How To Figure Out Where Frets Go
So far, we've only been going up by octaves, but now we need to go down by octaves in order to reverse engineer and get back to a point we already know. So, how do you figure out this note? Move down 2 frets, and down 2 strings! What note was it? Let's do a few more before I give you the slightly bad news about this method.
Chords are the foundation of all of those you love so much. Here, guitar teacher walks you through the basics of guitar chords and the importance of knowing how they’re constructedGuitar is an amazing instrument, not only because of all that it can do, but also because of how great it can sound when not doing much at all. One of the ways that guitar is most often heard is by strumming the standard.However, I often interact with guitarists who don’t realize how many other possibilities exist on the instrument. Today, we’re going to look at just one small idea that you can use to stretch basic chords and better understand why we play the chord shapes that we do. What Does It Mean When We See a Chord Symbol?Let’s start with a very basic question: what is a chord? A chord is three or more different notes played together.
That means that technically a is not a chord at all, because there are only two different notesbut they sound good, so let’s keep using them! Notice that there was no mention of strings, frets, or guitar in that definition? That’s because when we play a G chord on the guitar, we’re playing the same three notes as when a G chord is played on a piano, by an orchestra, or in production software.Let’s take a look at this three note chord idea. If you play a G chord on your guitar like this:You’re playing (from low to high) G-B-D-G-B-G. Yes, despite all that stretching and playing all six strings, you end up with just three notes! So when the bass in a band plays a B, the lead singer sings a G, and the tuba player plays a D, what chord do you hear?That’s right, a G chord!What does that mean for us guitarists? If I’m noodling my way up the neck and then quickly have to play a G chord, jumping all the way down to the 3rd fret might not be an option.
However, if I can find some combination of G, B, and D near where I’m already at, I don’t need to. How about something like this:There are tons of options that open up when you realize that every time you see a G printed over the lyrics, you don’t have to do the same chord. Of course, the usual G shape wouldn’t get used so much if we didn’t like the sound, so if it’s convenient to get to and you like the sound, use it by all means! How to Build Guitar ChordsNow that you know a little bit about how a chord works, let’s talk about how we build chords from scratch.
This can get a little complicated, but stick with me – I’ll keep it simple to begin with.The usual major and minor chords (if it’s just a letter without an “m,” it’s major) are built of just three notes like we’ve seen. Notice that in the G chord they’re also just two letters apart:G A B C D E F GLuckily, this pattern works for all chords within a key. Let’s take a look at the key of C, so we don’t have to worry about sharps or flats. So what notes would we use to build a C chord? Let’s take a look:C D E F G A B CSo we now have our three notes, C, E and G for the C chord that we can play anywhere on the guitar. If we want to play an Am chord along with it, we can use the same pattern:C D E F G A B Cuh oh, we ran out of letters.
Let’s just rearrange a little bit:F G AB CD ESo now we end up with A, C, and E to play anywhere we like.Here are a few examples of different sounds you can get from the Am chord:What Difference Does It Make?Hopefully you can now add a little extra flair to some songs in which the guitar part might have seemed a little boring at first glance. Perhaps you’ve run into this before:C G Am G CHere are a few ways that I might have improvised the chord voicings (depending on style and context) if I were to see a progression like this. Some are faster than others, but they’re all fairly simple if you know the basics of how to build chords on the guitar.Below are a few options for C and G chords that you could use in this progression. Remember the point isn’t so much to memorize all the shapes, but to understand how these chords work so that you can find the notes of the chord anywhere that you need them.Now it’s your turn to take a few minutes, go back to a song that you thought sounded too boring, and add some pizzazz! Chords are so easy and versatile that you can transform any song.If you have questions after reading this, or you’re not sure where to go next, click on the!
Everyone has their own views on this. While I don't agree with all of them, I respect their opinions. IMHO, speaking strictly for myself, I don't think it matters at all.I slot when the board is flat. My slots are cut approximately halfway through the thickness of the fretboard.
After radiusing and fretting, I do have to fill in the fret slot ends. Not a big deal to me.I'm only working on my fourth scratch build though, so take that for what it's worth.However, having said that, all of my builds(IMHO) have sounded great.
I can't imagine them sounding better than they already do, and it would be a difficult task to convince me that if my slots were shallower they'd sound a ton better, have more sustain, be more even toned, etc, etc. I’ll agree this is one of those never ending debates Kind of like what’s better Gibson or Fender we all know the answer PRS. I just looked at a couple my store bought necks Warmoth there’s a gap under the frets My Custom 22 PRS has quiet a big gap. What I do is cut my slots on the flat board Then when I radius the board I check to make sure there deep enough When I install the frets I fill the slot with glue forcing the glue down in the slot first. So that takes care of the theory air under the fret will cause a dead sound, if you believe that theory I don’t buy it I just like to glue my frets.
Something to remember about guitar building never ending supply of different approaches. Gaps under your frets are in some cases quite important.Wood expands and contracts. When it does, it's insanely powerful. Just like when your decking wood manages to squeeze a nail out over the years, or ground frost will pop a post out. Fret tangs hard up against the bottom of the slot is asking for trouble.IMO, the tang must have a gap under it more than the expansion/contraction rate of the wood.
If the fretboard shrinks and the fret doesn't, the fret is then left unseated. Then the next time the wood swells the fret is still unseated. Eventually the frets become uneven and need leveling. You can eliminate that first 'lift' by making your slots slightly too deep.Wood wants to expel metal banged into it. Gaps under your frets are in some cases quite important.Wood expands and contracts. When it does, it's insanely powerful.
How To Figure Out Where Frets Go Back
Just like when your decking wood manages to squeeze a nail out over the years, or ground frost will pop a post out. Fret tangs hard up against the bottom of the slot is asking for trouble.IMO, the tang must have a gap under it more than the expansion/contraction rate of the wood. If the fretboard shrinks and the fret doesn't, the fret is then left unseated.
Then the next time the wood swells the fret is still unseated. Eventually the frets become uneven and need leveling. You can eliminate that first 'lift' by making your slots slightly too deep.Wood wants to expel metal banged into it. Click to expand.As a furniture builder for many years, I know that this is an excellent point.
How To Figure Out Where Frets Go Away
Wood certainly moves seasonally and with changes in humidity.and you must allow for it in furniture building to prevent unwanted 'happenings'.Perhaps a small gap of.005, as Mark suggested, and maybe with a 'soft' glue (e.g., titebond or silicone(?)) as a 'cushion'.this may allow for the expansion/contraction without any serious consequences.I'm planning to cut my first set of frets tomorrow.all of the above info is very helpful.Thanks to all! This is about tang height/slot depth, right?Since I use a Japanese flush-cut saw (Ace Hardware, ten bucks) with no 'stop' or guide for depth, I place a strip of blue masking tape on the blade, just where the teeth meet the flat of the blade. This gives me about.065 exposed teeth, which is the height of the tang of the fret wire I use.
I layout and slot first, drill for dot markers, cut the board's final width and taper, sand for a radius, then go over the slots in a curved motion with the fret saw again, because of course, sanding the radius renders a shallower slot in the center of the board. When the blue tape on the side of the saw hits the fretboard, I know I'm deep enough to allow the fret to seat. This also cleans up any trapped sawdust and crap left over from the radius operation. If my dot marker holes are too shallow due to the radius sanding, I run a brad point bit by hand in the holes to define them and clean them up.