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Early Guitar Dot Markers
The modern acoustic guitar with six strings was designed by Antonio Torres (a Spanish guitar maker) around 1850, while electric guitars only came about in the 1930s. Before those times, guitars came in different designs with different numbers of frets and strings. The lute, a guitar-like instrument widely used during the Renaissance period, was one of the earliest instruments that had dot markers on its frets; however, these dot markers were merely decorative and not used as a reference guide to playing.
Uncertain Origin
The idea that dot markers on guitar fret boards were mainly created as a player's reference guide remains unverified. The uncertainty arises because early guitars had dot markers placed on different frets; some had markers on every other fret. Even today, some acoustic guitars designed for classical music (usually ones with nylon strings) do not have dot markers on their fret boards.
Modern Dot Markers
Typically, factory-manufactured guitars today come standard with marker dots on the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st and 24th fret, with the 12th and 24th frets having double dots to indicate the octave of the note on the open strings. Beginners can use these dots as a guide to easily navigate along the fretboard. For example, the higher E notes of the top-most string can easily be located on the 12th and 24th fret.
Topside Markers
Some guitars also have fret markers on the topside of the neck, where the player can easily view the dots even when performing. Like the origin of the dot markers on the fretboard, the beginnings of these topside markers are also not definite. What is certain is that these markers started appearing regularly when guitars were manufactured in factories and in large scale.