glossary

A

Accidental
A symbol used to raise or lower a note's pitch. (e.g., sharp or flat )
Arpeggio
A sequence of notes based on a chord, usually arranged in thirds, played in quick succession across the strings.
Augmented
An interval that has been widened. A chord is called augmented if it contains an augmented interval. For example, the augmented fifth is a halfstep wider than the perfect fifth, and an augmented chord is a major chord with an augmented fifth replacing the perfect fifth. (See also Diminished, Dominant, Major, Minor, Perfect, Suspended.)

B

Blues
A musical style characterized by the I-IV-V movement and heavy use of pentatonic scales. Blues stresses the soulful, emotional element of music while concealing its nuances in a guise of simplicity.

C

Change
The point of transition between chords or keys.
Chord
A group of three or more notes played together. (2 notes played together is a Harmony).
Chord Harmony
A chord based on a scale degree and its extensions.
Chromatic Scale
The scale containing all twelve tones, played in succession.
Circle Of Fifths
The tones of the Chromatic Scale arranged so that each tone is a 5th above the previous tone. In this arrangement tones are harmonically consonant with their neighbors.
When keys are arranged in fifths-order the similarity of adjacent scales becomes apparent. This is most easily illustrated with the Ionian Major scale. The C Ionian Major scale contains no flat or sharp tones. The key of G is a fifth above C. G Major has all the tones of the C Major scale except that F is raised a half-tone. Proceeding clockwise, we come to D. In the key of D both F and C are raised a half-tone. Since each key's neighbors are its closest relatives the Circle demonstrates the readiest harmonic movements. (Wikipedia)
Current Chord
The chord which will be affected by your operations in FretPet. This is the chord which is highlighted in the Document if a document is open.
Current Scale
The full sequence of notes in the Current Key. (A whole row of notes in the Scale Palette.)

D

Diminished (Dim / o)
1. A Flat 5th tone.
2. A Chord with a Flat 5th and a Flat Dominant 7th (6th).
(See also Augmented, Dominant, Major, Minor, Perfect, Suspended.)
Dissonance
An effect created by the irregular "artifacting" of two or more tones. In melody, a note which appears in stark contrast to the lead. Tones that are far from each other in the Circle of Fifths tend to be more dissonant, as do tones outside of the current key.
Dominant
The Flat 7 tone. (See also Augmented, Diminished, Major, Minor, Perfect, Suspended.)
Dynamics
Elements of music which augment its style and its substance. Among these are changes in tempo and volume, the use of rests, and the use of repetition and harmonic interplay which define a spirit or energy.

E

Enharmonic Scale
A scale which may have more than one letter name applied. The letter name is significant in that it determines whether a scale is considered to be a sharp scale or a flat scale in a composition containing key changes.
Extension
A note which is added to (i.e., which extends) a chord triad, such as a 7, 9, or 11.

F

Flat ( ♭ )
A half-step lower.
Frequency
The amount of time between peaks in a sound wave. For example, if a wave peaks 300 times every second then the frequency is 300 cycles per second or 300 Hertz.
Fret
One of several metal strips mounted across the front of the guitar neck which the player uses to change the length - and so the pitch - of the plucked strings.
Fretboard
The front of the guitar neck where the frets are mounted.
Fret Bracket
In the Guitar Palette, this indicates the range of frets in which to build a fingering.
Fret Cursor
The animated square in the Guitar Palette indicating the current Fret Note.
Fret Note
The note indicated by the Fret Cursor.

G

Gravity
The quality of preference exerted by the ear upon a passage of music. Gravity is assigned to tones based on inferential cues in the melody. The most obvious example of gravity is in the movement of a cadence, which leads strongly to a resolve.

H

Half-Step
The smallest interval between two tones in the 12-tone Chromatic Scale. Also called a "semitone."
Harmonics
The component frequencies of a sound that give it a certain character, and which are sometimes perceived as overtones within the sound. (Wikipedia)
Harmonize
To transform a chord by moving each of its tones by a certain number of scale degrees, as determined by the tones of the chord's keyscale. For example, to harmonize a C Major chord in the Keyscale of C Ionian by one step, we move C to D, E to F, and G to A. The resulting D minor chord is the second chord harmony of C Ionian.
Harmony
The quality of two notes rung together. A harmony has the quality of consonance and dissonance. (Wikipedia)
Hertz (Hz)
Full cycles per second. To determine the Hertz value of a sine wave you count the number of peaks above zero which cover a second of time.
A thousand Hertz is called a KiloHertz (KHz)
A million Hertz is called a MegaHertz (MHz)

I

Interval
The distance in pitch between two notes, the lower and higher members of the interval. Intervals are named according to their diatonic function and according to the number of degrees they span in a diatonic scale.
Intervallic Notation
A notation developed by Schumann as part of his "Twelve Tone System" of music, which essentially ignores key-centeredness in favor of pure movement.

