0–9

5R3: A fretboard relationship shorthand used to locate and connect chord tones (especially 5ths, roots, and 3rds) across strings/shapes.
8-bar blues: A standard 8-measure blues form (shorter than 12-bar), used in common repertoire and variations.
12-bar blues: A standard 12-measure blues form, commonly built around I–IV–V harmony with turnarounds and variations.

A

Accidental: A symbol that alters a written note (sharp, flat, natural, double sharp, double flat).
Aeolian: The modern modal name for the natural minor scale.
Alto clef: A C clef that places middle C on the middle line of the staff.
Anticipation (ANT): A chord tone sounded early, before the harmony formally arrives.
Appoggiatura (APP): A non-chord tone typically approached by leap and resolved by step, often accented/expressive.
Arpeggio: Playing chord tones one at a time (an “unfolded chord”).
Augmentation (motive): Lengthening the durations of a motive.
Augmentation dot: A dot that adds half the original note’s value; multiple dots add half of the previously added value.
Augmented / diminished interval: Augmented is one semitone larger than major/perfect; diminished is one semitone smaller than minor/perfect.
Augmented sixth chord: A predominant chord containing an augmented sixth that typically expands outward to an octave as it resolves to V.
Authentic cadence: Dominant-function harmony resolving to tonic (V or vii° → I/i).

B

Bar (measure): A segment of music containing a fixed number of beats, defined by the time signature.
Barline: A vertical line dividing measures.
Barre chord: A chord where one finger frets multiple strings across a single fret, enabling movable chord shapes.
Bass (part-writing): The lowest sounding note at a given moment; not necessarily the chord root.
Bass clef: Clef that anchors the staff around lower pitches (reference pitch F).
Basso continuo: Baroque practice using a written bass line with realized harmony (typically keyboard + bass instrument).
B.B. King box: A compact fretboard area used for expressive blues phrasing (bends, vibrato, call-and-response).
Beam (beaming): Grouping line(s) that connect flagged notes (eighths, sixteenths, etc.) to show beat organization.
Beat: The steady pulse you count in music.
Beat unit: The note value that represents one beat in a meter.
Binary form: Two-part form (A–B), often with repeats and a tonal plan.
Blue note: A characteristic blues color tone (often ♭3, ♭5, or ♭7 in context).
Blues scale: Typically minor pentatonic plus an added color tone (commonly the ♭5).
BPM: Beats per minute; a tempo measurement.
Borrowed chord (mode mixture): A chord imported from the parallel major/minor (or related mode) for color.

C

Cadence: A harmonic arrival, often the final two chords of a phrase/section/piece.
Cadential 6/4: A tonic triad in second inversion that functions as a predominant embellishment before V at a cadence.
CAGED system: Fretboard organization using the five open-chord shapes C–A–G–E–D as movable templates for chords, chord tones, and scale locations.
CAGED octaves: Using CAGED-shaped octave placements as anchors to find the same note (especially roots) all over the neck.
Cantus firmus: A fixed “given” melody used as the foundation for counterpoint exercises.
Changing tones (CT): Two non-chord tones that surround a target note (one above, one below) before resolving.
Chord: Two or more notes sounded together; in harmony contexts, typically 3+ notes.
Chord function: A chord’s role in tonal motion (tonic = stability, predominant/subdominant = prepares, dominant = drives to tonic).
Chord tones: Notes that define a chord (e.g., 1–3–5 for triads; add 7 for 7th chords).
Circle of fifths: Chart organizing key signatures by successive perfect fifths (sharps clockwise, flats counterclockwise).
Clef: A symbol that maps staff lines/spaces to pitches.
Color tone (modal characteristic tone): The scale degree that most clearly differentiates a mode from major/minor with the same tonic.
Common tone: Holding a note shared by both chords across the change to smooth voice-leading.
Compound interval: Any interval larger than an octave (9th, 11th, 13th, etc.).
Compound meter: Meter where the beat subdivides into three equal parts (beat unit is a dotted note).
Consonance / dissonance: Stable vs. tension-producing intervals; dissonances require controlled treatment in common-practice/counterpoint contexts.
Contrary motion: Two voices move in opposite directions; valued for voice independence.
Counterpoint: The combination of multiple independent melodies sounding together.
Cycle of 3rds: A repeating movement pattern in thirds, used for building harmony awareness and forecasting later theory.

