Dots on the Fretboard!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inlay_(guitar)

That should be what you are looking for unless I have completely buggered up your question which would not be the first time.

Regards,

C491

Hello Case, That artical says they have no musical relation to the notes (diagram 1), There are also two different styles! The plot thickens!

IMHO, the dots are just place-markers - to help you keep track of your dabbies when they're flashing up'n'down the frets.

Steve S has got it.

Steve P (also from Tex, now a Tex refugee)

PS. You played for 30 years and didn't learn this, say, 29 years ago? Then you've spent far too much time playing alone...or for those who don't play or are a captive audience. Just to help your ear understanding of the fret spots, try playing harmonics at the marked frets as Steve S instructs. Then try playing harmonics at non-marked frets. One (easier way) to get started (learning) is to simply strum the open strings. Then, as they ring, touch your "barre" finger quickly and light across the strings and lift it off. You can also do this with individual string and finger tip. This will train your finger as to the pressure needed for nice sounding (persistent ringing) harmonic. You'll quickly get a feel for what it's all about. For a good example of playing harmonics, the song Roundabout from the '70s is a good listening sample; that song might, however, be a bit advanced in terms of required guitar master(?). Famous use of harmonics

stevep

The notion of playing "by ear" after 30 years seems a bit odd, though. It is a somewhat nebulous concept but is generally thought to be more an innate gift than a learned thing, and means you can play a tune (a series of notes) by simply, and spontaneously, associating aural remembrance to a particular melody and chord sequence...and use that memory to guide your playing body parts. It has similarity to memorizing a musical passage through repetitive practice...but with little or no practice. But even someone who innately plays by ear requires what is essentially an ability, gained by practice, to harmonize and to anticipate instinctively the next note in a standard chord progression. This, however, is not strictly playing "by ear" as much as it is playing by habit.

Playing by ear would generally apply more concisely with those kinds of instruments in which notes are "felt" (tactilely and aurally) as opposed to simply found...for example, a violin or flute as opposed to a guitar or pianoforte. At thirty years I believe your best bet is to continue doing what you've been doing with some enhancement. Like a song? Get the sheet music notated for guitar, and the recording. Learn the melody and chords with the sheet music. Train the ear with the recording. Put them together and repeat till you have it down pat. Then you can improvise as ear and hand memory improves. In time the learning curve, both hearing and playing, improves to where new songs are more quickly added to your repertoire.

Unfortunately, I did learn this and found to my surprise, that I could play harmonics in almost any part of the fretboard so I thought maybe there was some ulterior motive! I feel I am lucky. While growing up, I would finish school and watch a bit of TV before going out! Any piece of music that came on, I could play by ear! If I liked a song, it normally took till the end of the song to have it cracked with regard to the basic chords or riffs so with regard to positions of dots, it is the basic harmonic positions! That unfortunately leaves my flashing around looking for the next octave in a bit of a quandary! Think I'll go and strum for a while!

• Once you have learned a riff from a song, you might want to take the time to learn to play it in several different places on the guitar. Except for riffs using the lowest notes on the low E string, almost anything can be played easily in two or three other locations along the neck, and with more difficulty is still others. Also figure out what musical scale that riff is on, including any unplayed notes.
• Learn your scales (major, minor, modes, and pentatonic) in as many fingering positions as possible. You don't really want to spend too much time running up and down the scales because you'll get stuck in a rut (and start to sound mechanical), but you need to know them. Learn to play them going straight across the neck, and diagonally running up the neck and diagonally running down the neck. Learn to play the scales leaving out every other note. Learn to play them with one finger flat across the fretboard (barred) and use the 3 other free fingers to play the scale.
• When you play along to music, don't just copy the riffs on the recording. Use your scale sense to play a similar riff that is a third (3 to 4 frets) or a fourth (one string over) above or below the recorded part (most western music is based on harmonies in thirds and fourths). Find riffs that aren't in the original song but sound like they should be.
• Use your scale sense to find the same riff up one octave, or down one octave.
• Don't worry too much about the 'dots'. They are just a crutch. Practice playing without looking at the guitar as much as possible.
• If you are right handed, flip the guitar over from time to time and play your favorite riffs left handed. This forces you to work around your bad habits and hand tricks, and to learn the 'patterns' on a deeper level.
• Write your own songs, and figure out suitable riffs. If you have been playing for 30 years you must have played in lots of different styles.
  

Hi johnfotl,

Some time ago I refinished an old acoustic guitar. I purposefully removed all fretmarkers so that I would have no visual references.

It was a great help. Makes you do it by feel and sound.

John

I think calling them a crutch is taking it a bit far. I agree you need to know by feel where you are on the fret board, but I also like to have that visual feed back that I am playing in the right position, especially if I am changing tunings, but even for just normal tuning...

or

Sometimes frets are helpful. Especially if you forget which instrument you're playing. Lets see, am I currently playing the electric-harp, the bass, or what? I forgot! What's that awful screeching sound??? No, No!! stop throwing things at me! _{(slinks off stage).}

And I have fun with just one neck!

Do you actually play that 3 necked beast?

Unfortuntely(?) no. Multi naked beasts seem to defy logic. I can't even figure out how to hold this one (below). Looks like the neck on the left would get stuck in your nose (if you're a right-handed player).

I'm still trying to figure out how to play the below single neck instrument. Hard as I try, I can't even get one finger on the damn fretboard. BUT, notice there are no dots to interfere with your musical talents.

-John

This one also defies reason!

I'd sure like to meet the person that plays that thing! Better yet I'd like to hear a recording made from that instrument.

Wonder how one plays the bass neck simultaneously with melodies, arpegios, etc. from the othe necks? One important note: there are no dots on any of the fretboards. The two 12 string necks look to me to be identical so one of them seems redundant. But then depending on how one grips/fingers the 12 string necks, one may be easier to switch to than the other(from the 6 string or the bass). Just a thought.

If anyone could make that thing sing it would have been Chet Atkins. Shame he's no longer with us I have always adored his many talents and unique style of playing. He had more talent than most of us have in our little finger.

-John

Incidentally, here's my nomination for the next iteration of multi-necked "whatchamaguitarcallit":

Some of the necks are unseen as they protrude from the back of the sphere. It gets a little difficult to play as some of the fretboards actually face the back (from the perspective you see here).

This is, of course, a coarse prototype. It has been a real challenge to "string" this beast. We believe the final product should be suspended from two guy wires (like a swing). Forty-three musicians will surround the instrument and jump in on cue to play the required notes.

Actually, we've achieved superior resonance qualities from the spherical body design. Musicians ears are still ringing from the initial playing of an old Rolling Stones concert.

Also not seen in the drawing are the 108 sound holes at the top and bottom of the sphere. Of extreme emportance Mr. Brain, we have insisted that no dots or bars be placed on any of the 21 necks. However, we did fudge a little and allowed side dots to be placed on one neck at a time only. We did this in order to be somewhat friendly to beginers. A clever design we incorporated was to make the side dots from LEDs, invisible, unless turned on, so we can then program them to move around to various necks at random, or in a predictable pattern as the user desires.

This is a worthy cause for the musical enrichment of all. Please send available funds in either U.S. $, or British £ to the Nigerian Embassy. All contributions are welcome. _{(John will accept all forms of payment, to be forwarded to the NE, of course)}

-John

Single pick up eh! If I owned that one, I would put a light bulb inside and have it as an interesting feature of the house!

I'm not too sure if 'er indoors would let me strum this one or not!! But it does have dots!

Hmm, I wonder what this guy would think of these fancy guitars? He just might go ape!

FWIW, I had a friend in high school who referred to his guitar as a "gitfiddle."

Talk about body piercings!!

I'm surprised she doesn't have a nose pin or a navel ring.

Anyway, she looks like she needs some serious strumming.

Not if you start out playing in Lotus position.

I prefer the Triumph Herald position. It's more of a white knuckle ride!

I spent about 25 years as a working musician before I retired to become a scientist. When you are playing with and for other people you need to keep eye contact with the other people in your group, and when you aren't doing that you need to be making eye contact with your audience. It took me quite a while to figure that out, at least partly because I was afraid if I took my eyes off my instrument I'd screw up.

Once I decided to take the plunge it turned out to be no big deal. My playing improved because they eye-hand feedback loop takes too long - it slows you down and causes hesitation. Of course if you need to make a huge slide up or down the neck you need to glance down, but other than that its just not necessary.

John, Thanks for a great post. I'm OK on my scales and up and down the neck but I do tend to throw in the odd bum note now and again! The other week my speed increased through some kind of Divine intervention, the little push over the next hurdle! I was listening to the Carpenters playing Goodbye to love and found I could do the solo almost at full speed! As you say, my fingers can't keep up with my mind so I tend to do unprompted pauses when I really want to go straight on to the next phrase!

When I was younger, I spent most of my time writing songs and lyrics and then when I hit 30, my mind went blank! I haven't written since. It seems like a long time ago but I did enjoy it. Something I need to get back into! I suppose you could call me a cabaret player (ouch!) You hum it and I'll play it, so yes, I have many styles! My only wish is to be able to play a blistering solo.....even if only once!!

Thanks again for the advice!

Excellent answer Steve! Kudos.

John

Pick up a 3 book set called "Fretboard Logic" It explains everything mentioned here and more. You've gotten some excellent answers in this thread but I would still look at "Fretboard Logic". It's the only thing that gave me the "Ah, Ha!" understanding.

Orpheuse