How to Fret a Guitar: Learn Guitar Fretting Techniques

A guitar neck attaches to the guitar body and spans outward, culminating in its headstock. The front facing side of the neck is called the fretboard, or fingerboard. This fretboard is lined with individual metal frets running perpendicular to the neck itself. Hovering atop the fretboard are guitar strings.

Most guitars have 6 strings, but instruments with 7 and 8 strings are popular with certain progressive rock and heavy metal players. The strings of a traditional guitar are named as follows, from lowest to highest:

• 6th string: Also called the low E string, after the note name for the tone when the string is played open. This is the thickest string.
• 5th string: Also called the A string.
• 4th string: Also called the D string.
• 3rd string: Also called the G string.
• 2nd string: Also called the B string.
• 1st string: Also called the high E string. This is the thinnest string.

Most electric guitars have either 21 or 22 frets, although 24 fret electric guitars have become increasingly popular.

Acoustic guitars typically have 12 to 15 frets that are reasonably accessible. Although more frets may be present on the guitar, high fretboard notes are difficult to reach on acoustic guitars, and thus they exist mainly for cosmetic purposes.

One thing that sets a guitar apart from other instruments is that the same note can be produced on different parts of the guitar.

For instance, if a musician wants to play a D3 note (which, in scientific terms, is the sound produced by a 146.83 Hz wavelength), there is only one piano key that will produce this tone. However on a guitar, there are many ways to produce this tone. For instance, with standard tuning (known as E-A-D-G-B-E or EADGBE), this note can be produced by:

• Playing the 6th string at the 10th fret
• Playing the 5th string at the 5th fret
• Striking the 4th string as an open string (i.e., not pressing down on any frets).

Although all 3 of these methods will produce a vibration of 146.83 Hz, there are slight tonal differences between each position, and advanced guitar players will choose one position over another to achieve a precise auditory effect.

Unlike a piano, where particular notes have particularly-shaped keys, all guitar frets look the same. So at first glance, it may seem that it’s harder to locate notes up and down the guitar neck. However, there is are a few tricks guitarists use for locating particular notes.

1. Fret Markers

This trick involves using fret markers (sometimes called fret inlays) to help count how high one is on the fretboard. Typically these fret markers are represented as dots, but some fret markers come in the form of blocks or even illustrations.

Most guitars have:

• Single dot fret markers at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th frets
• A double dot at the 12th fret
• Single dots resume at the 15th fret and then appear on every odd numbered fret until the guitar neck ends at the guitar body.

2. Natural Note Intervals

Like on other instruments, sharp notes and flat notes on a guitar occur between the natural notes. In general, most natural notes on a guitar are two frets apart. So, if you need to switch from an A note to a B note, you’ll simply move two frets up on your fretboard. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule: single-fret intervals between E and F notes (e.g., between an open string and the first fret on your 6th and 1st strings), and between B and C notes (between the seventh and eighth frets).

3. Octave Jumps

If you need to shift up an entire octave, here’s an easy guide to quickly locating the right fret: jump up two strings, then move up two frets on your new string. For instance, if you’re playing a low F note (1st fret on the 6th string of your guitar), and want to move up to the next octave, simply switch to your 4th string, then move up two frets to the 3rd fret.

When a guitarist is instructed to “play the 3rd string, 5th fret,” this means he or she should:

1. 1. Locate the 3rd string of the guitar.
2. 2. Press down at the 5th fret.
3. 3. Strike that 3rd string using his or her other hand. One must press down hard to achieve a pure note, but this becomes fairly easy with practice.

Lower numbered frets (e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc) will produce lower pitched sounds. Higher numbered frets (e.g. 18th, 20th, etc.) will produce higher pitched sounds.

Once you master playing individual notes on the guitar, you can move on to scales and chords.

Scales are patterns of notes (typically in whole-step and half-step intervals) that connect two notes an octave apart. What’s nice about a guitar is that once you learn certain scale patterns, you can begin them from any starting point on the neck. For instance:

• Once you’ve learned how to play an A minor scale, you can play any minor scale. You simply play the same pattern, starting on a different note.
• This same principle applies to all kinds of scales, including major scales, pentatonic scales, diminished scales, and whole tone scales.

Chords are multiple notes struck simultaneously to create a harmonically dense sound.

• Most chords are built on triads, a music theory term that refers to groupings of three notes.
• Many guitar chords repeat notes in different registers. For instance, a G major triad consists of three pitches—a G, a B, and a D. However on a 6 string guitar, it’s quite easy to play a G chord that features 3 G notes, 2 B notes, and 1 D note (as opposed to just one of each).

As is the case with any skill, fretboard knowledge becomes second nature the more you practice it. Seasoned professional guitarists don’t spend their time on stage figuring out what string to press down at which fret. Years of experience have taught them the answer, and so they’re able to summon any note without conscious thought. With dedicated practice and discipline, you can as well.

• Learn how to play scales in multiple positions. Every scale begins in a specific key with a specific root note. Of course, when you’re soloing, you don’t want to limit yourself to just that first scale position you initially used to learn the blues or pentatonic scale. If you want to solo freely up and down the neck, you’ll need to learn how to play the scale in all of its positions.
• Look for patterns. The exact pattern of notes within the scale never changes, only the note where the position begins. Upon reaching the last possible position in the sequence, the cycle repeats, returning to the same root note you originally played in first position, only now that note is one octave higher.
• Expand your sound to include modes. Every note in a scale also has a corresponding mode. The more you experiment with the unique sounds and moods of each, the more you’ll discover how they can impact your songwriting. Learn more about musical modes with our guide here.

Whether you’re an aspiring singer-songwriter or have dreams of changing the world with your music, becoming a skilled and accomplished guitar player takes practice and perseverance. No one knows this better than legendary guitarist Tom Morello. In Tom Morello’s MasterClass on the electric guitar, the two-time Grammy winner shares his approach to making music that challenges the status quo, and delves deeper into the riffs, rhythms, and solos that launched his career.

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