Guitar Terms Glossary

Key musical and guitar terms used in this course, in alphabetical order. Each term has a short definition you can scan in seconds.

A

Accent — Playing a note or strum louder than the surrounding notes for emphasis
Action — The height of the strings above the fretboard; lower action is easier to press but may cause buzz
Alternate picking — Picking technique that alternates between downstrokes and upstrokes for speed and efficiency
Alternating-thumb pattern — The fingerpicking pattern of Session 15, a first step towards Travis picking: four notes per measure, one per beat, with the fingers p i p m. The thumb plays on beats 1 and 3 and a finger answers on beats 2 and 4
Anchor finger — A finger that stays on the same string and fret while the other fingers change to the next chord
Antara — In a Hindi film song, a stanza between the returns of the mukhda, like a verse
Arpeggio — Playing the notes of a chord one at a time rather than strumming them all together
Arrangement (guitar arrangement) — A plan for how to play a song solo on one guitar: how it starts, how the verse and chorus are played, and how it ends

B

Bar — Another name for a measure. This course says “measure”. “Bar” stays in “bar line” and “12-bar blues”, and you will meet it where the course describes an exam’s tests (“a two-bar rhythm”)
Bar line — The upright line that ends one measure and starts the next
Barre — One finger laid across two or more strings at the same fret, so that it holds them all down at once
Barre chord — A chord built on a barre; in its full form the index finger lies across all six strings. This course uses only the simplified F (Session 17), which has a two-string barre
Beat — One steady pulse, like one tick of a clock
Bend — Pushing a string sideways (toward the ceiling or floor) while fretting to raise its pitch (not used in this course; you will meet it afterwards)
Body — The large, hollow wooden part of the guitar that amplifies the sound
Box — When guitarists talk about pentatonic scales: one of five fingering shapes that together cover the whole neck. This course teaches the one in open position
BPM (beats per minute) — The number of beats in one minute, used to give the tempo; 60 BPM is one beat a second
Bridge — The part of the guitar body where the strings are anchored at the lower end

C

Call and response — A way to build a solo: you play a phrase (the call), leave 1 to 2 measures of silence, then play another phrase (Session 22)
Callus — Hardened skin on the fingertips that develops from regular playing; reduces finger pain on steel strings
Capo — A clamp placed across the fretboard to raise the pitch of all strings (not used in this course, but mentioned)
Chord — A group of notes played together; most chords have three or more different notes
Chord diagram — A visual representation of where to place your fingers to play a chord
Chord progression — A sequence of chords played in order, forming the harmonic backbone of a song
Chorus — A section of a song that returns with the same words. In the blues the word has a second meaning: one time round the 12-measure form, so “three choruses” is 36 measures (Session 8)
Chromatic — Moving in half steps (one fret at a time), using every note
Count-in — Counting one measure aloud (“1, 2, 3, 4”) before you start, to set the speed
Cutaway — A section of the guitar body carved away near the neck to allow easier access to higher frets (your Saga SF-600C-BK has one)

D

Dot markers (fret markers) — The dots on the fretboard, and often on the side of the neck, usually at frets 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12; they help you find a fret without counting
Downbeat — Beat 1 of a measure
Downstroke — Strumming or picking from the thickest string toward the thinnest (toward the floor)
Dreadnought — A large-bodied acoustic guitar shape known for strong projection and full bass; the body style of your Saga SF-600C-BK
Dynamics — Variations in loudness (soft vs loud) while playing

E

Ear training — Building the ability to recognise sounds without seeing what is being played
Eighth note — Half a beat; two to a click

F

Fifth (perfect fifth) — The fifth note of a scale counted from the root; 7 frets above the root
Fingerpicking — Playing strings individually with the fingers of the picking hand instead of using a pick
Flat (b) — The note one fret lower than the letter. Each in-between note has two names: A# and Bb are the same fret
Flatpicking — Playing with a pick, as opposed to fingerpicking
Fret — A metal strip across the neck, and also the space just behind it where you press; “fret 3” means the space just behind the third strip
Fretboard (fingerboard) — The flat surface on the front of the neck where you press the strings

