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.
Ad lib — to be played at the performer’s own discretion.
Allegretto — moderately fast.
Allegro — fast and lively.
Anacrusis — a note or notes occurring before the first bar of music (also called "lead-in" notes).
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.
Capo — a device placed across the neck of a guitar to allow a key change without alteration of the chord shapes.
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).
Chromatic scale — a scale ascending and descending in semitones.
e.g., C chromatic scale:
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, e.g.:
Coda — an ending section of music, signified 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).
The eighth note rest — indicating half a beat of silence is written:j
Enharmonic — describes the difference in notation, but not in pitch, of two notes, e.g.:
Fermata — a sign, ? , used to indicate that a note or chord is held to the player’s own discretion (also called a "pause sign").
First and second endings — signs used where two different endings occur. On the first time through ending one is played (indicated by the bracket Z); then the progression is repeated and ending two is played (indicated X.
Flat — a sign, (b) used to lower the pitch of a note by one semitone.
Forte — loud. Indicated by the sign G.
Half note — a note with the value of two beats in * time, indicated thus: 1 (also called a minim). The half note rest, indicating two beats of silence, is written: g on the third staff line.
Harmonics — a chime like sound created by lightly touching a vibrating string at certain points along the fret board.
Harmony — the simultaneous sounding of two or more different notes.
Improvise — to perform spontaneously, i.e., not from memory or from a written copy.
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.
— a sign, placed at the beginning of each stave 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. e.g.:
indicates a scale with F# and C#, which is D major; D E F# G A B C# D. Therefore the key is D major (or its relative minor, Bm).
Lead-In — same as anacrusis (also called a pick-up).
Ledger lines — small horizontal lines upon which notes are written when their pitch is either above or below the range of the staff, e.g.,
Legato — smoothly, well connected.
Lyric — words that accompany a melody.
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.
e.g., MM (Maelzel Metronome) 3 = 60 — indicates 60 quarter note beats per minute.
Moderato — at a moderate pace.
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".
Notation — the written representation of music, by means of symbols (music on a staff), letters (as in chord and note names) and diagrams (as in chord illustrations.)
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 chord — a chord that contains at least one open string.
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.
Position — a term used to describe the location of the left hand on the fret board. The left hand position is determined by the fret location of the first finger, e.g.,
The 1st position refers to the 1st to 4th frets. The 3rd position refers to the 3rd to 6th frets and so on.
Quarter note — a note with the value of one beat in * time, indicated thus 3 (also called a crotchet). The quarter note rest, indicating one beat of silence, is written:h.
Repeat signs — in music, used to indicate a repeat of a section of music, by means of two dots placed before a double bar line:
In chord progressions, a repeat sign C, indicates an exact repeat of the previous bar.
Rhythm — the natural pattern of strong and weak pulses in a piece of music.
Riff — a pattern of notes that is repeated throughout a progression (song).
Root note — the note after which a chord or scale is named.
Scale Tone Chords — chords which are constructed from notes within a given scale.
Semitone — the smallest interval used in conventional music. On guitar, it is a distance of one fret.
Sharp — a sign (#) used to raise the pitch of a note by one semitone.
Simple time — occurs when the beat falls on an undotted note, which is thus divisible by two.
Sixteenth note — a note with the value of a quarter of a beat in * time, indicated as such 0 (also called a semiquaver).
The sixteenth note rest, indicating a quarter of a beat of silence, is written: k
Slide — a technique which involves a finger moving along the string to its new note. The finger maintains pressure on the string, so that a continuous sound is produced.
Slur — sounding a note by using only the left hand fingers. (An ascending slur is also called a "hammer on"; a descending slur is also called a "pull off").
Staccato — to play short and detached. Indicated by a dot placed above or below the note:cx
Staff — five parallel lines together with four spaces, upon which music is written.
Syncopation — the placing of an accent on a normally unaccented beat. e.g.:
Tablature — a system of writing music which represents the position of the player’s fingers (not the pitch of the notes, but their position on the guitar). A chord diagram is a type of tablature. Notes can also be written using tablature thus:
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 colour"). A given note on the guitar will sound different (and therefore distinguishable) from the same pitched note on piano, violin, flute etc. There is usually also a difference in timbre from one guitar to another.
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 frets, i.e., the equivalent of two semitones.
Transposition — the process of changing 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:
Tremolo (pick motion) — a technique involving rapid pick movement on a given note.
Triplet — a group of three notes played in the same time as two notes of the same kind.
Vibrato — a technique which involves pushing a string up and down, like a rapid series of short bends.
Wedge mark — indicates pick direction; e.g.: a = down pick, s = up pick
Whole note — a note with the value of four beats in * time, indicated thus ` (also called a semibreve).
