The Skool of guitar excellence
On the neck of the guitar are strips of metal raised above the surface of the fingerboard. As you push down on the string it touches a fret and you hear the note change, try this moving all the way up the neck from the first fret. This is how different notes are formed.
You will notice markers on the fretboard of your guitar. These are handy reference points that save you having to count from the 1st fret every time so get used to their position and try to memorise where they occur.
The markers go like this - 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th 12th
The twelfth fret is usually marked with two dots and is one octave higher than the open string, so if you play any open string then play the string at the 12th fret they will sound the same.
Beyond the 12th fret the names of the notes just repeat. The higher fret markers are equivalent to the lower ones just and octave higher, so (3rd=15th, 5th=17th, 7th=19th, 9th=21st)
When we come to bar chords later on we will make good use of these fret markers so get familiar with their position, particularly the 3rd, 5th and 7th.
RockSkool: 2:Don’t FRET
Also note that although the fret is the piece of metal, it also refers to the area behind the fret where you place your finger when playing.