Common Musical Symbols and Terms for Playing the Piano

The slowest blues pattern in which the bass note plays on beats one and three and the chords play on beats two and four.

By far the most popular form for the blues, created by following a 12-bar blues pattern of three lines per verse, with the first line repeated.

A chord created from the altered or unaltered first, third, fifth, and seventh notes of a scale; 7th chords have a complex, bluesy sound.

A musical notation (>) indicating that a note should be played louder than the rest of the notes.

A musical notation indicating that a note should be played a half or whole step higher or lower; accidentals include flats (b), double flats (bb), sharps (#), double sharps (x), and naturals.

A type of hybrid guitar that is an acoustic guitar with built-in pickups and electronics.

Electric guitar electronics that have a built-in power source.

A combination of upstrokes and downstrokes that enables the guitarist to play faster and is the key for playing fast leads smoothly.

A musical pattern in which you alternate between playing the melody and bass parts one at a time instead of at the same time.

The notes of a chord played one after the other instead of simultaneously.

The way in which a musician plays and connects notes to create a distinct tonal quality, as well as distortion of the tone.

The initial distinguishing sound of a note.

A rhythmic alteration in which the melody falls behind the beat.

The thick ring at one end of a guitar's steel string.

The vertical lines that separate music into measures.

A basic unit of musical time containing a specific number of beats.

The combination of notes that sound when a guitarist presses down two or more strings at once with a single left-hand finger.

A type of chord that has only fretted notes and is able to move to any position on the neck of your guitar.

The lower, wider part of the body of a guitar.

In musical notation, a beam can be used to connect a group of notes (eighth notes or shorter) that would normally each be flagged.

A guitar effect in which a note's pitch is raised by stretching the ringing string while it is sounding.

A bending effect in which a note is played, then bent without repicking, and then returned to its original tone (unbent) without repicking.

A popular R&B rhythm that uses left-hand muting, syncopated strumming, scratches, and sounded notes to create an implied syncopation effect.

A rhythm pattern created by alternating notes and chords.

An amplifier control that you can use to create a distorted or lead sound.

A 17th-century French up-tempo dance.

The angle that is created by the string and the tuning post when a string winds down the tuning post; the sharper the angle, the more sustain is produced.

1. A contrasting section of music that is used to separate similar sections. 2. The plate that anchors the strings to the body of a guitar.

A set of metal springs that pull a floating bridge in the opposite direction of the strings, thereby holding the bridge in balance.

The clarity of sound produced.

A usually unwanted distortion of a guitar sound created when a string vibrates against the fret wire.

A device that clamps down across the fingerboard of a guitar at a particular fret to shorten the length of all the strings at the same time, forcing the strings to play in higher pitches than they normally do.

A popular folk guitar picking style — named after the famous Carter family — in which the melody is played on the low strings with the thumb while the fingers provide an accompaniment in the form of brushes.

A chord is produced when three or more notes are played simultaneously.

A string of changing chords.

A musical style — frequently used in jazz solos — that incorporates both the melody and chords of a song.

An amplifier effect that makes your guitar sound like two guitars being played together.

A tool used by musicians to determine the relationship between major and minor keys.

A specific time signature (4/4 time) that indicates four beats in each measure, with the quarter note equalling one beat.

Notes that appear in two or more consecutive chords.

A musical style — used frequently in classical guitar music — in which you play two or more simultaneously.

In musical notation, when one musical line ascends while the other descends.

A rhythm pattern created by alternating notes and chords.

In musical notation, a symbol —a C with a vertical line “cutting” it in half — that tells you to count the half note as one beat instead of the usual quarter note.

A silencing effect created by touching strings to prevent them from ringing out clearly.

Part of an instrument's tone color that is heard in the final part of the played note.

A powder or crystal substance that draws humidity out of the air, lowering the local relative humidity level.

A guitar effect that produces a fuzzy sound, as if the signal was too powerful for the amp.

A chord built from the first, third, fifth, and flatted seventh note of a scale. In a major scale, a seventh chord built from the fifth note of the scale is naturally a dominant seventh chord.

The fretting and playing of two strings simultaneously.

