GFA26 Fretboard Exercises for the Mind

Hello! I am J.J. Olson and this is my brief but spectacular* GFA poster on how to teach guitar sightreading as an enjoyable way to learn the whole fretboard. It's "Fretboard Exercises for the Mind".

(Part of the Symposium for Guitar Scholars led by Professor Jonathan Leathwood during the 2026 Guitar Foundation of America International Convention, June 22-27, 2026, in Denver).

Fifty years ago I was a young physicist who joined Bell Labs to solve problems in software analysis and eventually data modeling. Upon retirement, I applied that experience to the problem of reading music anywhere on the fretboard and, in particular, to the questions of what mental data structures were best suited to that task and how to develop them.

My poster shows three key points for building effective mental data structures for sightreading, plus a couple of sections on related topics. You can click on a section in the Contents below, or step through them in sequence using the Next► button in the navigation bar at the top of every page. The navigation bar also has an icon that returns you to this table of contents.

If you'd like to continue the conversation, contact me at jjocanoe@gmail.com.

Contents

Abstract

This is the written summary that was peer-reviewed for acceptance of the poster. Check it out to see what Pat Metheny had to say about learning melody.

1. Teach Two Positions from the Start

This is an essential beginning step for building the right mental data model.

2. Visual Recognition of Notes Not Letters

Build a fast mental mapping that goes directly from note-appearance-on-staff to location-on-fretboard using this "Musical Fretboard Diagram".

3. Use Real Melodies that Match the Lesson

Exercise those mental maps on loads of real historical melodies that match the range of notes being learned, and make each one a recognition puzzle for fun.

LilyPond and Fingering Complexity Metrics

LilyPond is a music description language for typesetting, but its format is easily read by other software, in this case to compute left-hand fingering complexity.

I-Space and Proprioception While Sightreading

A fifth space is added to the guitar knowledge spaces of Mermikides to describe some of the mental processing that happens while sightreading, with emphasis on proprioception, an affordance most guitarists don't even know they have.

* see "Brief But Spectacular" on Wikipedia and PBS

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