How To Master The Guitar Fretboard For Lead Guitar Playing

If you are thinking of going solo with your lead guitar then the most important element that you need to master is how to apply the guitar fretboard to its maximum capacity. If you are well-versed with the fretboard, then you will be competent enough to play just about any song on your lead guitar.

The guitar fretboard is the most important area of an acoustic as well as electric guitar. The fretboard is where you play all the scales, the chords and use the various progressive scales and improvisation techniques for lead guitar.

When you buy a guitar, you will find dots all across the Fretboard. These dots represent the different frets. The first dot is usually on the 3rd fret and is followed by dots on the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th and 19th frets.Mastering the fretboard will help you to play lead guitar compositions with ease. One important thing that you need to know is that when you move forward while playing on the fretboard, you are actually playing the various chords that will render a higher sound while moving forward and lower sound while moving backwards. For example: The 5th string also known as the open A will look like this:

FRET -----0-|-1-|-2-|-3-|-4-|-5-|-6-|-7-|-8-|-9-|-10|-

STRING---A-|---|-B-|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|-F-|---|-G--|-

If you compare the lead guitar fretboard to a piano, you will find that the frets that lie between the natural tones are also known as the flats (b) or Sharp (#) and represent the black keys on the piano. If you raise the natural tone on the lead guitar fretboard by half a step then it will become a sharp tone and whenever you lower it half a step, it will become a flat tone.

Those who are right handed will be using their left hand to strum or pluck the various scales and chords on the guitar fretboard. You will be required to use 4 fingers of your left hand to play all the various scales on your fretboard. The solitary way to master them is by practicing. Here's a simple exercise that will assist you to practice better and let you hone your lead guitar skills:

E = 0 |1----|2----|3----|4---- B = 0 |1----|2----|3----|4---- G = 0 |1----|2----|3----|4---- D = 0 |1----|2----|3----|4---- A = 0 |1----|2----|3----|4---- E = 0 |1----|2----|3----|4----

One thing that you need to remember is that the notes on the guitar fretboard move upwards chromatically. If you start with A then the notes will move like this:A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, A You will notice that there are no flats or sharp between B and C as well as E and F.

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E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock Music Studios and contributes regularly to many guitar publications. Find out how Guitar Backing Tracks will improve your guitar playing. Planet of Rock also provides CustomBacking Tracks Recordings.

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