A technique for creating power chords by playing the same notes in different octaves on different strings.

1. A musical notation often shaped like an open-bottomed box that indicates that the note or chord should be played with a downward motion of the pick. 2. Dragging your pick (or thumb) across the strings toward the floor as you play.

The volume at which notes are played.

A musical notation (a solid oval head with a stem and a flag or beam) indication a note that is half as long as a quarter note.

A battery-powered device used to tune instruments.

The metal post where the back end of the strap connects. On acoustic-electric guitars, the pin often doubles as the output jack.

A method of relative tuning whereby you tune a guitar based on the pitch of a single string, usually the lowest one.

An exercise used to train the left hand for fingering and to build up finger independence.

A type of guitar notation that indicates where to place your fingers on the neck of the guitar.

The flat piece of wood embedded with frets that you position your left-hand fingers on to produce notes and chords.

A type of guitar playing that involves using the individual right-hand fingers in a way in which the thumb plays the bass strings and the fingers play the treble, or high, strings.

A type of guitar playing that involves using the individual right-hand fingers in a way in which the thumb plays the bass strings and the fingers play the treble, or high, strings.

A musical style that originated in Spain and was designed to accompany flamenco dancing.

1. When a string sounds out at a lower pitch than it should. 2. A note that is played one fret lower than the note is on the musical staff. 3. An accidental (b) indicating that a note should be played a half-step lower than indicated.

A type of bridge held in place by the string tension (which pulls it one way), and a set of bridge springs.

The most successful form of floating bridge — a movable bridge system that uses a locking nut to ensure that the bridge returns to its home position — was designed for guitarists who like to use the whammy bar extensively.

A right-hand stroke — used in classical and folk guitar playing — in which you pluck a string at a slightly upward angle so that your finger comes to rest freely in the air.

1. The thin metal wire or bar that runs across the fretboard at specific intervals. 2. The place on the fretboard where you position your finger to produce different pitches.

The flat piece of wood embedded with frets where you position your left-hand fingers to produce notes and chords.

A note produced by pressing your finger over the string at a specific point on the fretboard.

A musical style that is very busy and relies heavily on sixteenth notes.

A musical effect wherein all the notes between two principal notes sound.

A saturated rubber-enclosed sponge that clips onto the inside of the sound hole or is kept inside the case to raise the humidity level.

A form of musical notation that contains the information of most importance to the guitarist: fingerboard diagrams and tablature.

A liquid polish designed specifically for cleaning and polishing a guitar.

In musical notation, the half note has a hollow oval head with a stem; it lasts half as long as the whole note, or twice as long as a quatrter note.

In musical notation, the smallest difference between two pitches.

A guitar articulation technique in which you sound a note by fretting a string with enoungh force to make the string vibrate.

A method of finding the same notes in different places on the fretboard of a bass guitar.

A musical scale created by lowering by a half-step the third and sixth notes of a major scale.

Notes that sound naturally on a string when you lightly touch it at certain points and then strike it with your right hand.

The part of the guitar that holds the tuning machines.

An inexpensive device that tells you the relative humidity of a room with a good degree of accuracy (close enough to maintain a healthy guitar, anyway).

A bending effect that is caused by playing a note and then immediately bending it up.

A type of note decay in which the tone produced begins to fade as soon as the next note is played.

The socket used for connecting the guitar cord to the amplifier.

The gap between musical notes, which are measured in half steps and whole steps.

The accuracy of the pitches produced by fretting.

The socket used for connecting the guitar cord to the amplifier.

The main tonality, or organization of the pitches, of a piece of music.

In musical notation, a grouping of symbols (sharps or flats) that tells you to always play certain notes one semitone higher or lower.

An articulation designation meaning that notes should be played smoothly and flowingly.

Playing a note at one fret and then, withoug repicking the string, sliding your finger to a different fret while maintaining pressure on the string.

A short melodic phrase — a solo is a succession of licks.

In musical notation, a ligature can be used to connect a group of notes (eighth notes or shorter) that would normally each be flagged.

A chord built on the unaltered first, third, and fifth notes of a major scale.

