Acoustic Tunesmith

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Fret Addressing Method FAM

Making Chords with the Fret Addressing Method

Are you up to your ears with complicated, hair-pulling explanations of how to create a guitar chord? Directionally challenged deciphering those cryptic numeric chord diagrams into tangible finger placements?

Or, what if you have a visual challenge and rely on a screen reader? Those graphical diagrams might as well be a Picasso painting in invisible ink.

Well, strum bud, Acoustic Tunesmith is about more than just writing tunes on an acoustic guitar – it’s about accessibility. If our system clashes with your particular challenge or need, do tell us – we’re all ears.

That said, saddle up, let’s take this Fret Addressing Method, or FAM, for a whirl. Simplicity is the name of the game here.

Now, what’s in this so-called address?

Well, it’s as easy as one, two, three:

  1. The finger you’re using.
  2. The string where the action’s happening.
  3. The fret where the magic comes to life.

Person's hand, palm out, with fingers spread out with a black camouflage McPherson Sable guitar body as backgroundWhat is this finger stuff about?

In FAM, fingers look like this:

T, stands for the thumb.

I, is for the index finger.

M, is your middle finger.

R, means ring finger.

P, is your little pinky.

O, means you let the string sing naked, open, and free.

X, well that’s when you tell a string to pipe down and take five.

We start with the finger, as it’s the headliner in our show.

Every note on your beloved guitar comes with its own little home address. Naturally, you can use whatever finger you want to hit that note – we’re all about freedom of expression here. And depending on the next chord in line, or the last one, you may wish to switch fingers up a bit.

But, the first thing we move when making a chord is our finger. So, we start there. Let’s say you’re about to birth an open C chord. You’ll start with the ring finger to make the C note. The ring finger has its own private spot on the FAM. So far, our C note address looks pretty dreary with:

R

Next, we have our co-stars, the strings.

Numbered from the thickest to thinnest, we’ve got 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. So, forming the C note with the ring finger, we get this swanky address:

R5

That’s the ring finger strutting its stuff on the 5th string.

The final touch to FAM is the fret number.

Continuing with our C note on the 5th string, we’ve got to fret it at the illustrious 3rd fret.

So, our cape flapping address for that note reads like:

R53

That’s the ring finger owning the 5th string on the 3rd fret. Snazzy, uh?

Let’s get fancy. How does an open C chord look all dolled up in FAM format?

Feast your eyes on this:

X60 R53 M42 O30 I21 O10.

So, there you have it, strum bud. You can’t miss with FAM. The mystery of chord formation is as clear as a summer’s day.

Keep those tunes flowing!