Fretboard diagram

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Fretboard diagram of a guitar with a few octave jumps of the  C.

Under a fingerboard diagram (English fretboard chart ) is the graphical representation of the finger positions on the fingerboard of the stringed instrument . A section or the entire fingerboard is shown schematically in a top view . The strings and frets form a grid in which mostly circles (but also other symbols) symbolize the positions of the fingers. Two orientations with horizontal or vertical strings are common. Which variant is present can be recognized, among other things, by the fact that the markings are on the strings and between the frets. The fretboard diagram is not used to notate melodies (ordered sequence of tones) or rhythms (the temporal structure of tones).

Scale diagram of the C major scale played from the 7th fret of a guitar
A minor chord diagram for guitar

variants

Depending on the type of musical context to be represented, different forms of fretboard diagrams have become established. What they all have in common is the representation of the fingerboard as a grid of frets and strings. The difference lies in the type and meaning of the marked finger positions.

Scale diagram

When scale chart (English scale chart ) are on the fingerboard, the finger positions while playing a scale mapped (scale). As a rule, only the section of the fingerboard in which the relevant finger positions are located is shown. The position of the illustrated section on the fingerboard is noted by specifying the fret position, usually in Roman numerals . The keynote of the scale shown is usually particularly emphasized. A scale chart is used as a template for learning scales.

Chord diagram

With the chord diagram , the finger positions are marked for playing a chord . In contrast to the scale diagram, the finger positions in the chord diagram are usually gripped at the same time and together form the relevant chord.

Arpeggio diagram

The arpeggio diagram is a special form of the chord diagram . In the case of an arpeggio , i.e. a broken chord, the positions are played one after the other at short intervals, but do not form a scale as in the scale diagram, but a chord (possibly in variations).

Differentiation from tablature

In contrast to the fretboard diagram, the frets are not shown in the tablature . In the case of stringed instruments, the lines symbolize the strings and the frets to be picked are indicated on them as (Arabic) numbers. There are also tablatures for keyboard instruments in which the lines accordingly do not represent strings. In contrast to fingerboard diagrams, melodies and rhythms can also be displayed with tablatures with special markings. The lines run horizontally along an imaginary time axis (which makes the decisive difference to fingerboard diagrams because they lack the time axis), similar to musical notation .

Web links

Wiktionary: scale  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations