Guitar Encyclopedia Pdf

[Nguyet Edmondson]

Amember of the family of musical instruments called chordophones, the guitar is a stringed instrument with which sound is produced by "plucking" a series of strings running along the instrument's body. While the strings are plucked with one hand, they are simultaneously fingered with the other hand against frets, which are metal strips located on the instrument's neck. The subsequent sound is amplified through a resonating body. There are four general categories of acoustic (non-electric) guitars: flat-top steel-stringed, arched top, classic, and flamenco.

As music technology developed, more strings were added to the early guitars. A four-string variety (named guitarra latina) existed in Spain in the late thirteenth century. The guitarra latina closely resembled the ancient Hittite carving except that the instrument now included a bridge that held the strings as they passed over the soundhole. When a fifth string was added in the early sixteenth century, the guitar's popularity exploded. A sixth string (bass E) was added near the end of 1700s, an evolution that brought the instrument closer to its present day functioning. The Carulli guitar of 1810 was one of the first to have six single strings tuned to notes in the present arrangement: E A D G B E.

The guitar industry is in virtual agreement on the woods used for the various parts of the instrument. The back and sides of the guitar's body are usually built with East Indian or Brazilian rosewood. Historically, Brazilian rosewood has been the choice of connoisseurs. However, in an attempt to preserve the wood's dwindling supply, the Brazilian governmenthas placed restrictions on its export, thus raising the price and making East Indian rosewood the current wood of choice. Less expensive brands use mahogany or maple, but the sound quality suffers in guitars constructed with those types of wood.

The top (or soundboard) of the guitar is traditionally constructed of Alpine spruce, although American Sika spruce has become popular among U.S. manufacturers. Cedar and redwood are often substituted for spruce, although these woods are soft and easily damaged during construction.

The neck, which must resist distortion by the pull of the strings and changes in temperature and humidity, is constructed from mahogany and joins the body between the fourteenth and twelfth frets. Ideally, the fingerboard is made of ebony, but rosewood is often used as a less expensive alternative. Most modern guitars use strings made of some type of metal (usually steel).

The first and most important step in guitar construction is wood selection. The choice of wood will directly affect the sound quality of the finished product. The wood must be free of flaws and have a straight, vertical grain. Since each section of the guitar uses different types of woods, the construction process varies from section to section. Following is a description of the manufacture of a typical acoustic guitar.

Most guitar manufacturers are small, highly personal companies that stress detail and quality. Each company does its own research and testing, which virtually insure the customer of a flawless guitar. During the past few decades, the guitar industry has become more mechanized, allowing for greater speed, higher consistency and lower pricing. Although purists resist mechanization, a well-trained workman using machine tools can usually produce a higher-quality instrument than a craftsman working alone. The final testing procedures at most manufactures are quite stringent; only the best guitars leave the plant, and more than one person makes the final determination as to which instruments are shipped out and which are rejected.

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Although guitars have a long history, they had fallen behind the times in a way-especially in terms of volume-as many others instruments had been modified over the years.

It was around 1936 when a jazz guitarist named Charlie Christian (1916-1942) began using an acoustic guitar with a pickup attached to the body, with the intention of playing guitar solos in his band. This is said to be the birth of the electric guitar.

Reference: "The Fun Guitar Encyclopedia" (Yamaha Music Media)

A major difficulty for the first electric guitars with pickups attached to their bodies was the acoustic phenomenon called "feedback," where sound amplified by an amplifier causes the instrument to resonate, creating a cacophony of sound. A clever way to solve this issue is to remove the hollow cavity from the guitar body, making it difficult for sound to resonate. This led to the creation of the solid-body guitar, in which the body is carved from a single piece of wood.

People had already been thinking about solid-body guitars by the beginning of the 1940s and had begun working on creating them. However, the first such instrument on the market was by designed by Leo Fender, the famous manufacturer of guitar amplifiers. Released in 1949, his Fender Esquire is now regarded as the first solid-body guitar.

Reference: "The Fun Guitar Encyclopedia" (Yamaha Music Media)

During the 1950s new and innovative instruments were released one after another, with what we consider the modern electric guitar being (mostly) completed in 1960. Although there was more experimentation after this date (such as using plastic or glass fiber for the body instead of wood, or even developing headless guitars), these developments did not gain much traction.

Having said that, modern instruments have indeed benefited from a variety of improvements, such as reduced noise, more easily tuned string pitches, and more attractive/longer lasting coatings. However, 21st century technology (such as touch sensors for timbre control) may make these instruments easier to play as time goes on. Of course, this all depends on whether such innovations are accepted by guitarists. After all, the future of electric guitars is closely tied with what the players of these instruments actually want.

In the 16th century the four-course guitar was a popular instrument, especially in France and Spain. Spain was also home to the more sophisticated vihuela, an instrument similar to the guitar but larger, with five courses. By the 17th century the five-course guitar was well established. There is an extensive European repertoire from this period of both popular strummed music and sophisticated art music.

The modern guitar has metal frets and usually six single strings. Exceptions include the twelve-string guitar (six double strings tuned in octaves), and instruments with added bass strings. Most commonly this results in instruments with seven, eight, or ten strings. Classical guitars are strung with nylon (replacing the gut of earlier times). Folk guitar or acoustic guitar styles generally use steel strings.

The electric guitar, a development of the early 20th century, is either an acoustic guitar with an added pickup/microphone or a solid body guitar (ie, no sound box). In the former, the natural acoustic sound influences the amplified sound. In the solid body guitar, the sound is entirely an electronic product. The rise in popularity of world music has led to the development of amplified classical guitars, as this is the primary instrument of both Spanish and South American music. Many classical players now use some form of amplification when performing in mixed ensembles or with orchestras.

European immigrants first brought the guitar to Canada in the mid 17th century. A letter of 4 Oct 1658 (Lettres de la Rvrende Mre Marie de I'Incarnation, Tournai 1876), cited in Kallmann's History of Music in Canada, describes the use of a guitar to lull some Iroquois to sleep, allowing French captives to escape certain death. The officer Jacques Bizard, in 1678 named seigneur of the island near Montreal that would bear his name, possessed a guitar or lute, while the principal businessman in 17th-century Nouvelle-France, Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye, kept a guitar in his work cabinet (La Vie musicale, p. 328, 352). In 1992, archaeologists found, at la Petite Ferme in the Sminaire de Qubec, situated on the side of Beaupr east of Quebec, a fragment of a guitar peg box in bone engraved with a lovely muse playing the vile--bras. This fragment, from whose style we can date to 1690-1720, had fallen between the cracks in the floor of the chapel that burned down in 1769 (La Vie musicale, p. 400-401).

In 1752 John Smith of Halifax advertised the sale of guitars. Frederick Glackemeyer taught (and repaired) the guitar in Quebec City and Montreal. The bandmaster Jouve performed and offered lessons on "Le Guitare Franaise" during the same period. As early as 1790, guitar lessons were part of the young ladies' academy prospectus at the Ursuline Convent in Quebec City.

Montreal was a centre of guitar music in Canada until the mid 19th century. Musicians such as Jean Brauneis I, Signor Jean Muscarelli, Mme Goni, and Mrs. Stennett offered instruction and gave public performances on the instrument. Advertisements by Mead & Co showed the availability of French, Spanish, and Italian guitars in the city. The instrument was used largely as an accompaniment to the voice, and was very much influenced by prevailing trends in European musical fashion.

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