List of music terms:
Arpeggio: Playing notes of a chord one at a time.
Attack: The initial sound of a note.
Barre or Bar Chord: A chord where one finger covers multiple notes across multiple strings.
Bend: Pushing or pulling the string to raise the pitch.
Blue Note: A b5 or augmented forth added to a minor pentatonic scale adding tension creating a bluesy feel.
Box Position: A position or pattern on the fretboard for playing a scale.
Cadence: The conclusion of a musical phrase, idea or section.
Capo: A device clamped across the guitar neck to change the pitch.
Chord Inversion: Changing the order of notes in a chord so that the root is no longer in the bass.
Chord Progression: Chords played in a particular order to support the harmony of a song.
Chord Substitution: Replacing one chord with another inversion to create smoother transition, melody or feel.
Close Voicing: Chord voicing where notes are stacked as closely together as possible.
Common Tone: Voice leading technique were a note remains the same between two chords.
Diatonic: Notes, chords, or scales that belong within a specific key.
Diatonic Scale: A scale of seven notes with a series of whole and half steps.
Dissonance: Notes played together that create tension and a need for resolution.
Double Stop: Two note chords within the pentatonic scale to add harmony to solos and riffs.
Drop 2: An inversion where the 2nd highest note is dropped an octave.
First Inversion: A chord inversion where the 3rd note of the chord is the lowest, and the root and 5th are above.
Flat (b): A symbol that lowers a note by a half step.
Frets: Metal strips across the neck on the fretboard.
Fretboard: The part of the guitar neck where frets are located. The fingers press down on strings between the frets to make notes.
Genre: A category of music with a distinct style, like rock, metal, punk, jazz, classical, indie, or pop.
Glissando: A continuous slide from one note to another.
Grace Note: A fast ornamental note played just before the main note.
Hammer-On: Hammer a finger on a higher note. The opposite of a pull off.
Harmony: The combination of different notes played or sung together to create a pleasing sound.
Interval: The distance between two notes in a scale.
Inverted Seventh Chords: A Seventh chord with root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th that is inverted where the 7th, 3rd, or 5th can be in the bass.
Key: The pitch indicated by an A, B, C, D, E, F, or G that forms the base for a song or piece.
Key Signature: A set of sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece of music that indicates the key.
Legato: Notes that are played smoothly and are connected without breaks.
Lick: A quick musical phrase often used in a solo.
Major Pentatonic Scale: Scale consisting of five notes 1, 2, 3, 5,6 used for soloing in country and pop.
Measure: A bar or segment of time in music that contains a set number of beats.
Meter: The rhythmic structure of a piece, described by the number and type of beats per measure.
Metronome: A device or app that keeps steady time.
Minor: A sadder sounding scale or chord. Major sounds happier.
Minor Pentatonic Scale: Scale consisting of five notes 1, b3, 4, 5, b7 used for soloing in rock or blues.
Mode: A type of musical scale derived from the major or minor scales. Such as Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian
Modulation: A key change during a song or piece of music.
Muting: Touching the strings with your fingers or palm to dampen the sound, creating a muting sound.
Note: A single musical sound or pitch, represented by letters A-G.
Octave: The 8th note or interval on a scale. For instance, C to C is 8 degrees or an octave apart.
Octave Shape: Patterns on the fretboard that allow you to find higher or lower octaves on the guitar.
Open Voicing: A triad that is played where the middle note is moved up or down an octave.
Palm Muting: The picking hand mutes the strings near the bridge creating a muted chunky sound.
Pedal Point or Pedal Tone: A lower note that is held while other chords or notes change. Think of it like an organ pedal that is held while the chords change above it.
Pentatonic Run: Using the pentatonic scale quickly up or down the fretboard.
Pentatonic Scale: A scale consisting of five notes often used in soloing in rock or blues music.
Pentatonic Shapes: Different shapes, positions, boxes or patterns of the scale on the fretboard.
Phrase: A musical idea or sentence that typically ends in a cadence.
Pitch: The highness or lowness of a note.
Plectrum or Pick: A small item used to pick or strum the strings of a guitar.
Position Shifting: Shifting between one shape or box to another scale or shape.
Power Chord: A chord with the root note and the 5th, usually played on the lower strings. Typical in rock, pop, metal, punk, etc.
Pull-Off: The finger is pulled off the string, snapping to a lower note. The opposite of a hammer-on.
Relative Key: The major and minor keys that share the same key signature.
Riff: A repeated pattern of notes or chords that creates a catchy part of a song.
Root: The main note or base note of a scale or chord. For example, in a C major scale, the root note would be C.
Root Position: A chord or triad with the root note as the lowest note.
Scale: A sequence of notes by pitch.
Scale Degree: The position of each note in the scale relative to the root.
Second Inversion: Inversion of a chord where the 5th is the lowest, root and the 3rd above.
Sharp (#): A symbol that raises a note by a half step.
Slide: Changing notes smoothly by sliding your finger up and down the neck.
Slur: A curved line indicating that two or notes are connected. The notes should be played smoothly in one motion.
Solo: A series of licks or melody played during a section of a piece of music.
Spread Triad: A triad with notes spaced out. Typically, the middle note is raised or lowed an octave.
Strumming: Using a pick (or fingers) to play multiple strings at once.
Subdominant: The 4th degree of a scale, as well as the chord built on that note.
Suspension: Musical idea using dissonance and resolving to a consonant note.
Sustain: Prolonging a note for its full duration without fading.
Tablature or Tab: Musical notation that shows you where to place your fingers on the fretboard to play chords and individual notes.
Tempo: The speed of a song, usually measured in beats per minute (BPM).
Tension: The sense of instability in a piece of music, created by dissonance, chromaticism, or unresolved harmonies. It often leads to resolution.
Third Inversion: A seventh chord where the seventh is placed in the bass, with the other notes stacked above it.
Time Signature: A symbol that tells you how many beats are in each measure.
Tonic: The home note, 1st or most important note of a scale.
Transposition: Changing a piece of music to a different key.
Treble: The opposite of bass, higher pitched notes.
Tremolo: Quick repetition of a note or multiple notes.
Triad: Three note chord consisting of the root, 3rd and the 5th.
Trill: A flair technique using hammer on and pull offs rapidly between two adjacent notes.
Tuning: Changing the pitch of each string. Standard tuning for a guitar is E-A-D-G-B-E.
Vibrato: Vibrating your fingers or slightly bending notes to create a variation in pitch or sustain.
Voice Leading: The process of making smooth transitions and creating voices or musical lines between chords.
Whole Step/Half Step: Steps refer to movement within a scale. A whole step is two frets up or two frets down, and a half step is one fret up or down.
Wide-Interval Triad: A triad that has large intervals between the notes. Typically, the middle note is moved up or down an octave.