Learning the Guitar Fretboard
When using moveable chord shapes, it is important to be able to quickly find the correct fret at which to play each chord and also to be able to play equally well in all keys. The best way to achieve this is to memorize the names of all the notes on the fretboard. This may seem a daunting task, but it can be done and will be well worth it. More advanced guitar playing requires the use of many different scales, chords and arpeggios, which may take their name from any of the six strings, so you need to learn them all equally well.
Another important aspect of left hand technique is the use of guide fingers. This involves keeping your finger on a string and sliding it to a new position on that string when changing chords. E.g. when changing from a D chord to an A chord, keep your 3rd finger on the 2nd string and slide it back from the 3rd fret to the 2nd fret. Like the pivot finger technique, the use of guide fingers helps to create smooth chord changes. The following example makes use of guide fingers between all three chords.
This example uses both pivot and guide fingers and contains all the shapes you have learnt.
