Glossary

ADSR

Acronym for Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release. Commonly grouped together in an envelope filter.

Attack

The initial portion of a note's sound, where the volume goes from its minimum to its maximum. On guitar, this is almost instantaneous when picking the strings; however, it can be stretched longer through the use of volume pedals or knobs, feedback inducers, or other effects.

Augmented

In reference to intervals, the augmented 4th or augmented 5th is one half-step higher or larger than the perfect 4th/5th. For example, C-F is a perfect 4th, but C-F# is an augmented 4th. A chord is considered augmented if it contains a major 3rd and augmented 5th above its root. See 1st and 2nd Strings - Intervals and Harmonic Minor and Augmented Chords.

Bass/Strum Pattern

A bass/strum pattern is a way to play chords where the first beat contains only the bass note and the next beat strums the rest of (or entire) chord. This creates a "folk" feel, especially with an alternating bass note. See G Major Chord.

Beat

The most basic unit of time for music. Tempo is often listed in terms of beats per minute, and time signatures are listed in terms of beats per measure. In 4/4 time, each measure has 4 beats and each quarter note has a duration of 1 beat. A metronome often is set to click once per beat.

Chord

A set of 3 or more notes, played simultaneously or in sequence. See C Major Chord.

Clipping

Clipping is a form of distortion where the amplitude of a signal is too powerful for the medium transmitting it. This could be a cable, a vacuum tube, or a digital device's internal resolution. Looking at the resulting waveform, it appears that the peaks of the signal are "clipped" off. Different devices clip differently, and while some forms of clipping are desirable (most often tube clipping), others are usually undesirable (cables or digital clipping).

Decay

Refers in general to a steady reduction of volume until a note is inaudible.

In terms of ADSR, refers to the length of time it takes for the signal to reach its sustaining volume from its maximum volume.

Delay

An effect that delays an input signal by an amount of time before outputting it, often with a decaying feedback loop, simulating an echo.

Can also refer to an actual echo or any other delayed signal.

Diatonic

Diatonic intervals or chords are those that consist of only notes from a common scale. For a major scale, there are 3 major, 3 minor, and 1 diminished diatonic chords.

Diminished

In reference to intervals, the diminished 4th or diminished 5th is one half-step lower or smaller than the perfect 4th/5th. For example, C-G is a perfect 5th, but C-Gb is an diminished 5th. A chord is considered diminished if it contains a minor 3rd and diminished 5th above its root. See 1st and 2nd Strings - Intervals and B Diminished.

Distortion

Any transformation of a signal can technically be called distortion. For guitars, it usually refers to a specific, desired transformation - the sound of vacuum tube clipping, even if these are emulations by solid state analog devices like stomp boxes, or created by digital algorithms in modelers.

Dominant

Can refer to the Dominant Chord (the major chord built on the 5th note of the scale) or the harmonic function of many chords that seeks to resolve to tonic-function chords. See Music Theory - Diatonic Chord Progressions.

Dotted Note

A dotted note indicates that its duration should be 1.5x its indicated length. For example, a dotted half note lasts as long as a half note + a quarter note.

Eighth Note

A note whose duration is 1/8 of a whole note. The actual duration in terms of beats is determined by the time signature, and its duration in terms of seconds is determined by the tempo.

Enharmonic

Two notes with different spellings are enharmonic if their pitches are identical. For example, F♯ and G♭ are the same pitch and thus enharmonic. Similarly, keys, chords, intervals, etc can also be enharmonic if they refer to identical pitches.

Simply because 2 notes are enharmonic does not mean they can be substituted in notation and retain the same meaning. For example, G is the V chord of the C Major scale, but A♭♭ is not, even though G and A♭♭ are enharmonic. This has no impact on how they actually sound, only how one would analyze the piece.

Equal Temperament

Equal Temperament is a means of tuning the notes of an instrument, so that all notes are evenly spaced apart. This makes every key equally in-tune, although all intervals will be slightly off from their Just Intonation counterparts, which are more harmonic.

Flat

One meaning is used to describe a pitch that is lower than it should be. Ex. her performance sounded bad because she sang a little flat.

Another meaning is an indicator ("♭") that means to lower a note by one half-step. Ex. A♭ is a half-step lower than A. Multiple flat symbols can be used to indicate pitches even lower. Ex. C♭ is the same pitch as B, while C♭♭♭ is the same pitch as A.

