HOW TO VISUALISE THE FRETBOARD | The Most Powerful System I Know | TOM QUAYLE LESSON

[@tomquayleguitar]

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the kind words and support on the last few videos. Plenty more coming your way once this App has launched. Until then, here's a tutorial outlining how I think about harmony and the fretboard whilst improvising. I really hope you find it useful - let me know your thoughts in the comments below and check out the tutorials linked in the description if you want to take these concepts further. Stay safe and well - see you all next time! Tom

[@FrankSpeer66]

Just bought the "visualizing" lesson, Im psyched!!

[@SamuelOceanMusic]

Hey @TomQuayle! Thanks so much for putting together this series. Truly enjoying it! Warm greetings from the Windy City.

[@angusorvid8840]

Your explanations are simply brilliant, crystal clear, logical, and I'm definitely going to download your app once it's available. I've been playing guitar for thirty-five years, but I know I have serious gaps in my knowledge, too much incongruity. Can't wait to learn, and re-learn things as I should have known them all these years. Keep up the great work.

[@dbutler721]

Very nice Sir. I’ve got to dive a little deeper into your videos, app, etc, this was the first one I’ve seen. But, I think it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. A way to navigate the fret board using theory without having to memorize every scale, mode, pattern and chord, before even knowing exactly what direction I want to head musically. It’s some numbers to remember and it works in every key. That’s a fraction of the memorization, and needed information to recall while playing, which can hurt the creative flow, especially for someone new to theory all together. It can be integrated easily with other things like the caged system and it makes intervals so much easier to navigate. I’ll keep watching, but just the one video without even seeing the other tutorial is like pulling the curtain back and seeing the thing behind the moving parts, behind the intervals, scales and chords. Pretty cool skeleton key you just handed off to open some doors. Apologies for the rant, but I never comment on anything on KZbin, ever. That speaks volumes. Thanks again!

[@t-boog2173]

Hi Tom, Do feel this system works just as well in standard tuning? I know it involes a few more shapes/intervals to remember but do you find it makes it substantially harder? Thanks man & great lesson btw.

[@TheMDGMobile]

Tom, I am 57 years old. There has never been a better time to learn guitar because of people like you. Cheers from Sydney Australia!

[@JunkYour925]

Same buddy. It was a bitch learning this instrument the correct way back in the seventies. I sensed back then there was a better way and that it required a better mindset or viewpoint of the fret board. It’s a two dimensional musical abacus that beats the pants off any other instrument once you get it. Powerful.if you know it, harder if not.

[@Liofigsguitar]

Agree

[@bryonguernsey9794]

Stay with it Tom. Good information is key for sure. I remember trying my darndest to get the fretboard to make sense in the 90s and what a shit show that was. I am also enjoying this golden age of university of KZbin as I like to call it keep working hard and correctly Tom you’ll get it all the best buddy.

[@johnnyjaime123]

Thank you Tom for saying that "you never think about the note names apart from the root note". All this time I was beating myself up for not remembering the actual note names all the time. I also only think in terms of numbers and root notes. But if even an advanced player like you only thinks about intervals during solos, then I guess I'm doing alright. :)

[@7thString84]

Great lesson, Tom! Nothing new to me, but I like to watch this kind of content anyway. Always something new to learn. ;) But there is one thing which I learnt in my first guitar lessons: the "conplementary intervals". Which means the same interval below (or above) a given note, like your example with C to G. If you go up 5, you have to go down 4 from the same starting point. And this is the shortcut to every possible way: it always needs to equal 9. If you want to play the 6th BELOW your root, you need to go down a 3rd (= 9). And so on. The same applies for major and minor intervals. If the interval is e. g. a minor 3rd, the complementary intervals is a MAJOR 6th. And the other way round. I hope, I could explain it well enough. :) Cheers!

