Tone deaf?

Why does the 5th fretted string sound different than the corresponding open string of the same pitch? Its not the same difference as playing the next fret over (1/2 step). My guitar is in tune and has good intonation. Am I tone deaf, am I listening to hard?

Thanks your input,
Dayton

Originally Posted by: djp0882Why does the 5th fretted string sound different than the corresponding open string of the same pitch? Its not the same difference as playing the next fret over (1/2 step). My guitar is in tune and has good intonation. Am I tone deaf, am I listening to hard?

Sounding different & being a different pitch are two different things.

You might be hearing the differences in timbre the tonal quality between an open string (more brightness/overtones) & a fretted string (muted sound). One of your strings might be dirty or have broken/loose windings.

You might be slightly bending the string. The action (string height) might be so high that when you play the fifth fret you are causing the string to go sharp as opposed to it being "in tune" when compared to it's open string pitch.

You might actually be out of tune by less than a half-step.

Lot of possibilities here. Try to eliminate some of the above & let us know how it goes!

Also, take a look to where you are playing inside the actual fret itself. The true tone of the note resides towards the bottom of the fret so be mindful of that and that could be your issue. Like Christopher said, you could also be slightly bending the strings which is very common for beginners to do as you are still developing the proper arch of the finger and attack on the string. Don't worry too much. This is very common and you will work though it.
:o