Guitar players share a lingua franca, and sometimes talking the talk is just as important as walking the walk. In this lexicon, we’ll define must-know lingo for guitarists related to the instrument’s components, fundamental music theory, playing techniques, routine maintenance, essential accessories, studio recording and onstage performance—in addition to some bonus terms you’ll run into at your local Guitar Center.
If you’re a beginner, you can use this guide to quickly get up to speed on the basic jargon—some I wish I’d known sooner in my own journey as a guitarist—and if you’re a longtime player, it never hurts to brush up on your vocabulary.
Familiarizing yourself with the words in this glossary can help you communicate with everyone from pro players and sound engineers to repair techs and instructors—or simply get you geared up for casual shoptalk among bandmates and friends.
Table of Contents
Guitar Anatomy Terms
Guitar Theory Terms
Guitar Technique Terms
Guitar Maintenance Terms
Guitar Accessory Terms
Guitar Gigging and Recording Terms
Guitar Center Talk
Closing the Guitar Player's Dictionary
Guitar Anatomy Terms
- Headstock: The uppermost part of the guitar’s neck, traditionally where the brand logo lives. Different makes and models of guitar are recognized by their distinct headstock shapes.
- Serial Number: A unique sequence of numbers and/or letters assigned to an instrument at the factory for identification, usually located on the back of the headstock. For example, two top brands—Gibson and Fender—have distinct serialization conventions, which can determine an instrument’s age and where it was made.
- Tuning Pegs/Machines: Consist of a “post” each string wraps around and a “button” used to tighten or loosen a string’s tension and alter its pitch. A tuning machine’s gear ratio (e.g., 18:1) expresses the number of button turns required to rotate the post one complete revolution.
- Neck Profile: Describes the shape of a neck, usually with a letter symbolizing it. E.g., rounded C, flat D, thin U, etc.
- Soundhole: A physical opening in an acoustic, hollowbody or semi-hollowbody electric guitar’s top, allowing sound waves to propagate and organically “amplify” the instrument.
- Pickups: Magnetic devices that convert acoustic energy (vibrating guitar strings) into electrical energy for amplification. Pickups (including humbuckers, single coils and P90s) play a huge role in an electric guitar’s tone.
- Bridge & Saddle: A piece of hardware anchoring the guitar’s strings to the body—where a player’s picking hand tends to rest, too. Bridges can be fixed to the body for stability (hardtail) or mounted within a cavity and manipulated using a whammy bar (tremolo/vibrato system). Saddles are where each string sits. On an acoustic guitar, the saddle is usually just a strip of plastic, metal or bone on the bridge with a small notch etched for every string. On an electric guitar, saddles are often individually adjustable.
Pictured: 1952 Fender Telecaster Headstock
Guitar Theory Terms
- Chord: A collection of individual notes played together. Chords form the basic structure of songs and can be strummed or plucked.
- Riff: A repeated musical phrase. Riffs can consist of both chords and single notes. The word itself is fairly universal, though it’s often associated with punk, rock and metal players.
- Major Scale: A fundamental seven-note scale known for its “happy” tonality. Its arrangement is determined by the standardized pattern of whole (W) and half (H) steps between each note in the scale. The major scale’s “step formula” is W-W-H-W-W-W-H.
- Pentatonic Scale: A five-note scale frequently employed when writing melodies or improvising solos, embraced for its simplicity and applicability to numerous styles of music. There are major and minor variations of the pentatonic scale.
- Tablature: Musical notation showing the fret number to play on a string. Easier to read than standard musical notation, guitar tablature (tabs, for short) can be a great resource for learning songs.
- Interval: The number of steps between two notes and their tonal quality, defined as major, minor, perfect, augmented or diminished. For example, the distance from C to E is a major third; the distance from C to Eb is a minor third. The distance from C to F creates a perfect fourth, and C to G creates a perfect fifth.
- Time Signature: Specifies the number of a particular note value to be played per measure, or bar. The most common time signature, 4/4, indicates four quarter notes per measure. 6/8 tells us there are six eighth notes per measure, and so on.
