Guitar Glossary

Here at BBZGuitars in High Wycombe, we like to provide as much useful information as possible to our customers. Please feel free to browse our glossary at any time.

Action
The distance the strings sit off the fret board; defined as high, low or fast action

Altered and open tunings
Changing the tuning of one or more strings from the standard EADGBE

Alternate picking
Strumming or picking in alternate directions, for instance ‘down-up-up-down-down-up’

Archtop
An acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with an arch shaped top (soundboard); often played by jazz guitarists

Arpeggio
A chord played by picking individual strings, usually low to high and back again

Arrangement
The organisation or setting of a piece of music for a solo instrument or group of instruments

Augmented
A chord having its intervals as the 1st, 3rd and sharp 5th notes of the major scale

Barre chord
Placing the index finger across several strings to act as the guitar’s nut further up the fret board. Open shapes are fingered to the treble side of it or it can be used on its own in open tunings

Bending
Pushing or pulling a string sideways across the fret board against a fret to raise the pitch of a note or multiple notes (see double-stop); used extensively in rock, blues and jazz

Bridge
Either metal, plastic, bone or wood, the bridge is where the strings are raised off the soundboard to transmit their vibration

Capo
A device which clamps the strings across the fret board to act as a ‘virtual’ nut. Used for chord work extensively to change the key of the guitar whilst allowing the player to use open chord shapes without an index finger bar. Various types are available for electric, acoustic and even bass guitars

Chord
A number of notes which are sounded together, the most basic being the triad consisting of the 1st (root), 3rd and 5th notes of the scale. Click here for tips on learning guitar chords

Closed voicing
‘Voicing’ means the vertical proximity of the notes of a chord. Closed voicing puts the fretted notes as close together as possible, regardless of the inversion. Open voicing on the other hand spreads the notes of the chord further apart at greater intervals

Cutaway
A cut-out area at the bout of the guitar where the body meets the neck, allowing the player easier access to the high frets. Examples of single cutaway guitars are Gibson Les Paul or Fender Telecaster; for more information on these products click here. Examples of double cutaway guitars are Gibson SG and Fender Stratocaster

Diminished
The notes of a diminished chord have their intervals at the 1st, flat 3rd and flat 5th of the major scale

Double stop
Playing two notes simultaneously; often used in conjunction with bending

Dropped-D tuning
De-tuning the low E (sixth string) by a whole tone, an octave lower than the D at the fourth string

Finger picking
Playing the guitar with bare fingers or finger picks instead of a plectrum. Click here for more tips on learning guitar chords

Finger style
Plucking the strings with fingernails or fingertips rather than a plectrum/flat pick

Flat pick
A plastic, bone, nylon, wood or rubber triangular/ teardrop-shaped pick used to strike or strum guitar strings. Many gauges are available.

Flat wound strings
Strings for a bass or a guitar which have been wrapped with a flat ribbon winding (metal or rubberised), rather than round wire. Best used on fretless basses so as not to ‘eat’ into the fret board

Fret board
Also known as the fingerboard this is the fretted surface of the face of the neck where chords or single notes are ‘fretted’

Fret
The wire across the fret board that shortens the string to a measured length above where the finger is depressing the string

F-Hole
The ‘f’ shaped cut-out in the sound board of most semi-acoustic guitars and some acoustic guitars

Hammer-on
The act of sounding a note on a string then fretting the same string at a higher point on the fret board, without striking the string again. The opposite action is called a ‘Pull-off’

Headstock
The ‘top’ of the guitar beyond the nut where the tuning pegs are mainly located

Interval
The ‘tonal length’ between any two notes, usually measured relative to the major scale, such as 3rds or 4ths, meaning the distance from the tonic to the 3rd or 4th note of the major scale

Intonation
The micro setting of the strings of a guitar such that a note fretted at the harmonic is the same as the harmonic of the string at the same length (i.e. harmonic at the 12th fret is the same as fretting at the 12th fret)

Inversion
The construction of a chord shape where the root of the chord is not the lowest note in the chord

Lead guitar
Solo guitar part usually playing single notes or double stops, rather than chords

Major
A chord which has as its intervals the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the major scale

Minor
A chord which has as its intervals the 1st, flat 3rd and 5th of the major scale

