I was watching Mike's Standard Tuning video and there's another really cool way to understand the fretboard using the EADGBE method of tuning.

The standard tuning begins with the note E which is the 3rd step in the key of C. If you think about that in the context of modes, that would make the standard tuning of the guitar what you might call a PHRYGIAN AXIS position.

This axis positon has it's octave appearing again at the 12th fret with the same notes which can be thought of as the same place.

If you move back 2 frets from there to the 10th fret, you find the note D on the 6th string and the 1st string which is the 2nd step in key of C making the 10th fret a DORIAN AXIS position.

It's kind of like using modes as landmarks on the fretboard. On the 5th fret, you find A, and it's the 7th step in key of C and your AEOLIAN AXIS position.

So the 2nd, 3rd, and 7th steps in a modal context is another fretboard roadmap. Seems like yet another cool way to look at the fretboard in a modal context that also explains why standard tuning makes sense.

Adrian