About Fret Science
My goal is simple: to help you break through on guitar — without the endless memorization that stops most players cold.
I’m Keith Martin. I have a Ph.D. from MIT, where I studied under the composer Barry Vercoe and the AI pioneer Marvin Minsky, and I spent nearly 25 years working in audio. But the reason Fret Science exists has less to do with any of that and more to do with how stuck I once felt.
The wall I hit
I’ve played guitar since the 1980s — more than a dozen cover bands, song after song learned from tab. I could play other people’s parts, but when it came time to actually improvise or jam freely, everything fell apart. I had the scales. I had the licks. I just couldn’t make music with them.
The breakthrough
In my early 40s I finally committed to understanding the fretboard — memorizing the neck, studying triads, arpeggios, the CAGED system, three-note-per-string shapes. Then something clicked, helped along by the way my computer-science brain likes to find structure: the fretboard suddenly became much simpler. It needed far less memorization and far less repetitive practice. The patterns I already knew turned out to be different views of the same few ideas.
That’s the whole method. CAGED and three-note-per-string aren’t competing systems to grind into memory — they illuminate each other. Once you see that, the neck stops fighting you.
Why I teach this way
I went full-time on Fret Science in September 2024 because I believe this approach can save players years. The mission is to teach in a way that requires much less memorization — so you can grow quickly and, more importantly, enjoy making great music. The material is most valuable to intermediate players who feel the fretboard working against them, but it’s built to be accessible to beginners and to hand even advanced players the occasional “oh — that’s what’s going on” moment.
How this is funded
Honestly: I can only do this full-time if enough people find it valuable enough to support. That’s what Patreon and the course purchases are for. If the free YouTube lessons have helped you, the courses go much deeper — and every membership and purchase is what lets me keep making them.
From students
“The clearest and most practical path I’ve found for learning how to actually improvise on guitar. The visuals finally cracked the code for me after 17+ years.”
“Keith’s framework is totally unique — so straightforward, easy to grasp, and broadly applicable. I was improvising by the end of Module 1.”
“This is the course I’ve been waiting for my whole guitar life. It makes a lot of sense and just fits my brain.”
“The Rectangle and Stack concept made everything click. I’ve improved light-years from where I started.”
“I made a lot of progress in a relatively short amount of time. I’d greatly recommend this course.”
“Methodical and analytical, paired with clear PDFs and easy-to-follow videos with animations. Exactly how I needed it taught.”