Accidental — a sign used to show a temporary change in pitch of a note (i.e., sharp #, flat b, double sharp !, double flat bb, or natural @). The sharps or flats in a key signature are not regarded as accidentals.
Additional notes — a note not belonging to a given scale, but can be used for improvising against most chords in a progression without sounding out of key.
Ad lib — to be played at the performer’s own discretion.
Allegretto — moderately fast.
Allegro — fast and lively.
Andante — an easy walking pace.
Arpeggio — the playing of a chord in single note fashion.
Bar — a division of music occurring between two bar lines (also called a "measure").
Bar chord — a chord played with one finger lying across all six strings.
Bar line — a vertical line drawn across the staff which divides the music into equal sections called bars.
Bass — the lower regions of pitch in general. On keyboard, the notes to the left of the keyboard.
Chord — a combination of three or more different notes played together.
Chord progression — a series of chords played as a musical unit (e.g., as in a song).
Clef — a sign placed at the beginning of each staff of music which fixes the location of a particular note on the staff, and hence the location of all other notes.
Coda — an ending section of music, represented by the sign v
Common time — and indication of * time — four quarter note beats per bar (also indicated by Q)
D.C. al fine — a repeat from the sign (indicated thus V) to the word "fine".
Duration — the time value of each note.
Dynamics — the varying degrees of softness (indicated by the term "piano") and loudness (indicated by the term "forte") in music.
Eighth note — a note with the value of half a beat in * time, indicated thus 5 (also called a quaver).
Eighth rest — indicating half a beat of silence is written: j
Fermata — a sign, ? , used to indicate that a note or chord is held to the player’s own discretion (also called a "pause sign").
Flat — a sign, (b) used to lower the pitch of a note by one semitone.
Forte — loud. Indicated by the sign f
Half note — a note with the value of two beats in * time, indicated thus: 1 (also called a minim).
Half rest, indicating two beats of silence, is written:g on the third staff line.
Harmony — the simultaneous sounding of two or more different notes.
Interval — the distance between any two notes of different pitches.
Key — describes the notes used in a composition in regards to the major or minor scale from which they are taken, e.g., a piece "in the key of C major" describes the melody, chords, etc., as predominantly consisting of the notes, C, D, E, F, G, A, and B — i.e., from the C scale.
Key signature — a sign, placed at the beginning of each staff of music, directly after the clef, to indicate the key of a piece. The sign consists of a certain number of sharps or flats, which represent the sharps or flats found in the scale of the piece’s key.
Ledger lines — small horizontal lines upon which notes are written when their pitch is either above or below the range of the staff.
Legato — smoothly, well connected.
Lick — a short musical phrase.
Major scale — a series of eight notes in alphabetical order based on the interval sequence tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone, giving the familiar sound do re mi fa so la ti do.
Melody — a succession of notes of varying pitch and duration, and having a recognizable musical shape.
Metronome — a device which indicates the number of beats per minute, and which can be adjusted in accordance to the desired tempo.
Moderato — at a moderate pace.
Modulation — the changing of key within a song (or chord progression).
Natural — a sign (@) used to cancel out the effect of a sharp or flat. The word is also used to describe the notes A, B, C, D, E, F and G, e.g., "the natural notes".
Note — a single sound with a given pitch and duration.
Octave — the distance between any given note with a set frequency, and another note with exactly double that frequency. Both notes will have the same letter name.
Open voicing — a chord that has the notes spread out between both hands on the keyboard
Pitch — the sound produced by a note, determined by the frequency of the string vibrations. The pitch relates to a note being referred to as "high" or "low".
Plectrum — a small object (often of a triangular shape) made of plastic which is used to pick or strum the strings of a guitar, bass, mandolin or banjo.
Quarter note — a note with the value of one beat in * time, indicated thus 3 (also called a crotchet).
Quarter rest:h indicating one beat of silence.
Repeat signs — used to indicate a repeat of a section of music, by means of two dots placed before a double bar line.
Rhythm — the aspect of music concerned with duration and accent of notes.
Riff — a repeating pattern which may be altered to fit chord changes.
Semitone — the smallest interval used in conventional music. On guitar, it is a distance of one fret.
Root note — the note after which a chord or scale is named (also called "key note").
Sharp — a sign (#) used to raise the pitch of a note by one semitone.
Staccato — to play short and detached, indicated by a dot placed above the note.
Staff — five parallel lines together with four spaces, upon which music is written.
Syncopation — the placing of an accent on a normally unaccented beat.
Tempo — the speed of a piece.
Tie — a curved line joining two or more notes of the same pitch, where the second note(s) is not played, but its time value is added to that of the first note.
Timbre — a quality which distinguishes a note produced on one instrument from the same note produced on any other instrument (also called "tone color"). A given note on the guitar will sound different (and therefore distinguishable) from the same note on piano, violin, flute etc. There is usually also a difference in timbre between two instruments of the same type (e.g., two pianos).
Time signature — a sign at the beginning of a piece which indicates, by means of figures, the number of beats per bar (top figure), and the type of note receiving one beat (bottom figure).
Tone — a distance of two semitones.
Transposition — the process of changing a piece of music from one key to another.
Treble — the upper regions of pitch in general.
Treble clef — a sign placed at the beginning of the staff to fix the pitch of the notes placed on it. The treble clef (also called "G clef") is placed so that the second line indicates as G note.
