of course. You can find learning material for this here: http://www.jazzmando.com/

I also like the "Fretboard Roadmap" book for mandolin, which will be a great addition to the FFcP material. Among other things, it will give you all the basic chord patterns.

[Duane Graves]

I believe I said recently on another thread that in my view there's no substitute for learning where notes are on the fretboard in the context of playing. Not necessarily playing songs--it could be exercises, scales, chords, arpeggios, etudes--or it could be songs. But time spent away from the mandolin playing memorization games seem to me just procrastination from the real learning that needs to be done.

Sorry, let me explain a little then....the game thing etc. it is only placed on my desktop for times when I can't get at my mandolin i.e. sitting at work or when others are sleeping and so on...but thanks, Brent for the advice and I am in total agreement that nothing replaces the actual thinking and doing and guessing and finally knowing where those notes I am reading are on the fretboard. Of course, I have done some of that already and well, of course, I've been around fretboard notes in the 4,5 years I've been playing. I'm just tired of relying on tabs all the time for mandolin. One thing I have learned is that it doesn't hurt to post what's on your mind because along with everything else you usually get a lot of good advice some of which suits your present idea of things as they pertain to you yourself and usually the thing that benefits you the most is that which seems to be repeated in the various replies--dgg

[catmandu2]

For me, learning chord inversions (maj, min, 7ths, dim, aug) is the first step. Additionally, learning those scales, and FFcP is a good way to do this, as has been mentioned. But if you want to be able to improvise chord melodies all around the fingerboard, having command of your inversions is essential.

[dunwell]

This from Mandozine I find to be a nice tool. At work I can pop it up and let it run in the corner of the screen and randomly look at it for a bit and think the note names and positions. At home you can say/play the notes and then see if you are correct. Different speed settings, etc. All that said, I still stink. Need to practice, pract....:mandosmiley:

Alan D.


http://www.mandozine.com/index.php/techniques/techinfo/mandozine_flash_cards/

[Mandolin Mick]

I don't know what level you're at, but it's good to know that on the mandolin a finger covers 2 frets unlike the guitar where a finger covers 1 fret! :mandosmiley:

[P.D. Kirby]

I used a free software download called "The Mandolin tool" I got it because it has all the scales Major, Minor, Blues, Jazz, and by learning the scales I also learned the entire fretboard. It also has a play option which plays the scales so you can follow along. One of the best features is the graphics of the fretboard. I found it to be the best free way to learn the scales and fretboard. BTW it also has all the chords too. I will see if I can find where I downloaded it from and post it later but most likely if you Google it you will find it before I finish dinner and get a chance to look.

http://download.cnet.com/The-Mandolin-Tool/3000-2133_4-75362509.html

here's another helpful one

http://www.banjolin.co.uk/mandolin/fretboard.htm

Good Luck
Phillip

[dochardee]

Duane, most everything you need is in Niles Hokkanen's small book "Bluegrass Up the Neck."

[Aisha]

I believe I said recently on another thread that in my view there's no substitute for learning where notes are on the fretboard in the context of playing. Not necessarily playing songs--it could be exercises, scales, chords, arpeggios, etudes--or it could be songs. But time spent away from the mandolin playing memorization games seem to me just procrastination from the real learning that needs to be done.

Being able to think "Where is that C# on the E string" and then think of the answer "Ninth fret" is not what you need to be doing when you play something that has a C# in it. You need to see or hear a C#, reach out your finger and put it on C#. Not on "the ninth fret". Learning to translate note names to fret/string numbers is not learning to play notes.



I agree with Brent. I'm really bad with tablature (I use it only for finger position when in doubt), I learn with music notation. I memorize the notes through songs and scales. For me it's like speaking a foreign language, don't try too much to translate, try to think about what you want to say directly in the other language (but I admit it's not easy and I often pathetically fail ;)).

[mandograss]

Duane, most everything you need is in Niles Hokkanen's small book "Bluegrass Up the Neck."

X2, the Mandocrucian wil lead you in the right direction. PM him for his material.