words guitar players use

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
How about a session on words that those of us that have been playing for a while don't think about but make the new players among us scratch their heads.

Creamy doesn't refer to coffee.
Transparent doesn't refer to windows.
Woofy doesn't refer to our dogs.
Quack...not a duck thing.
Spank...nobody's in trouble.
Sparkle...no shiny objects here.
Mid-hump...no new camels have been discovered.
Pot...not referring to a legal/illegal (depending on where you live) bud of any sort.
Action isn't something you're doing.
Lick/Riff....got nothing for this one.
Pups...still not talking about dogs.
etc.

If we don't do a session on this, maybe we can get a good list going and have a mod make it a sticky. It'd probably be a handy reference for the newer players among us.
 

matonanjin

Chubby, old guy trying to play some blues.
How about a session on words that those of us that have been playing for a while don't think about but make the new players among us scratch their heads.
.....
Spank...nobody's in trouble.
.....
Lick/Riff....got nothing for this one.
...
I first heard "Spank" on this forum. Someone, I wish I could remember who, used it in a conversation about Strat "spank". Obviously a conversation about tone.

Seriously?!?!? "Lick/Riff" and you "got nothing"!? So much opportunity for obscene innuendo and you left it alone? I have to say I'm more than a little disappointed in you, @snarf :sneaky::(
 

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
Seriously?!?!? "Lick/Riff" and you "got nothing"!? So much opportunity for obscene innuendo and you left it alone? I have to say I'm more than a little disappointed in you, @snarf :sneaky::(
I guess I should've put "I've got nothing that's family friendly" for that one. lol I had a couple, but, when I asked Mrs Snarf if she thought they'd be appropriate, her response was "and you kiss your mama with that mouth?"

As an aside, I guess I should go back and put some real definitions on these to start the process of it actually being beneficial to the new players among us.
 

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
OK, here's a start. Feel free to let me know what needs to be added, corrected, or removed. You won't hurt my feelings by saying "amigo, you're just wrong on that one." Heck! You'll notice that there are at least a couple blank. Even though I've played for a good while and know what chime is when I hear it, I'm not really sure how to describe it. So feel free to chime in where it's needed. (see what I did there? :whistle:)

Like I said, just trying to get something together that might help out some of the newer players. Knowing that the last few sessions Griff has mentioned having new folks joining into the AAP sessions and then yesterday him talking about something being woofy made me think everyone might not know what that meant. Making a list here may actually be better than having Griff do a session on it. If the list gets a little more complete and is vetted by more than just me, maybe we can convince the mods to sticky the post for easy reference.

