Learning the Language

[SG99]

Could someone please define the following guitar vocabulary.. I would hate to use the following words wrong when posting on this message board. (I don't want to sound like an idiot... or is it too late?)

Tone:
Arpeggio:
Legato: does this have to do w/ timing?
Stegato: see above?
Rig:
Pinch Harmonic:
Fake Harmonic:
Fat Neck:
Thin Neck:
Passive Pickup:
Hot Pickup:
Fret buzz:
Machines:


that should help me some, but i may have forgotten many.
thanx for any input.


[This message has been edited by SG99 (edited September 25, 2000).]

[StoneDragon]

Ahhh... the allusive musician's lingo http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/smokin.gif

Don't worry... pretty soon you will be rattling off these terms and more and having everyone you talk to scratching their heads wondering what in the world you just said.

tone - This can have a few different meanings... depending on how it is used.
As another name for note... the blah blah blah scale is made up of seven tones... etc
As the European equivalent of the American whole-step and half-step... ie whole-tone and semi-tone (this is where the name of the "whole-tone" scale comes from.
As a description of the overall sound quality of an instrument or amp... ie clean and squeeky... thick and lush... raspy... crunchy... clean... distorted... bassy... trebley... midrangey.... buzz saw...

Arpeggio - the notes (tones) of a chord played like a scale... see this post (http://www.zentao.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000024.html) for more explanation than you probably want to read.

Legatto and staccato - These terms deal with how you play each note. Legatto means smooth and flowing... each note blending into the next. Staccato means short and choppy... each note clearly defined.

rig - equipment... amp, effects units and what-not.... unless you play county... then it would be refering to what you drive http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

Pinch harmonic and Fake (artificial) harmonic - these both refer to ways of producing harmonics other than touching the open string at the 12th, 7th, 5th, and 4th (etc) frets. See lesson five (http://www.zentao.com/guitar/lesson5/right-hand.html).

Fat neck and thin neck - how the neck of the guitar feels in your hands.

Passive pickup and hot pickup - No this isn't talking about your approach to picking up members of the opposite sex... it refers to the electronics inside your guitar. Most pickups are "passive". They don't "add" anything to the sound. They affect the "tone" of the guitar by what they "leave out" of the sound. Active pickups will usually require a 9volt battery. They have the ability to "add' to the sound as well as take away from the sound. A hot pickup is simply one that lets a lot of electrical signal pass through to the amp... this usually translates to more volume and/or distortion from the guitar.

Fret buzz - the rattle you get when you try to play a note and the string vibrates against a higher fret. This can be due to the neck being out of adjustment or the frets being uneven.

Machine - Usually refers to the tuners on the guitar. The technical term is tuning machine heads. Check out guitar anatomy (http://www.zentao.com/guitar/anatomy/).