[@abhinandanmandal4754]

Just wanna thank You Tom.I never had any teacher.I was just lost on the path after pentatonics.Then i found out Tom and i cant stress enough on how influential he has been to me.His playing excited me so much that i used to slow down the videos of his gear demos to see the licks he played and try to learn them...and now after 4 years of learning i am playing shows in my country India being a medical school student.Thank You Tom

[@yadaventertainment6744]

Khub bhalo.

[@jameslloyd949]

This is the kind of teacher that inspires you to listen seriously and right to the end. It's not just the valuable information that Tom relates so calm and clearly, it's the empowering thought that his focus and concentration might just be infectious.

[@威力博士]

can we take a moment to appreciate how good the camera is

[@RaineyDaysStudio]

I really respect that you respect your viewers and expect us to have a baseline of information already.

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Very excited to hear more about this app Tom. Good luck with the launch!

[@Holdsworthy]

Been 'playing' guitar for decades and realize I know NOTHING. Went to music schools for years and never got far in terms of musical or any good impro. Good news is Im still willing to learn and your lessons are really helpful. Keep it up, and thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@AJGNW]

I've heard about this system before through Jack Gardiner and gave it some thought but ended up not following through and buying it. Lo and behold, after watching this video I bought it and started working on the intervals you go through early in the video program. What I love about the way you're teaching it is that you're very clear on that you're making it musical from the getgo - something that the vast majority of people teaching similar stuff lack. I've been playing for around 15 years using the 3NPS system for all modes, harmonic, melodic and hungarian minor, (some CAGED) and I can instantly tell any note on the fretboard but still been hopelessly stuck in the shred neoclassical realm because of the exact reasons you mention in the interval program. Although the information of intervals are not exactly new to me, 90 minutes just flew by when I used your process to work on these intervals making music and having a blast. I can already feel the benefits to this clever way of chopping up pieces of information to process MUCH faster than what I've been doing in the past. You sir, are my favorite guitarist. But more than that, you're a god damn genius, and I hope to be able to thank you in person one day. Thank you for what so far has been a fantastic course. Everyone on who's on the fence about getting this should get their ass in gear and GET IT. I cant wait for the app in November, whatever it will be. (No, I'm not getting paid to say this lol).

[@federicopk8]

Oh my god Tom. I just had an epiphany. This video was the missing bit for me to be able to put together a bunch of things I learnt over the years and I had never been able to connect properly. It so makes sense. Love your work and I'll be heading over to your web site very soon. Thank you for the time and effort you have put onto this. Fed.

[@patrickcarroll1754]

You rule, Tom. YOU rule. The way you visualize interviews is extremely helpful. Thanks for all your hard work

[@iantaylor917]

The bit at 11:50 about the difference between intervallic distances and what we are calling "intervallic functions" is critical. I was hung up on this for so long and here is a great concise explanation. I figured it out watching a different video discussion between Martin Miller and Tom, but he explains it so well here.

I'm not even a guitarist (drummer), but I love listening to amazing musicians talk shop. Tom is one of the best for sure.

[@Johnny-oy9fh]

Wonderful lesson. It's the way I see it. I've never met a guitarist who sees it this way...

[@yashramawat1063]

I've always viewed it this way.

[@bobbybaghdad522]

Same.

[@sazanbaral232]

I'm self taught guitar learner and this is how i learned too.. Think of root note then start going everywhere thinking numbers.. It's really easy to do this way

[@biaxident1984]

Same! Great lesson.

[@burlessveeger3218]

Very well put together app, i know a lot of hit and miss went into the development, from years of playing. I have been playing for years also, and never really took the time to study the fretboard, which i regret now because without it, playing tends to be boring, and repetitive. Thanks to dedicated teachers like you, we have an option to go forward. Thanks for the app and dedication

[@andrewdaigneau7322]

Finally....I’ve finaalllyy had the “a-ha” moment that I’ve searching for so so long. I can’t thank you enough for this clarity you just bestowed on me🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@garyhart4646]

I could of done with this information 30 years ago ! Great instruction Tom you come across clearly and explain everything perfectly.. Well done..

