Guitar terms glossary
Every term used across the Guitar Genius guides, defined plainly. Written for players, not theory exams.
The fretboard
- Fret
- One of the metal strips running across the neck. Pressing a string down behind a fret shortens the vibrating length and raises the pitch by one semitone per fret.
- Nut
- The slotted strip at the top of the neck where the strings leave the fretboard and run to the tuners. It sets the open-string length, and in chord diagrams it is drawn as the thick top line.
- Open string
- A string played without any finger pressing it down, sounding its full-length pitch. In standard tuning the open strings are E, A, D, G, B, and E from lowest to highest. Full guide →
- Position
- A region of the neck where the hand sits to play a shape without shifting, usually named for the fret the index finger covers. Scales are commonly learned as a set of connected positions rather than one long pattern. Full guide →
- Octave shape
- A moveable fingering that finds the same note an octave higher. From the low E or A string the octave sits two frets up and two strings over; from the D or G string it is three frets up and two strings over. Full guide →
- Inlay markers also: fret markers, position dots
- The dots or shapes set into the fretboard at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, and 21, with a double marker at the 12th. They exist purely as navigation landmarks for the player. Full guide →
Scales and theory
- Interval
- The distance between two notes, named by how many scale steps it spans — a third, a fifth, an octave. Intervals are what make a shape moveable: the pattern of distances stays the same wherever you play it.
- Semitone also: half step
- The smallest interval in standard Western music, equal to one fret on the guitar. Two semitones make a whole tone, or whole step.
- Root note
- The note a scale or chord is named after and built from, and the note that sounds like home when you land on it. Knowing where the roots sit inside a shape is what tells you which key you are playing in. Full guide →
- Pentatonic scale
- A five-note scale, from the Greek for five. On guitar it usually means the minor or major pentatonic, both of which drop the two notes most likely to clash — which is why they sound good over so much music with so little effort. Full guide →
- Minor pentatonic scale
- A five-note scale built from the root, flat third, fourth, fifth, and flat seventh. In A that spells A, C, D, E, and G. It is the backbone of rock and blues lead playing and usually the first scale a guitarist learns. Full guide →
- Major pentatonic scale
- The brighter relative of the minor pentatonic, using the identical five fingering shapes but treating a different note as home. A minor pentatonic contains exactly the same notes as C major pentatonic. Full guide →
- Blues scale
- The minor pentatonic with one extra note added — the flat fifth, sitting between the fourth and the fifth. In A that added note is E♭. Full guide →
- Blue note
- The flat fifth added to the minor pentatonic to make the blues scale. It is tense and unstable by design, so players pass through it — sliding or bending into the fifth — rather than resting on it. Full guide →
- Diatonic
- Belonging to the seven notes of a given major or minor key. A diatonic chord progression uses only chords built from those seven notes, which is why it sounds settled and consistent. Full guide →
- Mode
- A scale produced by taking the seven notes of a major scale and treating a different one as home. The same notes played over a different root give the seven modes — Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.
- Circle of fifths
- A diagram arranging the twelve keys so each step clockwise moves up a fifth and adds a sharp. It shows at a glance which keys are closely related and which chords belong together. Full guide →
Chords
- Triad
- A three-note chord built from a root, a third, and a fifth. A major triad has a major third; a minor triad has a flat third. Most guitar chords are triads with notes doubled across the six strings.
- Open chord
- A chord played near the nut that uses one or more open strings, such as Em, Am, D, G, or C. Open chords ring loudly with little effort, which makes them the standard starting point. Full guide →
- Barre chord also: bar chord
- A chord where one finger presses several strings at once across a single fret, acting as a moveable nut. Because no open strings are involved, the entire shape slides up and down to change key. Full guide →
- CAGED system
- A method built on the five open chord shapes — C, A, G, E, and D — treated as moveable shapes. Any major chord can be played in all five, and going up the neck they always appear in that same order before repeating. Full guide →
- Moveable shape
- A fingering that uses no open strings, so the whole pattern can slide along the neck to produce the same chord or scale in any key. Barre chords and pentatonic boxes are both moveable shapes. Full guide →
- Power chord also: fifth chord, 5 chord
- A two-note shape using only the root and the fifth, with no third. Because the third is what makes a chord major or minor, a power chord is neither — which is why it sits comfortably under distortion.
- Voicing
- A particular arrangement of a chord’s notes — which notes appear, in which order, on which strings. Two voicings of the same chord contain the same notes but can sound noticeably different.
- Inversion
- A chord voiced with something other than the root as its lowest note. First inversion puts the third in the bass, second inversion puts the fifth there, and the choice changes how the chord connects to its neighbours.
- Chord diagram also: chord box
- A grid showing the neck as if the guitar were standing upright: vertical lines are strings with the low E on the left, horizontal lines are frets, dots are fingers, O means play the string open, and X means do not play it. Full guide →
- Seventh chord
- A triad with a fourth note added a seventh above the root. Dominant sevenths add a flat seventh and drive blues and rock; major sevenths add a natural seventh and sound softer.
- Suspended chord also: sus2, sus4
- A chord where the third is replaced by the second (sus2) or the fourth (sus4). Removing the third makes it neither major nor minor, leaving an unresolved sound that usually wants to fall back to the plain chord.
Practice and tuning
- Standard tuning
- The default tuning of a six-string guitar: E, A, D, G, B, E from the lowest string to the highest. Nearly all guitar instruction assumes it unless it says otherwise. Full guide →
- Drop D
- An alternate tuning that lowers only the sixth string from E to D. It puts a one-finger power chord under the bottom three strings and deepens the guitar’s lowest note by a whole tone. Full guide →
- Relative tuning also: the 5th-fret method
- Tuning the guitar to itself rather than to a reference pitch. Most strings fretted at the fifth fret match the next open string up, with one exception: the G string is fretted at the fourth fret to tune the B. Full guide →
- Capo
- A clamp that presses all six strings at a chosen fret, acting as a moveable nut. It raises the key while letting you keep using open-chord shapes and their ringing sound.
- Backing track also: jam track
- A recorded accompaniment — usually drums, bass, and chords — that you solo over. Practising against one trains timing and phrasing in a way that playing scales unaccompanied cannot. Full guide →
- Tempo (BPM)
- The speed of a piece in beats per minute. Practising deliberately below target tempo and raising it gradually is the standard method for building clean technique. Full guide →
- Metronome
- A device or app that clicks a steady pulse at a chosen tempo. It is the honest test of timing, since it will not follow you when you rush a difficult passage. Full guide →