- Standard Tuning: From low to high, standard tuning is EADGBE. The intervallic relationship between each string is a perfect fourth, except from G to B, which is a major third.
Guitar Technique Terms
- Fingerstyle: Refers to plucking the strings with fingers rather than a pick. Fingerstyle is a common acoustic guitar technique, though electric guitarists employ it as well.
- Alternate Picking: A technique characterized by its down-up motion, in which the first note of a sequence is played with a picked downstroke, the second an upstroke, the next a downstroke and so forth. Practiced over time, alternate picking promotes speed and control; Paul Gilbert is a well-known expert of the technique.
- Barre Chord: Moveable chords based on open E and A major/minor shapes, where the index finger holds a single fret across multiple strings. They can instantly broaden your chord vocab.
- Bend: Pushing a string upward or pulling it downward on the fingerboard to change its pitch. Bends are essential to expressive lead playing and give the guitar its characteristically “vocal” timbre when it comes to solos. David Gilmour’s signature understated style relies on big, dramatic bends, for instance.
- Vibrato: Oscillating a note’s pitch with small, repeated up and down bends to create a wavering effect. The technique can also be performed using the whammy bar on guitars equipped with vibrato bridges.
- Hammer-on: Performed by picking a note and rapidly pressing and holding down a higher fret on the same string, without releasing the original note. The pressure used to apply the hammer-on allows it to sound, creating upward pitch movement.
- Pull-off: The opposite of a hammer-on. While fretting two notes on the same string, the finger on the higher fret quickly “pulls off” from the string, creating downward pitch movement by keeping the lower note fretted.
- Palm Mute: Using the side of your picking hand or fleshy part of the palm to “cut off” ringing strings, resulting in a tight, percussive sound frequently associated with metal riffing. Chug-a-chug-chug? That’s palm muting in action.
- Strumming Pattern: Determines the rhythm of a chord progression by establishing a sequence of downstrokes and upstrokes across the strings. Strumming patterns can be simple and steady or full of accents and rests to give them their distinct feel.
Pictured: Taylor 914CE 50th Anniversary Custom Limited-Edition Grand Auditorium in Light Shaded Edge Burst
Guitar Maintenance Terms
- Setup: Routine maintenance involving cleaning, conditioning and lubricating the guitar and its hardware, changing strings, adjusting string height, setting intonation and making sure everything works as intended. Guitar setups are like oil changes for your car.
- Truss Rod: An adjustable, stabilizing metal bar located inside a guitar’s neck used to counteract the tension imposed on the wood by the strings. Truss rods can be tightened and loosened to change the neck’s curvature, i.e., its relief.
- Neck Relief: Also known as “bow,” relief refers to the overall curve in a guitar’s neck. Positive relief denotes an upward curve, while negative indicates a downward bow. Proper relief creates ideal space between the strings and frets, allowing them to vibrate freely without buzz.
- Intonation: Ensures each string is in tune with itself when playing the open note and its 12th-fret octave and harmonic. Intonation is adjusted by moving the string’s saddle forward or back. If the 12th-fret octave and harmonic are out of tune with each other, shortening the string corrects flatness, while lengthening it remedies sharpness.
- Action: The height of the strings above the frets. Action can be moved up or down at the saddle, via truss rod adjustments or by filing the nut. Many players prefer the easier playability of low action, but medium-high action, while harder to play, is less susceptible to buzz and can improve string resonance and sustain.
Pictured: Guitar Tech Checking the Action on a Gibson Les Paul
Guitar Accessory Terms
- Capo: Raises the pitch of all strings by clamping down on them and creating a moveable nut. A couple famous examples of songs played with a capo include “Hotel California” by the Eagles (seventh fret) and Oasis’ “Wonderwall” (second fret).
- Tuner: Detects your strings’ pitch and helps you tune your guitar. Popular styles include pedal tuners for precise pitch detection, as well as clip-on headstock tuners offering speed and convenience.
- Pick: Also known as plectrums, guitar picks are the main point of contact between you and the strings. They come in a variety of shapes, thicknesses and materials.
