The most significant of the new designs was a contoured body style that Fender called the “Comfort Contour Body”. The back of the guitar was contoured to fit comfortably and snugly against the player instead of having the hard edge found on the Fender Telecaster body. Also, the front of the guitar was contoured to allow your arm to rest comfortably on the guitar while playing.
In addition, the body featured double cutaways near the neck to allow easy access to the highest frets, help reduce the weight of the guitar, and improve the overall balance of the guitar.
The first Stratocasters came in a 2-color sunburst finish on a solid, contoured ash body with a one piece maple neck containing 21 frets, black dot inlays, Kluson Deluxe tuners and the guitar featured a tremolo bridge with “whammy bar”.
Eventually, Fender began offering the Stratocaster in vibrant solid colors such as Daphne Blue, Surf Green, and Fiesta Red which were popular in the automobile industry at the time and gave the Stratocaster a modern, “cool” appeal.
The Stratocaster guitar was the first solid body electric to feature three single coil pickups. The early models came with a three-way pickup switch for selecting either the neck, middle, or bridge pickups.
However, guitar players realized you could wedge the switch in between positions to simultaneously select either the neck and middle pickups, or the middle and bridge pickups to mix the signals from two pickups and create new tones. In response to this, Fender created the five-way pickup switch which has been a standard feature since 1977.
Another novel design feature was the single-ply “drop in” pickguard that allowed all the electronics such as pickups, selector switch, volume and tone controls to be mounted on one surface making the Stratocaster easier to mass produce, repair, and customize.
Leo Fender set out to design the best guitar ever made and no one can deny that it is truly one of the best guitars in the world. The results speak for themselves as the Stratocaster guitar is still one of the most popular and
commercially successful guitars of all time. It’s popularity continues to be driven by countless guitarists who love the style, playability, and versatile tonal qualities of this legendary guitar.
Jonathan N. Stewart is a multi-talented musician who plays guitar, bass, and piano. He is also the proud owner of two Stratocaster guitars. To learn more about Stratocaster guitars, you can visit his blog at stratocasterguitar.net
Guitar Super Stars , Tutorial Software
Guitar Super Stars , Tutorial Software
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The History Of The Electic Guitar
Electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses electronic pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cord strings into electrical current. The signal may be electrically altered to achieve various tonal effects prior to being fed into an amplifier, which produces the final sound which can be either an electrical sound or an acoustic sound. Distortion, equalization, or other pedals can change the sound that is emitted from the amplifier.
The electric guitar is used extensively in many popular styles of music, including almost all genres of rock and roll, country music, pop music and also in some classic music.
Custom electric guitars
Onyx Forge custom electric guitars based in California, USA is the one stop for all the custom electric guitars. Their ideal custom guitar includes 6, 7 and 12 string standards guitars. Also specializes in exotic woods and custom switching for active, passive or piezo pickups.
Acoustic electric guitars
Some steel-string acoustic guitars are fitted with pickups purely as an alternative to using a separate microphone. These are called electric acoustic guitars, and are regarded as acoustic guitars rather than electric guitars. These should not be confused with hollo body electric guitars, which are more of electric guitars fitted with hollow sound chambers.
History of the electric guitar
Adolph Rickenbacker invented the electric guitar.
Electric guitars were originally designed by an assortment of luthias, electronics enthusiasts, and instrument manufacturers, in varying combinations. In 1935, a Soviet scientist working separately from his western colleagues was known to have produced an electric Russian guitar called Kuznetsov electromagnetic guitar.
The first recording of an electric guitar was by jazz guitarist Beddie Durham in 1937.
Electric guitar strings
Guitar strings are strung parallel to the neck, whose surface is covered by the fingerboard. By depressing a string against the fingerboard, the effective length of the string can be changed, which in turn changes the frequency at which the string will vibrate when plucked. Guitarists typically use one hand to pluck the strings and the other to depress the strings against the fretboard. Traditionally, the dominant hand is assigned the task of plucking or strumming the strings.
In electric guitars, transducers known as pickups convert string vibration to an electronic signal, which in turn is amplified and fed to speakers, which vibrate the air to produce the sound we hear.
Electric guitar cases
Case is where the guitar is kept to protect the guitar as well to carry it from one place to another in order to protect it some of the cases available for guitar can be listed as follows:
• The AME-30 is designed to fit Archtop guitars. Featuring the revolutionary Ameritage Humidity Control System, which protects instruments against climatic effects which cause swelling?
• Calton Electric Guitar Cases will accommodate most electric, acoustic electric and electric hollow body guitars. Due to the shaped nature of a Calton case, the instrument's horn length and headstock offset are critical measurements that may be requested for your case to be made.
