What is the best way to learn where you are on the fret board

river

Blues Newbie
What is the best way to learn where you are on the fret board without looking to see where your are?? when I practice .. and have to move to bar cords or power cords or when you are playing lead in the pentatonix scale ,I have to look to see where I need to go .. and it throw the rhythm off .. hoping there is a way to know where you are with out looking all the time... thanks all.. I enjoy playing.. and learning alot..
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
For me that came with time and muscle memory kicking in, I'm sure there are some drills to help with that and after playing thirty years or more I still have to look more than I probably should
 

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
Time on the fret board.

Pentatonic Mastery will help
Major and minor Blues Shapes will help
Building a Better Blues Solo will help
Modes will help
CAGED will help
52 Rhythms will help
Gigs in a box will help (all of them)
4 note solo will help
BGU will help
ABGU will help
noodling will help

Get my drift......
 
What is the best way to learn where you are on the fret board without looking to see where your are?? when I practice..

I'm not there yet either, but a couple of things are helping. The first is, more often be standing when practicing or playing. It is easier to see the fretboard while sitting, standing makes it less natural to look at the frets. Second, practice playing with your eyes closed. IMHO It helps with other good habits too.
 

mpaq

Canfield, Ontario, Canada
The position markers on the edge of the neck (not the ones on the fretboard) are a visual clue...I suppose you could replace the dots with "raised" dots that you would feel when moving up and down the neck.
Kinda like Braille guitar☺
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
I learned using classical and flamenco guitars, which have no markings on the edge or fret board. With enough practice, you can close your eyes and know where you are.

This is not rock, but it is a piece of music I learned in 1961, and play almost every day. My wife loves it. I can play it with my eyes closed, or turned away from the guitar.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ep7t2o91j7o5mxb/Forbiden Games.mp3?dl=0

Tom
 
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kestrou

Blooze Noobie
Second, practice playing with your eyes closed. IMHO It helps with other good habits too.
+1

At Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, Nita Strauss was my band leader - we put together a three song set and she had us run through it several times in (almost) totally blacked out room - only the dim glow of the amps.

Nerve wracking - but we got better at it and it definitely helped!

Kevin
 

mountain man

Still got the Blues!
+1

At Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, Nita Strauss was my band leader - we put together a three song set and she had us run through it several times in (almost) totally blacked out room - only the dim glow of the amps.

Nerve wracking - but we got better at it and it definitely helped!

Kevin
Nita Strauss? Tough duty Kevin!! ha ha ha :Beer:
 

Marsh

Are those real valves in your amp?
What is the best way to learn where you are on the fret board without looking to see where your are?? when I practice .. and have to move to bar cords or power cords or when you are playing lead in the pentatonix scale ,I have to look to see where I need to go .. and it throw the rhythm off .. hoping there is a way to know where you are with out looking all the time... thanks all.. I enjoy playing.. and learning alot..
I am no expert, but I think you might be saying that it takes too long to find the position on the fretboard that you want to go to while playing. Yep, that can throw you off. I struggle with this sometimes, because I don't know the positions at a glance or without thinking about it. I have found that it helps to get some different points of reference for the key I am playing in or for the song before you start. If you do a little review of where the box positions and/or chords are in relation to the markers just before playing, it allows you to move faster and be more confident. It also helps to make an effort to be on the money with timing, but also play with fingers relaxed and not tensed up. Of course, the more comfortable you get with playing exercises in each key it will come more natural (without thinking too much). When I played with the band way back when, I remember being nervous before starting gigs (the first set). I might have gone over trouble spots or new material in my mind just before, but when I picked up the guitar I did a quick look at where whatever chords or riffs would start, so I didn't have to work out in my mind where on the fretboard I wanted or needed to move to from a single point of reference while playing. Jamming to backing tracks is helping me get better at moving around the fretboard and trying to apply what I am learning from BGU. On the not looking part, I cannot say. I am still looking, but perhaps not all the time.
 
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