Glossary

A 12-bar chord pattern on I, IV and V, usually all dominant 7th chords.

The 32-bar song form: four 8-bar sections, B being the bridge.

Playing a note a little louder than the others.

A sign that changes the pitch of a note: ♯, ♭, ♮, 𝄪 or 𝄫.

A chord with an added note and no 7th, such as Cadd9.

The sixth mode; it is the natural minor scale.

The chord symbol for an altered dominant, such as C7alt.

A dominant 7th chord with a raised or lowered 5th or extension.

A dominant 7th with altered 5th and/or 9th and no natural 9, 11 or 13.

The note of the next chord played before the bar line and tied across it.

The note just before a target note.

A chord played one note at a time.

A pattern of chord tones such as 1–3–5–3.

A movable pattern for playing the notes of a chord one at a time.

An interval one semitone larger than a major or perfect interval.

An augmented triad with a major 7th: 1 3 ♯5 7, found on III in the harmonic minor.

An interval of 3 semitones spelled as a 2nd, found between ♭6 and 7 in the harmonic minor.

Two major 3rds: 1 3 ♯5.

The cadence V → I.

Snare hits on beats 2 and 4.

A group of beats between two barlines.

The vertical line that separates bars.

The clef used for bass parts; its two dots sit on either side of the 4th line, which is F (F3).

The lowest note of a chord, which decides its position.

The thick line that joins a group of eighth or sixteenth notes in place of separate flags.

The steady, regular “tap” you feel in music; what you tap your foot to.

The ♭5 of the blues scale; with the ♭3 and ♭7 it gives the blues its tension against major chords.

A bass line built from chord tones of dominant 7th chords, often with the 6 as a colour note.

The minor pentatonic plus the ♭5: 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7.

The bass pattern 1–5–6–5 over a dominant 7th chord, or its longer forms.

A chord taken from the parallel key, such as iv in a major key.

Beats per minute. At 60 BPM each beat lasts one second; at 120 BPM, half a second.

A contrasting section, usually played once.

The chord motion that ends a phrase, like punctuation.

One hundredth of an equal-tempered half step.

Another word for the chord progression of a song.

The note that makes a mode recognisable, such as the ♯4 of Lydian.

Three or more different notes sounding together.

A diagram that shows a chord in a window of 5 frets. The number under the first column is the fret where the window starts.

A sheet with only chord symbols, usually with slashes for the beats.

The chords of a key; in a major key, major – minor – minor – major – major – minor – diminished.

The role of a chord in a key: tonic, subdominant or dominant.

The sequence of chords under a song.

The kind of chord: major, minor, diminished, augmented, suspended…

The scale that fits a chord.

A root name followed by a suffix for the chord quality.

A note that belongs to a chord, in any order or octave.

A section with the same music and lyrics each time; the main hook.

One pass through the 12-bar form, one verse of the song.

An approach note a half step below or above the target.

All 12 notes in order, one half step apart. On one string: every fret in turn.

The 12 keys arranged like a clock, each clockwise step a perfect 5th higher and adding one sharp.

The circle of fifths read counter-clockwise, in perfect 4ths.

The sign at the start of the staff that fixes which note is on which line.

A neighbour on the circle of fifths or a relative minor; it differs from the home key by at most one accidental.

An ending section, marked with the sign 𝄌.

A note that is not a chord tone but adds colour, such as the 2, 4 or 6 over a m7 chord.

The time signature 4/4, also written C.

A note shared by two chords.

An interval larger than an octave. Subtract 7 from its number to get the simple interval.

A meter in which each beat is a dotted note that divides into three: 6/8, 9/8, 12/8.

The standard tuning reference: A4 = 440 Hz.

The pitch that actually sounds, as opposed to the written pitch. For the bass it is one octave below the written note.

An interval that sounds stable, at rest.

Two voices moving in opposite directions.

An accidental, sometimes in brackets, written as a reminder in the next bar.

The time signature 2/2, written ¢: two half-note beats per bar, felt in two.

D.C.: go back to the beginning.

D.S.: go back to the sign 𝄋.

A muted note, marked x in a tab.

