Guitar Terms Glossary A–Z | Learn Guitar Hub

Action: The height of the strings above the fretboard. High action makes fretting harder; low action risks buzzing.
Barre chord: A chord played by laying one finger flat across multiple strings to act as a movable nut.
Bend: Pushing or pulling a fretted string sideways to raise its pitch without picking again.
CAGED system: A method of playing any chord using five movable shapes derived from the open C, A, G, E, and D chords.
Capo: A clamp placed across the neck that shortens the strings, raising the pitch of open shapes.
Chord: Three or more notes played together, most often built by stacking thirds on a root note.
Chromatic: Moving in consecutive half steps, using all twelve pitches rather than a seven-note scale.
Circle of fifths: A wheel diagram arranging all twelve keys by ascending fifths, showing key signatures and key relationships at a glance.
Dead note: A percussive, pitchless sound made by striking a muted string.
Diatonic: Belonging to the notes of a given scale or key, as opposed to chromatic notes outside it.
Drop D: A tuning where the low E string is lowered a whole step to D, simplifying power chords.
Fingerstyle: Plucking strings directly with the fingers and thumb instead of a pick.
Fret: Both the metal strip embedded in the fretboard and the act of pressing a string behind one to change its pitch.
Gauge: The thickness of a string, measured in thousandths of an inch, affecting tension and tone.
Hammer-on: Sounding a higher note by tapping a fret with a free finger, without picking again.
Harmonic: A bell-like overtone produced by touching a string lightly at specific fret positions rather than pressing it down.
Interval: The distance in pitch between two notes, measured in semitones.
Intonation: How accurately a guitar stays in tune with itself as you move up the neck.
Inversion: A chord voicing where a note other than the root is the lowest-sounding note.
Key signature: The set of sharps or flats that defines a given major or minor key.
Mode: One of seven scales derived from starting the major scale on a different degree, each with a distinct character.
Nut: The grooved strip at the top of the neck that spaces and supports the strings before the headstock.
Octave: The interval between one note and the next note of the same letter name, 12 semitones away.
Open chord: A chord that includes at least one unfretted (open) string, typically played near the nut.
Palm mute: Resting the picking-hand palm on the strings near the bridge to shorten and soften their sound.
Pentatonic scale: A five-note scale, most commonly the minor pentatonic, widely used for improvising because it avoids dissonant half steps.
Pickup: A magnetic or piezo sensor on an electric or amplified acoustic guitar that converts string vibration into an electrical signal.
Progression: A sequence of chords played in order, usually described with roman numerals relative to a key.
Pull-off: Sounding a lower note by removing a fretting finger with a light pluck, without picking again.
Relative minor: The minor key that shares the same key signature as a given major key, starting on its 6th degree.
Root note: The note a scale or chord is built from and named after.
Saddle: The part of the bridge the strings rest on, transferring their vibration into the guitar's body.
Scale: An ordered sequence of notes following a specific pattern of intervals, used as the raw material for melodies and chords.
Setup: Professional adjustment of a guitar's action, intonation, and neck relief for optimal playability.
Slide: Moving a fretting finger from one fret to another while a note continues to ring.
Tab (tablature): A notation system using six lines for the six strings and numbers for frets, more intuitive for guitar than standard notation.
Triad: A three-note chord built from a root, third, and fifth.
Truss rod: A metal rod inside the neck that can be adjusted to counteract string tension and correct neck curvature.
Tuning peg: The geared knob on the headstock that winds a string to raise or lower its pitch.
Vibrato: A rapid, repeated slight bend that adds wobble and sustain to a sustained note.
Voicing: The specific arrangement and octave placement of the notes within a chord.
Whole step / half step: A whole step spans two semitones, a half step spans one — the two building blocks of every scale.