D

Da capo aria: Form that returns to the beginning after a contrasting middle section (A–B–A via “da capo”).
Deceptive cadence: V resolves to something other than tonic (commonly vi in major / VI in minor).
Development (sonata): Sonata section that transforms material and explores instability/modulation.
Diatonic: Notes/chords that belong to a key (drawn from its scale; not chromatically altered).
Diatonic common-chord modulation: Modulation using a pivot chord that is diatonic in both keys.
Diminution (motive): Shortening the durations of a motive.
Distance (interval number): Interval size measured by counting letter names/scale degrees (2nd, 3rd, etc.).
Division (meter): In compound meters, the subdivision unit shown by the bottom number in the time signature.
Dominant: Scale degree 5 and its harmonic function, typically pulling toward tonic.
Dominant 7 (V7): Major triad + minor 7th; strongly wants to resolve to tonic.
Dominant function: Harmony that strongly drives toward tonic (V, vii°, and related forms).
Dorian: Minor-flavoured mode with a natural 6 (“minor, but brighter”).
Dot Burn Exercise: A memorization drill designed to build fast note-name recall around dot-marker positions.
Doubling: Repeating a chord tone in another voice; conventions depend on inversion and chord type in common-practice style.
Double flat (𝄫): Lowers a note by two half steps.
Double neighbor tone: Upper and lower neighbor tones in succession before returning to a chord tone.
Double sharp (𝄪): Raises a note by two half steps.

E

Enharmonic: Different spellings for the same pitch (e.g., F♯ and G♭).
Enharmonic modulation: Modulation via respelling a chord enharmonically so it functions differently in the new key.
Equidistant chord: A symmetrical chord whose inversions reproduce the same chord type (e.g., fully diminished seventh).
Escape tone (ET): Approached by step and resolved by leap in the opposite direction.
Exposition (sonata): Sonata section introducing primary themes (often tonic then dominant/relative major).

F

Figured bass: Numbers/accidentals indicating intervals above a bass note to realize a chord (e.g., 6 = first inversion, 6/4 = second inversion).
First inversion: Chord position with the 3rd in the bass.
Flat (♭): Lowers a note by one half step.
Four-voice harmony (chorale/SATB style): Writing soprano–alto–tenor–bass texture with common-practice voice-leading norms.
French augmented sixth: Augmented sixth chord variant that includes scale degree 2 (a distinctive predominant color resolving to V).
Fretboard: The guitar’s note “grid”; patterns repeat, and pitch repeats every 12 frets (octave).

G

German augmented sixth: Augmented sixth chord variant that includes ♭3 (may resemble a dominant 7th enharmonically).

H

Half cadence: Any cadence that ends on V (arrival on dominant).
Harmonic interval: Two notes sounded simultaneously.
Harmonic minor: Minor with raised 7 (leading tone), strengthening dominant–tonic pull.

I

Imitation: Repeating a motive/idea in another voice.
Imperfect authentic cadence (IAC): Authentic cadence that doesn’t meet “perfect” criteria (inversions and/or soprano not ending on tonic).
Imperfect intervals: 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th (classified as major/minor/aug/dim).
Inflection (interval quality): The “type” of interval: perfect/major/minor/augmented/diminished.
Interval: The distance in pitch between two notes, described by number (size) and quality.
Interval expansion / contraction: Widening/narrowing the intervals of a motive.
Interval inversion: Swapping notes so the lower becomes the upper by octave displacement (inversions sum to 9).
Ionian: The modern modal name for the major scale.
Inversion (chord): Reordering a chord so a note other than the root is in the bass (e.g., 1st inversion = 3rd in bass).
Inversion (motive): Flipping a motive’s contour so upward motion becomes downward (and vice versa).
Italian augmented sixth: Augmented sixth chord variant using three distinct pitches (often doubling tonic).

K

Key: A tonal “home base” defined by a tonic and its scale collection.
Key signature: Sharps/flats at the beginning of each staff line indicating default accidentals for the piece.

L

L7 Grid: A fretboard “master map” concept for organizing notes, chord tones, and navigation so you can play and transpose in any key.
Ledger line: Short extra staff line(s) used to notate pitches above/below the staff.
Leading tone: Scale degree 7 in major (and raised 7 in minor variants), a half-step below tonic with strong pull to tonic.
Lick: A reusable melodic phrase, often style-specific (blues/rock/jazz vocabulary).
Locrian: Mode with a diminished tonic triad; the most unstable “modern mode” in common usage.
Lydian: Major-flavoured mode with a raised 4.

