This article teaches what guitar frets are, their purpose, and how many frets there are on an acoustic and electric guitars.

Frets are important components of guitar playing. Without frets, finding notes and chords becomes guesswork. Guitars with fewer frets can sound smooth and mellow, while a guitar with more frets may have a brighter sound. 

However, when strings start to buzz, it may mean that your frets need work. So how do you clean and level frets on your guitar to get the best sound?

Read on and find out everything you need to know about guitar frets. 

What are guitar frets?

Guitar frets are strips of material spaced at specific intervals on the fretboard. Most often, the fret material is a nickel alloy. Other materials such as bone, wood, ivory, and stone don’t bend easily and are difficult to fit into a fretboard. 

Strings can easily bend over the domed top surface of the fret. At the bottom of the fret is a shaft that fits into the guitar neck. Some frets are glued into the fretboard, while others are set firmly into the wood. 

What is the purpose of guitar frets?

Frets divide the guitar into sections based on the Western music scale. They give the musician a guide making it easy to find standard notes. Each fret creates a point of tension for the guitar sound. If a guitar has no frets, the string vibrates from the guitar bridge. 

The number of guitar frets.

Most guitars have between 19 and 24 frets. The number of frets can vary based on the type of guitar and the genre of music you play. Acoustic guitars usually max out at around 20 frets, while electric guitars have at least 21 frets. 

How many frets are on an acoustic guitar?

Acoustic guitars can have 18 to 20 frets. However, the upper frets on an acoustic guitar are more for aesthetics than for use. The high frets on an acoustic guitar are hard to reach. Many guitarists don’t use the upper frets at all and stick to the 12 to 15 frets that are easily accessible. 

How many frets are on an electric guitar?

Electric guitars usually have at least 21 frets up to 24 frets. When a guitar has fewer frets, the tone of the guitar has a warm, mellow tone. Many jazz players prefer a guitar with fewer frets because of its smooth, jazzy sound. 

However, a guitar with 24 frets gives you four full octaves and can be easier to play. If you enjoy playing songs in the metal genre, you may need 24 frets for some songs.

What is fret leveling, and how do you level guitar frets?

When you play the guitar regularly, the strings can wear down or scratch the frets erasing the fret crown. A flat fret can be uncomfortable to play and may cause your guitar strings to buzz. The strings need to be able to contact the tip of the crown to give a clear sound. Leveling the frets puts them back at a standard height. So how does it work?

Step 1: Check your fret level with a fret rocker

Leveling, crowning, and polishing frets is a time-intensive process that can take up to five hours. So, before you start, make sure that fret leveling is necessary. Use a fret rocker to check your frets. The fret rocker has three sides, so you can measure the frets closer together and farther apart. Straddle three frets and see if the tool is stable. If it rocks, this means that the frets are unlevel. 

Step 2: Remove the strings and guitar neck from the body

To repair uneven frets, remove the guitar strings and neck. Bolt-on necks are the easiest to remove. Simply remove the bolts with a screwdriver. Once you separate the guitar neck from the body, you are ready to go to work.

Step 3: Mark each fret with a permanent marker

Use a permanent maker to mark the top of each fret. This trick helps you know if all the frets are level or not. Once all the marks disappear, it is time to stop sanding.

Step 4: Protect the fretboard with masking tape

The wooden fretboard shouldn’t come in contact with the sandpaper. However, for extra protection, you can protect the fretboard with masking tape.

Step 5: Sand the frets

A leveling beam is a straight block of wood covered in sandpaper. You can make one or buy your own. If the beam is large enough, you can lay the neck face down on the board and rub it back and forth using even pressure. Once all the marks from the permanent marker are gone, you know it is time to stop sanding.

Step 6: Recrown the frets

The frets are now level. However, your job is not over yet. You need to recrown each fret individually using a triangle file. This process can be painstaking and time-consuming. You may need the help of a luthier to finish the job correctly. With the crowns in place, you should have a comfortable guitar with a great sound.

How to clean and polish guitar frets.

After you level your frets, you want to finish the job by cleaning and polishing your frets. Over time your guitar frets can become dirty and dull from the moisture in the air, sweat, or the oil from your fingertips. You may notice a difference in how it feels to play the guitar and its sound. Time to clean your frets. But how?

