Glossary
[N.B. Somehow virtually all the images for the glossary have been lost. Sorry. Someday I might get around to re-creating them. Prolly not.]

Arpeggio

When the notes that make up a chord are played quickly in succession rather than simultaneously it is called an arpeggio and it is scored like this: 

|----------0----|
|---------1-----|
|--------0------|
|-------2-------|
|------3--------|
|---------------|

See also: chord.

Bends

String bends emanated from country and Delta blues guitarists attempting emulate pedal-steel and slide guitarists. They totally failed, but a new technique was born which is used by virtually every guitarist today. The technique involves altering the pitch of a fretted note by bending the string up or down. In this way, a smooth transition can be made from one note to another. String bends have become an art themselves with many licks being based around bent notes: 

|---------------|
|--15-----------|
|--14b16--------|
|---------------|
|---------------|
|---------------|

See also hammer-ons pull-offs, slides and tapping.

Chord

A chord is a group of notes (three or more) played simultaneously: 

|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|----8---|
|----7---|
|----5---|

See also diads and triads and Lesson Seven.

Chromatic

The word chromatic implies all twelve notes are being/can be used with no regard for a 'key'. The chromatic scale itself is simply: 

|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------|
|---------------------------5--6--7--8-|
|----------------6-7--8--9-------------|
|----7--8--9--10-----------------------|

See also: major, minor and diatonic.

Diads

A diad is simply a two-note 'chord', it has a special name because chords must technically be made up of three or more notes.

See also lesson four, triads and chord.

Diatonic

The word diatonic implies that the music is in a particular key, either major or minor.

See also: major, minor and chromatic.

Enharmonic

Notes that can have two names are referred to as being enharmonic, for example E flat can also be called D sharp - the key of the music will often dictate what the note is called:

Fifths

See intervals.

Fourths

The perfect fourth interval is a distance of five semitones, it's job is often to replace the third in a particular chord resulting in a suspended fourth chord (see Frank Zappa...): 

|----5------5---|
|----5------5---|
|----5------7---|
|----7------7---|
|----7------5---|
|----5------5---|

Here we have an A minor chord followed by another A chord, but this time the minor third has been 'replaced' by a perfect fourth.

See also intervals.

Hammer-ons

A hammer-on is one of the many legato techniques available on guitar. It involves picking the first note and producing consecutive notes by striking the string hard with a finger on the fretting hand. Hard to explain, but easy to play:

Play an open string. Bring your second finger down onto the second fret on that string firmly. A note will sound a tone up from the open string! 

|---------------|
|---------------|
|--0h2----------|
|---------------|
|---------------|
|---------------|

See also pull-offs, slides and tapping.

Intervals

An interval is the distance between two notes and can be named in two ways: by the number of semitones or by it's name. Intervals are named like this:

Interval
Interval names
Relative to C
1 s/tone Minor second C#
2 s/tone Major second, Diminished third D
3 s/tone Minor third, Augmented second D#
4 s/tone Major third, Diminished fourth E
5 s/tone Perfect fourth F
6 s/tone Diminished fifth, Augmented fourth F#
7 s/tone Perfect fifth G
8 s/tone Minor sixth, Augmented fifth G#
9 s/tone Major sixth, Diminished seventh A
10 s/tone Minor seventh, Augmented sixth A#
11 s/tone Major seventh B
12 s/tone Octave C

Intervals greater than an octave are called compound intervals and are named by simply adding seven to the original interval name, therefore:

Here we have a minor 3rd, which becomes a minor 10th when the G is raised an octave.

See also: triads and inversion.

Inversion

Two elements of music can be 'inverted', an interval and a chord. When we invert an interval (tongue twister or what?!) we simply reverse the 'roles' of the notes. So, the tonal root (the note we're measuring the distance from) is moved an octave up and we've got a new interval. So: 

|----------|----------|
|----------|----------|
|----------|---9------|
|----9-----|---9------|
|----7-----|----------|
|----------|----------|

See also: intervals and triads.

Key Signature

A key signature has two main uses:

  • To show the player what key the music is in
  • To make the score easier to read

The key signature shows how many sharps or flats a key contains and exactly what they are. They're pretty easy to work out, but you should probably attempt to remember them:

The sharps are worked out using a circle of fifths we start at C and the next key is the fifth of the one before. Every time we add a key we add a sharp, easy!

