Fret Fret A fret is a raised element on the neck of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On most modern western fretted instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard. On some historical instruments and non-European instruments, frets are made of pieces of string tied around the neck. Frets divide the neck into fixed segments at intervals related to a musical framework. On instruments such as guitars, each fret represents one semitone in the standard western system, in which one octave is divided into twelve semitones. "Fret" is often used as a
Guitar tunings tuning and typically lowers the pitch ("drops") of only a single string, more common is the whole instrument and least common is two dropped strings (ie. DADGAD). This is almost always the lowest pitched (E) string on the guitar, although occasionally the A string may be lowered. The Drop D tuning, for example, is common in classical guitar and heavy metal music. For it, the low E string is tuned down one whole step, to a low D, and the rest of the guitar remains in standard tuning. This creates an 'open power chord' (three-note fifth) with the low three