Here are some steps to clean and polish your guitar frets:

Step 1: Take the strings off your guitar

To clean and polish your frets without making a mess, you need to remove the strings from the guitar. This gives you access to dirty frets and makes your job easier in the long run. 

Step 2: Protect the fretboard by using a fret guard 

You don’t want to get the polish on your fretboard when you polish the frets. Protect the wooden fretboard by using a fret guard. The guard has a slot that fits over the fret and lays flush against the fretboard. For the upper frets, you may need to cover the wood with masking tape since the fret guard may be too big to be useful. 

Step 3: Rub a polishing compound over the fret

Place a dot of polishing compound (such as Frine) on a microfiber cloth. Then, rub the polish firmly over the fret. You want to cover both the top and sides. Continue to clean until the fret looks clean and shiny. Polishing shouldn’t take more than a few seconds per fret.

Step 4: Use a cotton cloth to remove excess polish

After you apply polish to the fret and cover the top and sides, remove the excess polish. Use a cotton cloth and follow the same back-and-forth strokes you used to apply the polish. Also, if you notice polish on the wooden fretboard, wipe it off immediately.   

Step 5. Restring your guitar

After you finish polishing all your frets, it’s time to restring your guitar. Now is a great time to add new strings to your guitar. 

With a level, clean frets, and a new set of strings, it’s time to enjoy playing your guitar.

Learning is easy with guitar frets (and guitar apps).

Frets make playing the guitar easier. When your frets are clean and level, playing the guitar is more comfortable for your fingers and has the best sound. Frets can help you find the right notes—the right learning tools can make it easier to pick up skills on the guitar. 

You can try the Simply Guitar app if you want to play the guitar but don’t know where to start. This app is a no-stress way to learn the basics of guitar playing and can start you off on your musical journey.

FAQs.

The post Guitar Frets: What Are They And Why Are They Important? appeared first on Learn to Play an Instrument with step-by-step lessons | Simply Blog.

My name is Ms. Becki, and I am a private music teacher.  I mostly teach piano, but also teach drums, guitar, and many other instruments.  I learned them because I have ADD but totally did not know it while growing up.  My husband and I have two kids who also suffer from ADD.  Between the ages of four to twelve, I had no idea what ADD/ADHD (no, I’m not going to talk about the differences between them—I’m not a doctor. Focus!) looked like in my son. He is bright, artistic, good with his hands, and has no difficulty with authority. However, he cannot remember to put on two socks when we leave the house, and his grades are hit or miss—and mostly miss because he can never remember to put his name on his papers.  Fast forward to today: after he was diagnosed and began treatment, his overall concentration showed much improvement.

As an educator, you’d think that I would have recognized the symptoms earlier.  ADHD 1 and 2 look different on everyone. Since music lessons are great for ADHD kids, I want to share with you some of the recommended music apps (and one company in particular) I used with my own son. See: an ad. I’m sorry!

Keezy Drummer

I love Keezy Drummer because it teaches rhythm.  It’s a creative yet concrete way to teach your musician the structure and fractions of rhythm. It will also help with math and algebra, but don’t tell the kids that! I also a way

SoundBrenner Pulse

I’ve just ordered the SoundBrenner Pulse; it’s an app that physically taps you. If you have a serious musician in the house, this will really help them “feel” time.  My son is super excited to get it; I, sadly, don’t need it because I slept with a metronome under my pillow for years to learn tempos. This, however, would have been much better. Technology for the win! 

Piano Maestro 

Piano Maestro is an app that, quite simply, teaches piano skills and is a real game changer for teachers, but also this company’s really amazing to its parent- and student-users. You create a login and begin to play: no cables, no setup, no hassle.  Put your iPad on the piano or keyboard and, when you see the highlighted key on the iPad, press the corresponding key on your instrument to play the song.  

When it’s over you get your results. Three stars? Whoot, you mastered it!  For the ADHD crowd, it’s great to receive that feedback. The songs are short and the library is full of current top-forty pop hits; in other words, songs that every kid wants to learn. The app also has video game and movie themes.