M

Major / minor interval: For 2nds/3rds/6ths/7ths, minor is one semitone smaller than major.
Mediant / submediant: Scale degrees 3 and 6; also names for diatonic triads built on those degrees.
Melodic interval: Two notes sounded one after the other.
Melodic minor: Minor scale with raised 6 and 7 ascending (often reverting when descending in common-practice usage).
Meter: The organization of beats into recurring patterns across measures.
Middle C: The central reference C used for clef orientation and pitch reference.
Military march form: March layout with strains, trio (often modulating), and possible breakstrain/dogfight.
Minuet & trio: A ternary-derived form: Minuet–Trio–(Da Capo Minuet).
Mixolydian: Major-flavoured mode with a lowered 7.
Mode: A scale “flavour” created by treating a different scale degree as tonic; identified by its characteristic tones.
Modulation: A shift of tonal center from one key to another.
Motive: A short, identifiable musical idea used as a building block.
Motivic development: Techniques for generating new material from a motive (sequence, inversion, augmentation/diminution, etc.).

N

Natural (♮): Cancels a previous accidental for that note in the measure.
Natural minor: Minor scale using the key signature’s notes without raising 6 or 7.
Natural notes: The note names without sharps/flats: A B C D E F G.
Neighbor tone (NT): Stepwise non-chord tone that returns to the previous chord tone.
Neapolitan chord (N / N6): Major chord built on ♭II, typically used in first inversion (N6) as a strong predominant.
Non-harmonic tone (non-chord tone): A melodic note that does not belong to the underlying chord.
Nota cambiata: A specific “changing tone” figure used in counterpoint as a conventional exception pattern.
Note (notation): A written symbol representing a specific pitch and duration.
Note of suspension / note of resolution: The dissonant held tone and the chord tone it resolves to.
Note value: A symbol’s proportional duration (whole, half, quarter, etc.); actual time depends on tempo.

O

Octave: The same note name at higher/lower pitch; 12 semitones apart.
Octave shapes: Fretboard shapes that locate the same note in multiple positions; often used as root “anchors.”

P

Parallel fifths / octaves / unisons: Voices moving in the same direction into successive perfect intervals; avoided in common-practice writing.
Passing 6/4: Second-inversion chord used as part of a stepwise bass line (bass treated like a passing tone).
Passing tone (PT): Stepwise non-chord tone approached by step and resolved by continuing stepwise in the same direction.
Pedal 6/4: Second-inversion chord where the bass is sustained as a pedal tone while harmony above changes.
Pedal tone (PED): A sustained or repeated note while harmony changes around it (often in the bass).
Pentatonic Autopsy: A method that breaks pentatonic shapes into roots, octaves, and usable note functions so patterns stop being “boxes.”
Pentatonic Elevator Triangles: A shape-connection concept for moving pentatonic material up/down the neck via small repeatable linking units.
Pentatonic Powerups: Add-on devices that upgrade pentatonic playing (targeting, phrasing moves, articulation, connection strategies).
Pentatonic scale: A five-note scale per octave; a core framework for melodic playing across styles.
Pentatonic Washing Line Method: A visualization for connecting pentatonic positions as one continuous pathway across the neck.
Perfect authentic cadence (PAC): Authentic cadence meeting strict criteria (e.g., V in root position → I in root position; soprano ends on tonic).
Perfect / imperfect plagal cadence: Plagal cadence that does/doesn’t meet stricter criteria (root position and soprano conditions).
Perfect intervals: Unison, 4th, 5th, octave (classified as perfect/aug/dim).
Phrygian: Minor-flavoured mode with a lowered 2.
Phrygian cadence: A specific half cadence in minor: iv6 → V (characterized by half-step motion in the bass).
Phrase (phrasing): How a line is shaped: timing, space, articulation, dynamics, and contour.
Pitch: How “high” or “low” a sound is.
Pivot chord (common chord): A chord that belongs to both old and new keys and is reinterpreted to facilitate modulation.
Plagal cadence: Subdominant-function harmony resolving to tonic (IV/ii → I).
Power chord (5 chord): Root + 5th (often with octave); no 3rd, so neither major nor minor.
Predominant: A chord class that typically prepares the dominant (includes ii, IV, Neapolitan, augmented sixth chords, etc.).
Primary dominant: The diatonic dominant of the home key (V of I).

Q

Quartal harmony: Harmony built primarily from stacked fourths.
Quintal harmony: Harmony built primarily from stacked fifths (often re-spellable as quartal structures).