- Strap: A length-adjustable strip of material, guitar straps let you hold, or wear, your instrument while standing.
- Strings: Available in a number of materials and thicknesses (i.e., gauges), guitar strings play a key role in your guitar’s overall sound and feel.
- Cables: Instrument cables carry your electric or acoustic-electric guitar signal to an amp or recording system and are also used to connect pedals. There’s a saying in audio that your signal is only as strong as your weakest cable, so be sure to check out our top picks for “The Best Guitar Cables of 2025.”
- String Cutter/Tuning Winder: Multi-tools like D’Addario’s best-selling Pro-Winder help you quickly wrap fresh strings around their tuning machine post and snip off the excess length.
- Action Gauge: A straightforward tool for measuring string height in millimeters, from the top of a fret to the bottom of the string.
- Humidifier/Humidity Packs: Suspended between strings and lowered into the soundhole of an acoustic guitar, humidifiers release controlled amounts of moisture to prevent your instrument from shrinking or cracking in dry climates.
- Guitar Case: From form-fitted hardshells to lightweight gig bags, protective cases keep your instrument safe for storage and transportation. Our guide to “The Best Cases for Electric Guitar” can help narrow your search.
Pictured: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Electric Guitar Strings
Guitar Gigging and Recording Terms
- Guitar Miking: Using a microphone, or microphones, to capture the sound of acoustic and electric guitars for recording or amplification through a PA. For more on this subject, check out our tips on recording acoustic and electric guitar.
- Sound Check: An equipment and mix test before a gig. It’s a chance to dial in monitors, check overall levels and ensure everything is sounding right and operating normally.
- Input Level: The initial loudness of a signal hitting the front end of an audio interface, mixer or amplifier.
- Gain: Any amount of amplification applied to a signal. Gain creates a difference between the input and output levels. For guitarists, gain is often equated with distortion.
- Tracking: Another word for “recording.”
- Reamping: A technique in which raw, unprocessed guitar tracks—captured with a D.I. or through the Hi-Z input on an interface—are sent out of your recording software to outboard processors (usually amps and effects) and back for tone sculpting. Reamping dry signals lets you audition and record any number of amplifiers and effects at any time.
- Amp Modeling: Uses digital technology to emulate tube and solid-state amps, as well as effects. Some of the most popular modelers take the form of hardware multi-effects units.
- Pedalboard: Refers to the actual platform on which guitarists mount their pedals, in addition to an assortment of stompboxes mounted, wired and ready to play.
- Software Plug-ins: Computer-based effects applied to sound sources in a digital audio workstation (DAW). Take a look at “The Best Plug-ins for Mixing Guitar” for further reading.
Pictured: Shure SM57 and Royer R-121 Miking Guitar Amplifier
Guitar Center Talk
- Platinum Room: Guitar Center’s premium instrument assortment, featuring tippity top-of-the-line gear.
- Guitar-A-Thon: Guitar Center’s twice-annual sales event, which introduces deep discounts on top brands and super cool exclusive launches.
- Lessons: An opportunity to further your guitar skills through one-on-one instruction with our expert teachers.
- Repairs: From routine setups to in-depth mods, Guitar Center Repairs techs have you covered.
- Things we overhear customers saying: “No, seriously—I heard ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is banned at Guitar Center. Play ‘Smoke on the Water’ instead.”
- Things we say around other guitarists: “I have no idea what chord this is. I just like the way it sounds … by the way, can I borrow a pick?”
Left to Right: Fender Player II Moonlight Drive Telecaster, Epiphone Les Paul Custom Widow, Taylor Sunset Blvd 414ce Studio Acoustic Guitar
Closing the Guitar Player's Dictionary
As we turn the volume down on this piece, we hope you’ve gained a solid grasp of the guitarist’s dialect. There’s certainly no dearth of geekspeak to wrap your head around, regardless of how long you’ve been playing.
So, whether you’re tuning your instrument for the very first time or riffing through your thousandth sound check, dedication to musicianship means there’s always something new to learn—and that’s why we keep picking up the guitar.