The cadence V → vi, or V to another chord than I: home is expected but not reached.

A number that tells the role of a note in a chord or scale (1, 3, 5…). The Degrees switch shows these numbers instead of note names.

Using only the notes of the key.

A chord built on a degree of the scale using only notes of the key.

The seventh chords built on each degree of a scale using only notes of the key.

An interval one semitone smaller than a minor or perfect interval.

Three minor 3rds stacked: 1 ♭3 ♭5 𝄫7, such as C°7. It is symmetrical.

Two minor 3rds: 1 ♭3 ♭5.

A key change made by simply starting in the new key.

An interval that sounds tense and seems to want to move.

Degree 5, the strongest support of the tonic.

An approach note that is the 5th of the target chord.

A series of dominants resolving down in 5ths, such as E7 → A7 → D7 → G7.

The group of chords with tension that want to resolve to I: V, vii°.

A major triad with a ♭7: 1 3 5 ♭7, such as C7. The V7 chord pulls strongly to I.

The second mode: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7.

A note followed by a dot, which adds half of its value.

The beat of a compound meter, which divides into three eighth notes.

𝄫: lowers a note by two half steps. B𝄫 sounds as A.

𝄪: raises a note by two half steps. F𝄪 sounds as G.

A numbered beat, as opposed to the “&” between beats.

A note held or repeated while the harmony stays still.

A combination of two notes, such as a power chord.

A note with a filled head, a stem and one flag. It lasts half a beat.

A compound interval: an octave plus a 4th.

Two names for the same pitch, such as C♯ and D♭.

Two intervals of the same size with different names, such as an augmented 5th and a minor 6th.

Two keys with the same sounds written two ways, such as F♯ major and G♭ major.

The tuning of modern instruments: the octave divided into 12 equal half steps, each raising the frequency by about 1.0595.

A chord that keeps stacking thirds above the 7th: 9, 11, 13.

A note added above the 7th of a chord: the 9, 11 or 13.

Another name for the bass clef.

A collection of lead sheets.

The note a 5th above the root in a triad.

A short run of notes that fills the end of a bar or a phrase.

The place where the piece ends after a D.C. or D.S.

Numbers for the fingers of the fretting hand: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little finger.

The front surface of the neck, where the frets are and where you press the strings.

The bars played the first time through a repeat.

A chord with the 3rd in the bass.

The dominant of the dominant, V7/V: in C, D7.

The curved mark at the end of a stem that shortens a note: one for an eighth note, two for a sixteenth.

♭: lowers a note by a half step, one fret towards the headstock.

The ♭VII chord, the most frequent borrowed chord in rock and pop.

A position on a string, counted from the nut. Each fret is a half step higher than the one before; fret 0 is the open string.

Another name for the diminished 7th chord, as opposed to the half-diminished.

The vibration of the string as a whole.

The figure eighth note + two sixteenths, counted 1 & a.

A cadence that ends on V, open like a comma.

A note with an open head and a stem. It lasts 2 beats.

The smallest distance between two notes: one fret on the same string. Also called a semitone.

A diminished triad with a ♭7: 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7, such as Cø7.

A technique marked h between two fret numbers in a tab.

Studying a song’s key, chords and functions to make bass choices deliberate.

An interval between two notes played together.

The natural minor with a raised 7th: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7.

How often the chords change.

The vibrations of a string as a whole and, at the same time, in halves, thirds, quarters and so on. Together they give the bass its tone.

Choosing chords for a melody.

The catchy phrase, musical or lyrical, that listeners remember.

The progression ii7 – V7 – Imaj7, the most important in jazz.

An authentic cadence that is not perfect.

A major or minor 3rd or 6th.

The distance in pitch between two notes, with a number and a quality.

Moving the lower note up an octave, or the upper note down an octave. The numbers add up to 9 and the semitones to 12.

The count of letter names from one note to the other, including both ends: C to E is a 3rd.

The word that, with the number, names an interval exactly: perfect, major, minor, augmented or diminished.

The fixed pattern of strings and frets that an interval makes on the bass in standard tuning.

The instrumental opening of a song.

A chord with a note other than the root in the bass.

The first mode of the major scale; it is the major scale.

