A companion, not a memorisation test
Guitar theory glossary
Look up a word when it becomes useful. You do not need to learn this page before starting.
Notation and audio
Standard tuning, low to high: E2–A2–D3–G3–B3–E4. String 1 is high E, string 6 low E. Tab has high E at the top. A 0 means an open string; x means omit the string. Scientific pitch numbers such as C4 distinguish sounding octaves; they are not fret numbers. A note’s displayed guitar position is one verified option, not the only place to play it.
Rhythmic durations in the study tables are quarter-note beats: 1 = one beat, 0.5 = half a beat, 2 = two beats. All main studies are in 4/4. Every recording begins with a four-beat count-in. Slower recordings are rendered at 50 BPM without lowering the pitch. Backing recordings repeat the stated form three times, with one count-in at the very beginning; there is no extra count-in between rounds.
In the detailed study tables, degree labels use the parallel-major interval reference: in A natural minor, C is b3 and F is b6 above A. Their ordinal positions in the natural-minor list are third and sixth. Chord-role labels use the current chord root instead. Major-key Roman numerals use I–ii–iii–IV–V–vi–vii°. Natural-minor numerals are written i–ii°–bIII–iv–v–bVI–bVII with the parallel-major root reference made explicit.
Sampled-guitar playback is programmed from recordings of individual notes, not a human playing each complete passage. Basic study tracks use picked-note articulation; pitch targets for slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends and vibrato are taught separately. Audio timbre is an aid to learning, not evidence of a filmed hand technique. Keep listening volume comfortable and stop physical exercises that hurt.
Glossary
- Accent
- An intentional emphasis. It need not change a note's timing.
- Arpeggio
- The notes of a chord sounded one after another.
- Articulation
- How a note begins, connects, sustains or ends; for example picked, hammered or slid.
- Bar / measure
- A group of beats. The main studies use four quarter-note beats per bar.
- Bass note
- The lowest sounding pitch in a voicing. It is not always the chord root.
- Beat / pulse
- The recurring unit of time against which rhythmic events are placed.
- Blues scale
- A useful pitch collection associated with blues practice; it does not describe every expressive blues pitch or phrase.
- Chord quality
- The interval construction that distinguishes major, minor, diminished and other chord types.
- Chord root
- The reference pitch that names and organises a chord.
- Chord tone
- A note included in the stated chord's construction. Check the actual chord symbol.
- Diatonic
- Using notes from the scale or key under discussion.
- Enharmonic
- Different written note names sharing a sounding pitch in the tuning used here, such as F# and Gb.
- Fingering / position
- A physical route on the instrument, not automatically a different key or mode.
- Harmony
- The organisation and relationship of simultaneous notes and chords.
- Interval
- A pitch relationship between two notes. Spelling and semitone distance together determine its full name.
- Inversion
- A chord arrangement with a chord tone other than the root in the bass.
- Key
- A tonal organisation around a tonic, with characteristic note and chord relationships.
- Melody
- A succession of pitches organised in time as a musical line.
- Mode
- In this course, a tonic-centred pitch organisation such as Dorian or Mixolydian. The same fingering can serve different contexts.
- Motif
- A small recognisable idea that can be repeated or varied.
- Octave
- The interval reached twelve semitones above or below a pitch; the note name repeats in another register.
- Parallel major/minor
- Major and minor sharing a tonic, such as C major and C minor.
- Pentatonic
- A five-note collection. Major pentatonic uses 1–2–3–5–6; minor pentatonic uses 1–b3–4–5–b7.
- Phrase
- A small musical thought with a sense of shape or boundary.
- Relative major/minor
- Major and natural minor sharing a pitch collection but having different tonics, such as C major and A minor.
- Rest
- Measured silence in a part; other instruments may continue.
- Rhythm
- The arrangement of attacks, durations, accents and silences in time.
- Scale degree
- A note's relationship to the scale's tonic. This course states when a parallel-major interval reference is being used.
- Semitone / half step
- The distance between neighbouring frets on one normally fretted guitar string.
- Subdivision
- A division within a beat, such as two even eighth notes or three triplet parts.
- Tempo
- The speed of the beat, usually stated in beats per minute.
- Tonic
- The musical home/reference of a key or mode, not necessarily the first note or current chord root.
- Transposition
- Moving pitches by an interval while preserving intended musical relationships.
- Triad
- A three-note chord that can be organised as root, third and fifth.
- Voicing
- A particular arrangement of chord notes, including registers, doubling, spacing and omissions.
- Whole tone / whole step
- Two semitones, or two frets along one string.