We got a great suggestion from Itsmesilly about creating a glossary of guitar terms.
We thought this was a great suggestion so we've put together a list of terms that come up a lot and that could be useful to players of any level.
Here's where you come in. We've compiled a good list to start with but there are probably a lot of other terms that we left out. So take a gander at the list below and reply to this thread if you have any suggestions for other terms we might have missed.
Thanks for your help and keep those suggestions coming!
Bryan
12 String Guitar - An acoustic or electric guitar with six pairs of strings with each pair tuned to the same note.
Action - The distance of the strings from the fretboard
Alternate Picking - An alternating picking pattern
Alternate Tuning - Tuning the strings to something other than the
standard EADGBE, such as Dropped D Tuning or any number of open tunings
Arch Top Guitar - A steel-stringed semi-acoustic or acoustic guitar with a large body and an arched top. These are particularly popular with Jazz players
Arpeggio - A chord broken into individual notes played one at a time.
Barre Chords (also Bar Chords) - A chord formed by placing the index finger of the left (chording) hand across two or more strings--like a bar or capo. In standard tuning the bar allows players to move a chord into a different position on the fretboard.
Bending - Changing the pitch of a note by pushing or pulling a string across the fretboard.
Bridge - Transfers sound from the strings to the body of the guitar.
Capo - A device used for shortening the strings and raising the guitar's pitch.
Chord - Three or more notes sounded simultaneously.
Cutaway - Concave areas on the body of a guitar near where the neck meets the body that allow access to notes higher on the fretboard.
Delay - An effect echo effect that repeats notes at a given rate until it fades out.
Distortion - An effect that alters the normal tone of an electric guitar and makes it warmer or more gritty.
Dreadnought - A large body style of guitar originally developed by C.F. Martin & Company and widely copied by other manufacturers
Dropped-D Tuning - An alternate tuning where the sixth string (E) is lowered by a whole tone (to D).
Electric Guitar - A guitar which uses magnetic pickups to convert the vibration of the strings into electrical current that can be amplified.
Finger Picks - Picks that attach to the finger, similar to those used by banjo players.
Fingerstyle - A style of playing where the player uses the fingers instead of a pick.
Flat - A note that is one half step below another. Also a note that is lower than it should be.
Fret - Raised strips of metal that cross the fretboard and are generally laid out in half step intervals
Fret Board - The front part of the neck.
Fretting - Pushing the string to the fretboard
Hammer On - Fretting a note by pressing hard and quickly. Often used with the pull off.
Harmonics - Sounds achieved when a string is struck but not fretted, with a finger resting at one of several places on the fretboard.
Head Stock - The top part of the neck where the tuning keys or pegs are mounted
Hollow Body Guitar - An electric guitar with a body that is mostly hollow and has one or more pickups.
Humbucker or Humbucking pickup - A guitar pickup that is designed to cut down on interference (hum) that single-coil guitars normally pickup. They are generally louder than single coils.
Hybrid Picking - Picking with a pick and fingers alternately or simultaneously.
Interval - The distance between two notes.
Inversion - A chord where the lowest note is not the root.
Lap Steel Guitar - A type of guitar usually played with a slide and placed on a players lap. Originally known as Hawaiian Guitars, these gave rise to resonator guitars and, eventually, the lap steel electric guitars which were the first electric guitars.
Lead Guitar - In a band with two (or more) guitarists the lead plays the solos
Legato - Transitioning between notes smoothly.
Major Scale - a scale consisting of a series of whole steps except for half steps between the third and fourth and seventh and eighth degrees.
Minor Scale - a scale having half steps between the second and third, fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth degrees, with whole steps for the other intervals.
Modulate - Changing keys within a piece of music
Neck - The part of the guitar that supports the fretboard
Nut - A piece of bone, wood, or metal mounted at the top of the neck near the headstock that supports the strings and keeps them above the fretboard
Open Tuning - An alternate tuning where the strings are tuned to notes in a given chord.
Palm Muting - Using the palm of the strumming hand to dampen the strings and prevent them from sustaining.
Pedal Tone Legato - Repeated notes surrounding a melody.
Pentatonic Scale - A five-tone scale.
Pick - A piece of plastic, nylon, or other material used to strum.
Picking - Causing the strings to vibrate by either plucking them with the fingers or strumming them with a pick
Pickup - A device that converts string vibration to electrical current.
Pickup Selector - A switch that allows selection of one or more pickups
Plectrum - Another name for a pick.
Popping - Placing a finger or thumb behind a string and pulling it away
from the fretboard before letting it go. Creates a snappy, percussive tone.
Power Chord - A chord made up of the root and the fifth and eighth degrees of a scale. Often used in Rock music.
Pull-off - A technique where a string is plucked by pulling the string off the fingerboard with one of the fingers used for fretting.
Resonator Guitar - An acoustic guitar that produced sound by means of one or more metal cones (resonators) as opposed to the wooden soundboard on most acoustics.
Rhythm Guitar - Rhythmic strumming that serves as backup for a lead guitarist, singer, or ensemble.
Roll - A repeating riff, usually played fast. Popular with country players.
Saddle - Part of the bridge that holds the strings in place.
Scale - A group of musical notes collected in ascending and descending order that make up a given key.
Sharp - A note that is one half step above another. Also a note that is higher than it should be.
Single Coil Pickup - A guitar pickup made of one single coil of copper wire around a magnet. The first type of guitar pickup produced, these are still widely used.
Slapping - Hitting the string with the thumb to create a percussive effect.
Slide - A glass or metal tube placed over the third or fourth finger of the fretting hand. Used mostly in blues music, but also in Rock and traditional music.
Standard Tuning - Where the strings are generally tuned EADGBE low to high.
Strap - A piece of leather, cloth, or other material used to keep the guitar in a certain position when standing
Strings - Lengths of metal, nylon, or other materials that vibrate when struck and create sound.
Strumming - Playing all strings in a single motion.
Sweep Picking - A type of picking popular in Metal playing where the player “sweeps” a pick across the strings to produce a series of notes that sound fast and fluid. The sweeping action of the picking hand is coupled with a matching technique in the fret hand.
Tablature or Tab - A notation system that shows fretboard finger
placement.
Tapping - A technique where one hand taps the strings against the fretboard sounding legato notes. This is often coupled with similar action in the other hand.
Tempo - The speed or pace of a piece of music.
Touch Technique - Another name for Tapping
Transpose - To change the key of a piece of music by a specific interval.
Tremolo - Either rapid plucking of a note to produce a wavering effect or the sound achieved by a tremolo effect unit.
Triad - A three-note chord.
Truss Rod - A steel bar that runs the length of the neck that provides structure and prevents curvature.
Tuner - A device that detects the pitch of notes and aids in tuning.
Vibrato - A pulsating change in pitch
Vibrato Bar - A bar that is attached to the bridge that allows the player to change the pitch of the strings.
Voicing - The arrangement of the notes in a chord.
Whammy Bar - Another term for Vibrato Bar.
