Guitar
Todd Prater
It starts with one string.
A plucked string never moves in just one shape.
It swings in many shapes at once, all stacked on top of each other.
The harmonic series
Pull them apart and you hear the harmonics.
Twice the frequency is the octave. Three times, a fifth above that. Four, two octaves. Five, a major third higher still. Every one is a whole-number multiple of the note.
Standard tuning
Six strings: E A D G B E.
Every fret shortens the string by the same ratio, the twelfth root of two. So the frets crowd together toward the body, and the 12th fret sits exactly halfway.
One guitar
All six, played by Todd Prater.
Illustration · string motion exaggerated · physics drawn true: harmonic ratios and fret spacing
Todd Prater
Guitar, in light
Two or three sentences in Todd's own words: the music, where Todd plays it, and who it is for.
The site
Six strings, six pages
Each page is tuned to one string of a guitar, low E to high E.
- A
Music
A V guitar in a light show, moving live to any audio file you choose.
- D
Live
The stage, lit and waiting for show dates.
- G
Lessons
A glowing fretboard that teaches the neck one shape at a time.
- B
About
The illustration, drawn in light, and the path a note takes from string to room.
- e
Booking
Shows, events and lessons: send the details.
Turn sound on in the header and hover a page to hear its string.