Accidental — a sign used to indicate a temporary change in pitch of a note (i.e. sharp #, flat b, double sharp !, double flat ~, 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.
Arpeggio — the playing of a chord in single note fashion.
Bar — A division of music occuring between two bar lines (also call 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 guitar, the 4th, 5th and 6th strings.
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:
D.C. al fine — a repeat from the beginning to the word "fine".
Dot — a sign placed after a note indicating that its time value is extended by a half. e.g.
Double Bar Line — two vertical lines close together, indicating the end of a piece, or section thereof.
D.S. 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.
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 twoplayed (indicated by the bracket X).
Harmonics — a chime like sound created by lightly touching a vibrating string at certain points along the fret board.
Harmony — 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 scales 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 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 or B minor
Lead-In — same as anacrusis.
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 sequence of notes varying in 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.
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".
Octave — the distance between any given note with a set frequency, and another note with exactly double or half that frequency. Both notes will have the same letter name; e.g.
Open chord — a chord that contains at least one open string.
Pick — a small object (often of a triangular shape) made of plastic which is used to pick or strum the strings of a guitar.
Pick-up — a note or notes occuring before the first complete bar. Also called a lead-in.
Pitch — the sound produced by a note, determined by the frequency of the air vibration. The pitch relates to a note being referred to as "high" or "low".
Plectrum — same as pick.
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 aspect of music concerned with tempo, duration and accents of notes. Tempo indicates the speed of a piece (fast or slow); duration indicates the time value of each note (quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note, etc.); and accents indicate which beat is more predominant.
Riff — a pattern of notes that is repeated throughout a song.
Semitone — the smallest interval used in conventional music. On guitar, it is the distance of one fret.
Sharp — a sign (#) used to raise the pitch of a note by one semi tone.
Staccato — to play short and detached. Indicated by a dot placed above the note.x
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;
Each line represents a string, and each number represents a fret.
Tempo — the speed of a piece.
Time signature —a sign at the beginning of a piece which indicates, by means of numbers, 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.
