The long, slightly curved board, frequently made of rosewood, is the fretboard. As its name implies, it's covered with frets and fret markers. The frets are used to make the various notes by placing your fingers behind them and pressing down to the board. The fret markers are placed behind the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 17th frets (counted starting at the nut). The fret markers are usually duplicated on the side of the neck too. These markers are used as visual guides so you can tell at a glance which fret you are on (you don't want to have to count all the time to find your position). Though it isn't indicated on this chart, this entire portion of the guitar is referred to as the neck.