Acoustic
An acoustic guitar usually has six strings numbered from 6 (lowest) to 1 (highest) and tuned E A D G B E respectively.
Arpeggio
The strings are picked successively to create a broken chord accompaniment. This can be effective both as an alternative to strumming, or used over the top of strummed chords.
Capo
A capo is fitted onto the guitar at a specific fret, effectively acting as a permanent bar across that fret and allowing open strings to be played at a higher pitch.
Chorus
The sound is delayed then, with a little modulation added, mixed back in with the original sound.
Double Stop
Two adjacent strings are played simultaneously to create two note licks.
Fingerstyle
The fingers of the right hand are used to play a pattern of strings as the left hand finger the chords.
Hammer On
A note is played at a given fret on the fingerboard then another finger is used to hammer down on a higher fret on the same string.
Harmonic Bend
An harmonic is played and the note is then bent upwards in pitch by pressing the string down behind the nut.
Harmonics
Natural harmonics occur on frets 12, 7, 5, and (to a lesser extent) 9 and 4. The string is touched directly above these frets while plucked resulting in a high pitched, bell-like sound. Other types of harmonics include touched, fretted and pinched.
Leslie
This effect is usually used with organ sounds. It emulates the rotating speakers of the famous Leslie Speakers.
Low Pedal
A low pedal note is played along with and/or between each note of the riff.
Percussive Mute
The left hand rests lightly on the strings, muting them, resulting in a percussive sound on strumming.
Pull Off
This can be viewed as the reverse of the hammer on. A note is played, then the finger playing that note is pulled off the string to sound the lower note. The lower note can be fretted or open.
Rake
The pick is raked down muted strings to the string sounding the played note creating a percusive sound.
Slide
A note is played and, while still holding the note down, the finger is slid up or down the neck of the guitar to another note. In a slide the only two notes you can hear are the first and last notes, in a glissando every note is articulated.
Strum
A rhythm is created by sounding large groups of the strings simultaneously with the pick or by striking with the fingers.
Tap
A finger from the right hand is used to tap a string onto the fretboard in order to sound a note. Two finger tapping involves tapping down two fingers simultaneously.
Vibrato
A played note is moved rapidly to produce a fluctuation in pitch that gives a richness to the tone. This can be done either along or across the neck. There exists an effect called vibrato that produces this fluctuation in pitch electronically.
Bass
A bass guitar usually has four strings tuned an octave down from the bottom four strings on a normal, treble, guitar i.e. E A D G.
Chorus
The sound is delayed then, with a little modulation added, mixed back in with the original sound.
Distortion
Distortion is a generic term for the sound produced by fuzz, overdrive and distortion effects. The gain of the signal is increased so high that the wave is clipped and distortion occurs.
Double Stop
Two adjacent strings are played simultaneously to create two note licks.
Hammer On
A note is played at a given fret on the fingerboard then another finger is used to hammer down on a higher fret on the same string.
Harmonics
Natural harmonics occur on frets 12, 7, 5, and (to a lesser extent) 9 and 4. The string is touched directly above these frets while plucked resulting in a high pitched, bell-like sound. Other types of harmonics include touched, fretted and pinched.
Low Pedal
A low pedal note is played along with and/or between each note of the riff.
Palm Mute
The right hand is used to dampen the strings at the bridge to dull the sound they emit.
Pick
The bass is most effectively played with the fingers, however, many bass players use a pick to sound the strings.
Pre Bend
In a pre bend the string is bent before you play it. The string is played from the top of the bend and allowed to bend back to its original position.
Pull Off
This can be viewed as the reverse of the hammer on. A note is played, then the finger playing that note is pulled off the string to sound the lower note. The lower note can be fretted or open.
Slap
The strings are slapped rather than plucked to create a more aggressive sound. This technique really only works on the bass guitar
Slide
A note is played and, while still holding the note down, the finger is slid up or down the neck of the guitar to another note. In a slide the only two notes you can hear are the first and last notes, in a glissando every note is articulated.
