Frets (frɛ́ts) are small metal bars on the neck or body of the guitar that are used to alter the pitch of a string. The frets shorten the vibrating length of the string when a finger presses the string against an individual fret, an action called “stopping.” Doing this makes the pitch higher. The frets are also used to show the player where the string should be stopped.

In higher quality acoustic guitars, the fingerboard along that the frets are placed usually joins the body of the guitar at the twelfth or fourteenth fret. Guitar frets are often made of metal, and the fingerboard of rosewood or ebony, a denser and harder wood.

Unlike the guitar, some string instruments have no frets (IE: violin), which requires the musician to know precisely where to stop the string. In this case, the string will vibrate from the bridge to the fret below the point where the finger is pressed.