P
p PA system Palm muting Parallel view Passing tone Passive pickups Pedal Pedal steel guitar Peghead Pentatonic scale Perfect fourth Perfect fifth Perfect eight Perfect unison Phaser Pick Picked Pick guard Pick rake Pick scrape Pick slide Picking Picking hand Pickups Pickup selector switch pima labelling Pinch harmonic Pitch Pitchshifter Playability Plectrum Pluck Plucked Plucking Position Power amp Powerchord Pre-amp Preamplifier Pre-bend Pull-off Pulse Purfling |
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| p | A symbol used to represent the thumb on the picking hand. It is part of the pima labelling system. Full article on pima labelling |
| PA system | An amplifier that is used by vocalists and instruments that are miked up |
| Palm muting | A technique that involves resting the picking hand on the strings (near the bridge) to cut off any resonance, creating a percussive sound. Used mainly in various forms of rock music. Full article on Palm muting |
| Parallel view | Another term for altered view Full article on Modes Part 2 |
| Passing tone | A chromatic note which is outside the scale but used quickly in 'passing' to add diversity to a section of music. Used by blues and lead guitarists a lot. |
| Passive pickups |
Pickups that convert the direct sound to an electrical signal without the signal being enhanced, as opposed to active pickups. |
| Pedal | A piece of equipment used to activate guitar effects via a foot operated switch. Pedals can have built in effects (wah pedals, distortion pedals etc.) or be linked to a separate effects unit. |
| Pedal steel guitar |
Another term for Hawaiian guitar |
| Peghead | Another term for headstock |
| Pentatonic scale |
A scale containing five notes per octave, existing as minor or major. The minor pentatonic scale has become the most widely used scale amongst rock guitarists and defines the typical sound of a rock guitar solo. Scales - Minor Pentatonic |
| Perfect fourth |
Full article on Intervals |
| Perfect fifth | An interval of 7 semitones |
| Perfect eight | An interval of 12 semitones |
| Perfect unison | When two of the same note, at the same pitch, are played simultaneously |
| Phaser | A guitar effect that produces Doppler-like sounds by varying delay and notch filtering |
| Pick | 1. Another term for plectrum Full article on How to hold a Plectrum |
| 2. Another term for pluck | |
| Picked | Another term for plucked |
| Pick guard | Another term for scratchplate |
| Pick rake | Another term for rake |
| Pick scrape | The scratching along the strings with the side of the pick. Usually the lower three strings, scraped up or down. Creates a screeching sound. Syn - Pick slide |
| Pick slide | Another term for pick scrape Full article on Pick scrapes |
| Picking | The sounding of a guitar string with a plectrum or finger |
| Picking hand |
The hand that holds the plectrum or plucks the strings with fingers. A persons dominant hand is usually used as the picking hand although many left-handers choose to play right-handed guitars. Full article on Hand labelling |
| Pickups | Electromagnets that are located on the front of the body. They produce a magnetic field that is disturbed by vibrations in the air (caused by the strings) which in turn alters the signal that is sent through a cable to the amp. The amp then receives the signal and amplifies it. There are two types of pickup: single coil pickups and humbuckers. |
| Pickup selector switch |
Controls which pickup, or combination of pickups, are turned on. |
| pima labelling | Instructions found on tablature that indicate which picking hand fingers should be used. It uses the symbols p, i, m, a and c to direct a specific finger picking pattern. p = thumb Full article on pima labelling |
| Pinch harmonic |
A technique achieved by striking the string with the pick and thumb tip in the same motion. Produces a note up to two octaves higher. Full article on Pinch Harmonics |
| Pitch | The frequency of a note (how high or low it sounds). The A directly above middle C is 440 Hz. This is called concert pitch. |
| Pitchshifter | A sound processor. Digitally increases/decreases signal pitch without affecting other factors. |
| Playability | The level of skill and effort needed to play a particular guitar. Can be subject to personal taste. |
| Plectrum | Small, thin object used for plucking or strumming the strings. Syn - Pick and Flat pick |
| Pluck | The sounding of a guitar string with a plectrum or finger |
| Plucked | Sounded with a plectrum or finger |
| Plucking | The sounding of a guitar string with a plectrum or finger |
| Position | The fret at which your index finger based. For example, if a riff requires you to use you index finger to play a note on the 5th fret then you can play any note on 6th, 7th or 8th fret with other fingers without movng index finger. This would be called playing in the 'fifth position' . |
| Power amp | Produces extra gain to increase output signal level |
| Powerchord | Contains only the root and the fifth notes, and so is not minor or major. Used for an aggressive or cold sound. Chord Charts - Power Chords |
| Pre-amp | Short for preamplifier |
| Preamplifier | Circuits that increases low-level input signals before they reach the power amp |
| Pre-bend | A bend is made before the string is plucked and usually released to create a drop in pitch Syn - Reverse bend and Ghost bend |
| Pull-off | A way of sounding a note without plucking. The opposite of a hammer-on. Hold the frets marked in tab and pluck, releasing the fret finger(s) to sound the lower held notes. Full article on Pull-offs |
| Pulse | The underlying rhythm to a piece of music. Distinct from the word beat (beat can mean a unit of time as well as an underlying rhythm). |
| Purfling | Strips of binding found on acoustic guitars that are frequently used as decoration |