A five-note scale based on a major scale, but without the fourth and seventh notes.

A basic unit of musical time containing a specific number of beats.

As its name suggests, this scale is used for melodic, as opposed to harmonic, content. Ascending, the melodic minor scale is the same as a major scale but with the third note lowered one half-step; descending, it's the same as a natural minor scale with a lowered third, sixth, and seventh scale step.

A mechanical or electronic devices that emits clicks or beeps at regular, precise time intervals; used to help practicing musicians maintain a constant tempo.

Referring to sounds that exist between consecutive half steps.

Fretting two or three strings, but not all of them, with a single finger.

A three-note chord in which the second note is three half-steps above the first note (the root of the chord), and the third note is four half-steps above the second note — the unaltered first, third, and fifth notes of a minor scale.

A five-note scale based on a minor key.

A short musical phrase that you repeat.

A way to explain and describe the music we hear.

An independent and self-contained musical phrase, sort of like a sentence when you’re speaking.

A written form of music used to convey the music we hear in a way that can be repeated by musicians.

A series of notes within a single octave that follows a specific pattern.

A silencing effect created by touching strings to prevent them from ringing out clearly.

A musical scale created either by lowering by a half-step the third, sixth, and seventh notes of a major scale or by playing an octave of a major scale starting on the sixth note (for instance, playing from A to A in the key of C major).

The long wooden piece that connects the headstock to the body of a guitar.

In musical notation, the little line that comes off the top or bottom of the note stem, indicating note lengths shorter than a quarter note.

A note stem is the vertical line attached to the note head.

In musical notation, the round part of a note.

The grooved section between a guitar's neck and its headstock through which the strings pass.

In musical notation, when one musical line ascends or descends, while the other continues or repeats the same note.

Twelve half-steps, from one note to the next note of the same name.

Two dots that appear on many guitars at the twelfth fret used to signify the octave.

A method of finding the same notes in different places on the fretboard.

Chords that contain open (non-fretted) strings.

A combination of all the open strings plus the notes in the second position on a guitar.

A string that is not fretted.

Chords that contain open (non-fretted) strings.

The insertion point for the cord that connects the guitar to an amplifier or other electronic device.

A dampening technique in which you anchor the heel of your right hand against the strings just above the bridge.

A small triangular piece, about the size of a quarter, used to strum the strings on a guitar.

A rhythmic pattern that adds variety to the music by separating the bass and treble lines so that they play independently.

A type of guitar playing that involves dragging a pick across the strings to produce sound.

A switch that determines which pickups are currently active.

Bar-like magnets that pick up the vibrations of an electric guitar's strings and transmit those signals to the amplifier.

An “artificial” harmonic created by simultaneously striking the string with a pick and the tip of your right thumb.

The specific wavelength frequency of a musical sound indicated as a letter from A to G with or without a sharp (#) or flat (b).

A device that produces a single specific pitch, used as a reference to tune a guitar.

A way of playing the guitar in which your left hand remains in a fixed location on the neck of the guitar.

Any artificial device used to pluck or strum the strings of a guitar.

A smooth, continuous change in pitch often created by using a slide.

On the guitar, a position is a group of four consecutive frets.

The electronic capacitors connected to the other side of a volume knob.

A chord consisting only of roots and fifths.

A bending effect that is created when you stretch a string before you strike it, then strike the string, and then release the bend.

A guitar articulation technique in which a string is played by a fretting finger as it is released from a fret.

In musical notation, the quarter note has a solid oval head with a stem; it lasts half as long as the half note.

Striking a string with one finger and then striking the next lower string with the same finger.

A way of tuning the guitar to itself so that you don’t need any outside reference pitch.

In musical notation, a combination of one thick and one thin vertical line with two dots that tells you that you repeat some portion of the song.

Any time during a musical piece in which no notes are being sounded.

A right-hand stroke — unique to classical music — in which you pluck straight across (not upward) the strings so that your finger lands, or rests, against the adjacent lower-pitched string.

A regular pattern of beats or pulses in music.

An indicator in guitar notation that uses slash marks (/) that tell you how to play rhythmically but not what to play.

