# Understanding the 7 string fretboard and playing by ear.



## mcmurray (Mar 15, 2009)

The following tutorial shows how to understand the guitar fretboard by applying the technique of 'tonic-solfa' or 'movable do solfege'. Once familiar with this technique, playing by ear and sightreading/sightsinging will become trivial tasks. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read this page;

Solf&#195;&#168;ge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is often said: "the guitar is a relative instrument"
So lets treat it like one.

The following diagram shows the 7 string guitar fretboard with the notes on it. Sharps and flats are not shown but pretend they're there. For example between F and G is F#/Gb. This diagram should be printed and kept for reference until you can memorise it completely. The red C is middle C on a piano keyboard.







The next diagram is the most import and diagram you'll see as a guitarist, if you choose to use this system. It represents the notes in any key as their 'solfege' or 'tonic - solfa' syllables. It is a looping diagram with no end (i.e. the far right hand side and the far left hand side join together), two sections have been shown for clarity, . It may seem corny at first but it lets you distinguish between notes in terms of their function - AND it will train your ear. This diagram should be thoroughly memorised (you probably already have memorised it in terms of dots, not syllables). The do's (pronounced dough) are coloured blue in order to show the pattern that exists between the octaves up the fretboard. This pattern occurs with all notes, not just the do's. There are 5 patterns and then they repeat.






Now, to play in any major key, simply take this diagram and superimpose it on the first diagram to line the do's up with the key you want. For example - to play in E major, line up all the do's with the E's on the fretboard. The following is the result;






To play in C major, line up all the do's from the second diagram with the C's on the first diagram. Here is the result;






There are 12 keys in total, I've only showed you 2. I'll let you find the notes for the others.

Now, to play in a minor key the same thing applies, however, instead of lining up the do's on the key required, line up the la's instead. Here is the diagram for A minor;



Note that this diagram is the same for C major. That is because A minor is the relative minor of C major.

Mode required; Syllable to line up on key; Pronunciation;

Major/Ionian...................Do....................... .........dough
Dorian.........................Re................. ................ray
Phrygian.......................Mi................. .................me
Lydian.........................Fa................. ................fah
Mixolydian.....................So................. ................so
Minor/Aeolian..................La....................... ..........lah
Locrian........................Ti................. ..................tee

So if you want to play the Eb locrian mode, line up the ti's on Eb and play. ( to the experts: I know a mode isn't a mode unless the right chord is played but hey this is a beginners guide).

Major Scale ( ionian mode);
do > re > mi > fa > so > la > ti > do

Dorian Mode (eg for F# Dorian, the re's fall on F#);
re > mi > fa > so > la > ti > do > re

Phrygian Mode;
mi > fa > so > la > ti > do > re > mi

Lydian Mode;
fa > so > la > ti > do > re > mi > fa

Mixolydian Mode;
so > la > ti > do > re > me > fa > so

Natural Minor Scale ( Aeolian mode );
la > ti > do > re > mi > fa > so > la

Locrian Mode;
ti > do > re > mi > fa > so > la > ti


Examples;
Here's some examples of tunes to get you going using this system;

> means going higher in pitch, < means going lower in pitch

Jingle bells: mi mi mi mi mi mi mi > so < do > re > mi > fa fa fa etc.

Sweet child o mine ( starts in key of F# Major - note slash tunes down a half step);
do > do < so < fa > fa < so > mi < so ...

Happy birthday (choose a key and play);
so so > la < so > do < ti
< so so > la < so > re < do
< so > do > so < mi < do do < ti < la ...

One (metallica) (played in key of A minor i.e. la's fall on A);
la > mi < la > do
< fa > mi < fa > do ...

Stairway to heaven (played in key of A minor);
la > do > mi > la > ti < mi < do > ti > do < mi < do > do < fi < re < la > fi (out of key see below) < mi < do < la > do ...


In many songs, some notes played fall out of the key such as stairway to heaven. The 7 notes that fall in key are do re mi fa so la ti (the diatonic notes). There are 12 notes in total chromatic scale, so there is another 5 notes that are out of key and they are: di ri fi si and li.

The complete solfege system for the chromatic scale is;
do di re ri mi fa fi so si la li ti

Diatonic notes ( within a key);
do re mi fa so la ti
Out of key notes ( out of key);
di ri fi si li

The out of key notes are not shown on my diagram but once again, pretend they're there.

Another song that has out of key notes is the familiar 'Simpsons' theme song;
do > mi > fi > la < so < mi < do < la < fi fi fi > so < fi fi fi > so > li > do do do do.

