Faggot’s fretful fiasco
Ian Stewart · 2003
Abstract If you look at a guitar, mandolin, or lute—any stringed instrument with frets—you’ll see that the frets get closer and closer together as the note gets higher. This is a nuisance for the player, because there’s less room to fit the fingers in and because the distances you move your finger to get higher notes is not proportional to that for lower ones. But there’s a good reason why the frets have to be spaced the way they are: the notes won’t sound right otherwise. This is a consequence of the physics of vibrating strings.