Why guitar frets get closer together as you go up the neck
30seconds
Guitar frets crowd together toward the body because of one fact about hearing: we hear pitch by ratio, not by difference. Each fret has to raise the note by the same factor, about 1.0595, so it cuts off about 5.6% of whatever string is left, not a fixed distance.
That's why the 12th fret sits exactly halfway along the string, and why the gaps halve every 12 frets. Tap the neck to hear what goes wrong with evenly spaced frets, and why the old luthier's "rule of 18" is only almost right.
More in Music & Sound
View all →
Why a flute and a clarinet sound different on the same note: harmonics and timbre
Play the same note on a flute and a clarinet, at the same pitch and loudness, and you can still tell them apart at once. That difference is called timbre, and…
Why sand on a vibrating plate draws pictures: Chladni figures
Sprinkle sand on a thin metal plate, draw a violin bow along its edge, and the sand leaps into sharp, symmetrical lines. Change the pitch and the picture…
Why a tone can climb forever without getting higher: the Shepard illusion
Play a tone that climbs and climbs, forever, and never gets any higher. It sounds impossible, but it only takes a few sine waves and one volume curve. A…
Why you hear bass from a speaker too small to make it: the missing fundamental
Your phone speaker is far too small to produce a deep bass note, yet you still hear the bass. The trick is that pitch is not a frequency in the air. It is a…
Why some notes sound sweet together and others seem to fight
Play C and E together and they sound sweet. Play C and C sharp and they buzz. The notes aren't the problem: the clash only happens when they meet. Every…
Why two almost-in-tune notes throb, and how tuners use the wobble
Play two notes that are almost in tune and you hear one note that swells and fades: wah-wah-wah. Neither string is wobbling. The throb, called a beat, appears…