Keanu Reeves is immortal. Cool Material - Men's gear blog featuring the latest trends in watches, gear and gadgets. Random funny pictures. Procrastination is Fun | Kill Some Time. Learn The Guitar Fingerboard Thoroughly in 16 Days. Photo by John W. Tuggle If I have to name two things that took my guitar playing to the next level I would say music theory and memorizing the fingerboard. It made me understand the big picture. Combining music theory (understanding scales, modes, chord structure, improvising over chord progressions, etc, etc.) and knowing all the notes on the fingerboard will open up a whole new world. Guitar playing becomes more fun when you know what, when en where to play it on the fingerboard. When you want to know where to play any type of chord shape instantly it’s pretty helpful if know the notes.
To know the name of the chord you need to know all the notes on the low E-string. A Bb major chord shape (x13331) can also be played on any fret. To know the name of this Esus2 chord shape: (xx2452) on any fret you need to know the notes on the D-string. The same applies to scale shapes, triads, arpeggios, licks, etc. Here’s how you do it: First things first. Example 1: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A.