[@greenysguitars]

I've been playing for 26 years, never ever bothered with theory in any way, shape or form because it just seemed too daunting. I really, really wish I had this video back when I started but I'm so glad that I have it now. Between your channel and Martin Miller's CAGED-type method, I'm finally learning to be able to find my way around the fretboard in a way that's not simply trial, error and dumb luck. Thanks, Tom!!!

[@jwlonghair]

So excited for the app. If you're involved it's guaranteed quality!

[@rogerelton6791]

BLOODY BRILLIANT TOM, IRONICALLY I CAME ACROSS THIS ON THE TUBE TODAY IN SUNNY BRISBANE AUSTRALIA FROM FRANK GAMBALI THEN TONIGHT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT PLAYING THE MOOOODS BUILT AND CONSTRUCTED VIA THE INTERVALS FROM THE SAME ROOT NOTE AND VUALA,,,,,JOB DONE I HAVE HEARD THE MOOODS FOR THE FIRST TIME. CLEARLY. CHEERS

[@theathlete771]

Man you've had such an impact on my playing. You and Matteo Mancuso almost made me quit guitar (not joking) and I felt the urge to relearn the guitar fingerstyle. Cheers for your new projects

[@stevensutherland5443]

Very exciting news regarding the app! I’m ready and waiting!

[@billyarsenault1970]

Generic = Non-key dependent visualization. Massive respect for sticking to your guns and always staying in P4 Tuning. I’m always giving in and changing to standard on the fly because other players get confused from watching my hands instead of listening to what’s being played. It’s bullshit- Why should I suffer??? From now on it’s will be: “If your just gonna watch my hands then tune in perfect fourths and deal with it”. They will probably thank me a decade from now

[@cassidylouch4807]

Hi Tom, I've come from Jacks channel seeing how your system changed the way he plays. I'd say I'm very much in the same boat, I've always been stuck thinking of parent scales, but I always find that playing like that you lose the spice or flavour that each scale/chord has to give. I'd just like to say you've 100% sold me on your method, and I feel super hyped to pick my axe up again! Many thanks from the Midlands

[@marksc1929]

Great unique player , great humble guy ....cheers all you geektarists....play ur heart out ...be yourselves 👍

[@deeforty]

Tom is a great teacher, learned lots over the years from him.

[@samiulhaquemusic]

Single best lesson on fretboard visualization on KZbin. Thank you, Tom!

[@naufrago7676]

Such a great player AND teacher. Thank you so much, Tom.

[@hayley8715]

Yes! Talk to me, these are the kinds of issues and lessons we need more of - how to think musically beyond scales, and utilise your instrument expressively etc... Subbed.

[@mattcwatson]

Thank you for making clear the distinction between an intervalic function and an interval distance. As a bass guitarist it’s helpful to know that a note will have the same intervalic function regardless of the octave or location on the fretboard.

[@anncarulli9823]

Wow this is the way to think about it!!! I’m 60 and learning. Black boxes with shapes (minor pentatonic etc) were not easy to use. I didn’t know what notes i was playing. So I decided i needed to know all the notes in the scales and that is way too much information to keep track of. I will try this method. Thank you so much!! Great insight!!

[@jakeah1175]

Tom is such a clear instructor that I was able to watch this at 1.5 x speed and still get it all in one go

[@crisolivares7847]

after 12 years playing guitar I finally got the concept of intervals this video has been so helpful it actually unlocked something in me since the first time it's really incredible how tom thinks when he's improvissing thank you master

[@Drew-gm4sy]

Hey Tom. I just wanted to thank you for this video, I’ve probably watched it 4-5 times over the last 3 months and it has helped me immensely. Thanks so much!! Keep up the great work!

[@michaelthompson9070]

Hey Tom - I’m a guitarist and an iOS app developer...look forward to hearing about the app! Love your playing, gear reviews, etc. All the best.

[@rejiluz3465]

Can't wait to download the app and congratulations in advance... Will be watching the video again, got lost a little bit hehehe...

