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history of the guitar
the social history of the guitar
the social history of the guitar
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Sound is longitudinal wave produced by compression and rarefaction of matter. Sound is produced when a vibrating source creates rhythmic variations in the air pressure (zitzewits & Murphy, page 268) to determine the wavelength of sound you need an equation which is, v=fλ. To explain this equation in broken down context v=velocity (m/s), f= Hertz(Hz) and the symbol λ(Lander) is the unknown that needs to be solved in order to determine the wavelength.
Physics of the guitar
The guitar has been around for thousands of years in one form or another. It is believed that the first forms of guitars were used in Egypt 3000 years ago. The guitar usually has six strings tied tight around a hollow body to resonate the sound. A guitar is a chordophones; chordophones is an instrument in which its standing wave is initially created in the strings of the instruments (David R. Lapp, page 25). The sound that produces from the guitar strings being plucked or strummed vibrate from the circle opening below the strings and resonate through the guitar till the wavelength eventually fades out, strings and gu...
Commonly referred to as the “King of the Surf Guitar”, Dick Dale brought about the genre now known as “Surf Rock” with his fierce brand of guitar playing which took the ears of many by surprise. Dale was instrumental in the use of high powered guitar amplifiers, reverberation as an effect and also the rise of heavy metal.
According to Peter E , his original program included transcriptions from Tárrega , as well as his own transcriptions of Bach and others. However, based on Clinton, George , many "serious" musicians believed that Segovia would be laughed off of the stage, because the guitar could not play classical music at that time. In order to refute their argument, Segovia astounded the audience with his perfect techniques and impressive performing skills. After that, Segovia shared the view he had of the guitar being a concert instrument. "First, no string instrument offers such complete harmonic potential; second, it is light and can be transported effortlessly from one place to another; and thirdly, its sound is naturally melancholic and beautiful." From that concert, he also found out the only problem with the concert guitar performance, which is that the guitar could not produce enough sound to fill the hall. So over the coming years, Segovia would supervise luthiers to experiment through thousands of new woods and designs for the body of the guitar, thereby increasing its natural amplification, and do more practice simultaneously, to make his performing technique go further. With the advent of nylon strings during the World War II, the guitar could produce more consistent tones, and also being able to project the sound much farther. The range of the sound transmission problem was solved gradually. In 1928, Andrés Segovia’s first concert in New York had been a huge success, which also led him to more offers for appearances in America and Europe, from then on, the great, meaningful journey of Andrés Segovia and his guitar was
Perhaps Guitar Bains’ defining characteristic is his firm sense of justice. From the beginning of the novel he demonstrates his devotion to morality. Guitar speaks to Milkman about a fight between Milkman and his father, he expresses the feelings of guilt he had after killing a doe: “When I got up to it…I saw it was a doe. Not a young one; she was old, but she was still a doe. I felt… bad. You know what I mean? I killed a doe. A doe, man” (Song of Solomon, 85). Guitar feels that it is wrong for the strong to fight the weak, whether be it Macon Dead striking Milkman’s mother or Guitar shooting a doe. Milkman’s sense of justice and his distain of the Caucasian race find their roots in his father’s death. After Guitar’s father is cut in half in a workplace sawmill accident, the white sawmill owner gives his mother $40 dollars and the children candy as compensation. This demonstration of the low value many whites placed on African-Americans plants a seed of hatred in Guitar. He can’t even eat sweets without becoming sick with the thought of his father’s death, as he explains to Milkman: “Since my father got sliced up in a sawmill and his boss came by and gave us kids some candy” (Song of Solomon, 61). Although his sense of justice never truly decays, as the novel progresses it is twisted and poisoned by his hatred for white people and begins to manifest itself in a far more sinister way: Milkman belongs to an organization named The Seven Days, which kills white men and women in retaliation for the often unpunished killing of blacks. “I suppose you know that white people kill black people from time to time…I had to do something. And the only thing left to do is balance it; keep things on an even keel…There is a society....
Electric guitars are devices that generate sound from a set of pickups that convert string vibration into electrical signals for amplification. The sound starts out as vibrations the musician creates while playing. These vibrations are picked up by the pickups of the guitar. What are pickups? Pickups are permanent magnets wrapped around in a coil. Since the strings are made with a special material called ferromagnetic, they interact with the magnetic fields in the pickups and force electrons to move in the loop. Moving electrons can generate a signal that can be read by the amplifier.
