Jesse Pelaccio
College English Mr. Tickle
February 2013
Enthusiastic Guitarists: Learn Your Part
(Unless otherwise specified, all words are nouns)
Parts of the Guitar
Body- main part of the guitar held by the dominant hand of the guitarist; largest piece of wood attached to the guitar
Bridge- piece that transfers the vibration of the strings to the surface of the guitar; holds the strings in a set spacing on the body of the guitar
Bridge Pin- notched and tapered pin that keeps the strings in place on the bridge of an acoustic guitar
Fret- spaces divided by small metal strips that provide the ability to change the pitch and tone of the string being plucked
Fretboard/Fingerboard- surface of guitar neck upon where the frets are installed; made of maple, rosewood, or ebonized wood
Headstock- where the tuning keys are located; a.k.a. peghead
Neck- part that the strings stretch over to the headstock; where the finger/fretboard is mounted; connects headstock, tuners, and fretboard to the guitar body
Nut- the piece that determines the string spacing a and string height by small grooves cut into its surface; made from plastic, bone, ivory, graphite, or ebony
Pickup- an electronic part that captures the string vibrations and transforms them into an electric signal
Soundhole- the hole in the center of the body of an acoustic guitar that enables the guitar to resonate deeper and hold a longer note
Tailpiece- this part anchors the strings down to the end of the body opposite the neck; very diverse in design
Tuning Keys- depending on the string count for the guitar, there are usually 6 of these mounted on the headstock; required to tune (stretch and contract to pitch perfect) a guitar’s strings
Guitar Bodies
6-String Guitar- a guitar that has the guitar strings E, A, D, G, B, and e
12- String Guitar- a guitar that has the guitar strings e, E, a, A, d, D, g, G, B, B, E, and E
Acoustic- a completely independent of electronics guitar; sound resonates around due to soundhole in larger body
Acoustic-Electric- an acoustic guitar with an unseen pickup inside the larger body; made for performing so the guitar is amplified
Archtop- a guitar that has a convex curved surface on the body of the guitar; usually outfitted with “f” style cutouts on either side of the strings
Bass- usually a four-string guitar with much thicker strings to provide a deeper pitch and sound; the backing beat of most rock, country, and rap music
Electric- A guitar that relies solely on the pickups installed in/on the guitar; little to no sound heard when unplugged from amplifier
Hollowbody- a guitar with an almost completely empty inside of the body
Les Paul (LP) - a style of guitar that has a single cutaway that’s rounded on the edge;