The melodic minor with the raised 6th and 7th used both up and down.

A tonic plus its scale; a piece is in a key when it uses mainly the notes of that scale and feels resolved on its tonic.

The sharps or flats written after the clef on every line: they apply to every note with that letter name, in every octave.

The bass drum, often played on or around beats 1 and 3.

A note that is easy to find without counting, such as the notes on the marker frets.

A sheet with the melody on a staff, chord symbols above it and often the lyrics.

Degree 7, a half step below the tonic, which pulls up to it.

A short extra line for a note above or below the staff.

Smoothly connected, as a slur asks.

One step of the course: one objective, an explanation with diagrams, a “Try it” exercise and the new terms it introduces.

The seventh mode: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7.

The fourth mode: 1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7.

The V chord of a minor key made major by the raised 7th of the harmonic minor.

A 2nd, 3rd, 6th or 7th that is one semitone larger than its minor form.

A mode with a major 3rd: Ionian, Lydian or Mixolydian.

The major scale without its 4th and 7th: 1 2 3 5 6.

The scale with the step pattern W–W–H–W–W–W–H.

A major triad with a major 7th: 1 3 5 7, such as Cmaj7.

A major 3rd plus a minor 3rd: 1 3 5.

Another word for bar.

Degree 3.

An interval between two notes played one after the other.

The minor scale with the 6th and 7th both raised: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7.

A device or an app that clicks at a chosen BPM. Many metronomes accent the first beat of each bar.

C4, on the first ledger line above the bass clef staff.

Another name for the bridge.

A 2nd, 3rd, 6th or 7th that is one semitone smaller than its major form.

A key built mainly on a minor scale, whose 3rd above the tonic is minor.

The chords of a minor key: i ii° III iv v VI VII from the natural minor, with V and vii° from the harmonic minor.

A mode with a ♭3: Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, and Locrian.

The natural minor scale without its 2nd and 6th: 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7.

A minor triad with a ♭7: 1 ♭3 5 ♭7, such as Cm7.

A minor triad with a major 6th added: 1 ♭3 5 6, such as Cm6.

A minor 3rd plus a major 3rd: 1 ♭3 5.

A minor triad with a major 7th: 1 ♭3 5 7, such as Cm(maj7).

A major scale with a ♭7; the scale a dominant 7th chord comes from.

The order of the modes from brightest (Lydian) to darkest (Locrian), each step lowering one note.

Using in a key chords from its parallel minor or from other parallel modes.

Music whose home note and harmony come from a mode other than plain major or minor.

One or two chords repeated, typical of modal pieces.

A scale obtained by starting a parent scale from one of its degrees and treating that note as the tonic.

A change of key: the music settles on a new tonic.

A group of lessons on one subject. The course has 16 modules, numbered 0 to 15.

A shape that plays the same scale in another key when its root is moved to another note.

The seven note names, which repeat in the same order in every octave.

“No chord”: nobody plays harmony.

A way of writing chords as Arabic numbers for scale degrees, with the key at the top.

A note played by touching the string lightly over a node and plucking: the fundamental is silenced and one harmonic remains.

The minor scale with the pattern W–H–W–W–H–W–W, or 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7.

One of the seven notes without a sharp or flat: C D E F G A B.

♮: cancels a sharp or flat written earlier.

A key next to another on the circle of fifths; the two differ by one note.

A compound interval: an octave plus a 2nd.

A point that divides the string into equal parts, such as fret 12 (halves) or fret 7 (thirds).

A note that is not in the current chord.

How long a note lasts, relative to the others: each value is half of the one before.

The round part of a note, open or filled.

A chart written in Nashville numbers.

The point from which frets are counted. In the diagrams it is the thick line on the left, with the body of the bass to the right.

One voice moves while the other stays.

The distance from a note to the next note with the same name. The higher note vibrates twice as fast; on one string it is 12 frets higher.

A pattern of root and octave in eighths, typical of disco and dance.

A fixed hand shape that finds the same note an octave higher or lower, such as two strings up and two frets up.

The convention that bass parts are written one octave higher than they sound.

A meter such as 5/4 or 7/8. Outside this course.

