How the Brenna Method Works
“The whole purpose of this method is to help you be the musician you want to be when you pick up your guitar to play.”
— Joseph Brenna
See What You’re Playing
If your fretboard seems sprawling and chaotic, you’re not alone. The notes on a guitar are invisible, and most players never learn them.
With a Brenna Method Fretboard Map on your guitar, twelve patented Note Icons, one for each of the twelve notes in music, make every note, chord and scale visible on your guitar or bass.
The same Note Icons appear in song charts and chord and scale diagrams, so you always know exactly what you're playing.
Most of my students recognize all twelve Note Icons after about an hour of practice, in sessions of five to ten minutes spread over a week or two. I give you a game to play and a practice schedule built on how memory works: short sessions and well-timed breaks.
Fretboard Maps
Custom-made Fretboard Maps fit your instrument perfectly. You can order one in any tuning, showing any notes, chords or scales. They feel natural under your fingers, and they are durable, washable and totally removable.
You can also get a Fretboard Map for your ukulele, bass and keyboard.
Learning Songs
The icons on your fretboard are the same icons in your song charts and chord diagrams. So when you learn a song, you always know what notes you’re playing and where to find them on your guitar. A lick you learn in one place, you can find anywhere on the neck.
“I’ve been playing guitar for 3 decades… [Joseph] has created a method of visualizing the fretboard that within a few months completely changed the way I view the guitar and music.”
Questions
Is this only for beginners?
Nope. Whether you’re a beginner, an intermediate or an advanced player, the Note Icons give you so much to work with. Their colors, shapes and symbols form patterns that show every note, chord and scale, so they open new ways to play and create for even the most advanced musicians.
Are the icons on my fretboard a crutch?
They’re an upgrade. Piano players see every note they play, because the black and white keys are a map. That’s intelligent design, not a crutch. The traditional fretboard leaves guitarists blind and guessing. A Fretboard Map gives you the advantage that pianists have always had.
Once I start using the icons, will I be lost without them?
My students tell me that after about six months of playing, the icons imprint: they see them even on a fretboard with no map, even with their eyes closed. A map comes off quickly and easily, though I’m pretty sure you won’t want to take it off.
What if I’m color blind?
Because each Note Icon is a unique combination of a shape and symbol, color blind students have told me they easily tell all the icons apart, on their fretboards and in song charts and diagrams.
Take the leap.
A more creative, more confident musical life starts with your first lesson.
Get 50% Off Your First LessonPrivate guitar lessons in Boulder and guitar lessons in Longmont.