Guitar Terms

Glossary of Guitar Terms by melbay.com

 

3/4-size guitar - A smaller than normal guitar with shorter strings and less space between frets.

 

action - A term referring to the height of the strings above the frets and fretboard.

 

altered and open tunings - The result of changing the tuning of one or more strings from standard EADGBE.

 

alternate picking - Picking in alternate directions (down-up-down-up).

 

arpeggio - A broken chord, usually played evenly low to high and back again.

 

arrangement - The setting of an original or standard tune for a given solo instrument or group of instruments

 

barre chord - From the French term barré. The technique of placing the left hand index finger over two to six strings in the fingering of a chord. The great advantage of using barre chords is that they are "moveable shapes" that can be applied at practically any fret.

 

bending - The act of pushing or pulling a string sideways across the a fret to raise the pitch of a note by a half to full tone or more. Used extensively in rock and blues playing as well as in jazz.

 

capo - A mechanical barre that attaches to the neck of a guitar by means of a string, spring, elastic or nylon band, or a lever and thumbscrew arrangement. The capo can be used to raise the key of a song to suit a vocalist as well as to lower the action and shorten the string length.

 

chord - Three or more notes sounded simultaneously.

 

chorus (of a tune) - Strictly speaking, the portion of a song lyric or melody that is repeated, often with other voices joining in. In jazz improvisation, however, "playing a chorus" would mean taking a turn improvising over the tune's chords progression.

 

closed voicing - The term "voicing" refers to the vertical arrangement of the notes of a given chord. "Closed voicing" places the member notes as close together as possible, no matter the inversion as opposed to "open voicing" which spreads the member notes of the chord at larger intervals.

 

cutaway - A concave area generally in the upper right bout of a normal right-hand guitar that allows the player easier access to the high frets.

 

dropped-D tuning - The practice of lowering the sixth string (E) by a whole tone, one octave lower than the fourth string.

 

finger picks - Banjo-style picks that fingerstyle guitarists use when playing steel-string instruments.

 

fingerstyle - Playing with the fingernails or fingertips with or without fingerpicks as opposed to playing with a flatpick.

 

flatpick - A triangular or teardrop-shaped piece of nylon or plastic used to pluck or strum guitar strings. Flatpicks are available in a large variety of shapes, sizes, and thickness.

 

footstool - A small adjustable stool used to raise the height of the guitar.

 

hammer-on - A note sounded literally by "hammering" down with a left hand finger, often performed in conjunction with a note first plucked by the right hand on the same string.

 

harmonics - Chime-like sounds achieved in two ways: 1) natural harmonics - by touching a string at any equidistant division of the string length (typically 5th, 7th, and 12th fret), directly above the fret with left hand, and striking hard with the right-hand fingers or pick near the bridge where there is more string resistance; or 2) artificial harmonics - touching a string with the index finger of the right hand twelve frets higher than any fretted note and plucking the string with either the thumb or third finger of the right hand.

 

interval - The distance between two notes.

 

inversion - Structuring a chord with a note other than the root as the lowest note.

 

lead guitar - The part played by a guitar soloist in a rock band

 

modulate - To change keys within a piece of music

 

open voicing - A manner of chord construction in which the member notes are broadly separated. See closed voicing above.

 

pentatonic scale - A five-tone scale used often in rock.

 

picking - Plucking or producing a sound on the guitar in general, either with the fingers or a flatpick. Sometimes refers to playing a single-note melody line.

 

P I M A - letters derived from the Spanish names for the fingers of the right hand: pulgar (thumb), indice (index), medio (middle), and anular (ring). Used to indicate fingering.

 

plectrum - Another name for a flatpick.

 

positions - A reference to placement of the left hand index finger at various frets.

 

power chord - A chord consisting of the first (root), fifth and eighth degree (octave) of the scale. Power chords are typically used in playing rock music.

 

pull-off - The opposite of a hammer-on. Performed by plucking a note with a finger on a higher note and pulling parallel to the fret to sound a lower note on the same string.

 

rhythm guitar - Rhythmic strumming of chord backup for a lead player, singer, or ensemble.

 

setup - The adjustment of the action of a guitar for optimal playing characteristics.

 

slide - A plastic or glass tube placed over the third or fourth finger of the left hand and used to play "slide" or glissando effects in rock and blues and other forms of traditional music.

standard tuning - The guitar is generally tuned EADGBE low to high.

 

string winder - A swivel device with a handle with a fixture that fits over the tuning keys.

 

strumming - Performed with a pick or the fingers. Generally consists of brushing across 2-6 strings in a rhythmic up and down fashion appropriate to the tune being played.

 

tablature or tab - A system of writing music for fretted instruments whereby a number or letter appears on lines representing the strings, indicating the fret to be played.

 

transcription - To write a solo, note for note, off of a recording.

 

transpose - To change the key of a piece of music by a specific interval.

 

tremolo - A technique performed with either a very rapid down-up movement of the pick or a pami plucking of the fingers.

 

triad - A three-note chord.

 

tuner - An electronic tuning device.

 

vibrato - To vibrate by slightly altering a pitch higher and lower.

 

voicing - The arrangement of the member notes of a chord, or placement of the melody or bass line within a harmonic progression.