Mode
This is another word for scale. The major scale has seven modes, each starting and ending on each note of the scale

Nut
The grooved piece of bone, tusk, plastic or graphite that the strings sit in, located between the fret board and the headstock

Open Voicing
A chord construction where the member notes are broadly spaced out. See closed voicing

Pentatonic Scale
Often used in rock and blues, this is a five tone scale

Picking
Striking or plucking a string either with the fingers or a plectrum. Click here for more tips on learning guitar chords

Pickup
An electronic device used to pick up the vibration of guitar strings and send it to an amplifier. Click here to read about modified pickups

Pitch pipe
‘Old school’ method of tuning a guitar by ear. The pitch pipe usually has six reeds which sound the standard EADGBE notes. The guitar is then tuned to match the notes sounded

Plectrum
Sometimes called a pick or flat pick this is the official name for the plastic, bone, wood, metal or rubber device used to pluck guitar strings

Positions
Positions refer to the placement of the left hand index finger on the fret board

Power chord
A basic chord consisting of the 1st (root) and 5th (sometimes 8th (octave) too) of the scale. These are frequently used in rock arrangements

Pull-off
The opposite of a hammer-on

Resonator
The cone shaped metal device like a speaker cone, usually made of chrome, which sits in the soundboard/body of some guitars to increase volume. Originally used in Hawaiian guitars this device is used in Dobro or Resonator guitars

Rhythm guitar
The rhythmic chord playing guitar part in an arrangement

Root
The term used to refer to the 'root note', 1st or Tonic; the first note of a scale

Saddle
The metal, plastic or bone part of the bridge which the strings pass over to raise them off the fret board

Scale
Notes at intervals, spanning an octave starting and ending with the root

Set-up
Adjustment of a guitar for optimal playability, including setting the action, the intonation and the truss rod

Slash chord
A chord which has an alternate bass note, other than the root, such as G/B; this means a G chord with a B bass note

Slide
An acrylic, metal or ceramic cylinder which fits on the finger of the fretting hand and is used to slide over the strings without pressing down to the fret board, to pitch notes. Also called bottlenecking

Sound-hole
Often round, this is the hole in the sound board of most acoustic guitars

Sound board
The top or front surface of a guitar. This is where the sound hole is cut out or where the pick-ups are mounted

Standard tuning
Standard tuning for a guitar’s strings is generally EADGBE (low to high)

String winder
A device with a crank handle which fits over the tuning keys and ‘cranks’ the strings around the tuning pegs quickly. Used when changing strings for fast winding of the excess string

Strumming
Playing two or more strings in a sweeping motion up and/or down to the rhythm of the song being played

Tablature
A tabular graphic notation for guitar or bass, showing fingering and fret positions

Tail piece
On archtop guitars frequently there is a fan-shaped metal plate which anchors under the strap button and holds the strings. This is called a tail piece

Thumb pick
A metal or plastic pick which is shaped to fit onto the thumb and has a fin type blade at a 90 degree angle allowing you to pick the strings

Transcription
This is when a guitarist listens to a solo and writes down, note for note, what is played on a recording

Transpose
Changing the key of a piece of music. See our links section for a useful tool to achieve this

Tremolo
A technique used by mandolin players extensively involving a rapid up and down picking action. Also, the attachment to a bridge which allows a guitarist to lengthen and shorten a string using the tremolo arm

Triad
A chord containing three notes

Truss rod
An adjustable steel rod fitted inside the neck of some guitars. This controls how concave or convex the neck is shaped and keeps it from bowing under the stress of the strings

Tuner
A device used to tune guitars, either by vibration, output (electric guitar) or through an in-built microphone. Click here to view the range of tuners available from BBZGuitars.

Tuning pegs
Also called machine heads. These are mounted in the headstock (most commonly). The strings are anchored through a hole in a pole and then wound around the peg until the desired pitch is reached

Vibrato
To sound a note and slightly move the fretting finger up and down the fret board rapidly. This creates vibrato

Voicing
The arrangement of the member notes of a chord or placement of the melody or bass line within an harmonic progression

Whammy Bar
Alternate word for the tremolo bar, see tremolo above.

This guitar glossary was brought to you by BBZGuitars of High Wycombe, the Buckingshire based guitar specialists.