![]() ![]() But even if you sort this out, a fretboard is still not perfect. If you’ve noticed that intervals or chords on higher frets sound out of tune, this means that your guitar is not set up properly. But if it’s not intonated well, this frequency can be a bit lower or higher. On the 12th fret, it should be exactly 164.82 Hz. For instance, you can tune the bottom 6th string to E2, which equates to 82.41 Hz. You can notice this on a poorly intonated electric guitar. And some may notice that some chords sound a bit “off.” Some of those who have practiced a lot may have a better sense of pitch. In short, a standard fretboard is a complete mess. ![]() However, the exact difference between all the frets is not one semitone. You can play any chord and any scale that’s defined by Western music theory. The conventional fretboard design is very practical. And this is one of the biggest misconceptions about guitars. All of the other frets divide one string into 12 equal parts. The 12th fret is exactly one octave above the open string. You can check out some minor implementation of these quarter steps in the player below.Īlmost all guitars these days are within the 12-tone equal temperament standard. From the perspective of Western music, this means that you can divide a half-step into two quarter-steps. Some musicians these days experiment with a 24-tone equal temperament. In some rare cases, you’ll also stumble upon “microtonal” music. We can also refer to this as a chromatic scale. This means that one octave is divided into 12 equal parts. However, pretty much all western music fits the 12-tone equal temperament. This also means that the “distance” between two adjacent notes is always the same. Essentially, you divide one octave into a certain number of equal parts. A5 is exactly 880 Hz while A3 is exactly 220 Hz.Įqual temperament is a set of just intervals within one octave. Going one octave above a certain note, the frequency is doubled. It’s also a very interesting natural phenomenon. An octave, or diapason, is an interval that separates two musical pitches. Sweetened Tuning and Equal Temperamentīefore we get into this topic, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of equal temperament. So let’s dive into what this phrase means exactly. This was something I had heard about in guitar circles but was confused about what it meant until I finally decided to research it myself. If you’re curious about sweet tuning or sweetened tuning, you’ve come to the right post. ![]()
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