What Are The Parts Of A Guitar Called?
In our Guitar Glossary you can read all about the different parts of a guitar and learn and master the guitar terminology.
- Action
- The height of the strings above the fret board.
- A style of playing where the right hand alternates between two or more strings.
- A chord played one note at a time.
- A sub division of time in music.
- A vertical line which shows the end of a bar of music.
- A right hand technique which involves picking a bass note then strumming the rest of the chord.
- A horizontal line which shows two eighth or sixteenth notes belonging to the beat shown on the bottom of the time signature.
- A sub division of time usually felt as the pulse within a piece of music.
- The main part of a guitar (not the neck).
- A group of three or more notes played simultaneously.
- A diagram which shows a chord progression.
- A sequence of chords played one after another.
- A count at the start of a piece of music to show when to start and how fast to play (usually the top number on the time signature).
- Two vertical lines which show the end of a section or piece of music.
- Right hand movement from top to bottom.
- Electronic foot pedals for altering the sound of an electric guitar.
- A beat half as long in time as a quarter beat.
- A guitar which can be electrically amplified (usually with a solid body).
- A right hand technique which involves using some or all your right hand fingers.
- Lower in pitch.
- A time signature of four quarter beats in one bar of music.
- The front side of a guitar neck which contains the frets.
- The vertical metal bars on a guitar fret board.
- Placing a finger next to a fret.
- A system of reading and writing guitar music (abbreviated to TAB).
- A beat twice as long as a quarter beat.
- To bring two or notes together in harmony.
- Two or more notes sounding simultaneously.
- The part of a guitar situated on the end of the neck which houses the machine heads.
- Used for tuning up each string and housed on the headstock (sometimes referred to as tuning heads or tuning keys).
- A succession of musical notes played one after another (usually the most recognizable tune of a song).
- The part of a guitar which houses the fret board.
- An acoustic guitar which has three nylon strings.
- A string played with no left hand fingers fretting any note.
- A chord which contains open strings.
- An electromagnet housed underneath the strings on an electric guitar which produces a signal to be amplified by a guitar amplifier.
- A small triangular shaped piece of plastic used for striking the guitar strings with the right hand.
- A sub division of time in music twice as long as an eighth beat.
- Two dots placed before a double line indicating the repeat of a section of music.
- A sequence of events played with the right hand on a guitar which gives a piece of music a distinct beat.
- A system of reading and writing music which shows rhythm.
- The note by which a chord or scale is named (Usually the deepest note in the chord, and always the first note in a scale).
- Higher in pitch.
- A rhythm of which each main beat is divided into three smaller beats (prominent in blues music).
- The hole in the front of an acoustic guitar body from which the sound is projected.
- An acoustic guitar which has all steel strings (usually four wound and two plain ones).
- The vertical line in music or rhythm notation which appears above or below a note or rhythm.
- Used to hold the guitar while in standing position.
- A technique where the right hand plays the noted of a chord simultaneously either with down or up strokes.
- A rhythm in music in which the down beat is felt slightly longer than the up beat (sometimes called a shuffle).
- The speed of a piece of music.
- A time signature of three quarter beats in one bar of music.
- A beat which is one and a half times as long as a half beat.
- A curved line which shows two notes of the same pitch joined together and played as one with the time value of both.
- A sign at the beginning of a piece of music (looks like a fraction) which shows how many beats in each bar (top number) and how long each beat lasts (bottom number).
- A curved metal bar implanted into the neck of a guitar used to adjust the amount and direction of bend in the neck.
- A time signature of twelve eighth beats in one bar of music.
- Right hand movement from bottom to top.
- Part of the body of a guitar which is smallest in dimension from top to bottom.
- A beat in music which lasts for a whole bar in music with a time signature of four/four.
The term ‘action’ refers to the height of the strings above the fretboard. It is the way a guitar is adjusted and how well it plays, relative to the style of music that is being played. The action on an instrument played by an aggressive strummer or flatpicker will vary greatly from that for a jazz player or fingerpicker.
Acoustic guitar have generally a higher action than electric guitars. An action that is too high is hard on your hands and will cause the guitar to play sharp. When it is set to low, it’s easier too easy to play, but causing the strings to rattle and buzz against the frets.
Action adjustments are made to improve the feel of the instrument, decrease pressure on your fingertips which can be severe when the action is too high, avoid buzzing and generally just get the best sound out of an instrument. Most instruments are set-up at the factory with higher action then necessary. This is because it is easier to drop the action than it is to raise it. Adjusting the action can be a costly undertaking. Raising action can require replacement of the nut, saddle and neck rod (since nylon string guitars rarely have adjustable neck rods, this step would be eliminated), while cutting them both lower can be done by resetting the neck. Often an inexperienced repairperson will plane down a bridge in order to lower action which not recommended as it can result in the loss of both volume and tone.
Depending on the abilities of the instrument and the needs of the player adjustments can be made to improve the instruments action and increase the comfort of playing. If you feel that you would like to adjust your action, take your guitar to a repair shop and play in front of the repair guy so he can observe your playing style so he can set it right for you.
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