The “&” between the numbered beats; also called upbeat.

A string played without pressing any fret: fret 0 in the diagrams.

The fixed order in which flats appear in key signatures: B E A D G C F.

The fixed order in which sharps appear in key signatures: F C G D A E B.

The bass and the melody.

To play the chord tones one at a time instead of the whole chord.

The ending section of a song.

Any vibration of a string besides the whole: in halves, thirds, quarters and so on.

A key with the same tonic as another but a different scale, such as C major and C minor.

The major key on the same tonic as a minor key.

The minor key on the same tonic as a major key; its signature has 3 more flats or 3 fewer sharps.

Modes that share one tonic.

Two voices moving in the same direction by the same interval.

The scale whose notes a mode uses.

A non-chord tone that fills the gap between two chord tones by step.

A single bass note held or repeated while the chords above it change.

A scale of five notes.

An authentic cadence with both chords in root position and the melody ending on the tonic.

Unison, octave and perfect 5th; usually the perfect 4th too.

A distance of five frets, or 5 semitones. Neighbouring strings of a bass in standard tuning are a perfect fourth apart.

An interval of the kind that has no major or minor form: unison, 4th, 5th, octave.

The third mode: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7.

A major I chord at the very end of a minor piece.

How high or low a note is.

One of the 12 notes, in any octave: every C, low or high, belongs to the pitch class C.

A chord that belongs to both keys of a modulation and works as the hinge.

The cadence IV → I, a soft close.

A region of the neck where a shape is played.

The dots on the neck at frets 3, 5, 7, 9 and (double) 12, repeated at 15, 17, 19, 21 and (double) 24.

The root and the 5th, often with the octave; it has no 3rd.

A short build-up leading into the chorus.

Another name for the subdominant group, which comes before the dominant.

A technique marked p between two fret numbers in a tab.

Another word for the beat.

Another word for an anticipation: pushing the chord change early.

A note with a filled head and a stem. It lasts 1 beat in the most common case.

A 12-bar blues variant with IV7 in bar 2.

A fake book of jazz tunes.

A line that returns at the end of each verse.

The major key with the same notes as a minor key; its tonic is the ♭3 of the minor scale.

The minor key with the same notes and key signature as a major key; its tonic is the 6th degree of the major scale.

Modes that share one parent scale.

The feeling of arriving at rest, usually on the tonic.

A sign that marks a passage to be played twice: 𝄆 … 𝄇.

The movement from a dissonance to a more stable sound.

A silence with the same length as the note value it matches.

A number that names a chord by the degree of its root; uppercase for major, lowercase for minor.

Writing a progression in Roman numerals so that it works in any key.

The note shown as 1 or R in the diagrams, always in green. Its full meaning is explained in Module 7.

The interval between the roots of two chords in a row; down a 5th is the strongest.

A chord with the root in the bass.

A bass pattern that alternates the root and the 5th.

A set of notes in order of pitch, from a starting note up to its octave.

An approach note a scale step above or below the target.

The number, 1 to 7, of a note within a scale.

The pattern of whole and half steps that builds a scale from any note.

A scale pattern played across strings.

Names one exact note by adding its octave number: middle C is C4, the open E string is E1. The number changes at C.

The bars played instead of the first ending on the repeat.

A chord with the 5th in the bass.

The dominant 7th of a chord other than I, written V7/x.

A part of a song that repeats, such as a verse or a chorus.

Another name for the half step: one fret on the same string.

A triad plus a 7th above the root: four notes, 1 3 5 7, with varying qualities.

♯: raises a note by a half step, one fret towards the body.

Moving the hand along the neck to join two shapes.

A long–short feel built on the triplet, common in blues, boogie and rock.

Two voices moving in the same direction.

An interval within the octave.

A meter in which each beat divides naturally into two.

A note with a filled head, a stem and two flags. It lasts a quarter of a beat.

A triad with a major 6th added: 1 3 5 6, such as C6.

A chord symbol with a bass note after a slash, such as C/E.

Writing the beats of a bar as slashes under or after a chord symbol.

A technique marked / (up) or \ (down) between two fret numbers in a tab.