You’ll have a hard time stopping your child from playing this app, but why would you want to anyway if they’re having such a good time and learning so much? 

Another great aspect of this company: if you need a teacher who’s trained in music technology, they will help you find one in your area.  Yup. They certify thousands of teachers who are ready and able to help make the musical journey a great experience for your child. It kind of makes you want to learn to play too, doesn’t it? If so, check out Simply Piano, also by JoyTunes. 

As you can tell, I get super excited about teaching—you might even say I get jump-up-and-down, can barely be contained excited when I find apps that really connect with my kids. 

The combination of music and an ADHD musician is the most wonderful way to bring new music into the world.  An ADHD musician’s creativity and energy is amazing to see and experience.  Give your kids the tools to be all they can be!    

The post Music Learning Apps That Help With ADD & ADHD appeared first on Learn to Play an Instrument with step-by-step lessons | Simply Blog.

Mastering beginner guitar strumming patterns is essential for any aspiring guitarist. This article teaches beginners how to play six basic strumming patterns that sound great on an electric and acoustic guitar.

Most beginners focus on learning finger patterns and positioning along the fretboard–it’s time well spent. 

Although the guitar is a two-handed instrument—the other half of the equation is strumming. 

On the surface, strumming can seem like a simple practice. However, the difference between noise and music is technique. 

And the intricacies of strumming are numerous. 

So what are the secrets to strumming like a pro? How do you read strumming diagrams? This blog arms you with everything you need to know.

What is guitar strumming?

Guitar strumming is a rhythmic stroking or sweeping technique that guitarists use to strike their guitar strings. 

There is an infinite number of strumming patterns. They affect the rhythm of a song and characterize various genres. 

You need to hinge from your elbow and rotate your forearm to strum. Many skilled musicians like to strum with their thumb, index finger, and middle finger, but today, we’ll focus on doing it a pick.

Guitar strumming tips for beginners.

For the most part, strumming is intuitive. You grasp the pick and strum in an upward and downward motion. However, like any technique, you can optimize the movement. 

Implementing and reinforcing the best habits is crucial–learning a skill correctly is easier than unlearning faulty practices down the line. 

Here are some tips to hone your strumming skills the right way:

• Relax. Relaxing your arm makes strumming feel more natural and helps you flow with the music. However, that doesn’t mean being loose like a noodle. Strumming is a balance of fluidity and integrity. 

• Use a light touch. Often, beginners need to grasp their pick more tightly. A tight grip can create tension in your wrist and forearm. It constrains the movement of your strumming and creates unnecessary friction on the strings. With a light touch, you can strum more effectively.

We dive into how to hold a pick in our blog, How To Properly Hold And Use a Guitar Pick. Give it a read!

• Don’t strum all of the strings. Strumming doesn’t require you to strike all of the strings every time. More often than not, you only need to strike between two and four of them. Generally, you hit the lower, thicker three strings on the down strum (E-A-D) and the higher three strings on the way up (G-B-E).

• Practice, practice, practice. As with anything else, practice makes perfect. Try out a bunch of patterns and work on them every day. The more you strum, the better you get. 

How to read strumming diagrams.

Before playing strumming patterns, you need to know how to read them. Lucky for you, it’s pretty simple.

Strumming diagrams mainly include symbols like:

• Down = ↓
• Up = ↑
• Mute = x

Now that you know how to read basic strumming diagrams—start practicing! 

We’ve put together a few basic patterns for you to try.

6 guitar strumming patterns ideal for beginners.

Applying a technique to your strumming can feel awkward at first. 

It’s like rubbing your stomach with one hand while tapping your head with the other. 

Your brain has to execute two different movements simultaneously. 

However, with some beginner strumming patterns, you can gradually ease your way to something more complex. 

Strumming patterns #1: Downward strumming

Let’s start with the most basic strumming pattern. 

Downward strumming is the more intuitive. When you’re just starting to play, your focus is on finger patterns along the fretboard. Often beginners tend to strike strum in a downward motion. 

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

↓   ↓     ↓    ↓ 

While you practice these patterns, you can also practice counting ‘1, and, 2, and, 3, and, 4, and strumming down for each number. 

