How to Use This Book

Read the DFE First

“Chromatic Fretboard Exercises” (CFE) is a sequel and a companion to “Diatonic Fretboard Exercises” (DFE). The intent is that the DFE be used first, to learn the natural notes on the fretboard especially in positions I and VII, before using this book to add sharps and flats. The explanations in the DFE also apply here, so be sure read “How to Use This Book” in the DFE before starting with the CFE.

Like the DFE ...

• The CFE is for learning to read music over the whole fretboard while looking only at the music. The emphasis is on guiding the left hand without looking at it.
• Working knowledge of music notation is assumed, but you'll still be able to play the notes you see even if you don't know their names.
• The pieces are all public domain melodies in the key of C, playable on the guitar without changing hand positions along the neck, so there is no excuse for looking at the left hand or the fretboard.
• Titles are hidden to encourage identification by sight reading rather than playing by ear or memory. Look up that exercise by number in the Exercise Index or, in the web edition, hover the cursor in the blank area at the top of each music page to reveal its title. This also provides the fun reward of solving a puzzle each time a familiar tune reveals itself.
• Exercises are grouped by the positions in which they are playable, and the first chapter encourages learning positions I and VII at the same time. Later chapters go up the neck until the whole fretboard is covered.
• Difficulty grades are provided for each playable position of every piece, to encourage playing the same piece in a variety of positions and learning from experience why some positions are easier than others.
• Single string playing is supported. A circled number at the end of the list of playable positions indicates that piece is playable in its entirety on that string.
• Ambitus markings are included at the start of each piece indicating the range of notes for that piece, which is an important factor in choosing a position.
• No fingerings are marked, since different positions require different fingerings.
• The “Exercises” are not to be practiced or even repeated. Each one is a fresh opportunity to test your sight reading ability.
• At the back of the book there's an Exercise Index ordered by exercise number to identify a piece you're playing, and a Name Index to locate exercises by name of the piece or of the composer/nationality. To help you learn more about the original music, the References section has links you can follow to the freely available source scores.

Unlike the DFE ...

• The CFE introduces accidentals (sharps or flats within a measure that persist for the remainder of that measure, or until the next natural sign). Every piece in the CFE will have at least once accidental.
• Chromatic means each piece ventures outside the 7 note diatonic scale and into the 12 note chromatic scale, though less so for some pieces than others. Chromatic does not mean each piece includes a run up the chromatic scale.
• The wider chromatic palette makes the music more colorful and varied. Selections draw less from nursery rhymes and children's songs, and much more from well known classical pieces and some exotic sounds from other cultures.
• Colorful pieces tend to be longer. On average, CFE exercises are about twice as long those in the DFE and, as a result, tend to be playable in fewer positions.
• Colorful pieces have more rhythmic variety. Reading rhythms is not the subject of this book, but it is a consequence.
• A wider palette also means you may have to stretch farther to reach those new notes. Difficulty grades tend to be higher in the CFE and the differences between positions are not so dramatic as in the DFE (the “sweet” positions like seventh position are no longer quite so sweet).

All of this makes the CFE both more challenging to play and more rewarding to hear than the DFE. This book has over 1100 exercises from 500+ melodies. Most exercises are playable in several positions, resulting in several thousand distinct workouts. Your gray matter will get planty of exercise! Enjoy!