What is a Fret and What Does it Do?

Many of us know that frets are the metal bars that run up and down the neck of a guitar. But, do you know what they do? Well, I’ll tell you.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “This song calls for an open E string?” That means you play the E string without fretting it with your finger. If you have frets on your bass, then if you pluck the string without fretting any notes, then you have played an open string. Any time that you are playing a note without fretting it, then you are playing an open string. That’s because there are frets in your way and as long as nothing is touching them, then the sound produced will be an open string note. Now if you put your finger on a certain fret and pluck the string again, then the sound will change depending on which fret you put your finger on.

A fret is a raised metal bar that sits across the neck of a bass guitar. The position of the fret determines what note the string will sound when it is plucked. There are usually 20 to 24 frets on a bass guitar depending on the make and model; some models also incorporate fretless necks.

In addition to determining the notes, frets act as a guide for where to place your fingers so you can play notes in an appropriate key.

A fret is a piece of metal, usually nickel or copper silver, that is embedded along the length of the neck of the bass guitar. The frets are what give the bass guitar its ability to produce different notes.

When you press down on a string directly above the fret and then pluck that string, the note produced will be higher than if you had pressed down on the string without using a fret. The closer together two frets are placed, the closer together their notes are in pitch.

If you have a 12-fret bass guitar, then there are eleven spaces between each fret as well as a space between the body/nut and first fret and also a space between the last fret and bridge. Each of these spaces is called a fret space. When we say “the third fret” we mean “the space between the second and third frets.” When we say “the third fret” we do not mean “the space between the third and fourth frets.”

The number of frets on your bass guitar will determine how high in pitch your open strings can sound. A four-string bass with 22 frets can play notes higher than a 4-string with 20 frets. The same goes for 5-strings, 6-strings,

The fret is a raised metal piece that sits on the neck of the guitar. The fret has grooves in it and the frets are spaced out according to certain mathematical rules. The frets are placed so that when you place your finger on a particular fret and play a note, the note will be exactly the right pitch.

All notes, including the open strings on a guitar, have a specific pitch. The open string notes on a bass guitar are EADG, which are the lowest four strings. When you play those notes without holding down any frets, they are called “open strings.”

When you press down on one of the frets, you get what is called a “fretted note” which is always higher in pitch than an open string. For example, if you hold down the first fret and play the A string (the second highest string), the note will be Ab (one half step higher).

The word “half step” refers to one fret space. Each fret space represents one half step or semi-tone (also called “half step”). A whole step or tone consists of two half steps (two frets). The distance between each set of adjacent strings also equals one

The fret of a stringed instrument is the metal strip embedded along the fingerboard. Frets divide the neck into semitones (also called half steps). The placement of the frets on the neck also determines where you can play a note. The distance between frets is determined by the scale length of the instrument.

You can hear the difference between playing an open string and playing a note at a particular fret. The sound of a higher-pitched note played on a fret is due to shorter string length: when you play an open note, the string vibrates its full length. When you play a note at a certain fret, the string vibrates only between that fret and the bridge (or nut).

Because frets are laid out in half steps, they make it easy to find notes quickly and accurately without having to tune your bass every time you want to play something new.

The string is held down to the neck of the instrument by pressing the string down behind a metal bar (called the fret) with one’s finger. This action shortens the length of the string, thus raising its pitch. The distance between frets is measured in increments called “steps”. Each step represents a half step, or a musical interval of one semitone. On a typical four-string bass, there are twenty frets and therefore forty half steps. A fretless bass has no frets, but rather a smooth wood surface underneath the strings that are pressed against to change pitch. There are no half steps on a fretless bass; each note is unique to itself.

Inlays are visual elements set into the exterior surface of a guitar, both for decoration and artistic purposes and, in the case of the markings on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th fret (and in higher octaves), to provide guidance to the performer about the location of frets on the instrument. The typical locations for inlay are on the fretboard, headstock, and on acoustic guitars around the soundhole, known as the rosette. Inlays range from simple plastic dots on the fretboard to intricate works of art covering the entire exterior surface of a guitar (front and back). Some guitar players have used LEDs in the fretboard to produce unique lighting effects onstage. Fretboard inlays are most commonly shaped like dots, diamond shapes, parallelograms, or large blocks in between the frets.