• 21 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of an Acoustic Guitar

A steel-string acoustic guitar from the front and from the side, with its headstock and its bridge enlarged.

Parts of an Acoustic Guitar

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Headstock
  2. Fingerboard
  3. Strings
  4. Body
  5. Waist
  6. Sound hole
  7. Bridge
  8. Tuners
  9. Nut
  10. Frets
  11. Position markers
  12. Soundboard
  13. Rosette
  14. Pickguard
  15. Saddle
  16. Bridge pins
  17. Neck
  18. Heel
  19. Sides
  20. Back
  21. Strap button

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the parts of an electric guitar

All 21 parts on the diagram

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Headstock and neck 9

  1. Headstock It carries the six tuners, three on each side here.
  2. Fingerboard Also called the fretboard. Strings are pressed against it to change notes.
  3. Strings Six steel strings: two thin plain ones and four wound ones.
  4. Tuners Also called machine heads. Each changes the tension of one string.
  5. Nut A small strip of bone or plastic. Its grooves guide the strings.
  6. Frets Metal strips in the fingerboard. A string pressed against one changes pitch.
  7. Position markers Inlaid dots that show the player where the hand is.
  8. Neck It carries the fingerboard. A metal rod inside keeps it from warping.
  9. Heel Where the neck is glued or bolted to the body.

Body 5

  1. Body A hollow box: a top, a back and sides.
  2. Waist The narrow middle of the body, between the upper and lower bouts.
  3. Sides The wall between the top and the back. Also called ribs.
  4. Back The plate opposite the top, often of mahogany or rosewood.
  5. Strap button A guitar strap fixes here, at the tail of the body.

On the top 7

  1. Sound hole An opening in the top. Sound from inside comes out here.
  2. Bridge It holds the strings and passes their vibration to the top.
  3. Soundboard The top of the body. It vibrates to make the sound.
  4. Rosette A ring of decoration inlaid around the sound hole.
  5. Pickguard A plate that keeps the pick from scratching the top.
  6. Saddle The strings rest on it. It is usually bone or plastic.
  7. Bridge pins Each pin holds the ball end of one string in the bridge.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it for this part. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Guitar (its numbered part list: headstock, nut, machine heads or tuners, frets, inlays, neck, heel, body, bridge, pickguard, back, soundboard or top, body sides or ribs, sound hole with rosette, strings, saddle, fretboard or fingerboard; and its sections on the nut, truss rod, bridge, saddle, pickguard, bracing and strap buttons), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar ; Steel-string acoustic guitar (upper bouts, lower bouts, waist), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel-string_acoustic_guitar ; Bridge (instrument), section Bridge pin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_(instrument) ; Classical guitar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar . (2) An instrument maker's online Musical Instrument Guide, The Structure of the Acoustic Guitar (its part list: head, tuning keys or pegs, neck, nut, fingerboard, strings, position markers, frets, body, sound hole, pick guard, bridge, saddle, bridge pins, strap button, top, back, side) and How the Acoustic Guitar is Made (woods of the top, back and sides; bracing under the top), https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/acoustic_guitar/mechanism/ . (3) Hugo Pinksterboer, Tipbook Acoustic Guitar, searched in full text at https://archive.org/details/tipbookacousticg00hugo (rosette, heel, waist, upper and lower bout, bridge saddle, bridge pins, position markers, tuning machines or machine heads, peghead, sides or rims, plain and wound strings). (4) Larry Sandberg, The Acoustic Guitar Guide, searched in full text at https://archive.org/details/acousticguitargu0000sand (headstock or peghead, heel, waist, bouts, saddle, bridge pin, end pin, soundboard, soundhole, classical guitars have no pickguards). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's guitar, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The different parts of a guitar fall into three groups: the headstock, the neck and the hollow body. Start with the whole guitar, then look closer at the headstock, the bridge and the side.

Read the full guide

Four views, headstock to tail

Numbers 1 to 7 are the whole guitar. Numbers 8 to 11 are the parts of a guitar head: tuners, nut, frets and position markers. Numbers 12 to 16 are on the top, around the bridge and the sound hole. Numbers 17 to 21 show the guitar from the side.

The body parts of a guitar

The body is a hollow box: the soundboard on top, the back behind it and the sides between them. Its outline has an upper bout, a waist and a lower bout. A plucked string shakes the saddle and the bridge, they shake the soundboard, and the air inside the body moves with it.

  • Inside the body, wooden braces glued under the top keep it from giving way under the pull of the strings.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a classical guitar?

The same main parts: headstock, tuners, nut, neck, fingerboard, frets, body, soundboard, sound hole, rosette, bridge and saddle. A classical guitar has nylon strings and a wider fingerboard, and it has no pickguard.

What are the parts of a guitar headstock?

The headstock is the flat end of the neck. It carries the tuners, also called machine heads, which tighten or loosen each string. The nut sits where the headstock meets the fingerboard.

What are the parts of a guitar string?

A steel guitar string has a ball end, which a bridge pin holds in the bridge. Most steel-string guitars have two thin plain strings and four thicker wound strings.

What is the difference between the bridge and the saddle?

The bridge is the wooden block glued to the top. The saddle is the thin strip set in it that the strings rest on. Some players say bridge for both.

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