Fretboard trainer app?

PeterOne

I’m currently working my way through Steve Vai’s theory book and one of the exercises he suggests is recording yourself verbally saying then playing each note on the fretboard for each string then playing them back on shuffle to see if you can identify the note on the fretboard then hear it to confirm you got the right note.

So far I haven’t really felt like going to the effort of recording myself but I have briefly challenged myself by picking random notes off the page and I’ve been surprised that after years of playing guitar I’m not as quick at finding some notes as I should be.

So, does anyone know of an app that flashes text like ‘F# on 4th string’ then plays audio of the note a couple of seconds later? Sort of like flash cards for the fretboard.

ArchtopDave

Justin Sandercoe has a Guitar Note Trainer app, which does just this. There are tests, where either you have to name a note on a particular string, or you have to find a particular note on all the strings.

fretmeister

Sight Reading Machine

Gives you little sight reading examples to play, and then it plays them for you right for comparison.

If you are going to learn where the notes are you might as well learn to read notation while you are at it. Why do half a job?

TimmyO

I liked the way Fretwiz gradually introduces areas of the neck 

TimmyO

fretmeister said:

Sight Reading Machine

Gives you little sight reading examples to play, and then it plays them for you right for comparison.

If you are going to learn where the notes are you might as well learn to read notation while you are at it. Why do half a job?

Because they aren’t 2 halves of the same job 

Haych

I realise this thread is a few weeks old, but if you're still looking give Fretuso by Catloaf Software a try.  It's a fretboard learning app that works very well. I have it for iPhone and it becomes quite addictive and challenging and it can be configured to challenge you in different ways, like a particular string, staff training, tone training (I think), a particular scale etc.  I find it very good.

HTH

horsehead

Are all of these on iPhone only?

Blaendulais

I'd spend the time developing relative pitch this seems more like an attempt to developperfect and that rarely works..unless you are a godlike genius like Vai.  Superb relative pitch is a key musical ability and i think easier to improve at

WeZ84

https://www.fachords.com/master-guitar-fretboard-game-intro/ give this game a go. As there is a time limit and it keeps track of your high score it helps challenge you to think faster.

PeterOne

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, sorry, I completely forgot to respond. From the looks of it for what I was originally looking for I might just end up recording myself anyway - there's a lot of apps that seem to do something similar to this but instead of actually having the guitar in your hands you're just pressing on a tablet screen which doesen't seem the same to me - maybe there's a gap in the market there.

Anyway thanks @fretmeister, you've motivated me to re-learn notation since I've just bought Sight Reading Machine!

duotone

@PeterOne ;


How are you getting on with it? Btw is this IOS or Android?

Luigi_Pati2

I am not an app fan, I think they are a waste of time, as regard to musicianship. Don't be too surprised about finding out that you can't tell every single random  note on the fretboard, immediately and with no hesitation: most guitarists have the same problem. I haven't checked the Vai method you described, I actually learned all the notes on classical guitar, by reading scores. Unfortunately, it's a catch 22. The reason why most guitarist don't know the notes on the fretboard is because they avoid reading scores. The TAB system certainly doesn't help either, since it can only display the rhythm of the notes, but not the notes themselves. My best advice would be that you find VERY easy guitar songbooks with VERY easy, pleasant melodies, like for example TV tunes. You should not have more than a couple of notes in each bar. Then forget about all else and just take it as an exploration, explore the melodies. It's a much better method than trying to locate notes randomly. This too has to be done, but in my experience, it's for later. Good luck

PeterOne

duotone said:

@PeterOne ;


How are you getting on with it? Btw is this IOS or Android?

To be honest I've not used it as much as I thought, I think @Luigi_Pati2 is right. I bought it and had a quick go but soon realised I needed to refresh my memory on reading notation before I could really get to grips with it.

You can slow it down though so you can make it as easy or difficult as you want. This is on iOS.

pickerg

I like the David Mead CAGED app. It tests your knowledge of notes on the fretboard but also takes it further by giving exercises and tests to find specific notes using the different chord shapes too.

sergio

Seconding the recommendation for https://www.fachords.com/master-guitar-fretboard-game-intro/  - I find that keeping it in a background tab to play a couple of rounds every now and then makes it much easier to memorize than sitting in front of a fretboard diagram for an hour.

Paul7926

Just tried the fretboard game out of interest.
The good news, got every note correct in the 100 seconds
The bad news, only 12 right in the 100 seconds.

Think I need a lot of practice!

sixwheeltyrrel

@PeterOne ;;; Perhaps an old fashioned take  but there's no need for an 'app' to familiarise yourself with the fretboard and where the notes live. I honestly think those things are more a distraction than anything else. 

It's simply a fourth between each string (from bottom to top) expect for the third and second where it's a major third. From that it's a case of locating the other intervals from where you are.

Crucially a sense of 'where you are' and where the notes/intervals nearby are is key.

P.S. Having re-read the opening post just thought it would be worth adding that I would lay money on Steve Vai having never honed his skills with a fretboard training app not least because they didn't exist then (assuming he's the Frank Zappa etc Steve Vai)

sixwheeltyrrel

PeterOne said:

I’m currently working my way through Steve Vai’s theory book and one of the exercises he suggests is recording yourself verbally saying then playing each note on the fretboard for each string then playing them back on shuffle to see if you can identify the note on the fretboard then hear it to confirm you got the right note.

I'm not suggesting for a moment that Mr Vai is anything less than an exemplary player - I never judge others but 'exemplary' is an understatement in this case. 

 I honestly can't relate to 'excercises' such as that as a gateway to success. Hundreds (realistically thousands) of hours of  playing and , more importantly, disciplined and diligent practice is what's required.  I don't see what's described in that theory lesson as particularly worthwhile to be honest

hollywoodrox

sergio said:

Seconding the recommendation for https://www.fachords.com/master-guitar-fretboard-game-intro/  - I find that keeping it in a background tab to play a couple of rounds every now and then makes it much easier to memorize than sitting in front of a fretboard diagram for an hour.

Fa chords is brilliant , it helps you name notes on any string anywhere by memory without having to rely on octaves or other tricks , I have found it very effective