Plainsong
Well-known member
I'm the same way. I was a clarinet player from third grade through college, and I can probably still translate standard notation notes into clarinet finger positions but I can't do that for ukulele. My thought is to learn the fretboard so that when I see a note on sheet music, I can train by brain to find that note quickly on the fretboard. For this purpose, I bought Fretboard Roadmaps for Ukulele, and I also ordered these two free pdf minibooks from Curt Sheller's website on learning the fingerboard for both C and G tuning.
Yup, same exact boat with the same clarinet family and a mellophone (badly) in the mix, and voice, and my last paying clarinet gig was like a week after college, and that was it, from 3rd grade to just out of college. It's amazing. If there are places for the fingers to go, no problem remembering what note is made how. But a fretboard? Forget it.
And there's the sinking feeling that after getting those method books, it's like "Oh hey I can sight-read this, oh wait, it's in D, so either transpose or feel stupid." And you go right back to feeling like you're in 3rd grade all over again.