There are a couple of meanings to the word "Fret":

1.The actual little bits of metal wire embedded in the neck are frets.

2. The distances between notes on the same string are referred to in frets, as in: 'Three frets up" or five frets down."

When talking about music and the guitar,

"up" and "down",
" top" and" bottom",
" low" and "high",
" above" and "below"

always refer to pitch. Many beginners call their bass strings the 'top' strings because they're higher off the floor than the treble strings. This is wrong.

'Up the neck' means toward the body of the guitar, where the notes get higher.

Steel strings come in sets of six, or as single strings. If you're starting out on steel strings, pick light gauge (as a set) to begin with. They are much easier on the fingers. The trade-off is loss of volume.

Tuning your guitar to standard tuning

There are six strings on a guitar, named after the notes they are tuned to. From bass to treble:

E, A, D , G , B and another E. They are sometimes numbered, in the opposite direction -- from treble to bass -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The diagram on the right illustrates the relationship each string has to its neighbour.

• The A string is tuned to the note made when you play the fifth fret of the E string, in other words, the A string takes over from the E string at the fifth fret (which is an A note).

• The D string also follows this fifth fret rule; it takes over from the A string at the fifth fret.

• The G string also follows the rule, taking over from the D string at the fifth fret.

• THE B STRING BREAKS THE RULE! It is tuned to the fourth fret of the G string. (This kink in the tuning, as you will later find out, is what makes the guitar such a rich source of musical possibilities, but also what makes it so difficult to decipher.)

• Lastly, the thin E string follows the rule again -- it takes over from the B string at the fifth fret.

Simple math will tell you that, for example, the note on the 7th fret of the A string is the same as the note on the 2nd fret of the D string. So, unlike a piano which has one of each note, the guitar is a maze of duplicate notes, another reason for its richness and complexity.

To make sure that your guitar is tuned to concert pitch, that in fact your open A string is an A note*, you need a reference note to tune to. Tuning forks are the old fashioned way. Once you've established the tuning of one string, all others relate to it. These days, of course, electronic tuners are the way to go. But even if you don't have a reference note, you can still make music as long as your strings are tuned relative to each other in the manner described.

There are many other ways to tune guitars, in fact you can invent your own, but this site will always refer to standard tuning.

*The note A is often used as the standard reference note. Sound is measured in waves (or cycles) per second, and A has been set at 440 cycles/second. Here is an A note. Below is a midi guitar tuner which should work on most computers.

Go to the online tuner

Alternate and open tunings tuner