On instruments that use frets, where's the best spot to press a string on, in order to minimize hand fatigue and potential for injuries?

Question

I know this question sounds completely subjective at first sight, it even triggered the automatic "The question you're asking appears subjective and is likely to be closed" alarm, but please read further.

Action is the distance between the fret and a string at any given fret (in fretted instruments). Normally at the 12th fret, but some instruments have less than 12 frets, so the convention might be at the 10th fret for other instruments, or any other fret really.

"What's the best action" is completely subjective under most contexts. The lower the action the less force you'll need to press the string, but the more likely it is to buzz (touch a fret you are not fretting). It can also change stuff like tone and loudness (I don't know the actual acoustic basis of these changes, but that's for another question).

So the best action is the best balance between ease of play, good tone, good loudness. This is completely subjective, until you reach an edge case: action that is too high. If you can't finish a song, or a full performance, or get too tired, or feel too much pain, then you can say, objectively, that the action is too high.

If you are not using amplification, high actions might be more fitting. Or low actions for old guitars, or some specific guitar tones. Maybe a middle ground for recording. Some don't care, most will notice immediately an action that is too high.

And that can be a big game-changing problem. Sometimes you just need to make the gig / recording happen with someone else's instrument. Sometimes you are just playing an instrument you are not proficient at, but the circumstances called for it (last-moment changes in a band you direct, a favor, you are drunk). Maybe your hand is tired. Maybe you have less calluses than two months ago. There's an endless list of situations where action can come back to bite you, so knowing how to minimize its influence seems like a very useful tool.

That's where "On instruments that use frets, where's the best spot to press a string on?" stops becoming subjective. If said instrument happens to have too high an action, if it's high enough, you can risk not only fatiguing your hands and fingers before you can end the first song, but there's high potential for injuries and pain, both short and long term.

So, where can the string be pressed, so the least amount of force needs to be applied in order to touch the fret? Barely touching the fret is not enough, but maybe we can oversimplify that one? Or is calculating the exact extra force needed in relation to the force being applied with the strums / picking needed? I guess another way of viewing it is, where between the frets is there less string tension while pressed? Is it near the sharper part of the fret (assuming a non-ideal fret that has mass)? Or near the flatter part of the fret (sharper part being the one pointing towards the side in which pitch increases, flatter being the opposite direction)?

Or is it in the exact middle, between the frets? If it's not, why is it less tension near that fret, and not near the other, neighbor of the same string? There must be an actual objective, measurable, repeatable way to answer this, right? One that can use to optimize our technique, even if we are not struggling with action (that was just one example of many where this info would be very valuable).

Another situation where this is objective, relevant, and has the potential to prevent injuries, is in instruments and fingerings where stuff like "half barre" is used, like a barre chord but you need to let some strings that are located below the barre finger sound, so you need a kind of bridge shape, making your fingers do bends that your classically-trained teacher will faint at. Putting so much force on a finger that's so weirdly collapsed is a no-no (some try to prevent collapsed fingers at all). But for instruments where non-ergonomic positions are the norm, knowing exactly where to put that finger can make all the difference.

In other words, how can we know exactly where to press a string in order to apply the least force possible to reach the fret?

Answer 1

The proper place to fret a string is close to the fret wire. Your finger should be right behind the fret. You should not have to apply a lot of force to depress the string. A lot of beginners make the mistake of thinking that you can place the finger anywhere between the frets with the same result, since the fret defines where the string stops, but this is completely false. If you finger the string too far behind the fret, the string will slide back and forth along the fret, causing slight pitch changes and buzzing. If you play forte like this, the string will buzz horribly against the fret. Sometimes, when playing complicated chords, we need to make sacrifices and one string might not be depressed with the ideal technique. But as much as possible, the finger should be just behind the fret, even touching it, but not right up on top of the fret, as that will cause the flesh of the finger to go slightly over the fret and dampen the sound.

The second mistake people make is that they think they have to press down until the string touches the wood on the finger board. This is also completely false. You only need to press with enough force to get the string to hit the fret and not buzz, and this is usually much less force than people assume is needed. Ideally, the fingers need never touch the finger board. In my opinion, this mistake is most often the cause of sore and tired hands. Learning the correct grip for your action is crucial for getting good sound and maintaining your hand (and instrument) health.

How high is high action? It's really hard to judge. My classical has very high action relative to my electrics, yet it is no harder to play. With high action, you will need to move more to release the strings and move from one note to the other, which in the long run may make speed more difficult, but I'd say that if you practice proper hand placement, you should be able to hold a chord with a relaxed hand (without a strong grip).

The way I was taught grip was to put the finger on the string in the correct place with NO force, start playing that note over and over. As you play, slowly press the string until you get a clean tone with no buzzing. This is all the force you need. The tricky part is training yourself to apply only this much force as you play fast and move around. That's decades of practice.

Answer 2

Producing a sharp angle for the string over the fretwire makes for a clear, clean sound. So just behind the fretwire will be a good place. It also means not having to press down on the fingerboard so hard - keep the same pressure on and move a finger around on a fret - lower, wider frets will show better, and you'll find more pressure is needed for a clear note at the back end of a fret - closer to the nut.

