vincesmusic

Glossary of Musical Terms

	Accidental: any sign that raises or lowers a given note; e.g., sharp, flat, or natural.
	Adagietto: a little faster than adagio.
	Adagio: slow, at ease.
	Allegretto: a little slower than allegro.
	Allegro: fast.
	Alternate Picking: Guitar Technique – strictly alternating down and up strokes.
	Andante: at a walking pace.
	Andantino: usually means a little faster than andante, but sometimes it can mean a little slower.
	Arpeggiate: to sound the notes of a chord separately, in any order.
	Arpeggio: a chord whose notes are sounded in succession (in the manner of a scale) rather than simultaneously.
	Articulation: the manner in which a note (or successive notes) is performed.
	Atonality: absence of tonality; music without a tonal center.
	Barre Chord: Guitar Technique – a chord that uses one finger to press down multiple strings.
	Bend: Guitar Technique – pushing or pulling a string, up or down, to raise the pitch.
	Broken Chord: an arpeggiated chord.
	Chord: the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes.
	Chord Progression: multiple chords played in succession.
	Chromatic: (1) a note that is not part of the given key. (2) ascending or descending by consecutive half notes.
	Closed Position Chords: (1) Guitar Technique – chords which do not contain any open strings, and are therefore moveable. (2) General Theory – chords in which the voicing of the notes are as close as possible.
	Diatonic: a scale, or musical passage, which only contains notes within the given key.
	Double Flat: a sign that lowers a note by two half steps (one whole step).
	Double Sharp: a sign that raises a note by two half steps (one whole step).
	Dyad: a two-note chord.
	Dynamics: volume levels.
	Economy Picking: Guitar Technique – combination of sweep picking and alternate picking, in which the minimum amount of movement is achieved.
	Enharmonic: different names for the same note.
	Fingerpicking: Guitar Technique – plucking the strings with individual fingers, rather than using a pick.
	Fingerstyle: see Fingerpicking.
	Flat: a sign that lowers a note by one half-step.
	Forte: loud.
	Fortissimo: very loud.
	Grave: very slow, serious.
	Hammer-on: Guitar Technique – sounding a note by pressing down a fretting finger without plucking the string.
	Harmony: (1) the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes. see Chord (2) the resultant sound of a chord progression.
	Interval: the distance between two notes.
	Inversion: (1) the voicing of a chord with the root note in any of the upper parts, but not in the lowest part. (2) a melody turned upside down.
	Key: the tonal center of music based on a major or minor scale.
	Larghetto: a little faster than largo.
	Largo: very slow.
	Legato: smooth, connected, articulation.
	Lento: slow.
	Mezzo Forte: medium loud.
	Mezzo Piano: medium soft.
	Moderato: moderate.
	Moveable Chords: Guitar Technique – see Closed Position Chords (1).
	Natural: a sign that cancels a previous accidental.
	Open Position Chords: (1) Guitar Technique – chords which utilize open strings, and are therefore non-moveable. (2) General Theory – chords in which the voicing of the notes are not as close as possible.
	Palm Mute: Guitar Technique – to place the palm of the picking hand on the strings, near the bridge, while plucking.
	Pianissimo: very soft.
	Piano: soft.
	Prestissimo: as fast as possible.
	Presto: very fast.
	Pull-off: Guitar Technique – sounding a note by “pulling off” a fretting finger without plucking the string.
	Root Position: the voicing of a chord with the root note as the lowest part.
	Root: the first, or main, note of a chord or scale. see also: Tonic
	Scale: sequence of notes in ascending and/or descending order.
	Sharp: a sign that raises a note by one half-step.
	Staccato: detached, separated, articulation.
	Sweep Picking: Guitar Technique – using all down strokes when striking the strings from low to high and all up strokes when striking the strings from high to low.
	Tempo: the speed or pace of music.
	Tonal Center: the main note; the tone toward which all other tones gravitate.
	Tonality: music that utilizes a tonal center.
	Tonic: (1) the first, or main, note of a scale. (2) the chord built on the first note of a scale. see also: Root
	Tremolo: (1) rapid repetition of a single note. (2) rapid alternation between two notes that are more than a major second apart. (3) rapid alternation between two chords.
	Triad: a three-note chord.
	Trill: rapid alternation between two notes that are a major or minor second apart.
	Vibrato: slight and more or less rapid fluctuation of pitch.
	Vivace: fast, lively.
	Voicing: the arrangement of the notes in a chord.