Strumming patterns #2: Adding some upstrokes

Once you have the timing of your downward strum … down, it’s time to implement some upward strokes. 

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑

There is a different feel to sweeping upwards. On the up-stroke, you need to shift the positioning of your wrist slightly to pass over the strings smoothly. 

Strumming patterns #3: Adding some muting

Not that you’re familiar with the upward and downward strum. It’s time to mix things up! 

For this pattern, we’re bringing some muting. The strumming technique is the same. However, you need to lightly rest the fingers on your fretting hand on the strings to mute the guitar.

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

↓↑ ↓ x  ↓ ↑ x ↑

Muting adds a unique sound to your strumming. Musicians add muting to make creative rhythms in their songs. 

Strumming patterns #4: Southern Rock

Some patterns create a distinctive sound. The following pattern is quite common in Southern Rock. Give it a try!

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

↓    ↓↑     ↑↓

As you can see, there is a unique spacing between the strokes. How you space each strum can add can dramatically change the vibe of your song.

Strumming patterns #5: Light Rock

Let’s move on to a basic Light Rock pattern. This strumming sequence mixes in all fundamental techniques: downstrokes, upstrokes, and muting.

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

↓↑ ↓ x  x ↑ ↓ x

Like how that sounds? Another aspect of strumming to consider and practice is the speed at which you play the pattern—playing it slowly and quickly yields a different sound. 

Strumming patterns #6: Reggae

Let’s add a little bounce to your strumming with a basic Reggae. This pattern has more muting than basic strumming, which gives it the Raggae feel. 

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

x x ↓ ↑  x x ↓ 

These six strumming patterns should get you off to a good start. Once you have the hang of these, you should search for others—a quick Google search should yield some excellent results. 

Another thing to try is making up your patterns. Play around with the various techniques and try playing them at different speeds. 

The more you work on your strumming, the smoother it will be. 

Strum along.

Learning how to strum with proficiency is crucial in learning and playing the guitar. It dictates the tempo and rhythm and ultimately gives it a specific feel. 

While it may feel awkward to strum the strings in a calculated fashion, once you understand how things work, it dramatically affects your ability to play.

At JoyTunes, we help beginners and intermediate musicians build and learn the essential skills to play their favorite instrument. If you’re looking for a game-changing tool to take your guitar playing to the next level, check out Simply guitar. We pack tons of valuable information into compact lessons—so you can practice anytime and anywhere.

FAQs.

The post 6 Strumming Patterns Every Beginner Must Know appeared first on Learn to Play an Instrument with step-by-step lessons | Simply Blog.

This article explains guitar tabs and how to read them, and we’re serving up a list of fun beginner tabs.

Guitar tabs offer guitarists of all skill levels an intuitive medium for learning and playing the songs they love. The first steps for reading tabs and playing some dope music start with knowing how they work. Read on! 

What are guitar tabs?

Guitar tabulations or ‘tabs’ are a type of musical notation that helps you play songs. They offer beginners an alternative to reading standard notation because they’re simpler. 

Rather than notes on a staff, tabs indicate which notes and chords to play with numbers and six horizontal lines representing the guitar’s strings and frets. They’re essentially diagrams that tell you where to place your fingers along the neck.  

How to read guitar tabs?

Guitar tabs are way easier (like so much easier) to learn than standard notation, but if you’ve never seen them before, understanding what you’re looking at can be tricky. 

Before diving into some tabs, take the time to familiarize yourself with your instrument. Practicing learning notes, chords, and scales makes playing tabs hella smoother.

If you’re unfamiliar with the parts like ‘nut’ or ‘headstock’ that make up your instrument, read our blog, ‘Guitar Anatomy: What are the parts of a guitar?’ to learn about them. 

Guitar tabs staff

In sheet music, the staff is the backdrop that gives context to the musical notation–they’re a set of lines that indicate which string and fret you need to play. 

Tabs look similar, but the lines represent your guitar’s six strings (E-B-G-D-A-E), and the system itself is entirely different. 

When looking at tabs, the top line represents the thinnest string, the high E. The lower lines represent the B, G, D, A, and low E strings. And you read guitar tabs from left to right. 

