Which Way Is Up?

Ukuleleblues

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When referring to the fret board which way is up? When folks refer to playing on the upper registers some say they are playing way up on the neck, but some say they are playing way down on the neck. When showing someone a Barr chord and the are playing 3433 instead of 2322 you say move the chord up one fret, not down one fret. Which is the correct statement:

1. The octave of a string is played up on the neck at the 12th fret.

2. The octave of a string is played down on the neck at the 12th fret.

When I show newbies I want to make sure I am not just confusing them.
 
Up the neck refers to playing closer to the bridge. When you talk about moving up a fret, you are talking about moving one fret closer to the bridge, or "up" to a higher note.
 
Up the neck refers to playing closer to the bridge. When you talk about moving up a fret, you are talking about moving one fret closer to the bridge, or "up" to a higher note.

:agree: Rich nailed it. This always confused me when I first started playing guitar many years ago but it is, indeed, the convention. The way I finally remembered it is that you are moving up to a higher pitched note.

John
 
Yes, yes, yes, yes, to all of thee above. I think of it in terms of pitch as well.

What gets me is moving "up" a string or "down" a string, or the top string vs. the bottom string.
 
When referring to the fret board which way is up? When folks refer to playing on the upper registers some say they are playing way up on the neck, but some say they are playing way down on the neck. When showing someone a Barr chord and the are playing 3433 instead of 2322 you say move the chord up one fret, not down one fret. Which is the correct statement:

1. The octave of a string is played up on the neck at the 12th fret.

2. The octave of a string is played down on the neck at the 12th fret.

When I show newbies I want to make sure I am not just confusing them.

up means playing higher up in sound, which means going up toward the 12th fret area etc.
playing down the neck means going lower toward the 1st fret (up in sound up higher, down down lower think of it that way).
 
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