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Music: Practice & Theory

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    "I wouldn't be surprised if well over 50% of guitarists (...) don't know the note names anyhow." - Do you mean "don't know them immediately and need a few seconds to figure it out if you ask", or "aren't able to tell what note it is at all"? I rather hope you meant the former...
    – Divizna
    Commented Jun 29 at 14:28
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    I think the issue here is who we consider to be "guitarists". I could define "pianists" in a somewhat reasonable way such that fewer than 50% know the notes on the piano without counting. Classical guitarists know the notes after at most 1-3 years of lessons, in my experience. Amateur rock guitarists are more likely the source of your estimated statistic, since they often start learning from tabs. Professionals, even in the rock, pop, country, and similar genres, are quite likely to know all the notes. So it really depends on who we mean by "guitarists".
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Jul 1 at 4:56
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    I'm confused about your dismissal of chord shapes. If I know where B is on the 5th string, then I can use the B major chord shape to quickly find D# on the second string. Also I can do some quick math to find B on the 6th string and therefore D# on the 3rd string. That's because I know the shapes of B major and I know which note in each shape is the third of the chord and that third is of course a D#. Same with scales. Where's F#? it's the seventh degree of a G major scale.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Jul 1 at 5:16
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    @Divizna That's fair. If we extend the same definition to other instruments we can assert all kinds of unhelpful "facts" about musicianship: Most musicians practice only once a week. Most horn players can't play above written C5. Most piano players play digital pianos and have never played a grand piano. Most clarinet players use plastic instruments and 2.0 - 3.0 strength reeds. Etc. The question is asking about how guitarists remember things. It's not unreasonable to infer they mean to ask about guitarists who actually remember things, how do they do it? Not all guitar owners.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Jul 1 at 15:02
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    @Shayne - I've played bass for around 50 yrs, (gtr for >65) and although I do know the note names, they're not of much importance in the middle of what I'm playing. I'd say the intervals play a more prevalent part. Knowing where M3 is compared with root is far more important than knowing it's an E in key C - as often, in house bands, I get thrown various 'odd' keys. Cutting out the middle man makes things run more smoothly!
    – Tim
    Commented Jul 5 at 7:32