The Evolution of Guitars

The new guitars gave birth to the “Floating arm” technique, which allowed the guitarists right arm to pivot from the elbow, but the strings were still only plucked using the thumb, index, and middle finger. The practice of using the ring finger along with other fingers was introduced in the nineteenth century. The golden age of guitars were considered to be in eighteen hundreds when England adopted the guitar after a visit from Fernando Sor, one of the grates in early guitar, along with Matteo Carcassi, and Dionysio Aquado, all European guitarists who had a big effect on the technique of guitars today. The father of modern guitar is said to be Antonio de Torres Jurado who is known as a classical guitarist who modernized the guitar.

The lutes proper which had rounded backs and the guitar type instruments with their flat backs. Guitar-shaped instruments appear in stone bas-relief sculptures of the hittites in northern Syria and Asia Minor from as far back as 1350 B.C. The word guitar also has origins in the middle and far east, deriving from gut, is the Arabic word for four, and tar, the Sanskrit word for string. The earliest European guitars did have four courses of gut strings. A 2 course is a pair of strings tuned in unison.

Web. 24 Jan. 2014. "Invention of the Electric Guitar :: Smithsonian Lemelson Center." Invention of the Electric Guitar :: Smithsonian Lemelson Center. N.p., n.d.

Through out history, music has played a big role. It has let people communicate and others release their creative minds. Throughout the life of music, instruments have made it happen. The guitar has become one of the most popular of all instruments. In fact, almost every band heard on the radio has a lead guitar accompanying the vocals.

The first classical six-strings were considered to be very beautiful. This new design helped introduce new ways that a guitar could be played. The new guitars gave birth to the "Floating arm" technique, which allowed the guitarists right arm to pivot freely at the elbow, while it was floating above the body of the guitar. The strings were plucked using the thumb, index, and middle fingers. The practice of using the ring finger along with others was later introduced in the nineteenth century.

The Guitar is a stringed musical instrument with six or twelve strings that is played by either plucking or strumming the strings. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. If an individual were asked to identify a guitar most people would answer the question correctly more so than they would if they were asked about another instrument. When people think about famous guitarists, they more than likely think of famous rock and roll guitarists and do not think about the many other famous guitarists in other musical genres such as jazz or country. The guitar is a well-known instrument that influences many musical genres including Country.

It is played by plucking or strumming the strings using the right hand while fretting the strings with the left hand. The beginnings of the European guitar are unknown. It is impossible to establish the history of guitar before the Renaissance, but similar plucked-string instruments existed such as the long neck lute. The lute had a waisted sound box alike the guitar and survived from third to sixth century. During renaissance and medieval periods, a wide range of plucked stringed instruments can be found.

Through the twang of country and ripping solos in rock, the guitar is usually the glue of any major piece of music. To see how the guitar has become a key factor in music and a symbol of Americana we will have to look at the history. The guitar was not always as significant as it has come to be in the 21st century. Its sister instruments were introduced in the 12th century, but the guitar, itself cannot be traced back earlier than the 15th century. “The guitar, another old instrument dating back at least to the Middle Ages, probably originating in the Middle East.”(Machlis p. 52).

The company only made one hundred of these guitars. The electric bass guitar consists of a neck and body, and the bridge, tuners, pickups, strings, and amplification makes this instrument the backbone of a song. Leo Fender, in the 1950s, with some help from his employee, George Fullerton, managed to develop the first mass produced bass guitar. The Fender P bass, or Precision Bass guitar, was introduced in 1951. It became a widely copied standard in the industry.

Scoops are the flexed indents on the sides on which the guitars rests on the players leg, and a cutaway is a portion of the base of the neck that looks like it has been removed for easier access to the higher frets. Many variations of the electric guitar have been produced to this day and each one has had an effect on its progression and impact in the realm of musical instruments The new era in plectral instruments began in Iberia, Spain in the mid 15th century with the creation of the vihuela (Bellow). The vihuela was practically a flat backed lute with six paired strings, which were most commonly plucked at the same time. Since there was no machined production at the time, many vihuelas were unique to whoever built them, the number of sound ports, shape, or neck varied. However, a majority of them had the same build and concept of a modern guitar.