Meaning & use
fretboard
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Meaning
nouncountablemusic
The long, flat strip on the neck of a guitar or similar instrument, with raised metal bars across it, where the player presses the strings.
Grammar: Usually preceded by the: 'the fretboard'; plural when comparing instruments.
Patterns
- on the fretboard
- along the fretboard
She slid her finger up the fretboard to reach the high note.
The luthier replaced the worn fretboard with a darker piece of wood.
Beginners often look at the fretboard instead of listening to the sound.
Word forms
| plural | fretboards |
|---|
Common combinations
- rosewood fretboard
- His old guitar has a smooth rosewood fretboard.
- learn the fretboard
- It takes months to learn the fretboard well enough to improvise.
- up and down the fretboard
- The solo raced up and down the fretboard.
- fretboard markers
- The dots on the fretboard markers help you find your position.
- clean the fretboard
- You should clean the fretboard whenever you change the strings.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fingerboard
- Fingerboard is the wider term, covering instruments like violins that have no frets at all, whereas fretboard implies frets.
- neck
- The neck is the whole supporting arm of the instrument, while the fretboard is only the playing surface on its front.
Word family
Commonly confused: fretboard or fingerboard?
fretboard vs fingerboard
A fingerboard may have no frets, as on a violin; a fretboard always has them.
Practice
Which part of a guitar is the fretboard?
Choose one answer.
The fretboard is the strip on the neck with frets. The body, tuning pegs and bridge are other parts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fretboard”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.