G

Ghost strum — A strum that barely touches the strings, so it is almost silent; written (d) or (u)
Grade exam — A standardised music examination that certifies your playing level, taken one numbered grade at a time; for example Trinity College London Rock & Pop Guitar Grade 1 and RSL Awards Rockschool Acoustic Guitar Grade 1
Guide finger — A finger that keeps touching its string and slides along it to its place in the next chord, while the other fingers are placed around it

H

Half note — Two beats
Half step (semitone) — One fret (the smallest step between two notes)
Hammer-on — A technique where you pick a note then tap a higher fret with another finger without picking again, creating a smooth sound
Headstock — The top of the guitar neck where the tuning machines are located
Home note — The note a tune keeps coming back to and comes to rest on. The tune of Session 14 uses the notes of the C major scale but keeps coming back to A, so its home note is A (a scale that starts from A with these same notes is called A minor)

I

I, IV, V — The chords on notes 1, 4 and 5 of a key, written as Roman numerals. In the key of A, count letter names up from A: A is 1, B is 2, C is 3, D is 4, E is 5. The chords on 1, 4 and 5 are A, D and E. That is all I, IV and V mean here
Improvisation — Creating music spontaneously, usually over a chord progression, using scales and ear
Interval — The distance in pitch between two notes (e.g., a major third, a perfect fifth)
Intonation — How well in tune the guitar stays as you play higher up the neck
Intro — The opening section of a piece, before the main part begins

K

Key — The home note and chord of a piece (e.g., key of C major, key of A minor)
Key signature — The sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece that tell you which key the music is in

L

Ledger line — A short extra line for a note written above or below the staff
Legato — Played smoothly, each note running into the next with no gap
Let ring — Leave the notes sounding; do not stop the strings

M

Major — See “Major and minor”
Major and minor — The two main kinds of chord; major sounds brighter, minor darker
Major chord — A chord with a bright, happy sound built from the root, major third, and perfect fifth
Major scale — A seven-note scale following the pattern: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half
Measure (also called a bar) — A group of beats, here four (three in 3/4 time)
Medley — Several pieces, or parts of pieces, played one after another without stopping
Melody — The tune: single notes played one after another
Metronome — A device or app that produces a steady click at a set tempo; essential for building consistent timing
Minor — See “Major and minor”
Minor chord — A chord with a darker, sadder sound built from the root, minor third, and perfect fifth
Minor pentatonic scale — A five-note scale commonly used for soloing and improvisation in rock and blues
Moveable shape — A chord shape that uses no open strings, so the same finger pattern makes a different chord at each fret
Mukhda — In a Hindi film song, the opening refrain that keeps returning, like a chorus
Muted strum (chk, chuck) — A strum on strings that are being held still, giving a dry ‘chk’ with no pitch. With open chords the edge of the strumming-hand palm holds them still (Session 13); with the moveable power chords the fretting fingers relax onto the strings instead (Session 20)

N

Natural note — A note without a sharp or flat: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
Neck — The long piece of wood you wrap your fretting hand around; its front face is the fretboard
Nut — The small slotted piece at the top of the fretboard (between the fretboard and headstock) that guides the strings

O

Octave — The distance from one note to the next note with the same name, 12 frets up one string
Open chord — A chord that includes open strings
Open position — The open strings plus frets 1 to 3
Open string — A string played without pressing it