Strum
A rhythm is created by sounding large groups of the strings simultaneously with the pick or by striking with the fingers.
Tap
A finger from the right hand is used to tap a string onto the fretboard in order to sound a note. Two finger tapping involves tapping down two fingers simultaneously.
Wah
A variable footpedal is used to control a variable resonance band pass filter. The pedal can be used to produce a rythmic fluctuation or, left stationary, can act simply as a static filter.
Electric
An electric guitar usually has six strings tuned like an acoustic but, as in the case of an acousitc guitar, twelve string equivalents exist and many guitarists choose to use different tunings to create different sounds.
Bend
The string is bent while a note is sounding to raise its pitch. Often, more than one string is bent simultaneously.
Chorus
The sound is delayed then, with a little modulation added, mixed back in with the original sound.
Distortion
Distortion is a generic term for the sound produced by fuzz, overdrive and distortion effects. The gain of the signal is increased so high that the wave is clipped and distortion occurs.
Double Stop
Two adjacent strings are played simultaneously to create two note licks.
Flange
Essentially this the same as phasing but the delay times used can be slightly larger and feedback is used to create a 'whooshy' sound.
Hammer On
A note is played at a given fret on the fingerboard then another finger is used to hammer down on a higher fret on the same string.
Harmonic Bend
An harmonic is played and the note is then bent upwards in pitch by pressing the string down behind the nut.
Harmonics
Natural harmonics occur on frets 12, 7, 5, and (to a lesser extent) 9 and 4. The string is touched directly above these frets while plucked resulting in a high pitched, bell-like sound. Other types of harmonics include touched, fretted and pinched.
Humaniser
A resonance filter is used to produce an effect similar to mouthing words. It is possible to get a tube to fit in the mouth to control this effect - sometimes called a 'talkbox'.
Low Pedal
A low pedal note is played along with and/or between each note of the riff.
Palm Mute
The right hand is used to dampen the strings at the bridge to dull the sound they emit.
Phase
This effect was originally created by running two tape recorders playing the same track and altering the speed of one causing the tracks to sweep in and out of phase with each other. This is an example of a digital unit approximating the effect.
Pre Bend
In a pre bend the string is bent before you play it. The string is played from the top of the bend and allowed to bend back to its original position.
Pull Off
This can be viewed as the reverse of the hammer on. A note is played, then the finger playing that note is pulled off the string to sound the lower note. The lower note can be fretted or open.
Rake
The pick is raked down muted strings to the string sounding the played note creating a percusive sound.
Ring Modulation
This effect takes two input signals and produced two out put signals comprising two new frequencies based on the sum and difference of the input frequencies. This was used to create the 'Dalek' voices in Dr Who.
Scrape
The pick is scraped down the wound strings to create a grinding sound. This technique is usually used with a distortion effect.
Slide
A note is played and, while still holding the note down, the finger is slid up or down the neck of the guitar to another note. In a slide the only two notes you can hear are the first and last notes, in a glissando every note is articulated.
Strum
A rhythm is created by sounding large groups of the strings simultaneously with the pick or by striking with the fingers.
Tap
A finger from the right hand is used to tap a string onto the fretboard in order to sound a note. Two finger tapping involves tapping down two fingers simultaneously.
Tremolo
The volume of the signal is altered rhythmically. The degree and speed of the tremolo can be altered.
Unison Bend
Two notes are played simultaneously, the lower of the two is then bent upwards into unison with the higher.
Vibrato
A played note is moved rapidly to produce a fluctuation in pitch that gives a richness to the tone. This can be done either along or across the neck. There exists an effect called vibrato that produces this fluctuation in pitch electronically.
Wah
A variable footpedal is used to control a variable resonance band pass filter. The pedal can be used to produce a rythmic fluctuation or, left stationary, can act simply as a static filter.