The Fretboard (frɛ́tbɔ́rd) is also known as a fingerboard, which is the part of the guitar used to change the tones made by plucked or strummed strings. Located on the front of a guitar’s neck, fretboards are generally made of rosewood but can be made from a variety of other woods.

As the length (and thickness) of the string are what determines its tone, pressing a vibrating string against the frets laid into the fretboard changes the effective length of the string being played. This is how the tone of a string is changed.

A fretboard is common to almost all stringed instruments, not all of which are fretted. Most guitars, both electric and acoustic, have at least twenty two frets on their fretboard. Only twelve frets are actually needed, at a minimum, because that is the number needed to produce one full octave per string.