P

Palm muting (PM) — Resting the edge of the strumming-hand palm lightly on the strings just where they cross the saddle (the thin strip on the bridge), so that a dull, short note sounds; used heavily in rock and metal
Pentatonic scale — A scale with five notes per octave; the minor pentatonic is the most common for guitar soloing
Phrase — A short musical idea, typically 1 to 4 measures long, that sounds complete, like one sentence of a tune
Phrasing — Creating musical sentences (phrases) that have shape and meaning, with a rest between them
Pick (plectrum) — A small flat piece (usually plastic) held between thumb and index finger, used to strike the strings
Picking — Playing individual strings with a pick or fingers
Pick-up notes (pick-up) — Lead-in notes that come before measure 1, the first full measure. In the tune of Session 14 the first two notes are pick-up notes: count 1, 2, 3 and play them on 4 &
p i m a — The picking-hand finger letters: p = thumb, i = index, m = middle, a = ring. They appear only in rows labelled “Finger:” under a TAB
Pitch — How high or low a note sounds
Power chord — A stripped-down chord of two different notes, a root and its fifth; it is neither major nor minor
Progression — See “Chord progression”
Pull-off — A technique where you pick a note then pull your fretting finger off the string to sound a lower note without picking again
Pulse — The steady beat itself

Q

Quarter note — One beat; one to a click

R

Rest — A silence that lasts a set number of beats
Rest stroke — A downstroke after which the pick comes to rest against the next thinner string; used for slow downstroke practice
Rhythm — The pattern of long and short sounds and silences in music
Riff — A short pattern of notes that repeats, often the best-known part of a rock song
Root note (root) — The note a chord or scale is named after (e.g., A is the root of Am)

S

Saddle — The thin strip on the bridge that the strings pass over; affects string height and intonation
Scale — A sequence of notes arranged in ascending or descending order by pitch, following a specific pattern of intervals
Sharp (#) — The note one fret higher than the letter. Each in-between note has two names: A# and Bb are the same fret
Sight-reading — Playing a piece of written music for the first time without prior practice
Slide — A technique where you pick a note then slide your finger along the string to a different fret without lifting
Soundhole — The round opening in the guitar body that projects the sound
Spider crawl — A warm-up drill: fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4 play four frets in a row on one string, one finger at a time, then the next string. Each finger lifts after its note
Staff — The five horizontal lines standard notation is written on
Standard notation — Traditional music notation written on a five-line staff with note symbols
Standard tuning — The standard guitar string tuning: E A D G B e (low to high)
Steel strings — Metal strings used on acoustic and electric guitars (as on your Saga SF-600C-BK); brighter sound, more finger pressure needed than nylon
Strum — Sweeping the pick across multiple strings in a single motion
Strumming pattern — A repeated sequence of downstrokes, upstrokes, and rests that creates rhythm
Sustain — How long a note keeps ringing
Syncopation — Placing rhythmic emphasis on beats or parts of beats that are not normally accented; creates a “pushing” feel

T

TAB (tablature) — A guitar-specific notation system using six lines (one per string) with numbers indicating frets
Tempo — How fast the beats go; BPM is beats per minute, so 60 BPM is one beat a second
Third — The third note of a scale counted from the root; a major third is 4 frets above the root, a minor third is 3 frets
Time signature — Two numbers at the start of a piece indicating how many beats per measure (top number) and which note value gets one beat (bottom number); e.g., 4/4, 3/4
Travis picking — A fingerpicking style, named after Merle Travis, in which the thumb plays a bass note on every beat while the fingers answer on the higher strings. Session 15 teaches a first step towards it: see “Alternating-thumb pattern”
Treble clef — The clef used for guitar music on the standard staff; also called the G clef
Triad — A three-note chord made of a root, a third and a fifth
Tuner — A device or app that detects the pitch of your string and shows whether the string is too high (sharp), too low (flat) or in tune
Tuning machines (tuning pegs) — The geared mechanisms on the headstock used to tighten or loosen strings for tuning
Turnaround — The last measure of a 12-bar blues, which leads back to the start
12-bar blues — A common chord progression structure lasting 12 measures (bars), foundational to blues, rock, and jazz

U

Upstroke — Strumming or picking from the thinnest string toward the thickest (toward the ceiling)

V

Verse — A section of a song whose music returns with new words
Vibrato — Rapidly bending a note slightly up and down to add expression and sustain (not used in this course; you will meet it afterwards)

W

Waltz — Music in 3/4 time, counted “1, 2, 3” with the weight on beat 1
Whole note — Four beats (a whole measure of 4/4)
Whole step (tone) — Two frets