The flats can be worked out in a similar way, this time using a circle of fourths and every time we advance a fourth, we add a flat. So, here's a little diagram that'll help show you what I mean:

So, from this you can see that G Major has one sharp and F Major has one flat, whereas C# Major has seven sharps and C Flat has seven flats.

Writing the key signature down is pretty easy too:

Sharps

  • Start at F sharp.
  • Each sharp is written to the right of the preceding one, either a fourth below or a fifth above.
  • The sharp that you add is the seventh note of the major scale (the leading note), so the sharp for G Major is F sharp...

Flats

  • Start at B flat.
  • Each flat is written to the right of the preceding one, either a fourth above or a fifth below.
  • The flat you add is the fourth note of the major scale.

See also: major, minor and diatonic.

Legato

'Legato' in music means smoothly and is often used guitaristically to refer to a series of techniques giving a smooth flow to the music. These techniques are:

  • Hammer-ons
  • Pull-offs
  • Slides
  • Tapping
...and to a certain extent string bends and whammy bar bends.

See also bends, hammer-ons pull-offs, slides and tapping.

Major

The term 'major' is applicable to any set of notes (such as a scale or a chord) where the interval between the root note and another note is a major third. Fine examples of this are the major scale or a major chord. Major tonality is often thought of as being 'happy' or 'nice' sounding.

The major scale itself is based on the following interval 'formula':

Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone

... and can be played like: 

|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|---------------------11-12--|
|-------------10-12-14-------|
|-----10-12-14---------------|

See also: minor

Minor

The term 'minor' is used to describe the tonality of a set of notes where the interval between the root note and another note is a minor third. Examples include the minor scales and minor chords. Minor tonality is often described as sounding 'sad' or 'dark'.

Through the years, three minor scales have been developed...

The Natural Minor
This is simply the sixth mode of the major scale, Aeolian. It is probably the most common minor scale in use in guitar music today: 

|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|------------------5-7--|
|-----------5--7-8------|
|----5--7-8-------------|


The Harmonic Minor
This is the scale often used to harmonise notes when wanting a minor tonality. It is often used in metal to give an 'evil' or more exotic flavour to the music. It is the same as the natural minor except that the 7th is sharpened: 

|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|------------------6-7--|
|-----------5--7-8------|
|----5--7-8-------------|

The Melodic Minor
This was developed as it was thought that at times the one and a half tone jump from the 6th scale degree to the 7th was excessive when writing melodies, thus the melodic minor was formed. This scale is peculiar in that it is played differently whether ascending or descending: 

|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------6-7-7--5----------------|
|-----------5--7--9--------------8-7-5--------|
|----5-7--8----------------------------8--7-5-|

As can be seen, the 6th and 7th are sharpened, but then naturalised on the descent.

See also: major.

Modes

When the major scale is used with a note other than the tonic (the first note) as it's tonal root it is said the music is modal. A mode is simply the major scale played from a different root note than the tonic. It's probably best to see this than read about it: 

|-------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------10-12|
|------------------9-10-------10-12-14------|
|-----------8-10-12----10-12-14-------------|
|----8-10-12--------------------------------|

The names of the modes of the major scale are:

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
Ionian Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian

See also major.

Octave

An octave is the interval of twelve semitones - the notes are the same: 

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|----7----|
|----3----|

The G on the 6th string and the G on the 4th string.

See also: intervals.

Power Chord

This is the rock guitarist's rock term for a diad made up of a root note and a perfect fifth, used all the time by everyone!

See also: diads.

Pull-offs

A pull-off is a legato technique used frequently by guitarists. First a note is fretted and picked, the finger that is fretting the note is pulled away sharply leaving the note fretted behind ringing. It also works with open strings: 

|---------|
|---------|
|--2p0----|
|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
Fret the 2nd fret with your first finger, play it, then pull your finger down quickly, 'plucking' the open string with your finger.

See also: hammer-ons, slides and tapping.

Scale

A scale is a series of notes played consecutively, the major scale for example. There are many scales in use globally for the construction of music, a few more popular in Western music are below...

