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The fingerboard, (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments), is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of wood that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run. In the playing of such an instrument, a musician presses the strings down to it in order to change their vibrating lengths, causing changes in pitch.
The word "fingerboard" in other languages sometimes occurs in musical directions. In Italian it is called either manico or tasto, the latter especially in the phrase sul tasto, a direction for bowed string instruments to bow above the fingerboard.
Frets
A fingerboard may be fretted, having raised strips of hard material perpendicular to the strings against which the strings are pressed; frets generally allow for more precise changes in pitch and for less damping of the vibrations than fingers. Frets may be fixed, as on a guitar or mandolin, or movable, as on a lute. Fingerboards may also be unfretted, as they usually are on bowed instruments, where damping is generally not a problem due to the prolonged stimulation of the strings. Fingerboards may also be, though uncommon, a hybrid of these two. Such a construction is seen on the sitar, where arched frets attach at the edges of the fingerboard; unfretted strings run below the frets, while fretted ones run above. The frets are sufficiently high that pressing strings against the fingerboard is unnecessary for the frets to stop their vibrations so that the lower strings' sympathetic vibrations are uninterrupted.
Materials
On bowed string instruments, (such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass), the fingerboard is usually made of ebony, rosewood or some other hardwood. On some guitars a maple neck and fingerboard are make from one piece of wood. A few modern innovative luthiers (such as David Rivinus, see External Links) have used lightweight, non-wood materials such as carbon-fiber in their fingerboards.
Parameters and varieties
Typically, the fingerboard is a long plank with a rectangular profile. On a guitar, mandolin, ukulele, or similar plucked instrument, the fingerboard appears flat and wide, but may be slightly curved to form a cylindrical or conical surface of relatively large radius compared to the fingerboard width. The radius quoted in the specification of a string instrument is the radius of curvature of the fingerboard at the head nut.
Many bowed string instruments use a visibly curved fingerboard, nut and bridge in order to gain bow clearance on each individual string.
The length, width, thickness and density of a fingerboard may affect the timbre of an instrument.
Most fingerboards can be fully described by the following parameters:
- w1 — width at nut (close to headstock);
- w2 — width at half of scale length (if fretted, usually the 12th fret);
- h1 — profile height (thickness) at nut;
- h2 — profile height (thickness) at half of scale length;
- r — radius;
For example:
- Fender Stratocaster American guitar: w1 = 1.6875" (43 mm), r = 9.5" (241 mm)
- Gibson Les Paul guitar: w1 = 1.6875" (43 mm), w2 = 2.062" (52 mm), r = 12" (305 mm)
- Full size (4/4) violin: w1 = 24 mm, w2 = 32 mm, r = 42 mm
For guitars, smaller radii (9-10") are said to be more comfortable for chord and rhythm playing, while larger radii (12"-16" and up to infinite radius) are more appealing to fast soloing. On some modern guitars, the radius of the fingerboard changes slowly from one end of the fingerboard to the other. This is known as a "compound radius" fingerboard. The nut end of the fingerboard has a smaller radius towards the nut to ease in forming chords. The bridge end of the finger has a larger radius to make soloing more comfortable and prevent "fretting out" (having the string press against a higher fret during a bend).
See also
- Radius (string instruments).
- Scale (string instruments).
- Fingerboard synthesizer.
- Bridge (instrument).
External links
- Stringworks U brief description of fingerboard for violins, violas, & cellos
- Luthier David Rivinus' site explanation of why he doesn't use ebony fingerboards
- Violin construction detailed specification sheet by Alan Goldblatt (PDF, 18KB)
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"Fingerboard"