I find that when I play a scale pattern/box pattern up high on the neck, fingering gets much more difficult because the frets are so close together. At the very highest frets, I must squeeze my fingers together so that they fit (if you know what I mean).
So what's the proper/accepted way to deal with this?
-squeeze the fingers together?
-maybe use only three fingers? (like perhaps have finger 3 play both the 3rd
and 4th fret of that position?)
Yes and yes; both.
Think of being a mandolin player and all those narrow frets, and, maybe for a couple of days, don't play anything below the 12th fret. Make everything below the 12th fret 'off limits', just to get your fingers used to that. Then go back to full neck exercises. Everyone always starts on the low positions (because that's how it's done and most books start you off that way) so there's an imbalance from the very beginning. Spend more time - for a little while - focusing on the high frets, and then come back down to balance things out.
Hope this helps.
Thanks. You're right about beginner's books. I'm on my second one, and both
make little or no mention of the difference/difficulty as you move a pattern up the neck. The exact same pattern will feel totally different to the fingers...not just the spacing, but also the higher string height. It's like I need to re-learn it to play it up high.
Lately I've been doing a major scale exercise 123 234 345 456... in first position, then second, and so on, all the way up the neck. I hate playing "way up there", but I'm sure like anything else, it'll come with time.
Practice is generally the cure all for issue such as yours. Unless you can find a way to shrink your fingers. :shock: :lol:
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Somewhat related to this topic, I've heard about a 3-octave (36 fret) electric guitar. I question whether or not such a thing is even playable above around the 24th fret.
I don't even want to know where this thing ends!
If you can play one of those things..........good for you! If I saw "it" (I call it.... "it", because it looks like a hairy beast :shock: ) in a store........ the most I would do is look at it.
Holy god tracker how many frets are on that thing?
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Somewhat related to this topic, I've heard about a 3-octave (36 fret) electric guitar.
All guitars have three octaves - that's low E to 12th fret 1st string E. 36 frets would give you five full octaves.
I haven't seen one with that many frets - the most I've seen so far is 27. They are made, though - Hamer had a 36 fret called the Virtuoso a few years ago, and a luthier named Jersy Drozd makes 36 fret basses.
Then there are microtonal guitars... a 'sixth tone' guitar has two extra frets between each standard one (dividing a whole step into six equal parts). I've seen photos of one of these puppies that has 84 frets - the equivalent of a 28 fret scale length, plus the extras.
I think if I was heavily into microtonal stuff I'd just go fretless :)
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Tracker is that your guitar!!! :?
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Heck No!!! Way to many frets for me.
I found that pic on the web, it's a 36 fret 8 string.
:shock: What kind of maniac needs 8 strings and 36 frets?!!?
Even Steve Vai cut it off at 7!
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yeah, that's why he used triple necked guitars...
you can never have enough! :wink:
NO MORE THEORY!!
um...
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