guitarology.com - Guitar Theory Knowledge Base

A
Arpeggio	Arpeggio \ar-ped'joh\ n. [It.]plural Arpeggi \ar-ped'je\ The tones of a chord played in rapid, even succesion; playing broken chords.
B
Blue Note	An un-exact pitch associated with a somewhat flattened third, fifth, and seventh scale degrees. A microtonal variant according to G. Schuller (Early Jazz , 1968 Oxford University Press.
Bridge	Bridge \Bridge\, n. The small arch or bar at right angles to the strings of the guitar which serves to raise them and transmit their vibrations to the body of the instrument.
C
Clef	Clef \Clef\ (kl[e^]f; 277), n. [F. clef key, a key in music, fr. L. clavis key. See {Clavicle}.] (Mus.) A character used in musical notation to determine the position and pitch of the scale as represented on the staff.
D
Development	The working-out or evolution (elaboration) of a theme by presenting it in varied melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic treatment.
E
Enharmonic	Enharmonic tones are tones derived from different degrees, but practically identical in pitch; like c# and db on the piano or guitar...Enharmonic chords are chords differing in notation but alike in sound; such chords are called "enharmonically changed", and passing from one to the other is an enharmonic modulation"...Enharmonic interval, one formed between 2 enharmonic tones.
F
Fret	One of the narrow ridges of wood, metal, or ivory, crossing the fingerboard of the guitar, mandolin, zither, etc., on which the strings are "stopped".
Forte	Forte \f™hr'teh\, Loud, strong; usually written f piu forte, louder: piano forte (pf), begin softly and swell rapidly; poco forte, rather loud; forte piano (fp), accent strongly, instantly diminishing to piano; fortemente (for-teh-men-teh), loudly, forcibly; forte possible (pohs-se'be-leh), as loud as possible.
G
Guitar	Guitar \It., Gui*tar"\, n. [F. guitare; cf. Pr., Sp., & Pg. guitarra, It. chitarra; all fr. Gr. ?; cf. L. cithara. Cf. {Cittern}, {Gittern}.] A stringed instrument of music resembling the lute or the violin, but larger, and having six strings, three of silk covered with silver wire, and three of catgut, -- played upon with the fingers. A range of 3 octaves and a forth. The music is written an octave higher than it sounds, in the G clef.
H
Harmony	Harmony \Har"mo*ny\, n.; pl. {Harmonies}. [ F. harmonic, L. harmonia, Gr. ? joint, proportion, concord, fr. ? a fitting or joining. See {Article}. ] (a) A succession of chords according to the rules of progression and modulation. (b) The science which treats of their construction and progression. Harmony results from the concord of two or more strains or sounds which differ in pitch and quality.
K
Key	The series of tones forming any given major or minor scale, considered with reference to their harmonic relations, particularly the relation of the other tones to the tonic or keynote...Attendant keys, see ATTENDANT...Chromatic key, one having sharps or flats in the signature... Extreme key, a remote key...Major key, one having a major third or sixth...Minor key, one having a minor third or sixth...Natural key, one with neither sharps nor flats in the signature...Parallel key , (a) a minor key with the same keynote as the given major key, or visa versa, (b) a Relative key (see RELATIVE)...Remote key, an indirectly related key.
P
Progression	Progression \Pro*gres"sion\, n. [L. progressio: cf. F. progression.] (Mus.) A regular succession of tones or chords; the movement of the parts in harmony; the order of the modulations in a piece from key to key.
R
Rhythm	Rhythm \Rhythm\, n. [F. rhythme, rythme, L. rhythmus, fr. Gr. ??? measured motion, measure, proportion, fr. "rei^n to flow. See {Stream}.] Movement in musical time, with periodical recurrence of accent; the measured beat or pulse which marks the character and expression of the music; symmetry of movement and accent. --Moore (Encyc.)
S
Scale	Scale \Scale\, n. [L. scalae, pl., scala staircase, ladder; akin to scandere to climb. See {Scan}; cf. {Escalade}.] (Mus.) The graduated series of all the tones, ascending or descending, from the keynote to its octave; -- called also the {gamut}. It may be repeated through any number of octaves. See {Chromatic scale}, {Diatonic scale}, {Major scale}, and {Minor scale}, under {Chromatic}, {Diatonic}, {Major}, and {Minor}.
Synchopation	A rhythmic shift stressing usually un-accented portion of the beat.
T
Tertiary	Tertiary \Ter"tiary\, a. [L. tertiarius containing a third part, fr. tertius third: cf. F. tertiaire. See {Tierce}.]
Treble	Treble \Tre"ble\, n. [`` It has been said to be a corruption of triplum [Lat.], a third part, superadded to the altus and bassus (high and low).'' --Grove.] (Mus.) The highest of the four principal parts in music; the part usually sung by boys or women; soprano.
Tuning	Tuning \Tun"ing\, a. & n. from {Tune}, v. {Tuning fork} (Mus.), a steel instrument consisting of two prongs and a handle, which, being struck, gives a certain fixed tone. It is used for tuning instruments, or for ascertaining the pitch of tunes.
Turnaround	A short chord progression usually within the last two bars of a chorus (chord progression) used to return back to the top of the tune.
V
Vibrato	\It., ve-brah'toh\. On bow-instruments, the wavering effect of tone obtained by rapidly shaking the finger on the string which it is stopping (fretting).
Voice-Leading	The manner in voices of one chord move or "lead" to the voices of the following chord.
Voicing	The placement of voices or notes of a chord.
W
Whole Tone	A major second.