The harmonised major scale (chords);

The diatonic triads;
so la ti do re mi fa
mi fa so la ti do re
do re mi fa so la ti
I ii iii IV V vi vii dim

The diatonic 7th chords;
ti do re mi fa so la
so la ti do re mi fa
mi fa so la ti do re
do re mi fa so la ti

While practicing songs and excercises, say the syllables in your head, or better yet sing them, while playing each note. You will gradually internalise it.

Then what happens is as you listen to music, the music starts to whisper the solfege syllables to you. With more practice you can't help but hear the syllables.

All of a sudden you know which one is do and you can apply the melody directly to the guitar.

It may take a little bit of practise, but you'll be cultivating your (relative) ear every time you practice it.

This technique has been used in piano teaching for years and years. But in my opinion it suits the guitar even better because it establishes a direct connection between the ear and the guitar because of the 'relative' nature of the instrument.

OK thats enough for now. I think I got through everything I intended to. Later I'll add some info here describing how to use this system to sightread the treble clef with ease.


----------



## SnowfaLL (Mar 15, 2009)

I dunno how useful solfage is imo, cause counting the numbers gives you the advantage of using extension notes, like 9, 11, 13, where in solfage, you are just repeating ri and etc over again. It also helps when thinking of chord tones and passing notes when improvising, rather than having to jump solfage notes, and it can get confusing quite quickly.

Although, starting out without either method, maybe its easier to learn solfage solely based on the song from Sound of Music haha.


----------



## mcmurray (Mar 15, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> I dunno how useful solfage is imo, cause counting the numbers gives you the advantage of using extension notes, like 9, 11, 13, where in solfage, you are just repeating ri and etc over again. It also helps when thinking of chord tones and passing notes when improvising, rather than having to jump solfage notes, and it can get confusing quite quickly.
> 
> Although, starting out without either method, maybe its easier to learn solfage solely based on the song from Sound of Music haha.



I see where you're coming from man. As always with guitar, there's no one right way to do things. I was taught to play piano by ear using solfege when I was little. Now my daughter is learning and she can already play simple melodies by ear and she's 4 years old. I've seen old ladies learn to play by ear very quickly using solfege. In europe, learning piano via solfege is standard practice. I've just taken a proven method and applied it to the guitar.

Counting the numbers doesn't do anything for your ear as far as I'm concerned. Solfege is all about hearing the function of each notes within a _key_ - not within a chord. Chord tones and passing notes are specific to using the chords as a base for melody, whereas solfege deals with using the key as the base for melody. That is not to say that chord tones and passing notes are not important, for they're extremely important in Jazz for example.



NickCormier said:


> It also helps when thinking of chord tones and passing notes when improvising,



I don't agree with you there. I believe improvising is (should be) a process of hearing a melody in your head that fits the music, and playing it directly. Solfege allows you to map the sounds in your head directly onto the fretboard. The sounds in your head may already include chord and passing tones but you don't need to think about it - just hear it and play.

The usefullness also becomes apparent when applying solfege to reading standard notation - you can hear the music in your head without even picking up your instrument. Likewise whatever you're hearing in your head you can write down immediately in standard notation - chord extension numbering doesn't offer this advantage.

"Since most music is made using scales, tonic solfa has obvious advantages. The student of tonic solfa learns how to hear (and then, of course, sing) the relationships between the notes of the scale, and these are the same relationships that build our melodies, chords and counterpoint. Tonic solfa trains the ear and mind in the actual ways of music."

http://www.heathertrail.com/sightsigning.pdf

"The guitar is well equipped to adapt to solfa: the finger patterns easily relate to the movable doh. A full &#8216;soh&#8217; pentatonic scale can be played without moving the fingers in position (using the second finger as doh on the second string). Young children can move about the instrument without the need to rote learn ledger lines and many different key signatures. They are freed up to explore the instrument in a meaningful way while learning the intervallic relationships. They can demonstrate aural dictation, improvise, and learn a repertoire of folk songs."

"The guitar makes a great transposing instrument, especially when we consider finger patterns. For me, however, the problem has been that these finger patterns have been taught without any reference to sound. I am suggesting a possible way of gaining an aural relationship with these finger patterns which, in the fullness of time, will make it possible to hear a phrase and instantly play it on your instrument."

http://www.egta.co.uk/content/egta_forum/ExtraArticles/kodaly.html <- I notice this link is down, the above quotes came from there a while ago.


----------



## Mr. Big Noodles (Mar 16, 2009)

That's a weird solfege for the chromatic scale. I prefer do ra re ri/me mi fa fi/se sol si/le la/ta te ti do. "Di" implies a raised tonic pitch, which is counter-intuitive to the solfege system.