J

Jazz
A style of music originally derived from Blues and Classical which emphasizes poetic lyricism, improvisation, and rhythmic spontaneity in search of music without boundaries.
Juxtaposition
An unorthodox overlapping of contrasting themes, phrases, or styles. For example, placing a classical violin passage in the middle of a honkytonk jam.

K

Key
The dominant character of a recent passage of music. The tone or chord of resolution.
Keyscale
The same as Key, but considered in wider terms of its scale and its tonic.

L

Lead
An accompanying melody which plays against a chord progression, adding harmony and color. The term refers to the quality of "leading the ear," which indicates that the listener is being led through the progression.

M

Major ( ∆ )
Used to indicate an interval which is characteristic of the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th tones of the Major Scale. (See also Augmented, Diminished, Dominant, Minor, Perfect, Suspended.)
Major Chord
A chord with a major 3rd interval between the root and the 3rd.
Major Scale
1. A scale with major and perfect intervals.
2. The first (Ionian) mode of a particular Major Scale which serves as the theoretical basis for characterizing all other scales.
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A series of hardware and software standards that allow communication between digital instruments and computers.
Minor ( m )
Used to indicate a flat 2nd, 3rd, or 6th tone. (See also Augmented, Diminished, Dominant, Major, Perfect, Suspended.)
Minor Chord
A chord with a minor 3rd interval between the root and the 3rd.
Minor Scale
A scale with minor and perfect intervals.
Mode
1. A scale.
2. A scale based on another scale, but starting from a different degree. The modes of the Major Scale are: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.
Movement
1. The path a song takes through notes, chords, scales, and keys. For example, a I-IV-V movement in the key of C indicates that the C-F-G chords are played in succession.
2. A section of a piece of music which begins a major variation on the theme, usually in another key. For example, the "second movement" of a flute concerto.

N

Natural ( ♮ )
Intrinsic to the key of C Major, being neither sharp nor flat. In musical notation a natural mark is used to un-flat or un-sharp a note in keys other than C Major.
Note
A sound with a single discernable pitch.
Nut
The groovy piece at the head of the guitar which holds and aligns the strings.

O

Octave
An interval indicated by two notes which have frequencies at a 2:1 ratio to one another. For example, the note A at 220Hz is one octave below A at 440Hz.
Open String
A string which is not currently fretted by the player.
Overtone
A third tone which emerges as the product of a harmony.

P

Passing Tones
Notes inserted between chords to alter the transition from one to the other.
Perfect
The 4th or 5th interval which is characteristic of the Major Scale. A Perfect 4th equals +/- 5 semitones. A Perfect 5th equals +/- 7 semitones. (See also Augmented, Diminished, Dominant, Major, Minor, Suspended.)
Pitch
The relative frequency of a sound wave.
Plectrum
A flat triangular piece of plastic or metal which is used to pluck or strum the strings of an instrument. Also called a "pick."

Q

QuickTime™
A system extension for MacOS™ and Windows95™ that adds native support for multimedia, including video, sound, VR, and musical instruments.

R

Raised
See Sharp.
Reverb
Reverberation. An effects process which lengthens and deepens a sound, making it sound as if it were inside a larger space.
Root
1. The note used to name a chord. Other tones in a chord are specified relative to the root note.
2. The first note in a scale.

S

Scale
A sequence of tones, usually associated with a set of intervals.
Scale Cursor
The highlighted tone in the Scale Box. If there are two highlighted tones, one is the Scale Cursor and the other is the Chord Root.
Scale Degree
The position of a note in a scale. (i.e., F is the 4th degree of the C Ionian scale)
Sequence
A series of notes arranged in time (a melody).
Sharp ( ♯ )
A half-step higher.
Standard Tuning
Tuning of the guitar strings to the notes (in ascending order) E - A - D - G - B - E. The intervals between strings are Perfect Fourths, except between the G and B strings, which is a Major Third.
Suspended (sus)
A Perfect 4th which fulfills the 3rd function in a chord. (See also Augmented, Diminished, Dominant, Major, Minor, Perfect.)

T

Third (3rd)
A distance of 3 or 4 semitones. A Minor Third is +3 semitones. A Major Third is +4 semitones. For example, the interval between C and E is a Major Third, and the distance from D to F is a Minor Third. (See Interval)
Tone
A sound with a discernable pitch.
Tonic
The first note in a scale. (See Root)
Transpose
To change all the tones of a chord by the same interval. For example, to transpose a C chord to the key of G move all tones up by the interval between C and G (a perfect fifth).
Triad
A chord with three tones.

V

Value
A temporary state of emphasis. For example, the value of the note C will differ throughout a melody depending on the context which has been set up for it.

W

Wave
A sound's effect on the air, created by changes in pressure as gas molecules push against each other in a chain reaction. If you could see sound it would appear as a sphere expanding outward in all directions from its source.

Y

Yellow
The color used to indicate the Root of a Chord in FretPet.

Z

Zappa, Frank
Musician.