Anyone have anything to share on this?

Cheers.

Pen and paper,
saying notes out loud as you play scales
Octaves
Program called Fretboard warrior is pretty good.

Good question. I deal with this a lot especially with my beginning students. Can't learn a moveable scale or chord if you can't find where to move it to right!?!?

But, there is no quick fix as said above me. Pen and paper. Download some of the blank fretboard diagram pages from Pebber's website and write the notes down. Do it a few times every day. And learn the octaves.

These are the most beneficial things I have found. After that, it just takes time.

Another thing to remember is the notes go up the string in alphabetical order. Sounds simple enough, but a lot of beginners don't know this. They think the notes are randomly scattered about. But, the notes go up the string in alphabetical order starting with the open string note. So you have the E string, then F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A, A#/Bb, etc etc.... A B C D E F G with the accidentals in between. Take each string, go up the fretboard and say the notes as you look at where they are on the neck. So, on the G string it's G (open) G# (first fret) then back to A (second fret) A# (third fret) B (fourth fret) in alphabetical order. Then, start on the 12th fret and go back down. It's the same order in reverse.

Say note names out loud, look at fretboard, VISUALIZE, write letter names down on paper a few times every day, find the octaves.

You will get there.

Hope this helps.

-U

Get yourself a circle of fifths:

http://media.wiley.com/assets/1305/83/fg...8-3_1102-01.jpg

Play a Bb on the 5th string 1st fret. Then F on the 6th string 1st fret. C on the 5th string 3rd fret and G on the 6th string 3rd fret. Basically you are playing 5th string and 6th string, skipping a fret and playing 5th and 6th string, skipping a fret and playing 5th and 6th string etc.

A couple rules you must follow:

1.) Use only one finger to play every note. Do not swap fingers constantly, this is not a left hand/right hand exercise. You are trying to learn your notes so we want to keep things as simple as possible. So I would use either my first or second finger for the entirety of the exercise. This will also prepare you for scale/chord changes which are fairly common in music, so make sure you use only one finger.

2.) Do not look at your fretboard, keep your eyes on the circle of fifths. This will encourage you to be more aware of where you are on your fretboard. Obviously guitar frets are more closely spaced at the top so you will need to put in a lot of effort to make sure you are hitting the right notes. If you are really struggling with this then you can look at your guitar at times but you want to keep your eyes off it for the most part.

3.) Say the notes out loud. Make sure you are saying the full note, so if the note is a Bb then say 'B FLAT' and not 'B'.

4.) Once you get to the top of your fretboard, play it all the way back down again. It is one thing to know the next note you are playing going up the fretboard but it is entirely different when you are going down. When I teach basic scales like C major I get my students to say their musical alphabet (C D E F G A B C), then I ask them to say it backwards. 9/10 they will really struggle, it is crucial you can do this both ways so make sure you play all the way UP and DOWN the neck.

If you do not follow these rules then the exercise will not be nearly as helpful. I get my students to do this once a day with great success, takes about 60 seconds but you can do it as many times as you like.

Learning the notes on the 5th and 6th strings will be extremely beneficial to your guitar playing. After you learn those REALLY well you should move on to the rest of the fretboard. You can use this circle of fifths exercise on other sets of strings but not all of them. Doing this exercise will also help you to learn your circle of fifths extremely well which will help you later down the track with more advanced music concepts.

As has already been said, writing out your fretboard is a really good way to learn it as well. But I like this way because it prepares your guitar playing for other things such as moveable chord/scale shapes and makes you more aware of your position on the fretboard.

Adding to all the suggestions given, don´t forget to initially make your own phrases.

How is it easier to remember the descending open strings or 12th Fret at first: EBGDAE or Every Bad Girl Does A...l Eventually ?

Mnemonics are definetly worth a try too.. First thing that comes to mind when you se an Eb/D# ? e.g: Ebony on a Dish ? Exaggerate it in your mind and imagine it on the fret, this might seem stupid but draw it on actual papper, the more ludicrous the better.. G# Geysha etc etc.. ? you get the point , make you own :)

It is infinitely easier to picture and remember a fretboard full of colorful images, than full of abstract concepts (letters).
The mere act of trying to give a simple letter like a C a color or an association, makes your brain work on it, automatically making it more memorable.

I stole these concepts from Harry Loraine books btw, the guy has a monstruos memory and he is around 80 years old.
Worth reading since he teaches many sweet strategies to get that memory working more efficiently.
The most awesome part for me is how easy he makes it to remember any number - be it 4,10, or 50 digits long - by substituting numbers with letters and then forming words.

Hope it helps.

i've just downloaded "fretboard warrior" .i cant stop using it.plus its freeware :)

This may be redundant but I'll put it out there anyway.

1. I made blank fretboards diagrams (5 per page) via Adobe Illustrator.

2. I wrote out each major scale with there corresponding LETTER NOTE NAMES (not just dots) - all keys including the enharmonic keys (15 in total).

3. I used a theory book as a template and wrote out on the diagrams all the triads, 7th chords, intervals, etc... I worked through the books by Gordon Delamont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Delamont).

4. When I practiced my positions (modes) on the guitar, I sang the LETTER NOTE NAMES out loud along with it.

To go through all of the major scales it took me about a year (12 keys - 12 months). I had a checklist extracted from Delamont Harmonic books vol 1 and 2, so each day was devoted to a particular mode (7 modes - 7 days), each week a particular chord type (ma7, 7, m7, m7b5), etc. Most of the guys I knew in school didn't like doing it, but I found it quite enjoyable for some reason. My penmanship improved as well. I did this for my harmonic minor, melodic minor, diminished, and wholetone.

Overall, after completing the major scale, I felt at home with the fretboard. I must of wrote out the major scale on the entire fretboard 5 times a day-depending on what I was working on that day (an arpeggio, mode, etc).

It all happened over a 5 year period. It got easier with each scale.

But learning to read music was a whole different story. I'm still at it and will be for some time to come.

I hope this helps.

More classical sheet music here: http://imslp.org/wiki . All public domain/free. I just need a few decades to improve my techniqe and learn my favourite Bartok pieces... :)