Guitar Vocabulary

Before you can start playing your guitar, you must first understand the basic parts of a guitar and the most commonly used terms in guitar playing. We have two types of guitars, the acoustic and the electric; the parts to be discussed below are similar for the two types of guitar.

The headstock is the small end of a guitar. Typically you will find 6 tuning mechanisms in the headstock. For a bass guitar, only four exist; the number of tuning keys corresponds to the number of strings the guitar has. These tuning knobs or keys are used to tighten or loosen the strings attached to them. The pitch of the string is dependent on how well the key or knob is tuned.

After the headstock comes the guitar neck, which is the long, narrow board on the guitar. The front part of the neck is called the fretboard, which consists of frets, which are small metal bars over the fretboard, and the nut, which is similar to a fret but is right at the beginning of the fretboard. All the strings run along the neck passing over the nut and frets.

The body is the large curvy part of the guitar. For acoustic guitars, this is the sound box. For both acoustic and electric guitars, the bridge is the notched bar that holds the strings in place on the guitar body.

Fretting is the act of holding down a string between frets using your fingers, while muting is the act of touching the string without holding it down. To get a sound from your guitar, strum or pluck your guitar while fretting or muting.

Now that you know the basics of guitar vocabulary, you will find it easier to understand and learn to play your guitar.

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