It was back in 2013 when I was playing at four to five different open mics a week… I quickly realized what I had mentioned in yesterdays email.

The FretGrid is laid out infinitely across the fretboard.

[FG] is exactly the same across all 12 tones.

Look at the image below:

[FG] is transitive across the entire fretboard. The pattern stays the same…

It’s your starting point that changes.

HINT: Learn it once, and fretboard muscle memory takes care of playing in ALL 12 tones.

The pattern does not change - only your frame of reference (“root”) changes.

What I am trying to drive home...

Is that, real fluency on the guitar only happens when you know where the notes lie on the neck.

There is no way around this. The quicker you know where the notes lie, the sooner you will be playing with your “inner eye.”(I’ll tell ya more tomorrow)

tinylesson: FretGrid Pattern In 12 Tones

Set a 20-minute timer. Tune your guitar.

In the same fashion as yesterday’s “blue dot” exercise, work through all five zones: 5 zones starting with open E 5 zones starting with F (sixth string, first fret) 5 zones starting with F# (sixth string, second fret) 5 zones starting with G (sixth string, third fret) … and so on as you ascend up the neck through all 12 tones.

Here is the patter again:

Set your metronome to 60 BPM. Play 1 note every 4 clicks.