----------



## mcmurray (Mar 16, 2009)

SchecterWhore said:


> That's a weird solfege for the chromatic scale. I prefer do ra re ri/me mi fa fi/se sol si/le la/ta te ti do. "Di" implies a raised tonic pitch, which is counter-intuitive to the solfege system.



It doesn't really matter what syllables you use, as long as it is consistent. Your solfege for the chromatic scale is fine.


----------



## TREYAZAGHTOTH (Mar 17, 2009)

"While practicing songs and excercises, say the syllables in your head, or better yet sing them, while playing each note. You will gradually internalise it.

Then what happens is as you listen to music, the music starts to whisper the solfege syllables to you. With more practice you can't help but hear the syllables.

All of a sudden you know which one is do and you can apply the melody directly to the guitar."

Just a quick doubt:
How does one practice and internalize harmonized diatonic chords?


----------



## Mr. Big Noodles (Mar 17, 2009)

Chords are something you have to learn to hear based on quality. Major, minor, diminished, augmented, and dominant are all pretty easy to learn the sound of. Getting inversions on guitar music is tricky, but it can be done.


----------



## mcmurray (Mar 17, 2009)

TREYAZAGHTOTH said:


> "While practicing songs and excercises, say the syllables in your head, or better yet sing them, while playing each note. You will gradually internalise it.
> 
> Then what happens is as you listen to music, the music starts to whisper the solfege syllables to you. With more practice you can't help but hear the syllables.
> 
> ...



By unlocking each note (each solfege syllable) within the chord. I find that the bass note and the highest note of each chord are the easyt to hear, it's hearing what is in between that is tricky. To tell you the truth I'm still working on it. This is where sheet music comes in handy, you can read a chord, assign a syllable to each note of the chord, and then hear it before you play it. I recommend the book - "a modern method for guitar" by William Leavitt. Within that book are numerous chord etudes written strictly in standard notation. Working through those using solfege will definitely strengthen your 'harmony' ear. Also, singing arpeggios will definitely help.

That said, SchecterWhore's method is still valid, especially for jazz as the key often changes from bar to bar. I rather look at chords relative to the key tonic, not to the name of the chord. 

Here's a quote I found from some music professor which I think sums it up nicely;

"music and the way humans experience and organize pitches isn't really
intervallic. The human ear has a natural tendency to organize pitches
around key centers. In other words, pitches will be heard contextually
as relating to whatever key center/tonality your ear happens to be
oriented to at that moment."

"Basically, to have the 'whole' picture (just speaking in terms of RP)
while listening to music, it's important to be able to relate pitches
note to key as opposed to note to note. "


----------



## Mr. Big Noodles (Mar 18, 2009)

Well, if it helps at all, my ear training professor has my class listen to a progression, write down the bassline, repeats a few more times, and has us write in the chords and figure out the inversions. After that, we focus on the top voice, then kind of guess at the inner voices. That's in a four-part harmony/voice leading context, though, and is not immediately applicable to most modern music. The foundation is there, however.


----------



## mcmurray (Mar 18, 2009)

Interesting SchecterWhore. Can your recommend any good textbooks that you possibly use at college for ear training/harmony?

If I won lotto I'd go straight into a music degree. Unfortunately I have to work


----------



## Metal Ken (Mar 18, 2009)

mcmurray said:


> Counting the numbers doesn't do anything for your ear as far as I'm concerned. Solfege is all about hearing the function of each notes within a _key_ - not within a chord.



By that same token, using a syllable doesnt really make a difference, then does it? its just an association. weather its a "1" or a "Do", right? I mean, you can make a "Do" any pitch, and accent it any way you want, it doesnt necessarily fit to a note, if you get what im trying to say.


----------



## mcmurray (Mar 18, 2009)

Metal Ken said:


> By that same token, using a syllable doesnt really make a difference, then does it? its just an association. weather its a "1" or a "Do", right?



Yes it does make a difference. When you're assigning 1 to the root of a chord, every chord in a progression will have '1' as it's root, but each root will be different. Say you have the progression C - F - G7. You then have 3 '1s' i.e. C F and G - they're not unique and they don't SOUND unique. With solfege, the root of every chord is unique. In this case: do - fa - so. Do remains the tonic of the _key_, not to be confused with the root of the chord, and sounds the same always.

If this wasn't a proven method of ear training/playing by ear, I wouldn't be suggesting it. 'Movable do' is an extremely powerful technique.

Hopefully this link will offer you a better explanation:

http://www.aboutthecomposer.com/blog/archives/tag/movable-do



Metal Ken said:


> I mean, you can make a "Do" any pitch, and accent it any way you want, it doesnt necessarily fit to a note, if you get what im trying to say.