Aptly named the Rock & Roll Generation, the 1950's saw the birth and rise to prominence of rock-n-roll and rockabilly (an early style of rock-n-roll). However, this musical revolution would never have been possible without the invention of the electric guitar by Les Paul in 1952 (1). The solid-body electric guitar produced a distinct sound unlike any other instrument during that time; as a result, it was this unique sound that rock-n-roll music developed its entire foundation upon. Today, Les Paul’s guitar (now owned by the popular guitar company Gibson) remains one of the most famous electric guitars not just in the America, but also in the world, along with the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster. With the advent of the electric guitar, Carl Perkins was a pioneer in the establishment of rock music, and his particular ...
The theremin is an electronic musical instrument that is played using electrical fields. When it was first introduced, people were shocked to see this instrument that could be played without even touching it. The theremin unsually is tuned so that it has a range of three and a half octaves. The theremin's operation is based on the theory of beat frequencies. Two antennas stick out on each side. Usually a vertical antenna is located on the right which controls the pitch. The closer the players hand is, the higher the pitch. A horizontal loop antenna is located on the left and controls the volume. The closer the hand is, the louder the volume.
Everything in the universe involves some type of physics. Even the universe itself does, but have you ever wondered about the physics of simpler items? Physics is vital for all musical instruments, if it wasn’t; they probably wouldn’t produce the beautiful sounds that they do. One of these instruments is acoustic guitar. By looking at the instrument, it doesn’t look very complicated, but if you delve deeper into its composition, you’ll find that it’s very complicated. Physics takes part in the making of acoustic guitars, all the way to how it produces its beautiful music.
Rock and Roll has the most incredible history. Before there was rock and roll, there was blues. Most people think rock music started with Elvis Presley, but he didn’t record his first single until 1953. The first recorded song described as “Genuine Rock-and-Roll” was “Rocket ’88” by pianist Ike Turner and singer Jackie Brenston in 1951. Rock-and-Roll music in the 1950’s was described as a mixture of jazz, blues, country, and has a stronger guitar, bass, and drums. (A&E Biography Channel UK “SAM PHILLIPS The man who Invented Rock & Roll”. 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013) Over time what was first described as “Rock and Roll” has changed drastically, and will continue to change over time. Even though some people feel Pop has the best history, Rock and Roll really does. It has actually impacted more people’s lives than any other genre, it unites people from all over the world in a positive way, and influenced media culture by breaking down walls no one else had.
The vibration of the strings of a guitar causes the sound wave, but is not actually what you are hearing. The amplification of the sound wave is what is actually heard. The differences in the tension of the stings and the mass of the strings affect the pitch of the sound produced. The ends of each string are nodes, or where the wave does not travel from its initial position. The note you hear from the string is actually the first harmonic of the wave; other harmonics created when plucking a string form the undertones and overtones of a note. The waves on a guitar string are transverse waves, meaning they travel perpendicular to the original position. The waves are also standing waves, because they remain in the same position.
The electric guitar has greatly impacted how music was played in the past, the present, or the future. Players can be creative and achieve a great sound from the wide variety of guitars, pickups, pedals, or amps. Whatever type of music you enjoy, everyone should appreciate the importance of the electric guitar.
Before the guitar was even thought of, there were instruments that showed some similarities. The first stringed instruments were around about 4000 years ago. The first few instruments were called tanburs and bowl harps. These instruments are made by taking a tortoise shell and attaching a stick to it, usually a bent one. After that, a few gut or silk strings were run from the stick to the middle of the shell. One of the oldest guitar-like instruments is about 3500 years old. This instrument belonged to an Egyptian singer named Har-Mose. He owned a tanbur, but his had three strings instead of just one or two. It was also made out of rawhide and cedar (Guy).
After researching the history of music, it turns out that there are several theories concerning music and it is hard to determine at just what point when it originated. A lot of people say music was created before the existence of man. Historians say that there are six time frames of music and each different time frame has a certain type of music that has contributed to the music that we know today.
It was in eighth grade when my father made me started to listen to Johnny Cash. His music was old at my age, but his guitar made me fall in love with his music. It was right then that I decided to play the guitar, both acoustic and electric. When I got my first guitar, the new smell of wood spread across my room as I opened my guitar case. I could barely lift up my first time. My little body was covered by the size of the guitar. The strings felt thin on my little hands and my ears were filled with magic when I played it. With time I discovered that the guitar opened new things into my world. This instrument has dominated the way we make and listen to music. The guitar is one of the most versatile instruments in
a task. I wanted to learn to play this instrument at my own pace and I