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Symbol Dictionary

Halfstep Halfstep bend Hammer-on Hand crossing Harmonic Harmonic cascade Harmonic interval Harmonic minor scale Harmonic porcupine Harmonise Harmony Hawaiian guitar HB Head Head block Headstock Headstock overlay Heel Heel block Heel cap Hinge barre Hum Humbucker Hybrid picking

Halfstep	Another term for semitone Full article on Intervals

Halfstep bend	A bend that increases pitch by a semitone

Hammer-on	The sounding of a note by slamming down hard on the fret with the fretting hand. The opposite of a pull-off. Picking is not always needed for this, however, a hammer-on that is not picked may be referred to as a tap. Syn - Slur Full article on Hammer-ons

Hand crossing	Where the picking hand frets or taps notes that are lower down the neck than the fretting hand, causing the picking hand to literally cross over the fretting hand.

Harmonic	A note of purer tone. A harmonic can be produced at certain fractional points along the length of a string (the halfway point, for example). There are natural harmonics that are produced by plucking open strings and artificial harmonics that invlove holding a fret. Full article on Natural harmonics Full article on Artificial harmonics Involving harmony

Harmonic cascade	A technique where the fretting hand slurs continuously whilst a picking hand finger touches the same string to produce harmonics. The finger usually moves from the bridge to the body producing a random assortment of harmonics.

Harmonic interval	The distance in pitch between two notes that are being played simultaneously Full article on Intervals

Harmonic minor scale	Identical to the natural minor scale except for a sharpened 7th degree

Harmonic porcupine	A phrase invented by guitar player magazine to describe an unusual harmonic technique. The picking hand is lightly draped over the 12 fret bar whilst the fretting hand slurs between open, 5th and 7th frets.

Harmonise	To add harmony to music To form music or chords from a specific scale

Harmony	The playing of two or more notes at the same time The relationship between notes of a chord and chords in a progression with reference to the structure of a piece of music

Hawaiian guitar	A guitar played horizontally, on which, a steel bar is used as a slide. Named so because it was invented and popularised by the Hawaiians. Syn - Lap steel guitar, Pedal steel guitar and Steel guitar

HB	Short for humbucker

Head	Short for headstock Short for amp head

Head block	Another term for heel block

Headstock	The section of the guitar attached to the top of the neck. Used to hold the machineheads. Full article on Anatomy of the guitar

Headstock overlay	A thin piece of wood (such as rosewood) that covers the surface of the headstock and may contain decoration.

Heel	The section of the neck that joins onto the body. The heel is much squarer than the rest of the neck and usually curves to allow comfortable access to the higher frets.

Heel block	A block of wood found inside acoustic guitars where the neck meets the body. The block provides a structurally sound place to attach the heel. Syn - Head block and Neck block

Heel cap	A decorative finish found on the heel of some guitars

Hinge barre	A type of barre chord where more than one finger 'barres' the strings. A hinge barre could include a full barre and one partial barre or two partial barres.

Hum	Unwanted electrical noise produced by the amplifier

Humbucker	A type of pickup consisting of two electromagnetic coils of opposite polarity. Specially designed to reduce interference from other electronics that can cause a hum.

Humbucking pickup	Another term for humbucker

Hybrid picking	Using a pick and fingers to pluck the strings

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