The Pentatonic
So called because it's made up of five notes (penta-), the pentatonic is one of the most frequently used scales for guitar soloing and improvising as there are few 'bad' notes when played against common chord progressions. It is also common in much Oriental music. The pentatonic can be played in three different positions in both major and minor keys:

Major
ii
iii
vi
Minor
i
iv
v

The pentatonic has a 'relation' known as the 'blues scale' - this is the same as the pentatonic, but adds a diminished 5th as the fourth scale degree, this is known as the 'blue note': 

|----------------------|------------------------------10-|
|----------------------|----------------------10-11-12---|
|------------------7-9-|---------------7--9-12-----------|
|------------7--9------|-------7--8-9--------------------|
|-------7-10-----------|---7-10--------------------------|
|----------------------|---------------------------------|

The Whole Tone Scale
As the name suggests, this scale is made up of tones, because of this, there is not really a root or keynote and only two different scales are possible:

A
B
C#
D#
F
G
A
A#
C
D
E
F#
G#
A#

This allows for some interesting, off-centre, melodies and chords. The scale is often played like this: 

|----------------------|---------------------|
|----------------------|---------------------|
|----------------------|-------------8-10-12-|
|----------------------|---7-9--11-----------|
|---------------6-8-10-|---------------------|
|-------5-7--9---------|---------------------|

The Diminished Scale
So called because every note's fifth is diminished. This is obviously quite a dark sounding scale and is ideal for evil tritone melodies. It is easy to construct alternating between a tone and a semitone: 

|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------7--8--10--11--13--|
|-----------------------6--7-9-10------------------|
|-----------5--6--8--9-----------------------------|
|----5-7--8----------------------------------------|

See also: major and minor.

Semitone

A semitone is the smallest musical interval, the 'distance' between one fret and another on the guitar. A note on a stave can be raised a semitone by placing a sharp before it, or can be lowered a semitone by placing a flat before it:

See also: interval and tone.

Slides

The slide is a common legato technique of which there are two forms: the legato slide and the picked slide. In a legato slide the first note is played and the fretting finger simply slides up the fretboard to the destination note:

The picked slide is identical except that when the destination note has been reached in the slide, it is immediately picked:

See also: hammer-ons, pull-offs and tapping.

Tapping

Tapping is one of the few modern techniques in common use. It is a legato style technique and involves hammering-on with a right-hand finger. A note is played conventionally and just as you would hammer-on normally you do so with the right-hand. A hammer-on type action is often called a tap-on and a pull-off motion is often called a tap-off. the convention for writing a tap is: 
|--T---------|
|--22p12p10--|
|------------|
|------------|
|------------|
|------------|
As can be seen it allows for legato runs that are impossible without using a right-hand tap.

See also: hammer-ons, pull-offs and slide.

Thirds

The interval basis of traditional harmony... (bad answer)! I.e. all traditional harmony was based on chords made up of stacking thirds top of one another.

See also: intervals and triads.

Tone

The equivalent of two semitones. Two frets on the guitar.

See also: semitone and intervals.

Triads

Chords containing three notes only, the term is usually specific to chords containing a root, a third and a fifth. Triads can be classed in four general ways:

Major

When the interval between the root and its third is major: 

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|----5----|
|----7----|
|----8----|

Minor

When the chord's third is minor: 

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|----5----|
|----6----|
|----8----|

Diminished

When the fifth of the chord is a diminished fifth: 

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|------4--|
|------6--|
|------8--|

Augmented

When the fifth of the chord is an augmented fifth: 

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|-----6---|
|-----7---|
|-----8---|

When we harmonise the major scale using triads, we take each note of the scale as the root of a chord and stack it's diatonic third and fifth to form a triad: 

|---------------------------|
|---------------------5--6--|
|----0--2--4--5---7---5--7--|
|----2--3--5--7---9---7--9--|
|----3--5--7--8---10--------|
|---------------------------|

When we do this, we name each chord with Roman numerals:

  • Major chords are labeled with upper case letters (I, IV, V)
  • Minor chords are labeled with lower case letters (ii, iii, vi)
  • Diminished chords are labeled lower case with a 'o' at the upper right (see diagram)

It is only when we harmonise the harmonic minor scale that we come across the augmented triad: 

|------------------------------|
|------------------------------|
|----------------2--4---5--7---|
|----2--3----6---3--6---7--9---|
|----3--5----7---5--7---8--11--|
|----5--7----8-----------------|

As you can see it is labeled with capital Roman numerals and a (') to the right.

See also: major, minor and diads and Lesson Seven.


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