Know Every Note WITHOUT Memorizing Every String (The Power of Octave Centers)

Learning how to play the guitar in the age of the internet isn’t easy. You’re faced with an endless barrage of information with no way to know what you should be spending your time on. In this video, I want to show you the easiest way to navigate the fretboard. If you’re a complete beginner, this is a particularly great way to start getting a grasp of the notes on the guitar. We’ll cover the natural musical alphabet, sharps & flats, the guitar string names, and make use of something called “octave centers” to locate every single note without worrying about total guitar fretboard memorization.

There’s a lot to digest here, so don’t be afraid to pause the video and take some extra time if you need it. Music theory for guitar doesn't have to be scary! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.

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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - The musical alphabet
0:24 - Sharps and flats
1:33 - The string names
2:42 - Focus on the fret markers
3:19 - Notes on the low E string
5:12 - Notes on the A string
6:14 - Finding sharp & flat notes
6:57 - Octave centers
10:47 - Notes on the high E string
11:13 - Final thoughts
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Music Credits:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

#guitarfretboard #guitarlesson #musictheory #beginnerguitar

[helikos]

im new to playing and just discovered this video. Crazy it only has 170 views. I went into the comments hoping to see many people giving thanks to you for making this video. Your way of explaining is easy to understand and helped me a lot. For 210 subs your video is very well made and very professional. Wish you the best the channel deserves more attention!! Thanks

[jordanbeaman]

Andrew, I know this is an old video, but I just discovered your playlist and I feel like my brain exploded! All of this makes so much sense in a way it never did before. Thank you SO much

[taymay]

oh my god seriously thank you for this video. i was so overwhelmed seeing all the notes on the fretboard, i thought they were just random but now i see they are in a pattern!! thank you !!!

[darian]

Yeah dude.. You're on your path, stay focused.. Of all the instructional videos, your content has been the most digestable instantly, across the board. You're a teacher through and through and with the proper focus I think you could be one of the top instructors on the platform. Thanks for the lesson man

[MBudManBBG]

Honestly, you're a genius teacher.

[BethWilliamsMusic]

Excellent! Long time musician and have never understood music theory. This was great.

[mangaart]

Hands down the best guitar channel out there. No intro and no bs, just straight to the point with the best approach I've seen so far. I love your approach and how you're breaking down things very methodical. Everything makes sense! Thank you

[mambosun]

Very easy to follow. Thank you. That's a big help. I didn't know how to find the octave note from the D string to the B string. Now I do thanks to your video. Fantastic.

[ChrisGrav]

After 48 years of playing around with the guitar, you are the first instructor to explain the notes on the neck in an easy to understand why. I think in a few days I should have them all memorized.

[grrttshw]

ive had the notes down for quite a while on a per string basis, but NEVER has anyone talked or mentioned Octave centers. you just made my life so much easier in regards to understanding the relationship between strings, octaves, and moving around shapes on the fretboard. Thanks!

[Vorkenstein]

I never understood note placement on the guitar and you just explained it well!

[ugur]

1 month into guitar and theory was lacking and this is HUUUGE help

[robjohnson]

Just here to help the algorithm. I've been consuming beginner guitar content for a bit and really this channel has been the most digestible. For me, I'd much rather take 12-15 mins to discuss simple, but foundational concepts in-depth rather than the 5 mins that other teachers seem to breeze through.

[brianjacob]

could have used this years ago. nice job with your explanations.

[AntarikshRajkonwar]

Lovely, I'd learned guitar 5 years ago but had to quit due to studies but now going back to my guitar journey from this video. (12/1/23 9:16pm)

[eidolon]

I can actually follow along and learn with every single one of your videos, thank you so much.

[jabesphiri]

Hello Mr Andrew Clark, am your student from zambia I can now play and understand the chords nice. God bless you and thanks very much for the beautiful lessons

[PiperOfTheFourWinds]

I've been trying to teach myself guitar for years. I played brass in school, and I could never find anyone that would teach guitar in reference to basic music theory (only all-in, or no theory at all).
These videos are *EXACTLY* what I've been looking for!

THANK YOU!

[mdss]

I have that i learning is "stop wasting time. And watch and follow legit guitar teacher like you" i love u dude thanks

[kevblloyd]

I've been learning on and off for a couple of years and this is the first time I've seen this idea. It's genius in it's simplicity and you explained it perfectly clearly. This is massively helpful, thanks.