How do I know what frets to play chords?

If you see a rectangular block at the top of the diagram, that just represents the nut of the guitar. If you don’t see the nut you will probably see a number to the left of the diagram that indicates what fret you should be on. An X above one of the strings means that you should mute or just not play that string.

What do frets do?

Frets are strips of metal—generally, an alloy of nickel and brass—embedded along a guitar’s fretboard, which makes up most of the guitar’s neck. Moving up the fretboard and toward the guitar body, one fret raises the pitch of the resulting note by a “half-step” or semitone.

What is string and fret?

You’re just going to want to be aware that the thinnest string is the first string, and the thickest string is the sixth string. The last numbering system that we need to go over is for the frets of the guitar. The frets are just the little metal strips that are laid in the fretboard.

What does the line on chords mean?

The horizontal lines on a chord diagram represent the frets on your guitar — the metal bars that run across the neck. The highest fret, closest to the nut, is the first fret. The one below it is the second fret, and so on. Most chord diagrams show the first 4 frets.

How many frets does a beginner guitar have?

Acoustic guitars are often made up of between 18-20 frets. There are 12-14 frets from the nut to the beginning of the body. The remaining 6-8 frets are between the end of the neck and the guitar’s soundhole.

What pitch is a guitar?

The guitar is a transposing instrument; that is, music for guitars is notated one octave higher than the true pitch….Standard.