Originally Posted by: mahindru.gaurav

When fretting notes, do fingers have to be right behind the metal fret or can they just be in the upper third space of the fret?

Closer to the fret is better in general. But as long as you can get a clear & clean sounding note from that fretted string, just about any placement is fine. Sometimes too close can result in getting part of your finger on or over the fret & cause a mutted sound!

But, the closer you can get the more leverage you have, the more efficiency of motion you achieve, with minimal tension. If you wind up with your fingers too far back away from the fret you wind up having to press too hard. This wastes strength & results in your fingers & hand being too tense. That in turn makes it hard to switch to the next position.

You will encounter situations (certain chord shapes, or series of notes) that make it impossible to get every finger right next to the fret. But as close as possible is the general idea!

Are you working through the Fundamentals course?

https://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=fundamentals1

Hope this helps!