[@tomquayleguitar]

Hehe - I figured it might take a few watches to get down. Normally I would teach this across a 2-3 hour masterclass! So excited to show everyone the app!

[@ahooton]

Good to see this being delivered to the masses Tom. I think this is a highly effective system that also teaches you to fully appreciate the value in every interval. I learnt a huge amount from your download tutorial on this subject. Cheers mate!

[@Karlgolden]

App sounds amazing Tom! Thanks for the lessons! Been learning a lot myself \m/

[@linlee7165]

so helpful!!!opened my eyes, thanks very very much!!

[@slowdivisionmusic]

Martin Miller and you complety changed the way i see the guitar. I broke the frontiere between playing and understanding what i play. Intervals relative to a root note of a chord or of a scale, changed my life ;) thank you

[@rhesreeves5339]

Bro, thank you. The way you explain these concepts literally could not be done any better.

[@AlexEllwein]

Thanks Tom, you have a very special ability to explain the complex stuff in a simple way, very good lesson. Thanks

[@yadinmoyal5915]

Wow. Thank you very much for this!! thats the exact way i'm teaching my students for years now... getting this approval from an amazing player/musician like you is awesome !!!! Keep up the amazing work!!! Greetings from israel !

[@SendilSelvan]

This is just phenomenal and helps demystify so much cognitive load apprehension to dive in. Tom, I’m feeling so fired up to burn up all the letters and start numbering the intervals. This is a lesson that demands work to be put for it to be truly effective. Thank you so much for opening this door was otherwise scared to pound for the key 🔑✌🏽☺️👽🖖🏽

[@zero15388]

Been a while since I've tried to learn guitar. This stuff would be worth gold to me when I was younger, and all for free, crazy.

[@bobjames7104]

Thank you Tom for the fretboard lesson. You are very clear in your instruction.

[@portuguesebeer5069]

My friend Tom, allways a pleasure to watch your videos! ...all the beer from Portugal 🍺🤘🇵🇹

[@oversoon4910]

I feel extremely validated in that the system I use to visualize the board is in line with you Tom. Now I just gotta get as smooth as you ;)

[@sk8rdudeism]

incredibly useful lesson for some of us stuck in a rut. there's always so many more ways to engage muscially with an instrument than what we've grown accustomed to. i often feel that even though i understand these concepts conceptually, i'm unable to translate them smoothly and expressively into playing due to a severe lack in technique or practice. thanks for the inspiration!

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Always love your lessons, my friend!! Hope all is well.

[@mattcates8325]

I'm glad you did this video, I'm tracking with your line of thought.

[@LesterMitchell]

Great lesson Tom. I'm happy to say I have learned a lot from your jazz harmony lesson package, modern legato, and melodic.minor package! I recommend everyone to buy and check it out. It's almost criminal how inexpensive it is! 👍🤘

[@whiskeysoho]

Another great vid Tom, I have your fretboard Visualisation course(+ a couple of others) it's great. The coolest part about learning the fretboard in the way you teach, (even though it's a ton of work) is that there are so many great wins along the way. If you purchase any of Tom's courses, try to remember even though it may seem like a huge amount of work to get there, the journey is possibly the best part.

[@cjbogannam]

Tremendous - thank you Tom

[@pratyushdhadwal]

the way you explained everything totally makes sense!!!!!! I love the idea of how easier it is to think of numbers instead of notes👌❤

[@mychickenstrips]

wow if I could only find a local instructor as good a you! I am right at the level your video is speaking to. Im going to the woodshed and work on this for the next few months.. Fantastic video and explanation. Thanks Tom.

[@SnipSlipPH]

Exactly how I visualize the fretboard. This is amazing!

[@FrankSpeer66]

More like this please Tom, excellent!!

[@Scarshockable]

Awesome !! I cant wait for the next video ! Bought all of your lessons ! Cheers from France 🇫🇷

[@claudetam4744]

just purchased the app today and it's awesome.