There's also a couple of other factors involved here though. One is tuning. At the back end of a fret, a string will become slightly sharper - that's one aspect of 'classical' vibrato. So to be properly in tune, close to the fretwire makes more sense.

All this falls by the wayside somewhat when we consider chords (I'm on guitar here). Often, there's not enough space for optimum finger positioning, so compromises have to be made. That's just one reason why beginners struggle with barre chords. Collapsing fingers is necessary on some shapes - there's no other way to press strings sometimes.

On injury - most players manage to play without injuring themselves - there's a sort of warning, called pain. That works quite well, if attention is paid to it! There's probably more injury likelihood from pressing too hard, which often reveals itself in pain round the base of the thumb. That's sometimes due to bad action, but more likely due to the player not being aware of hand/finger (and arm) position. Partly, I suspect, the reason for the question.

Having said all that, on guitar at least, past fret 12, there's not much choice as to where to press! Bass is obviously different, and a lot of the time, only single notes are deployed. Get a mandolin and again, the question is academic.

Answer 3

The question is in no way subjective and the result can be found out very simple by experimenting and testing the sound.

• If you press the string too close to the fret end or right on the fretwire the string vibration will be inhibit and the sound becomes dull and dumb.
• If you press right behind the bend where the string is laying on you need the minimum of strength and the sound is perfect.
• When we press in the middle between two frets we may need less strength - referring the law of lever act - but the string starts to vibrate and to clank above the iron fret.
• At the end close to the next lower fret all action is useless as we are too for from the bridge which is built by the fret that divides the string.

I’ve never been taught Guitar playing. But you can test this physical experiments by yourself and the facts are quite logical.

As a supplement: the string is pushed down just behind the collar so far that it has a clearly defined support. Then it can swing freely and sounds good. If you press too hard, it gets tiring, the playing speed slows down and - the notes are often not quite correct anymore, because the string is stretched too much when it is pressed down onto the wood until you hear a clear tone. If you press too lightly, the string hums. If you press too hard, you won't last long because your fingers become "tired". You have to find a middle ground and train. Your fingers will hurt at the beginning. But that stops as soon as the cornea has formed.

The italic text is an answer from here:

https://www.gutefrage.net/frage/gitarrensaiten-durchdruecken-oder-finger-nur-auflegen

There must be an actual objective, measurable, repeatable way to answer this, right? One that can use to optimize our technique, even if we are not struggling with action.

I suppose you have already made the similar experiences as I but you are interested in the physics and the perfect point.

A fisher, a boatman, a mountaineer, a bell ringer ... they all know that the longer the longer one side of the move moment is the less strength we need.

But the trouble is: the longer we are distant from the point it starts to linger. So you have to make a compromise.

So there is no ‘perfect’ point - but an optimal place:

On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load and effort, the lever is divided into three types. It is one of the six simple machines identified by Renaissance scientists. A lever amplifies an input force to provide a greater output force, which is said to provide leverage. The ratio of the output force to the input force is the mechanical advantage of the lever. As such, the lever is a mechanical advantage device, trading off force against movement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever

Answer 4

Luckily, you can answer this yourself, objectively, with the exact instrument you're wondering about.

Get a capo with adjustable tension. Or, rig a clamp or some other method to press the strings with a consistent and adjustable pressure. Place the capo in a given position relative to a fret, and add tension until a normally-plucked string stops buzzing. Record the tension (i.e. the number of turns or whatever adjustment you've used). Try again with a different position, and compare the results.

Ultimately, this will confirm what Tim's answer describes - pressing immediately behind the fret will give the clearest sound for the least pressure.

As a further answer to something indirectly related to your question, you spent a lot of time in your question talking about action, and the effect that action has on required pressure to fret a string cleanly. Specifically, you said:

The lower the action the less force you'll need to press the string

You can use this same method to test that, as well - set the action low, test the pressure required, then repeat with a high action. I'm confident you'll find that action doesn't substantially change the pressure required to get a clean note - the pressure needed to move the string from it's resting position down to the point at which it first contacts a fret will be trivial compared to the pressure needed to bend the string over the fret far enough that the note is clean.

Action impacts speed more than pressure. With a high action, it simply takes more time to press the string down into position, so it takes more finger speed to change notes quickly, which can be perceived as requiring pressure - and, indeed, some beginners try to compensate for slow fingers by pressing harder, which - ironically - is really the opposite of the true solution (pressing just barely hard enough to get a clean note will allow you to move faster). Beginners may also perceive that a higher action wears them out more quickly, but again - that is more due to attempts to compensate for speed than for pressure required.

Answer 5

If you're playing a guitar, somewhere behind the fret is best. It depends on whether you're playing chords or single notes, but somewhere from the middle to just behind the fret works well.

If you're playing an electric bass guitar then pressing directly down on the fret is best. If you press between the frets then you will need to provide more force which may injure the joints of your fingers. Trust me, I know. I did it the wrong way for years and paid the price. The slight loss of sustain really isn't noticeable in the bass guitar.

If you're a skeptic about the suggestion for the bass guitar, then I suggest you check out Peter Murray's "Essential Bass Technique: The Definitive Technique Manual for Bass Guitar" which helped me greatly improve my right and left hand technique.