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Why Guitar Frets Crowd Together Near the Body

6th grade nonfiction passage about guitar fret spacing: 224 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction guitar fret spacing 224 words

Why Guitar Frets Crowd Together Near the Body

Look closely at the neck of a guitar and you will see thin metal bars set across it. These bars are called frets, and they are not spaced evenly. Near the tuning pegs the frets sit far apart. Closer to the body of the guitar they crowd together more and more.

The reason has to do with how a string makes its sound. A plucked string vibrates, and the length of the part that is free to move decides the pitch. A long string makes a low note, and a shorter string makes a higher one. When a player presses a string down against a fret, only the part between that fret and the bridge can vibrate, so the note rises.

Each fret shortens the string by the same fraction of what is left, not by the same amount. As the vibrating part gets shorter, every step has less string to cut away. That is why the bars must sit closer together as they climb the neck.

The pattern has a neat result. The twelfth fret sits exactly halfway along the string. Pressing there gives the same note as the open string, only higher, a distance that musicians call an octave. A builder who measures the spacing with great care gives the guitar notes that sound in tune all the way up the neck.

Questions

  1. What are frets? in the text

  2. How are the frets spaced along the neck? in the text

  3. What happens to the note when a string is pressed against a fret? in the text

  4. Where is the twelfth fret found? in the text

  5. Why do the frets have to sit closer together farther along the neck? think about it

  6. Why must a builder measure the fret spacing with great care? think about it

Words to know

frets
thin metal bars across the neck of a guitar
pitch
how high or low a musical note sounds
vibrates
moves back and forth very fast
bridge
the piece on a guitar that holds the strings at the body end
octave
the same note sounding higher or lower, with a set distance between
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 166 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.6

A guitar has thin metal bars on its neck. They are called frets. The frets are not spaced evenly. Near the tuning pegs they are far apart. Near the body of the guitar they are close together.

Here is why. A string makes a sound when it shakes. A long string makes a low note. A short string makes a high note. A player presses a string down on a fret. Now only the part from the fret to the bridge can shake. That part is shorter, so the note is higher.

Each fret cuts the same fraction off the string that is left. The string keeps getting shorter. So each step has less string to cut. The frets must be closer and closer together.

The twelfth fret is halfway along the string. It gives the same note as the open string, only higher. Musicians call this an octave. A builder must measure with care. Then the notes sound right all the way up the neck.

▲ This passage · 224 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

Look closely at the neck of a guitar and you will see thin metal bars set across it. These bars are called frets, and they are not spaced evenly. Near the tuning pegs the frets sit far apart. Closer to the body of the guitar they crowd together more and more.

The reason has to do with how a string makes its sound. A plucked string vibrates, and the length of the part that is free to move decides the pitch. A long string makes a low note, and a shorter string makes a higher one. When a player presses a string down against a fret, only the part between that fret and the bridge can vibrate, so the note rises.

Each fret shortens the string by the same fraction of what is left, not by the same amount. As the vibrating part gets shorter, every step has less string to cut away. That is why the bars must sit closer together as they climb the neck.

The pattern has a neat result. The twelfth fret sits exactly halfway along the string. Pressing there gives the same note as the open string, only higher, a distance that musicians call an octave. A builder who measures the spacing with great care gives the guitar notes that sound in tune all the way up the neck.

■ Harder · 236 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.9

If you examine the neck of a guitar, you will notice thin metal bars running across it. These bars are called frets, and they are deliberately not spaced evenly. Near the tuning pegs the frets lie far apart, whereas closer to the body of the guitar they crowd together more and more tightly.

The explanation lies in how a string produces its sound. A plucked string vibrates, and the length of the portion that is free to move determines the pitch. A long string produces a low note, while a shorter string produces a higher one. When a player presses a string against a fret, only the section between that fret and the bridge is able to vibrate, so the pitch of the note rises.

Each fret shortens the string by the same fraction of whatever length remains, rather than by the same absolute amount. As the vibrating section grows shorter, every successive step has less string left to remove. That is why the bars must sit closer together as they climb toward the body.

This pattern leads to a pleasing result. The twelfth fret sits exactly halfway along the string, and pressing the string there gives the same note as the open string, only higher, a distance that musicians call an octave. A builder who measures the spacing with great precision gives the guitar notes that sound in tune all the way up the neck.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put frets, pitch, vibrates, bridge and octave on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Why Guitar Frets Crowd Together Near the Body"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 224 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.0. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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