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 chord chord is lowered by an octave. Drop-two chords are used for sevenths chords besides the major-minor seventh with dominant function, which are discussed in the section on intermediate chords, below. Drop-two chords are used particularly in jazz guitar. Drop-two second-inversions are examples of openly voiced chords, which are typical of standard tuning and other popular guitar-tunings. "Alternatively voiced" seventh chords are commonly played with standard tuning. A list of fret-number configurations for some common chords follows: Already in basic guitar-playing, inversion is important for sevenths chords in standard tuning. It is also important for playing major chords. In standard tuning,