Fingerboard

The fingerboard is part of many stringed instruments (bowed and plucked ). It's a runs under the strings in a flat or curved surface shape. By the depression of the strings on the fingerboard of the vibrating portion is shortened, and the pitch of the strings being played increases.

Structural forms of fingerboards

Depending on the design of the instrument, the fingerboard is mounted flat on an instrument neck or directly on the instrument body. For a clear sound of the musical instrument, for a clean intonation when gripping the strings and because of the mechanical stress caused by the pressure of the strings fingerboards are primarily made from hard materials, mostly from wood. Suitable timber species include hard woods such as rosewood, ebony, maple, pear, beech and wenge. In some modern stringed instruments are other hard materials, such as composites of the carbon fiber used. The material used affects the sound of the instrument significantly.

Saddle

At the upper end of the fingerboard made the transition to a pegbox, a top plate or similar device to accommodate the tuners run the strings mostly by custom grooves of a narrow piece of material, the saddle is called. This has the function of keeping the distance between the strings to each other and the distance between the strings to the fretboard constant.

Frets and markings

Transverse to the direction of strings can be divided by inserted therein frets of metal or bound around the neck of the instrument strings made ​​of natural gut or plant fibers in the frets fingerboard. These facilitate orientation on the fretboard and the intonation when gripping the strings. The fingerboard surface between frets of metal can be flat or grooved ( concave) elaborated his (English: scalloped fretboard ).

Some types of stringed instruments have markers on the fingerboard to facilitate orientation. These marks are often attached with concert guitars only on the narrow side of the fingerboard. With acoustic guitars and electric guitars, this covenant marker or fretboard inlays can be located both on the short side as well as on the handle side. In some high-quality musical instruments models these markings take the form of elaborate inlaid with mother of pearl or other materials. The inlays on the handle side may also have a purely decorative function without marking up the keys on the fretboard. From the Baroque period, early forms of the guitar with particularly lavish fingerboards are delivered with inlays of mother of pearl and ivory. The oldest surviving musical instruments with such ornate fingerboard date from the late 16th century.

Example: fretboard subdivision of the guitar

The graph shows the location of the notes on the fretboard of a modern six-string guitar to the standard EADGBE tuning of the strings. On the left of the graph of the saddle is located.

String action

The distance of the strings from the fingerboard, or of the frets or frets on the fingerboard is called a string position. The string action is determined by the position and orientation of the fingerboard and on the position and height of the web. In many instruments, the fingerboard is aligned so that it runs at a slight angle relative to the strings; the string position is then measured over a specific covenant.

For instruments with neck and slight movements at the junction between neck and body, and slight deformations of the neck act on the string position. This can be the string position change for the better or for the worse and be taken advantage of for corrections. With a neck tie rod, the instrument neck, and the fingerboard, are curved with him or a curvature to be corrected.

In addition, the string height can also be changed via the web. In some lands, such as the Tune-O -Matic Bridge, the string height can be adjusted individually for each string.

Fretboard diagrams

Graphical representations of the finger positions on the fingerboard are called fingerboard diagrams. Examples are scale diagrams and chord diagrams.

These diagrams represent the fretted fingerboard and the strings dar. schematically as grid depending on the chart type can represent the vertical lines either the strings or the frets. The saddle is often marked by a thicker or double line.