Half Note

A note whose duration is 1/2 of a whole note. The actual duration in terms of beats is determined by the time signature, and its duration in terms of seconds is determined by the tempo.

Harmonic Minor Scale

A heptatonic (7 note) scale that consists of a tonic note and the notes above tonic with the following intervals: M2, m3, P4, P5, m6, M7. This creates the following whole/half pattern: w h w w h w+h h. A Harmonic Minor has the following notes: A B C D E F G#.

Harmony

The result of combining multiple pitches simultaneously (or giving the same effect when playing them in sequence). This expands into the study of sequences or progressions of multiple pitches, often using roman numeral analysis, with diatonic chords falling into specific harmonic functions. See Music Theory Basics.

Interval

A set of 2 notes, played simultaneously or in sequence. See 1st and 2nd Strings - Intervals.

Intonation

The pitch accuracy of an instrument. Guitar intonation is affected by action, fret spacing, fret leveling, bridge height, nut height, string length, neck curvature, string gauge, and type of strings used.

Just Intonation

A tuning system in which the relationship between different notes is represented by ratios of small whole numbers. In other words, the intervals in just intonation are as consonant or harmonic as possible. Because the pitches of these intervals will vary from key to key, an instrument can only feature just intonation in one key at a time. The further away from the just intonated key on the circle of fifths one goes, the more dissonant the instrument will sound.

For example, a M7 interval in just intonation is a 15:8 ratio of the two notes. So the just intonation A-G interval where A is 110 HZ means G is 206.25 HZ. The A-C minor third is 6:5, which means C is 132 HZ. C-G should be a P5 interval, which is 3:2. But 3:2 x 132 HZ is 198 HZ, not 206.25 HZ.

Leading Tone

In a Major Scale, the 7th note is the leading tone (B in the key of C Major). It is called this because it tends to sound very tense, wanting to resolve to the tonic note. See Music Theory Basics.

Major Chord

A major chord contains a root note and the notes a major 3rd and a perfect fifth above it. See C Major Chord.

Major Scale

A heptatonic (7 note) scale that consists of a tonic note and the notes above tonic with the following intervals: M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7. This creates the following whole/half pattern: w w h w w w h. C Major has the following notes: C D E F G A B. See Music Theory Basics.

Melodic Minor Scale

A heptatonic (7 note) scale that consists of different notes when played ascending vs. descending, based on the Natural Minor scale. Descending the scale is identical to natural minor, but ascending uses a sharped 6 and sharped 7th note. This gives the following whole/half pattern: w h w w w w h. A Melodic Minor ascending contains the notes: A B C D E F# G#.

Melody

A series of notes expressing a musical idea. See Music Theory Basics.

Minor Chord

A minor chord contains a root note and the notes a minor 3rd and a perfect fifth above it. See E Minor, D Minor, and A Minor Chords.

Minor Scale (Natural Minor)

A heptatonic (7 note) scale that consists of a tonic note and the notes above tonic with the following intervals: M2, m3, P4, P5, m6, m7. This creates the following whole/half pattern: w h w w h w w. A (Natural) Minor has the following notes: A B C D E F G.

see also #Harmonic Minor Scale and #Melodic Minor Scale

Noise

Noise is essentially randomness in the signal. Being chaotic, noise transmits little information, other than that it is noise. Whereas a signal indicates timbre, pitch, and harmony, noise does not convey any of these qualities. The timbre of a guitar can change based on playing style, string gauge, pickups, woods, build quality...noise is always noise.

Note

The most basic "unit" of music. A note is comprised of a fundamental pitch and a time duration. Pitch is described in terms of letters (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) and sharps/flats (♯/♭). Duration is described in terms of how much of a measure the note lasts - in 4/4 time where a measure is 4 beats, a note that lasts 4 beats is a whole note, 2 beats a half note, 1 beat a quarter note, and 1/2 beat an eighth note. See Music Theory Basics.

Predominant

The harmonic function of a chord that serves to move towards dominant-function chords. See Music Theory - Diatonic Chord Progressions.

Quarter Note

A note whose duration is 1/4 of a whole note. The actual duration in terms of beats is determined by the time signature, and its duration in terms of seconds is determined by the tempo. This is the most common note duration, with 4 quarter notes per measure in 4/4 time.

