Parts of the Guitar
Before you play a single note, it helps to know what you're holding. Click each label below to learn what it's called and what it does.
Three big sections
Every guitar — acoustic or electric — breaks down into three sections: the headstock at the top, the neck running down the middle, and the body at the bottom. Everything else is a part of one of these three.
Headstock: tuning central
- Headstock — the angled piece at the top that holds the tuning pegs.
- Tuning pegs (machine heads) — you turn these to raise or lower each string's pitch.
- Nut — the grooved strip where the headstock meets the neck; it spaces the strings and marks the start of their vibrating length.
Neck: where your fretting hand lives
- Neck — the long arm you hold with your fretting hand.
- Fretboard (fingerboard) — the flat strip glued to the front of the neck where you press strings down.
- Frets — the thin metal wires across the fretboard; pressing a string just behind one shortens its vibrating length to change pitch.
- Fret markers — the dots (often at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12) that help you find your place at a glance.
Body: where the sound happens
- Body — the large lower section. On an acoustic guitar it's hollow with a soundhole that projects the string vibration as sound. On an electric guitar it's usually solid, with pickups — magnets wrapped in wire — that turn string vibration into an electrical signal sent to an amp.
- Bridge — anchors the strings to the body and, with the nut, defines the vibrating length of each string.
- Saddle — the thin piece on the bridge the strings rest on, fine-tuning each string's exact length and height.
Common questions
What are the main parts of a guitar?
The headstock (with tuning pegs), the neck (with fretboard and frets), and the body (with bridge and soundhole or pickups).
What is the nut on a guitar?
The grooved strip where the neck meets the headstock — it spaces the strings and marks one end of their vibrating length.
Are guitar strings numbered high to low or low to high?
Numbered 6 to 1 from thickest (low E) to thinnest (high E) — used in tab, chord diagrams, and lessons everywhere.
What's the difference between an acoustic and electric guitar body?
Acoustic bodies are hollow with a soundhole that projects sound naturally; electric bodies are usually solid with magnetic pickups feeding an amplifier.
See your first chords on a live fretboard
Now that you know the parts, put them to work — Melody Monkey shows chords, scales, and songs on an interactive guitar.
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