fretted

Fretted is the past participle of fret. In musical contexts it most often describes a stringed instrument that uses frets—raised, rigid bars embedded along the neck's fingerboard. Frets divide the vibrating length of each string into fixed segments, enabling standardized semitone steps in most western tunings. When a string is pressed down behind a fret, the string's effective length shortens and the pitch rises to a predetermined note.

Fretted instruments include guitars, basses, mandolins, banjos, and many others. Some instruments use movable or tied-on frets, while others are fretless, such as violins or some traditional instruments, which allow more microtonal or continuous pitch variation.

Construction and maintenance: Frets are typically made of metal—commonly nickel-silver or stainless steel—and are set into a wooden fretboard with their tangs anchored in the neck. Fret sizes, crowns, and spacing affect intonation, playability, and tone. Over time frets can wear or become uneven, requiring leveling, recrowning, or replacement.

Historically, fretting systems vary by culture and instrument; some traditions use tied frets, others adopt standardized metal frets. The choice of scale length and temperament interacts with fret placement to produce the instrument's characteristic intonation.