Which is it?
Fingerboard or Fretboard
© Frank Ford, 9/6/98 Photos by FF




Well, this one is easy.


This violin has a "fingerboard"

There are no frets, and that's where you place your finger to "stop" the strings and define the notes. Other fretless instruments have fingerboards.



This mandolin has a "fretboard"

That's where the frets are located against which you press the strings to form the notes.


But you also finger a fretboard, so it's extremely common to hear fretboards called "fingerboards." I do it every day.






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