[@andyracksthecams]

Very timely and important information here. Thank you Tom. I have never visualised more than the bottom three strings as I could see no real gain in cluttering my mind beyond that knowing where the 3rd 5th 7th and octaves are geographically related to the known actual fret notes. I now know what key I'm in or hear to play over where as before I didn't. Lately now I understand how modes are dictated by the chord in a progression and vise versa, major or minor etc I find I am being pulled and pushed melodically whilst playing over chords in a progression. This information you have shared today is like the icing on the cake and a pat on the back in one. I know I have been heading in the right direction but didn't stop to think or realise what was happening. Amazingly helpful and detailed explanation. This is Like shorthand for where to play melodically.

[@danielbeasley5247]

my goodness. this is such a good approach to teaching / learning the fretboard and puts it all together in a simple and clear way love it tom! gonna buy for sure

[@joyoffilming9500]

Tom, your video gave me more insights about scales and modes than all my music teachers at school combined. I always sensed that there must be such kind of logic behind as music is nothing else but physics and math, but you put together the missing pieces, creating huge appetite for more. Thanks for your great lesson!

[@PeetaPlays]

How have I not heard about this Solo app yet? I must have missed that TGHP episode, if you've ever mentioned it on the podcast. This sounds super exciting, I can't wait ;D This got me more hyped than the PS5 release.

[@valdazis]

very clearly and simply explained info, the big job is to practice everything on the fretboard. Thank you

[@spoingus20]

I am just so glad that I discovered you !! Absolutely love this video 😍

[@girdeshworyumnam]

Thanks for the Lesson Tom, this will change my life!!!

[@michaelpaul7211]

Great lesson. I love thinking about the guitar in this way.

[@rafalvarezsevilla]

this is a perfect approach to freedom on the guitar, thanks for this clear explanation, my children will thank you for that :)

[@Katatopianos]

Great job!!! Even though I had memorized the notes of the guitar, it wasn't until I started seeing the intervals in scales, chords, etc, that I mastered the fretboard.

[@ianbrown1474]

TomQ is serious .... respect.

[@JoeNovella]

Perfect, I’ve been working on this approach and I was amazed to find this video. This should be music theory 101.

[@michaelmoss-dans2191]

You are a legend, amazing lesson. Thank you Tom!

[@igetmycalcium]

Great lesson. I wish I had KZbin or better yet a great teacher when I was starting out 25 years ago. I’ve only just begun learning this stuff so I’m a bit behind but it all makes total sense and it’s just a matter of putting in the work now.

[@mybiggrin]

Thank you very much! The only thing that flew over my head was the “extra” chords you were playing at 32:15 & I wish that was explained for just a second. Thank you again.

[@sandorjeno]

thata the systhem which actually works (for me). thanks. i made more development in 20 minutes aftee whatching this as in the past years.

[@jozo1957]

This is what i n everyone looking for,,,,,Terima kasih (thanks),,, from Indonesia

[@markslist1542]

I look forward to downloading the app.

[@onefm1]

Heavy stuff, yet very well laid out!!

[@matrags]

This is a great lesson.

[@rogerelton6791]

BRILLIANT TOM,,,,,,,,, LEARN'T HEAPS PLENTY TO PRACTICE AND FOCUS ON,,,,,,,,,,HELPS ME FORGET ABOUT THE FOOTBALL, KEEP WELL

[@VukMirasevic]

Thanks for the years of instructional and educational content, you have been inspiring me to become a better guitar player and musician since the first time I saw your video on youtube, around 12 years ago! Cheers and thank you!

[@kaefbaml]

Thanks Tom, it really clicked when you said just to remember the intervals in each chord then just play those notes. I really need to learn my intervals now.

[@timothy5974]

I have spent so much time over my 57 years now learning 3nps scale patterns that doing this may screw up my years of playing. I am curious though, because I have learned what certain intervals from my root look like but not all. Undecided. Thanx Tom

[@dagoelius]

This lesson was a light bulb moment for me. Has completely changed the way i look at the fretboard. Straight away I hear Joe Satriani's 'New Day' as a great example of this applied musically.

