Originally Posted by: KelenpeGuitarists memorize the complete fretboard[/quote]

For relative basis of comparison from a fellow stud which might be helpful in conjunction with Christopher's answer/guidence. 2¾ years in now, in my experience as a stud the perspective I've formed is that I think it's inevitable regardless the route one takes if you play long enough, practice frequently and apply yourself. That said, I am still not as instinctive as I'd like to be with it, [u]but that's my own doing[/u]. More on that in a moment. I found there's there's a balance or associative visual crossover applicable Christopher mentioned. For me that was learning, seeing & associatively hearing whilst playing repeatedly and linking the five shapes of the minor pentatonic scale in any key.

Originally Posted by: Kelenpeit takes me ages to deduct a fret name. ..snip....How long time did it take you to memorize the fretboard?

Ref the first part/statement of the quote above. IME that will decrease either with time and growing assimilation through familiarity, or could be accelerated through just learning it rote as if it were the twelve times table being committed to instant parroted memory recall as was in primary/elementary school in my day. I haven't done the latter merely through diversion with other aspects of learning guitar, mainly songs, and the fact that it's pretty dry stuff doing it that way even tenacious as I am and methodical as I can be. I've long recognised the repeating nature of the musical alphabet across the fretboard referenced/anchored by fret markers, both E strings being the more easily memorised ones along its length.

And the second, your question. It's memorising every note on every fret on the other four strings to a point I can [u]instinctively[/u] identify [u]every[/u] note that still eludes me. As admitted to earlier, that's my own doing. Although I'm at a point [u]now[/u] where I recognise a pramatic application in it for me where I could use and would benefit if I did. That wasn't a pragmatic imperative before.

[quote=Kelenpe]Do you need to memorize the fretboard to play well?

The view I'm forming is that I think it's important (for me) to know it to a point of cognizant instinctivity to play ad hoc well rather than just through a series of i.e. rote learnt licks, although being able to play scale shapes in any key can link the licks and notes sufficiently to play very musically with instinctivity without identifying every note played in the process of being played. That's where my outlook is from where I am at present. That may well change as I develop further.

I generally tend to triage [u]need[/u] to [u]learn/know/do[/u] now vs [u]nice[/u] to [u]know[/u] on a pragmatic purpose basis relevant to my short and medium term objectives. That's happening now with a need for instinctive familiarity with the entire fretboard.

Sharpened the axe, should cut that 'tree' faster now.