R

Recapitulation (sonata): Sonata return where themes reappear in tonic.
Rest: A written duration of silence corresponding to a note value.
Retardation (RET): Like a suspension, but resolves upward by step.
Retrogression: A progression considered stylistically weak/unstable in common-practice norms (against typical functional flow).
Roman numeral analysis: Naming chords by scale-degree function (I, ii, V, etc.); capitalization indicates chord quality.
Root: The conceptual base note a chord is built from; not necessarily the bass.
Root movement: The intervallic motion between chord roots in a progression.
Root position: Chord position with the root in the bass.
Rounded binary: Binary form where a shortened return of A appears near the end of B (A–B(A)).
Rule of nines: Interval inversions sum to 9 (2↔7, 3↔6, 4↔5, 1↔8).
Rhythmic metamorphosis: Altering rhythm while preserving some identity of the idea.

S

Scale: An ordered set of notes used as melodic/harmonic material (commonly 7-note major/minor systems).
Scale degree: A note’s numbered position/function within a scale (1=tonic, 5=dominant, etc.).
Second inversion: Chord position with the 5th in the bass.
Secondary dominant: A dominant-function chord that resolves to a diatonic chord as a temporary tonic (V/x).
Secondary subdominant: Predominant-function chords borrowed/colored to intensify motion toward dominant.
Secundal harmony (tone clusters): Harmony built from stacked seconds; often more timbral than functional.
Sequence: Repeating a pattern at different pitch levels.
Semitone (half step): The smallest common pitch step; one fret on guitar.
Sharp (♯): Raises a note by one half step.
Shell chord: A reduced voicing emphasizing essential tones (commonly 3rd and 7th, sometimes with root).
Simple meter: Meter where the beat subdivides into two equal parts.
Sonata allegro form: Exposition–Development–Recapitulation (often with intro/coda).
Species counterpoint: Pedagogical method with controlled rhythmic types (Species I–V).
Species I: Note-against-note counterpoint emphasizing consonances.
Species II: Two notes against one (adds controlled passing dissonances).
Species III: Four notes against one (more motion; patterned dissonance control).
Species IV: Suspension-focused counterpoint created by tied notes across the bar.
Species V: Florid counterpoint combining species techniques.
Staff: The five-line system used to notate pitch vertically.
String pair: A fretboard learning framework that groups adjacent strings into pairs to simplify scale/arpeggio and harmony navigation.
Strumming subdivision: Splitting beats into smaller counts (8ths, 16ths) to lock rhythm to time.
Subdominant function: Harmony that tends to move toward dominant (IV, ii and variants).
Supertonic / subdominant / dominant: Scale degrees 2 / 4 / 5 (and the triads built on them).
Suspension (SUS): A chord tone held over into a new harmony where it becomes dissonant, then resolves (usually downward by step).
Suspension labels (e.g., 4–3, 7–6, 9–8, 2–3): Numbers indicate the interval above the bass at suspension vs. at resolution (2–3 is the “bass suspension” special case).
Suspended chord (sus2 / sus4): A chord where the 3rd is replaced by the 2nd or 4th, creating tension that often resolves.

T

Tablature (TAB): Guitar notation showing string and fret locations.
Temple of Doom Chord Map: A branded map concept for visualizing in-key chord options and where they live on the neck.
Tempo: The speed of the beat (often indicated by a tempo marking).
Tenor clef: A C clef that places middle C on the fourth line of the staff (often used for mid-low instruments).
Ternary form: Three-part form with reprise of the first section (A–B–A).
Tertial harmony: Harmony built primarily from stacked thirds (common-practice default).
Third relations: Harmonic motion by root movement of a 3rd, often used for color and distant modulation.
Time signature: Two numbers indicating beat organization: top = beats per measure (simple) or divisions per measure (compound); bottom = beat unit (simple) or division unit (compound).
Tonic: Scale degree 1 and the tonal “home” pitch/chord.
Tonicization: Briefly treating a non-tonic chord as if it were tonic (often via secondary dominants).
Tonality: The sense of a central pitch (tonic) that chords and melodies tend to confirm.
Transposition: Moving music to a new key while keeping interval relationships intact.
Treble clef: Clef that anchors the staff around higher pitches (reference pitch G).
Triad: Three-note chord built from stacked thirds (root–third–fifth): major/minor/diminished/augmented.
Tuplet: A non-standard division of a note’s duration (e.g., triplets).
Turnaround: A short end-of-form figure (common in blues) that points back to the top of the progression.

U

Unison: Two notes of the same pitch sounding together (or an interval of “1”).

V

Voice independence: Each voice retains its own melodic integrity (not merely doubling or moving in lockstep).

W

Whole step: Two semitones; two frets on guitar.