You assign Do to the tonic of the major key, once assigned it remains fixed, unlike chord numbering which changes with every chord.

Also, Do will sound the same relative to other notes within any key. Sing jingle bells using solfege in the key of C. Then sing the same melody in the key of G. As far as the melodies are concerned, they're identical, it's just the frequency has been shifted. 

Let me know if you still have a problem, and I'll try and explain it in a more concise fashion. (english wasn't my best subject)

btw Metal Ken - that is some fucking brutal metal on your myspace, highly enjoyable. Keep it up!


----------



## Metal Ken (Mar 18, 2009)

Looking at the article, i can see how it would make more sense than singing the numbered intervals (Adding sharps and flats afterwards can be confusing and a mouthful) but im not seeing how it really applies to a non vocal instrument? 

Maybe you can help me bridge that gap?

Thanks for the music comments, too \m/


----------



## ShadyDavey (Mar 18, 2009)

Interesting discussion. 

There's a nice piece of software called GNU Solfege GNU Solfege - free ear training software | Main / GNU Solfege - Smarten your ears that might be of assistance here. 

When (if) I start playing properly again I shall definately be using that as part of my daily ear-training simply because understanding the function of a chord on an intellectual level (ok, its a IIm7 so therefore I can play dorian mode,major triad down a tone, any of the three diatonic pentatonic scales, m7 arpeggio etc etc) and _hearing_ it were always two disparate entities for me. Combining the two so seems much more sensible. 

The one problem I have is that I always get a bit "Sound of Music" while singing Do re mi etc


----------



## mcmurray (Mar 18, 2009)

I'll look into GNU Solfege, thanks for the tip.

The thing about playing over a IIm7 chord, if it naturally occurs in the key you don't have to think "i'll play in dorian mode or pentatonic scales", just play within the key. If you change your scales around to match the chord you're constantly changing your frame of reference and it gets confusing. For example, you're playing a song in C major. a Dm7 chord comes along but just keep playing in C major. The tonality is C ionian, if you start playing a D dorian scale the tonality is still C ionian, so there is no point thinking in terms of D dorian.

That method only applies if the IIm7 chord naturally occurs within the key. This method will not work for Jazz or Metal Ken's death metal because the key is often changing from bar to bar, and in the case of death metal it can be completely atonal with no key center whatsoever. In those circumstances I'd recommend 'fixed do' over 'movable do' if solfege is to be used..


----------



## ShadyDavey (Mar 18, 2009)

I rarely play just a Cmajor scale over a IIm7 - I think I might just be doing it to confuse myself  but I get a little tired of the tonality and like to wander outside slightly. You are completely correct in that ofc D dorian = C major I was just using it as an example of the two styles of playing to try and illustrate the benefits of situationally using both.


----------



## ElRay (May 8, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> I dunno how useful solfage is imo, cause counting the numbers ...



Depends on what you're using Solfege for. If you're using movable-do because you want to focus on the interval relationship of the notes, then do-re-me-fa vs 2-2-2-1 or 0-2-4-5 really doesn't make a difference.

If you're using fixed-do, because you're focusing on the pitch classes, then Solfefe really isn't technically different than using any other names for the pitch classes. The advantages are that the sofege syllables are easier to sing than Eb, C#, Charles, Mike, Pete, etc. Also, in most romance-language-speaking countries, the Solfege syllables are the note names. So it is Bach's Concerto in Re-Flat.

What limited time I've had over the past year, I've been working towards just that -- Using Chromatic Chromatic Solfege syllables as the note names and singing/sub-vocalizing them. I've extended, and working at a bigger FOB, so we'll see how thing go over the next six months.

Ray


----------



## Mr. Big Noodles (May 8, 2009)

> Interesting SchecterWhore. Can your recommend any good textbooks that you possibly use at college for ear training/harmony?


I honestly can't reccomend a text for ear training. A lot of it requires having an instructor of some sort, and an active mind for music analysis. My reccomendation is to take written melodies and write out their solfege equivalent. Children's songs are good for this.

For harmony, I use "Tonal Harmony" by Kostka and Payne. It's okay, but it's best with an instructor.


----------



## freepower (May 9, 2009)

Just two quickies - 

A) The "middle C" in red in the example is indeed the pitch middle C, but if you are reading guitar or learning the notes of the fretboard, middle C is the 3rd fret A string. The guitar is a transposing instrument.

B) As for learning the notes of fretboard, I've done a very simple series of lessons in my sig that should help.


----------



## mcmurray (Jun 23, 2009)

Regarding ear training texts, I've heard very good things about Bruce Arnold's books. They'll teach you to transcribe, and sight sing - two of the most important ways to improve your ear.


----------