[@kevinb.3244]

I still need to spend some time on this (or rather a lot of time haha), but this is definitely one of the most important and useful things a guitar player could ever learn on the instrument, no doubt about it. Thanks for all the content lately Tom, you're killing it ! :D P.S. I hope your app will be available on Android devices.

[@rafaalcaide5639]

Great video Tom

[@BlackHeartMarlo]

Definitely understand the concept. Big help. Been pondering this for a couple days i figured this is the trick. Bc theres no way u could visualize the WHOLE FRETBOARD note for note. Much luv for explaining this concept in detail man. Aspiring guitarist at the final steps can’t get better then these types vids.

[@jfo3000]

Yes, you can visualize the entire fretboard. When I was 12, I charted the E natural minor scale on a grid from the nut to the 22nd fret. I was learning a lot of Sabbath, Rush, UFO, lots of stuff with natural minor, so I wanted a reference sheet to look at. So I learned riff after riff, run after run, entire solos, BY EAR, and how all of that sat upon that grid visually, but my ear was also developing the sonic intervals associated with the visual intervals, sitting upon that grid. So I eventually learned the entire fretboard! This took time, many months, as I wasn't consciously trying to learn the entire board, it just happened. Now the neat trick... That E natural minor scale grid...is also the G Major scale! I already knew G Major! Eventually I learned that pattern was every modal scale as well! And every possible mode of the Major scale in every key, just by sliding the entire grid up or down the fretboard X number of frets. So like Tom, I learned intervals, I don't know every note name on the neck, but I can identify the intervals from the current tonal center immediately. The way I learned might not be for everyone nowadays. But it worked for me, and it burned the sounds of the intervals into my ear. I'd recommend that you chart out E Natural Minor (G Major), on the entire fretboard by hand, don't just look at an existing grid, write out your own. Start from there. Write out your own grids, figure them out, this is crucial.

[@JoeStatic]

Super stoked!

[@carryla]

Thank u so much. I'll start new method now

[@jcleary1945]

This could not have found me at a better time, thank you so much Tom! What a time to be learning online. It's quite astonishing to witness that info communicated that clearly, with your experience and all the gravity it plainly commands in your playing. Been studying theory intensively for almost a year now, but nothing I've seen has broken things down as thoroughly and intelligently as that. App looks awesome too!

[@BrianVallotton]

Hi Tom, thank you for what you are doing. I bought the Solo app today in the App Store and purchased the Visualizing the Fretboard video at your site. You make complex things simple and that is the mark of a gifted teacher. Now I need to practice the discipline of being a good student!

[@cathalwhelehan]

not quite sure how you managed to stay under my KZbin radar until now but that ended this morning when your latest video re: the new app appeared in my recommendations. I watched that app one and could feel myself moving closer to the edge of my seat as I did, and then immediately then rewound it again to the bit where you linked to this video. Regardless of how much I've already learned through cages and shapes and the like, this has me really - and I mean REALLY - intrigued as there just doesn't seem to be a downside to this method. It just seems so blindingly obvious that it can only be a positive way of learning to navigate the fretboard. I've tried other methods that promise to give "fretboard freedom" and all other promises that have you believing you'll soon be lashing around it on the fly but so far none has really clicked as an improvisation tool - I was thinking it was me. Something looks very different about this approach though so I'm definitely going to give this a try - I'm already sitting here looking at the download bar chugging away with the Fretboard Visualisation course (why are the files so massive??) and I'll be downloading the app to test myself on it. Haven't been this excited about practising for quite a while.

[@fredgrove7886]

Thanks, Tom! Great content to help this old guitar player learn things I should have worked on a long time ago! Sometimes going back to the beginning is a good thing to work on! Thanks again!

[@eddymoon3671]

Grande Tom!

[@meleecritical]

What a beast. Glad I found this channel

[@skipneumann1]

Solo- hope to see it soon

[@thormusique]

Thanks for another excellent video, mate! Very, very helpful.