Guitars are recognized as one of the heavy instruments in blues, country, flamenco, pebble music, and bounteous forms of pop. They can also be a solo classical instrument. Guitars may be played acoustically, where the tone is produced by vibration of the strings and modulated by the alveolate body, or they may rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Such electric guitars were introduced in the 20th century and continue to have a profound influence on popular culture.

The smaller the fretboard radius, the fresh noticeably incurvate the fretboard is. Most concomitant guitars feature a 12" neck radius, while older guitars from the '60's and '70's mainly feature a 6" – 8" neck radius. Pinching a string against the fretboard effectively shortens the vibrating length of the string, producing a fewer than pitch. Fretboards are most commonly made of rosewood, ebony, maple, and sometimes manufactured or composite materials such as HPL or resin. Fender Guitar See below on section 'Neck" for the importance of the length of the fretboard in combination to other dimensions of the guitar.