Lines on the Guitar: Strings and Frets Explained
Lines on the Guitar: Strings and Frets Explained At the beginning the guitar is a bit like the Amazon, full of impenetrable cross thatched lines. Don’t bring out your machete yet, there are ways to navigate this jungle! Vertical lines are made by the strings, then horizontal lines made by something called frets. These are metal bars. They don’t exist on some stringed instruments like the violin, double bass or cello. The word fret itself is interesting because in most dictionaries you’d be hard pressed to find an entry regarding guitar frets. It can mean a worn or eroded place, but in the context of the guitar it is the division from one note to another. In all, this cross thatching effect can look very confusing to an untrained eye. So I will break it down into smaller parts. Horizontal Lines A closer look! Guitar diagrams are always drawn with the lowest string at the bottom. There are six strings on the guitar. From the guitarists perspective, looking dow