Frets

Frets are raised metal strips embedded along the fingerboard of many stringed instruments—including guitars, bass guitars, and various other fretted instruments—and they segment the neck into distinct positions that correspond to specific musical notes; when a player presses a string just behind a fret, the vibrating length of that string shortens, raising its pitch by a half‑step or smaller interval so each fret marks a discrete increment that allows accurate execution of melodies, chords, and scales throughout the instrument’s range, while their arrangement follows the standardized equal‑temperament tuning system that divides an octave into twelve equal semitones, ensuring consistency and intonation across the entire neck; consequently, frets facilitate precise note production more easily than on fretless instruments, where exact finger placement must be meticulously controlled, and thus fretted instruments are widely employed across diverse musical styles such as rock, blues, jazz, folk, and pop.