Craft · 6 pages · 12 min

How frets make discrete notes

Frets are metal wires that stop the string at fixed lengths, so each fret gives one note instead of a slide.

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From the opening

Frets are metal strips set across the fingerboard at chosen positions along the string. Pressing the string just behind a fret makes that fret the end of the vibrating length, so the pitch jumps from note to note instead of sliding with the fingertip. The opening covers the string stops on the wire, each fret shortens the length, and the twelfth fret is the octave.

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Inside

The string stops on the wire
Each fret shortens the length
The twelfth fret is the octave
The finger only presses behind
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Equal-tempered fret spacing
Fret as a fixed string stop

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How frets make discrete notes

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk