Baritone fretboard memory aids
A few tips on getting oriented on the baritone fretboard.
First, mnemonics for the notes across key frets:
nut: D G B E = Dogbone
5th: G C E A = Go Cream! (Silly, but it helps me.) Same as the standard C tuning
7th: A D #F B = Ads fib (Ad sf ib)
12th: D G B E = Dogbone, same as at the nut; this is the octave
(17th: G C E A same as the 5th)
With these mnemonics, every position on the fretboard is no farther than two frets from a known note. The rest is filling in the gaps, using visual shapes as an aid.
On the 7th fret, I wrote #F instead of F# to remind you that the S in "ads fib" goes with the following F (as a sharp is normally written before a note; only with letter names does it usually follow—grrr). If this bothers you, substitute "Ad for sub."
Additionally, we can import another mnemonic from the C-tuning:
10th: C F A D = C-fad
Since too many mnemonics can be as confusing as too few, I didn't want to list it with the others. Get comfortable with the other mnemonics first, then add this one. This row is an integral part of the C megacluster mentioned below.
Everything you know about the soprano/concert/tenor fretboard applies on the baritone 5 frets up (5 semitones = the interval of a perfect fourth). So it's not surprising that we find the C tuning at the 5th fret, CFAD at the 10th fret (as at the soprano 5th fret) and DGBE at the 12th fret (as at the soprano 7th fret). If you know the movable shapes that correspond to C open-position chords, envision the 5th fret as a virtual nut, and all your soprano chords translate to the region above. If you're spotty on movable chords, just capo at the 5th fret and play as if you were playing in C-tuning; all your note and chord names will match.
The 4th string 5th fret note is the same as the name of the baritone tuning: G. (This holds for all typical uke tunings.) That's a reminder of which mnemonic applies to this fret (G = Go Cream! = G C E A). And two frets up your mnemonic begins with the next white note: A = Ads fib = A D #F B. A is also the last note of companion row 5 (GCEA).
The C supercluster described in this article ( http://oneukulele.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/how-to-learn-13-of-ukulele-fingerboard.html?m=1 ) begins with BE at fret 9 and includes the across-the-fret notes you should recognize from the 10th and 12th fret mnemonics.
Note the BE/CF boxes that begin and end the supercluster. There is another BE/CF box at the nut/1st fret.
Note the symmetry of the white note pattern between the nut and 10th frets, centered around the 5th fret, whose notes you now know.
Note the "lonely" B and F right before and after this central row—they're the only notes on their rows.
Note the diagonal F A C E starting with the 3rd and 15th frets and going leftward.
Note the right-triangle of notes on the 2nd and 3rd fret bottom strings. From the FACE diagonal you know two of the notes. The corner note is right before F, so it's E (flying in the FACE of FEAr). Look at the 7th and 8th fret top strings: they form a similar right-triangle, symmetrical to the lower FEA one. It's corner note is C. The note before it must then be B and (since those strings are tuned a 4th apart) the note next to C must be G, the chord that typically resolves to C.
This leaves only two white notes yet unlocated: D and G on the 3rd fret top strings. You can remember this either as "dog/dig" or "god", depending on which direction you tend to read the strings; of course, the surrounding notes on the same string should keep you straight.
The 4th through 8th frets almost form a white-note megacluster except for those blasted F#s, carving a chink out of the 4th fret bottom and a diamond around fret 7 string 2. Actually, they do form a megacluster with the same pattern as the higher C megacluster, but in the key of G. The F# is of course bracketed between F and G, and C is nestled in the right upper corner of the diamond (1st string, 8th fret), forming that right triangle I mentioned above.
The notes zigzag in the same pattern I described for the C tuning.
Hope at least some of this blather helps.