A curved line joining notes of different pitches, asking for a smooth connection.

The snare drum, often played on beats 2 and 4.

The note names used in Italian, French, Spanish and other languages: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si. They are fixed: Do is always C.

The way a song is organised into sections.

A bar with two or more chords, written as grouped numbers.

The five lines and four spaces on which notes are written; higher on the staff means higher in pitch.

The usual tuning of the bass: E A D G on 4 strings, B E A D G on 5 strings, each string a perfect fourth above the one below.

The vertical line attached to a notehead.

A key change that moves the last chorus up a half or whole step.

A beat that carries more weight; in 4/4, beat 1 is the strongest and beat 3 medium-strong.

A division of the beat into smaller equal parts, such as the four sixteenths of a beat.

Degree 4.

The group of chords that move away and prepare: IV, ii.

Degree 6.

A whole step below the tonic (♭7), used in minor scales and modes.

The part of a chord symbol after the root, such as m or sus4.

Degree 2.

A suspended chord with the 2nd in place of the 3rd: 1 2 5.

A suspended chord with the 4th in place of the 3rd: 1 4 5.

A chord in which the 3rd is replaced by a 2nd or a 4th.

A feel in which pairs of eighth notes are played long–short instead of equal.

The ratio of the long note to the short one in swung eighths, usually 2:1; it varies with tempo and style.

Eighth notes played long–short, usually in a 2:1 ratio.

A chord that contains the same pitches when built from each of its notes, such as the augmented triad.

Notes or accents placed where they are not expected, on weak beats or off-beats.

Short for tablature.

Notation that draws the strings as lines and writes the fret to play as a number.

The note, usually the next chord’s root, that a bass line is heading for.

How fast the beats go, measured in beats per minute.

The feeling that a chord wants to move on.

A compound interval: an octave plus a 3rd.

Chords built by stacking 3rds.

A key that would need more than 7 accidentals, so it is written enharmonically instead.

Music theory: how music is built from notes, rhythm, intervals, scales, chords and harmony. This course teaches it as it applies to the bass.

The note a 3rd above the root in a triad; it decides whether the chord is major or minor.

A compound interval: an octave plus a 6th.

A curved line joining two notes of the same pitch: the first is held through the second and the lengths add up.

The tone colour of a note.

Two stacked numbers at the start of the music: the top says how many beats are in each bar, the bottom which note value counts as one beat.

The starting note of a scale; degree 1, the note that feels like home.

The group of chords that feel like home: I, vi, iii.

Leaning briefly toward another chord as if it were the tonic, without changing key.

Playing the same music in a different key, moving every note by the same interval.

An instrument whose written pitch differs from its sounding pitch. Some musicians classify the bass this way; others do not.

The result of transposing music to another key.

The G clef, used for higher instruments and the piano’s right hand.

A three-note chord built by stacking two 3rds: root, 3rd and 5th.

A movable pattern of strings and frets for a triad.

Three equal notes in the time normally taken by two of the same value.

An interval of 6 semitones, three whole tones: an augmented 4th or a diminished 5th.

Another name for the step-up.

An electronic device or app for tuning: the most accurate way to tune a bass.

The general name for a group of equal notes that replaces a different number, such as a triplet.

The last bar or two of a 12-bar blues, which lead back to bar 1.

The root on beat 1 and the 5th on beat 3, typical of country, folk and polka.

Another name for ii–V–I.

An interval of zero semitones: two notes on the same pitch (a 1st).

Another word for off-beat.

The notes played above the bass in a chord, often a simpler chord of its own.

A section with the same music and different lyrics each time.

A technique marked ~ in a tab.

A falling run of notes that leads from one chord’s root to the next one’s.

A rising run of notes that leads from one chord’s root to the next one’s.

A style of bass line with four quarter notes per bar, mostly in jazz.

A beat that carries less weight; in 4/4, beats 2 and 4.

A note with an open head and no stem. It lasts 4 beats when the quarter note is one beat.

Two half steps: two frets on the same string. Also called a tone or whole tone.

Another name for the whole step: two frets on the same string.

A whole rest used to mean a whole bar of silence, in any time signature.