Release

In terms of harmony and harmonic progression, refers to the feeling of finality and completeness that occurs from moving from a dominant or tense harmony to the tonic (tension and release). In terms of ADSR, refers to the length of time it takes for the signal to become inaudible after the note is released.

Rhythm

The pattern of sound over time, incorporating Tempo, Time Signatures, Beats, Feels, Accents, Rests. See Music Theory Basics.

Signal

A signal is the physical embodiment of information communicated from one device to another. In guitar terminology, this usually means the strings inducing electric potentials in guitar pickups, which are passed on through cables into amplifiers, then into speakers where it is converted to sound and sent to the audience's ears. The signal is the message desired to be communicated. Hum, noise, and other interference are generally not considered the signal. In fact, they are considered to degrade the signal.

Sharp

One meaning is used to describe a pitch that is higher than it should be. Ex. her performance sounded bad because she sang a little sharp.

Another meaning is an indicator ("♯") that means to raise a note by one half-step. Ex. A♯ is a half-step higher than A. Multiple sharp symbols can be used to indicate pitches even higher. Ex. A♯♯* is the same pitch as B, while A♯♯♯* is the same pitch as C.

* There is actually a double-sharp symbol that looks similar to an "x" but I don't have a good representation.

Sixteenth Note

A note whose duration is 1/16 of a whole note. The actual duration in terms of beats is determined by the time signature, and its duration in terms of seconds is determined by the tempo.

Subdominant

The formal name for the 4th chord in a diatonic scale. Usually serves a predominant function. See F Major Chord.

Sustain

In general, refers to the length of time a note endures before becoming inaudible. In terms of instruments, it can refer to the instrument's ability to sustain a note. For example, "This guitar has great sustain." In terms of ADSR, refers to the volume level of a sustained note.

Tempo

The speed of a piece, describing the number of beats per minute. Usually indicated at the beginning of musical notation but can change throughout a piece. See Music Theory Basics.

Timbre

Describes the quality of sound from an instrument. See Music Theory Basics.

Time Signature

Uses a fraction of whole numbers to describe a logical grouping of beats into measures and assigning how many beats each note type endures. The top number is the number of beats per measure, while the bottom number indicates what type of note lasts one beat. 4/4 time has 4 beats per measure with 1 beat = 1 quarter note. 5/4 time has 4 beats per measure with 1 beat = 1 quarter note.

For example, if a song had musical ideas that tend to last 3 beats and occasionally repeat, it would make sense to use a time signature of 3/n, so each measure contains one musical idea. See Music Theory Basics.

Tonic

Can refer to the 1st note of a scale, the Tonic Chord (the major chord built on the 1st note of the scale), or the harmonic function of many chords that bring release to tension. See Music Theory - Diatonic Chord Progressions.

Triplet

The most common form of tuplet, dividing a beat (or multiple beats or subdivisions of beats by a multiple of 2) into thirds. In 4/4 time, an eighth note triplet contains 3 notes of equal duration that collectively last 1 beat.

Tuplet

A tuplet is a rhythm that divides the beat into equal subdivisions that cannot be represented otherwise. The number of subdivisions is given by a number (3) or ratio (5:4) over a group of beamed or bracketed notes. If a single number is used, the ratio is implied over 2 ("3" = 3:2). The denominator indicates the length of time in term of normal duration for the note used, while the numerator indicates how many subdivisions that length should be sliced into. For example, 5:4 over eighth notes means that 5 eighth notes in this tuplet should consume the same duration as 4 eighth notes normally would. 3 (or 3:2) on quarter notes means the 3 quarter note tuplet should last 2 quarter notes' length.

The most common tuplet is the triplet. For example in 4/4 time, a quarter note gets 1 beat. To divide the beat into equal halves, one can simply use 2 eighth notes. To divide the beat into equal thirds, no note duration will fit. This is where a tuplet is used, in this case a triplet. 2 eighth notes equal 1 beat. A 3 eighth note triplet fits 3 notes into the same time normally consumed by 2 eighth notes. 4 notes in one beat can be represented with sixteenth notes. 5 notes in one beat can be represented by a 5:4 sixteenth note tuplet.

Whole Note

A note duration. The actual duration in terms of beats is determined by the time signature, and its duration in terms of seconds is determined by the tempo. In 4/4 time, a whole note lasts a whole measure, hence whole note.