Scales & Tales - The ABC's of Fretboard Mastery

Here's the next episode of Scales & Tales with The ABC's of Fretboard Mastery.
This lesson came directly from your messages and requests, so I hope those of you that needed help in this area and asked for a lesson focusing on this topic that this episode will help you make progress and some breakthroughs with understanding the layout of the fretboard and order of notes along the neck.
This study is very difficult and confusing, as you'll usually find yourself working with a fretboard diagram written with a complete listing of the notes all over the neck.
While these diagrams are very useful once you've learned the basics of the neck, when you're still learning this information and learning where the notes are, these diagrams can be intimidating and confusing, as you're literally looking at everything at once, and for most folks out there, it's really hard to see what's actually going on with everything shown at once.
This lesson taps into a few ideas and strategies for making this learning process smoother and easier, as we're going to strip things down to the bare essentials and build your knowledge from the ground up. The ideas and approaches shared in this lesson are different than most of the methods and approaches I've seen available these days, so if you're still scratching your head and confused about the notes on the neck - this lesson is for you!
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[@davidcoward7462]

Hey David! Well, after 34 years of "playing" this is the 300th time I'm going back to the basics. I decided to start with this lesson and kinda work my way forward with the two Pentatonic scale lessons then others you've done. Thanks for all you do to put together these great lessons!

[@MAntisLew1]

This is a superior guitar training channel!!

[@MAntisLew1]

Hello can you do an intermediate video on how to connect the scales on the fret board? Does one have to learn all the pentatonic shapes?

[@matthalo89]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. This is definitely an eye opener to the mystery of the fretboard. I like watching guitar videos and so many times people will play a solo or parts of songs and they call out the notes they’re playing. They do it so effortlessly anywhere on the neck and I never understood how you can be that knowledgeable with locations of notes, but I guess when you play all the time it naturally comes and like anything with perseverance and repetition becomes second nature. Keep up the great videos!

[@chuckbouscaren3898]

This is an excellent lesson David!

[@andyyoung5846]

Dave, want to thank you for your videos and your passion for playing. I had put down the guitar for 10 years and had somewhat forgotten most the scales and this reignited me to relearn the scales and notes so thank you again. Never thought of doing the A Aeolian as a start. I like it better than the standard A scale. Plus makes me remember something I haven't done in a VERY long time. Keep it up I really enjoy your lessons and how you explain things.

[@travisstanley6093]

Just found your videos on here and really enjoying them. Your peaceful demeanor is great. Your like the Bob Ross for guitar. Thanks.

[@gulvplank]

This is awesome,fantastic,great😊 this lesson helped me a lot. A light turned on in my head. Thank you, thank you!!!!!

[@LateNightLessons]

Now that's what I like to hear! I'm glad that this lesson opened a door or helped you - that's what this is ALL about! : ) Rock on and have some fun! Thanks!

[@amaleiaruble9514]

This is the same method I used for several years to help my piano students learn their notes. Since I have 3 sons that play guitar, I made them a note chart for every string that helped them know what notes were there; since they knew quite a bit about piano, it helped them find chords, scales, etc. Anyway, after watching your videos, one of my sons has asked to do lessons with me again, which makes me very happy. Thank you for prompting inspiration in those who thought they could never learn. I love watching the lights turn on---will keep you informed...again, thank you.

[@StevenPD]

Gonna give this a try. Thanks Dave.

[@timmcdonough9429]

David, just wanted to echo all the positive comments below. I've been playing guitar for 35+ years and constantly find myself frustrated w/ my lack of progress or "mid-level" understanding of the fret board. You have an excellent approach and unique ability to make complex concepts easier to grasp or break-down. I stumbled on your site a few months back, and truly enjoy all the different series you've created ....Thank you for all you've done on LNL's and I look forward to more of your insight and videos.

[@FrankSpeer66]

It would be great for you to do a video on the basics of rock guitar lead playing over basic rock guitar chord progressions. is it "better", (more common) to play one scale over the whole progression or should we change scales with each chord? Thank you

[@daniellapointe3091]

Thank you so much!!

[@christianneumann7608]

Thank you, too!!!

[@EarthAltar]

I would like to add that the fret board markers are your friend in this endeavor. 3rd and 15th fret are the same notes an octave apart. Same with the 5th and 17th. 7th and 19th, as well as the 9th and 21st. Some luthier took the time to put that inlay there for a reason so you might as well use them.

[@LateNightLessons]

That's very true! : )

[@EarthAltar]

@@LateNightLessons LoL.

[@loveguitars]

Awesome!!

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you! : )

[@4fretfingers528]

David, wondering if you have tabs/diagrams for this lesson on Patreon? Thanks

[@hanksmith4315]

I just discovered Late Night Guitar, and already have a question. I know all the notes on the neck, but I don't "know" them. When I practice, I tend to go through the Circle of 5ths, picking out all the notes. I can do that just fine, but when I'm actually playing something, my mind goes blank and I have to stop and think what note I'm on. I think my brain is just learning patterns and not the isolated notes (if that makes any sense). I've tried using note flash cards to break out of patterns, but i can't turn the cards fast enough to make it a challenge. Any suggestions?

[@SEILLC]

Dave, you're an awesome guitarist and teacher. I have gained much from watching your vid's, and I even had a critical comment on your TNT vid, so I appreciate the time you put into this for us. It definitely helps. But sometimes I think that when you speak, you speak from knowledge that many (most?) of us dont have re: terminology. I realize that it comes natural for you now, but but like at 6:51 of this video, you mention the Aoelian and natural minor scale. You lost me there. The rest of the video was gibberish to me, because you mentioned that. I'm a smart guy, and a pretty decent guitarist (35 years now), but I'm a total rookie with theory. So when you mentioned that, I didn't have the prerequisite background to process any further, and I stuck there. Long story short - when someone clicks on your vids, you might want to let them know that there may be another vid from you, that explains what you're going to cover in this lesson, so that they may watch it and get the prerequisite background. Dont get me wrong, not trying to be critical, as I am not able to be so of your knowledge of music theory, but I think you could improve your lessons if you were able to link to other lessons that explain your points. And I think you're awesome :-) I'm currently looking for an instructor in the Phoenix area to help me reach that next plateau, so I can become more of a musician, and less of a guitarist. If you know of any, I'm all ears...

[@LateNightLessons]

Thanks for this comment, but what you've basically outlined is the impractical side of creating/posting instructional guitar videos like this online. There's no way for me to know who or what level someone that clicks on one of my videos will be, so with a topic like this, I have to start somewhere - and every video can't begin at "the beginning" and then work its way toward the material (or every video would be over an hour in length), so in most instances - I have to "dive-in" to the pool and begin swimming toward the topic/subject matter being covered. As far as being confused about the natural minor/Aeolian scale/mode, Aeolian is the modal name for the natural minor scale (they're the exact same thing), and the natural minor scale is the minor relative of the major scale. So this information is rather basic (in music theory terms), and honestly should be the next step that you take as a musician, as far as expanding your knowledge and learning more about music and music theory. Good luck!

[@SEILLC]

@@LateNightLessons Thanks for the reply Dave! Much much appreciated. I know what I wanted to convey with my comment, but it was hard to put into words. I think what I need is to know what the priorities are - Where to start, and in what order to learn music theory. Im finding it challenging to learn just by watching videos here on YT.

[@brian8076]

i'm not being a smart ass, but how do you play guitar for 35 years and not know what the minor scale is?

[@SEILLC]

@@brian8076 it's the difference between being a "guitarist", and a musician. Im the former, and a pretty good one. A musician, not so much. Hope that is an adequate response to your question.