The tuning posts on a nylon-string guitar that uses a slotted headstock.

Musical phrasing and timing that is governed by the musician's musical ideas instead of by the strict adherence to a set tempo.

The moving metal part of the bridge of an electric guitar that have grooves for the strings to lie across.

A series of notes in ascending or descending order that presents the pitches of a key, beginning and ending on the tonic of that key.

In musical notation, the smallest difference between two pitches.

A method of relative tuning whereby you tune the bass guitar using the pitch played on the seventh fret as the comparison note.

An accidental indicating that a note should be played a half step higher than originally indicated.

The act of moving your fretting hand's position to reach a note.

An important rhythm feel that has a lilting eighth-note sound — created by dividing the beat into two unbalanced halves, a long note followed by a short — that is used extensively in rock guitar.

In musical notation, an indication that you should continue articulating the notes in a similar manner.

In musical notation, the sixteenth note has a solid oval head with a stem and either two flags or two beams; it lasts half as long as the eighth note.

1. A tool (often made of glass) that you can use to slide along the strings while strumming to produce a smooth sliding sound. 2. An effects technique in which you slide your fingers (or an actual slide tool) up the strings while you play.

The tuning machine on a nylon-string guitar in which rollers around which the nylon strings are wound are contained within the headstock, as opposed to sticking out above the headstock.

Sounding a note by hitting the strings with your open right hand or closed right fist.

The opening on the top of an acoustic guitar that amplifies the guitar's sound.

A type of short, separated articulation.

In musical notation, the five horizontal, parallel lines on which notes and rests are written.

An effects unit that is controlled by a foot pedal.

The metal post where the front, or top, end of the strap connects.

Little rollers or channels screwed into the top of the headstock that pull the top two or four strings down low onto the headstock.

Dragging a pick or the back of your fingernails across the strings in a single, quick motion.

1. (noun) The length of time that a note rings out. 2. (verb) The act of making a note ring out for an extended length of time.

A type of decay in which a note continues to sound steadily as long as the note is still being played.

A musical style based on the triplet feel in which the beat is divided into three equal units.

Striking a note (or chord) at an unexpected time.

A form of guitar notation that shows you which strings to press at which frets for each note.

The speed at which the beat of piece of music is played.

A string's ability to hold tension and thereby hold a certain pitch.

A plastic or wood bar on a bass guitar on which to rest your thumb.

In musical notation, a tie tells you not to strike the second note of the two tied notes, but to let the note ring out for the duration specified by the two tied notes.

Part of the tone color of an instrument that distinguishes its sound from that of another instrument.

The fraction-like figures at the beginning of a piece of music that tell you how many beats are in a measure and which note value gets one beat.

The character of sound produced by an instrument; made up of three basic components: decay, timbre, and attack.

To change the key in which a progression is played.

One of the most popular folk guitar techniques; created by varying the timing that you use to hit the treble strings.

The metal rod attached to the bridge that can be used to move the bridge back and forth to change the string tension.

Simple chords composed of three notes.

A musical pattern wherein the beat is subdivided into three equal units instead of the usual two.

The adjustable metal rod that runs the length of a guitar’s neck that controls the curvature of the neck and fingerboard.

A tool specifically designed for adjusting a specific truss rod.

A type of guitar amplifier that uses vacuum tube technology.

The mechanisms in the headstock that raise and lower the tension of the strings, drawing them to different pitches.

A device that produces a single specific reference pitch.

The round post connected to a tuning head around which the strings are wound and that can be adjusted to define the pitch of the string.

1. (noun) In musical notation, upstrokes (often indicated by a V-shaped symbol) indicate that the sound should be made by dragging your pick or your right hand across the string in an upward motion. 2. (verb) Producing sound by dragging your pick or your right hand across the string in an upward motion.

A fluctuation in the pitch of a note that can be created on guitar by repeatedly bending and unbending a note.

A pedal inserted between the electric guitar and the amp that lets you control how loud your electric guitar sounds.

A bass guitar technique in which a new note is played on every beat of music.

A musical style that uses rhythms that are relatively common to South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.