  • Gear
    • Action - How your guitar is setup. Are your strings really low on the fretboard? Then you have a low action.
    • Ax - Another name for your guitar.
    • Bolt-on - They type of guitar where the neck is bolted to the body instead of glued. A Strat is a bolt-on. A Les Paul is not.
    • Chime -
    • Creamy - Not too clean, but not really distorted. That driven tone that gives the perfect amount of sustain for what's being played.
    • Farty/flubby - Very similar to woofy, only a little looser sounding.
    • G string - The 3rd string on your guitar. Tuned to G in standard tuning.
    • GAS - Gear/Guitar Acquisition Syndrome
    • Icepicky - That sound you get sometimes when you're standing directly in front of a really loud amp. Or when you have way too much treble in your tone. Feels like an icepick in your ear making your brain bleed. The opposite end of the not-recommended-guitar-tone-spectrum from woofy.
    • In the groove -
    • In the pocket -
    • Klone - a clone of the Klon Centaur pedal. The Klon Centaur pedal was apparently sprinkled with fairy dust, sneezed on by unicorns, and hidden in the Leprechaun's pot at the end of the rainbow. To engage one and play a chord causes celestial choirs to begin singing. Due to their high cost, we mere mortals play klones.
    • Lush - Often used to describe a chorus pedal that is dialed-in really well.
    • Mid-hump - The sound a Tube Screamer is really good at. It accentuates the middle frequencies to make the guitar a little more punchy.
    • NGD - New Guitar Day
    • NAD - New Amp Day
    • NPD - New Pedal Day
    • Pocket bass -
    • Pot - Potentiometers. What the knobs on your guitar are attached to. You turn them and the Volume or Tone changes.
    • Punchy - Cutting through the mix.
    • Pups - Pickups on your guitar.
    • Quack - The sound a Strat makes when using selector positions 2 and 4 (the in-betweens). Some say that God only intended a Strat to be played on the neck pickup. Others say that a Strat just isn't a Strat unless it quacks.
    • Shred -
    • Sizzle/Fizzy - That sound you hear on the top end of your tone that makes you think you just poured a glass of Coke.
    • Slide (n) - A porcelain/glass/acrylic/metal/etc tube worn on the finger or bar held in the hand that is used to play slide guitar.
    • Spank - Another Strat sound. Think of the guitar sounds you hear in some old school funk. That's spanky.
    • Sparkle -
    • Transparent - Referring to pedals that don't really color your sound. Tube Screamers give a definite mid-hump. Part of the mythos about a Klon is that it is supposed to be transparent. It drives your amp without really adding anything to the sound.
    • Trem -
    • TS - Tube Screamer
    • Woman Tone - The creamy tone that Clapton made famous during his days with Cream (which has nothing to do with his tone being creamy).
    • Wood pile - A collection of guitars.
    • Woofy - Bass-y. Lots of bass. The woofer in your speakers is happy. In fixing a woofy sound, you want to start by backing off the bass and not just immediately adding a lot of treble. Otherwise you risk going from woofy to icepicky.
  • Technique
    • BPM - Beats per minute.
    • Chucking -
    • Hammer-on - A note played in conjunction to another. The first note is played (open or fretted), and then the second note is sounded by hammering a finger onto the appropriate fret.
    • Lick - A short, melodic idea. A lick is the basis for a solo. String together 4 or 5 compatible licks, and you have enough to fill a 12-bar solo.
    • Pull-off - A note played in conjunction to another. The first note is played (fretted) and then the second note is sounded by pulling the finger off of the fretboard so that the second note is heard (fretted or open).
    • Riff - A lick or two that are used as a theme throughout a song to give it continuity and lock in a groove.
    • Slide (v) - Playing a note and then, without lifting your finger off the fretboard, moving it to the next note while letting the string continue to ring giving it a glissando sound.
    • Tweedly - A quick, ornamental combination of a hammer-on and pull-off
 
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dvs

Green Mountain Blues
Always thought the "G" in GAS was for Gear. So maybe I don't have it as bad as I thought I did?
 
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Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
GAS...Guitar Acquisition Syndrome :cool:
RBT...Rainbow Broccoli Temperature.

Stringing words together from a dictionary doesn't make them a sentence :LOL::whistle:

In a similar vein I've seen people write out "I sold a guitar".... The words are all in the dictionary but they really don't make sense assembled thusly. o_O:whistle:

Eric
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
what about G string has nothing to do with a stripper..................

other words

shred
tapping
slide
tweedely
in the pocket
pocket bass
in the groove
trem
ax
bpm
chucking
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
If we start adding "theory" terms related to playing guitar, we'll be writing a whole 'nuther dictionary, "Snarf's Dictionary of Music".:sneaky:

I'll start (and maybe end) with "Box".:rolleyes:
 
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Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Sorry. Can't help myself. Here's a few terms new guitarists will run into that go beyond a basic understanding of music theory. Especially when studying with Griff.

Cowboy Chord
Barre Chord
Small Chord
Tall Chord
Power Chord
Slash Chord

Left/Right Facing
"Mixing" Major and Minor

Blues In "E" Rhythm
Blues Half Step
Stormy Slide
Tore Down Rhythm

Standard Harmony Rule

Tonal Center
Mode
Relative Scale/Key
Parallel Scale

Dominant Function

Straight
Metric Modulation
Swing

Chord Soloing/Double Stops
Playing On The Porch
 
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