- Body: The main part of the guitar that houses the sound hole (in acoustic guitars) or pickups (in electric guitars). It provides the resonance and amplifies the sound.
- Neck: The long, slender part of the guitar attached to the body. It holds the fretboard and is where you press down the strings to produce different notes.
- Headstock: The top part of the guitar’s neck that holds the tuning pegs. The strings are wound around the pegs to adjust their tension and tune the guitar.
- Fretboard: Also known as the fingerboard, it is a flat, usually wooden, surface on the front of the neck. It contains metal strips called frets, which divide the fretboard into specific intervals to produce different notes when the strings are pressed down.
- Frets: Metal strips embedded across the fretboard that create specific points for pressing the strings to change the pitch of the notes produced when the strings are plucked.
- Strings: Thin, elongated wires that run along the guitar’s neck and produce sound when plucked or strummed. Standard guitars have six strings, usually tuned to EADGBE from low to high (thickest to thinnest).
- Tuning Pegs: Mechanisms located on the headstock are used to adjust the tension of the strings. By tightening or loosening the strings with the tuning pegs, you can change the pitch of the strings to achieve the desired tuning.
- Nut: A small strip made of bone, plastic, or metal located at the end of the guitar’s neck near the headstock. The nut creates the starting point for the strings and helps maintain the spacing and height of the strings over the fretboard.
- Bridge: Found on the guitar’s body, it holds the strings in place on the lower end. The strings are usually anchored to the bridge, and it helps transmit the vibrations from the strings to the guitar body, influencing the tone and sustain.
- Pickguard: A protective plate typically made of plastic or other materials that is placed near the soundhole or pickups on the body of the guitar. It helps prevent scratches and damage from picking or strumming the strings.
- Soundhole: An opening on the body of an acoustic guitar that allows sound to resonate and escape, producing a louder and richer tone.
- Pickup: Found on electric guitars, a pickup is a magnetic device under the strings that captures the vibrations and converts them into electrical signals, amplified by an amplifier.
- Capo: A device used to clamp across the fretboard to shorten the playable length of the strings. This changes the pitch of the guitar without adjusting the tuning and allows players to easily transpose songs to different keys.
- Slide: A cylindrical or tubular object, usually made of glass, metal, or ceramic, that is worn on one of the fingers to slide along the strings. It creates a smooth, gliding sound and is commonly used in blues and rock music.
- Tablature (Tabs): A form of musical notation specifically for the guitar. It uses numbers and symbols to indicate which strings and frets to play, providing a visual representation of finger positions on the fretboard.