Playing up and down the fretboard

1. What does playing down the fretboard mean?
2. Is it bad to look at the fretboard while playing?
3. Do guitarists memorize the fretboard?

What does playing down the fretboard mean?

Up and down the fretboard refers to moving voicings from the lower-numbered frets to the higher-numbered frets (where the higher pitches are). Across refers to taking the inversions from the higher-pitched strings to the lower-pitched strings. To invert a chord, move the bottom note up an octave.

Is it bad to look at the fretboard while playing?

Looking at the frets is not a bad thing, but when performing, you should limit this because you will get more contact with the audience when looking around. Then it will be more of a performance to the audience, and the audience will feel that you perform for them.

Do guitarists memorize the fretboard?

A lot of guitarists can only play some basic open chords and barre chords because they never learned the notes on the fretboard. ... When you learn the notes on the fretboard, you're able to build any chord you want in almost any position.