A fingerboard for those who need it.

[Jim Soloway]

The single most common failure seems to be a lack of fingerboard knowledge, so here's a graphic that lays it out. Feel free to download it and print it. Hopefully it will help with a lot of the other lesson material.

http://www.jimsoloway.com/lessons/Fingerboard.JPG

[facevalue1]

When I turned my spare room into a practice room, I traced my guitar neck onto thick paper, drew in the frets and wrote every note on it. I hung it on the wall so when I practiced and needed to find a note, they were all right there. I helped a lot.

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by facevalue1
When I turned my spare room into a practice room, I traced my guitar neck onto thick paper, drew in the frets and wrote every note on it. I hung it on the wall so when I practiced and needed to find a note, they were all right there. I helped a lot.

I still use these charts from time to time for finding new fingerings for chord voicings. If I know the notes in a chord, I can search the chart for every possible combination and then check to see if their actually playable once I pick up a guitar. It's been a very useful tool.

[babybatter]

Sweet!

I just mused yesterday that I would 'know' the fretboard....

...guess I know how to go about it now. :D

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by babybatter
Sweet!

I just mused yesterday that I would 'know' the fretboard....

...guess I know how to go about it now. :D

I actually posted this right after reading your musing. ;)

[Archaeologist]

Bump.

[gennation]

Good stuff from Jim.

One piece of knowing this is know where it comes from or how it's derived. A thorough understanding of it is here:

http://lessons.mikedodge.com/lessons/MusicTheory/Intervals/IntervalsTOC.htm

That'll take you step by step on WHY all these notes are where they are. And it'll show you some very common ways people memorize them.

[1001gear]

Why was he banned?

[gennation]

Originally posted by 1001gear
Why was he banned?

I doubt Jim was banned. Why do you say that?

[1001gear]

Seemed odd to me too but there it is on the label.

[gennation]

Oh, I guess it is. Hmmm, if that's THE Jim Soloway who frequents the Internet and builds fine guitars (Soloway Guitars)...I can't see him ever doing anything to get banned but, you never know I guess.

[Eddie]

Yes, he is that Jim Soloway.
It’s really odd that he’s banned. :confused:

[nuke_diver]

Seems that there are a few of these old posts around that have recently been bumped.

I wonder if that has anything to do with it....:confused:

[Poparad]

Originally posted by Eddie
Yes, he is that Jim Soloway.
It’s really odd that he’s banned. :confused:


If I remember correctly from some threads in Guitar Jam, Jim asked to have his account blocked as he intended to stop posting at HC, and wanted to ensure it.

[Jim_Soloway]

Originally posted by Poparad
If I remember correctly from some threads in Guitar Jam, Jim asked to have his account blocked as he intended to stop posting at HC, and wanted to ensure it.

That is correct and I did indeed stop posting on HC for about a year.

[red|dragon]

Originally posted by Jim_Soloway
That is correct and I did indeed stop posting on HC for about a year.

OMG The real Jim Soloway got banned. Who is this imposter?

[gennation]

Originally posted by red|dragon
OMG The real Jim Soloway got banned. Who is this imposter?

If you read what he said, he did not get banned.

I'm sure he got his account reopened. I've seen him posting here lately.

Hey Jim!

[1001gear]

Alrighty then.:freak: What's the spreadsheet for?

Anybody get the feeling OJ is trying to breed?

[red|dragon]

dumbasses spending more time looking at charts than they do the actual fretboard. :freak: sounds like my keyboard and my fretboard :freak:

[Eddie]

Originally posted by 1001gear
Alrighty then.:freak: What's the spreadsheet for?

Anybody get the feeling OJ is trying to breed?

Although you can create one in Excel, it’s not really a spreadsheet.

It has a number of uses. For example:
1. Visualize the notes all across the fingerboard. It’s not for dumb-asses as red dragon mentioned. :rolleyes:
Some people like to be helpful. red|dragon just loves to criticize.

There are not many fingerboards that include the notes‘ names, although there are some stickies you put in the fingerboard with the notes’ names. Having a chart like the one Jim posted is a very useful tool for learning the notes on the fingerboard.

2. Visualize the relationships of the different notes. For example, I created a similar chart with the following: T (1), 2, b3, 3, 4, b5, 6, b7, 7.
You can do the same for any scale, making it easy to identify the relationships between the notes.

By the way, Jim is not only a great luthier but also a fantastic player. Very tasteful. :thu:

[1001gear]

I don't mind RD. He keeps it moving without the BS.
But as you see there was a subject to this thread and that was my point.

Sorry Jim. :D

Thanks Ed :wave:

[Jim_Soloway]

Originally posted by 1001gear
Alrighty then.:freak: What's the spreadsheet for?

Anybody get the feeling OJ is trying to breed?

I put this together several years ago when I was putting a lot of energy into studying harmony and chord theory. It allowed me to visualize different ways to play unusual chord voicings. I would then transfer them to an actual fingerboard and see which ones I could actually find a practical fingering for.