All scales, modes and chords are based on a root note (also known as the 1st). The root note is the note to which all intervals are relative. The root note is usually given along with the name of the scale or chord, for example the C Major Scale or the C Minor Chord. In both examples, C is the root note.

It should be pretty obvious that the way a guitar is tuned is a major factor in determining how a particular scale, chord or mode maps onto the fretboard. GAFF has a number of commonly-encountered tunings available. Additionally users are able to specify submit their own tunings.

For the sake of organization, GAFF breaks sets of intervals into three different categories: scales, modes & chords. In order to create a fretboard figure using the Dynamic Fretboard Mapper, a user must select one and only one of these three categories. Eventually users will be able to specify and/or submit their own intervals.

A musical octave consists of 12 sequential notes (the 12th note is an octave higher than the 1st). A scale consists of a sub-set of the notes within an octave. The number of notes and distance between each of the notes determine the musical characteristics of the scale. For example, the major scale is comprised of 7 unique notes: 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7 (these are actually the intervals; to determine the notes a root note would be required). But the pentatonic minor scale consists of only 5 unique notes: 1 m3 4 5 b7.

As mentioned above, the major scale consists of seven unique notes. Consider the following eight notes.

1	b2	2	m3	3	4	b5	5	b6	6	b7	7	8
C	-	D	-	E	F	-	G	-	A	-	B	C

If these notes are played from C (1) to C (8), you would have the C-major scale. If, however, you played the notes from D (2) to D (9), you would be playing the same notes but the relationship of the notes would be different because all notes would now be relative to D. This is the basis of a mode. There are 7 different modes, one for each of the unique notes in the major scale.

A chord is defined as three or more notes played at once (two notes played at once is known as an interval or sometimes a double-stop).

This option determines how colors are mapped to intervals. Right now, there are only three color maps available: color, gray and gray scale. Eventually, users will be able to specify and/or submit their own color maps.

Colors can be mapped either by interval or by note. If they are mapped by interval, the same intervals will always be the same color irrespective of the note that they represent. Analogously, if colors are mapped by note then the same notes will always be the same color irrespective of the intervals that they represent.

Frets can be identified either with numbers of with the standard guitar fret dots.

Normally when creating a fretboard figure there is a key displayed at the bottom of the figure that shows how the colors map to intervals. If you set this option to don't display, this key will not be created.

A postscript version of the fretboard figure is always created by the dynamic fretboard mapper (other file formats are derived from the postscript version). The supported file formats are explained in detail in the following section.