GUITAR
THE 3 ROW SECRET FOR CLAIMING THE FRETBOARD | David Harsh
What if there was a simple 3-part strategy that could help you claim your guitar fretboard for chords, capo placement, scales and lead guitar? It can be tempting to think the guitar is just too complicated to tackle all this. But it’ s possible— and more. I encourage you to watch the accompanying video – which takes these quick thoughts and sample diagrams and goes much deeper.
THE PROBLEM— AND THE SOLUTION You’ re stuck in open position most of the time. You want to break past open chords and scales, find a more purposeful way to use your capo, and intentionally work your way up the neck to discover more music. I’ m going to show you 3 rows of natural notes that can help you claim the fretboard in a fresh, new way. These are the only rows of natural notes from fret 0 to fret 11 – in other words, moving across the strings, there are no sharps or flats … but only for these 3 rows. This approach is relevant whether you play acoustic, electric, nylon string, or 12-string guitar.
ROW 1— FRET 0( OPEN STRINGS) The open strings, from low to high, are: E, A, D, G, B, E. Most early guitar lessons help you memorize these – the accompanying video has memory devices to help you retain these notes. Let’ s verify them with open chords: an open E Major chord is rooted on the 6th string. An open A Major chord is based on the 5th string. An open D Major chord is based on the 4th string. A simple G chord is rooted on the 3rd string. These note names directly confirm what you’ re playing— that’ s the instant application of knowing your first row.
ROW 2— FRET 5 Moving up the neck, fret 5 gives us another row of all natural notes: A, D, G, C, E, A. Let’ s test these out by placing our capo on the 5th fret. Now the open string shapes sound like different chords. An E Major shape becomes A Major. An A Major shape becomes D Major. A D Major shape becomes G Major. Knowing the note names at fret 5 tells you exactly what chord you’ re producing— no guessing. Remove the capo and those same notes still anchor your moveable chord shapes up the neck.
ROW 3— FRET 10 Just two frets below the double-dot at fret 12 is our third row: D, G, C, F, A, D. These notes can be verified with major scales: a D Major scale based on the 6th string, a G Major scale on the 5 th string, a C Major scale on the 4 th string, and an F Major scale on the 3 rd string. The same logic applies to chords and capo placement here as well.
36 May 2026 Subscribe for Free...