Guitar frets

Frets are the metal strips that run horizontally along the neck of your guitar. Generally, a guitar has 19 to 24 frets. 

A note or chord is indicated on the lines with a number. This means you expect numbers from 0 to 24 on your tabs. 

For instance, if you see the number 1 on the top line, place your finger between the nut and the high E string’s first fret (the section closest to the headstock). The number 0 implies that you play the open string.

Chords

Identifying chords on tabs is straightforward. When you see several numbers that are vertically aligned, you’re looking at a chord. 

Guitar tabs symbols. 

Many guitar techniques can spice up your instrument’s sound. To play your songs with greater proficiency and accuracy, you need to know how to identify them in tabs.

P.M	Palm muting
X	Muting specific notes
⤴	Bending
∕	Sliding up
＼	Sliding down
H⌒	Hammer-ons
P⌒	Pull offs
““““	Vibrato
T⌒	Tapping
	Pick downward
V	Pick upward

Guitar tabs for beginners.

With access to the internet, you can easily find guitar tabs for virtually any song.  Here are some catchy riffs that you pick up relatively quickly. 

If you want access to the complete tabs, check out Ultimate Guitar–they have an impressive library.

Sunshine Your Love by Cream

Sunshine is a great tune to start with. It’s not too demanding on your fingers, and you only need to play three strings. And it sounds great!

Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison

Another simple yet catchy song you can play is Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman.’

Similarly, it’s easy on the fingers, and the riff uses three strings. 

Pro tip: listen to the song a few times to work on timing!

I Stand Alone by Godsmack 

I Stand Alone is even simpler. However, the tempo of the song is much faster. But don’t focus too much on speed. Playing quickly feels more natural by taking your time, internalizing the movements, and gradually making them second nature.

Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry 

Play that funky riff! You can play Wild Cherry’s song with just two strings in no time. However, in this riff, you’re dealing with a hammer-on technique (h). There’s no right or wrong way to learn your favorite songs–adding new steps can make things smoother though.

Down With The Sickness by Disturbed

Get down with the hammer-on technique with Disturbed’s hit song ‘Down With The Sickness.’ To work on a specific technique, find pieces like this one that uses them a lot. The more you do it, the better you get.

A Passage To Bangkok by Rush 

Add some additional techniques to your repertoire with Rush’s ‘A passage To Bangkok.’ 

The notes are simple, and you have two strings to focus on. However, this riff introduces you to some slides, pull-offs, and vibratos. 

Remember, patience is key!

Paralyzer by Finger Eleven 

The riff from ‘Paralyzer’ is swift. This song works on your strumming and focus. And it requires that you mute specific notes, which can be challenging for your coordination.

Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple

Playing notes tends to be easier than playing chords. Chords demand more precision from your fingers. Because of the slow tempo of ‘Smoke On The Water,’ it’s an ideal piece to start putting your chords into action.

Symphony of Destruction by Megadeath 

Next, it’s time to turn up the intensity with ‘Symphony of Destruction.’

As you can see, these tabs switch between notes and chords and also require some palm muting. 

These aren’t too demanding as far as chords go, but playing and transitioning from chords is more challenging than notes. Just what you need.

Shepherd Of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold 

Another fun song to play as a beginner is Avenged Sevenfold’s fiery tune, ‘Shepherd Of Fire.’ This song incorporates slides, vibratos, notes, and chords. 

Guitar tabs for beginners and beyond.

These tabs are just a few fun songs you can start with, but the sky is the limit. There are tabs for virtually every recorded song ever written. 

Learning how to play the guitar requires practice. You must learn how to play chords and notes and read sheet music. Although, spending your days playing scales can become tedious. It’s like only going to soccer practice and never playing a game. Guitar tabs offer beginners an easy to play their favorite songs. 

There are plenty of avenues to pursue when picking up a new hobby. For the guitar, you can learn in a band, with a teacher, or on your own.

Regardless of the path you choose, you need to put in some work on your own. Simply Guitar is the ultimate app. It comes with bite-sized lessons that teach you everything from how to play cool tunes to reading sheet music. Give it a try today!

FAQs.

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