Electric bass guitar
The electric bass guitar is an electrically-amplified fingered string instrument. The bass is similar in appearance to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and, usually, four strings tuned an octave lower in pitch, in the bass range.
The bass is typically used to provide the low-pitched bassline and bass runs in popular music and jazz. The electric bass is also used as a soloing instrument in jazz, fusion, and latin.
To read about flea problem and sea flea, visit the Flea Infestation site.
The electric guitar is used extensively in many popular styles of music, including almost all genres of rock and roll, country music, pop music and also in some classic music.
Custom electric guitars
Onyx Forge custom electric guitars based in California, USA is the one stop for all the custom electric guitars. Their ideal custom guitar includes 6, 7 and 12 string standards guitars. Also specializes in exotic woods and custom switching for active, passive or piezo pickups.
Acoustic electric guitars
Some steel-string acoustic guitars are fitted with pickups purely as an alternative to using a separate microphone. These are called electric acoustic guitars, and are regarded as acoustic guitars rather than electric guitars. These should not be confused with hollo body electric guitars, which are more of electric guitars fitted with hollow sound chambers.
History of the electric guitar
Adolph Rickenbacker invented the electric guitar.
Electric guitars were originally designed by an assortment of luthias, electronics enthusiasts, and instrument manufacturers, in varying combinations. In 1935, a Soviet scientist working separately from his western colleagues was known to have produced an electric Russian guitar called Kuznetsov electromagnetic guitar.
The first recording of an electric guitar was by jazz guitarist Beddie Durham in 1937.
Electric guitar strings
Guitar strings are strung parallel to the neck, whose surface is covered by the fingerboard. By depressing a string against the fingerboard, the effective length of the string can be changed, which in turn changes the frequency at which the string will vibrate when plucked. Guitarists typically use one hand to pluck the strings and the other to depress the strings against the fretboard. Traditionally, the dominant hand is assigned the task of plucking or strumming the strings.
In electric guitars, transducers known as pickups convert string vibration to an electronic signal, which in turn is amplified and fed to speakers, which vibrate the air to produce the sound we hear.
Electric guitar cases
Case is where the guitar is kept to protect the guitar as well to carry it from one place to another in order to protect it some of the cases available for guitar can be listed as follows:
• The AME-30 is designed to fit Archtop guitars. Featuring the revolutionary Ameritage Humidity Control System, which protects instruments against climatic effects which cause swelling?
• Calton Electric Guitar Cases will accommodate most electric, acoustic electric and electric hollow body guitars. Due to the shaped nature of a Calton case, the instrument's horn length and headstock offset are critical measurements that may be requested for your case to be made.
Electric bass guitar
The electric bass guitar is an electrically-amplified fingered string instrument. The bass is similar in appearance to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and, usually, four strings tuned an octave lower in pitch, in the bass range.
The bass is typically used to provide the low-pitched bassline and bass runs in popular music and jazz. The electric bass is also used as a soloing instrument in jazz, fusion, and latin.
To read about flea problem and sea flea, visit the Flea Infestation site.
A Look At The History Of The Guitar
The history of guitar is a debatable topic, as there are no concrete facts about the guitar and when exactly it first appeared. What is known, though, is that guitars or similar instruments have been around for over 5,000 years. Entire books could be written about the history of guitar, so in this article, we’ll just go over a timeline of how it is thought the guitar evolved.
• 1400 B.C: The Hittites play a four-string, guitar-like instrument. This four string instrument had soft, curved sides, which were somewhat similar to the current guitar. Also around this time, the Greeks produced a similar instrument which was modified by the Romans and became known as the cithara.
• By 1200 A.D.: There were two types of guitars. One type was known as the Moorish guitar (guitarra morisca). This guitar had a wide fingerboard, rounded back, and several sound holes. The type of guitar was the Latin guitar (guitarra Latina). The Latin guitar looked more like our current guitar with a narrower neck and just one sound hole.
• The late 1400’s: A new guitar, called the vihuela, evolved from the two types of guitar mentioned. The vihuela was a large instrument with double the strings of the Latin and Moorish guitars, a longer neck and ten or eleven frets. The Portuguese and Spanish courts preferred the vihuela over any other instrument for roughly 200 years.
• Until the late 1600’s: The vihuela, and another instrument called the lute, were more popular than the guitar. This changed when the popularity of the lute declined because it had too many strings and was too hard to play and tune. The vihuela was replaced by four and five course guitars of that time. Four course guitars had seven strings—a single high string and three pairs of other strings—while five course guitars had nine strings—a single high string and four pairs of other strings. Some feel that the addition of the fifth course during the 16th century, which gave the guitar greater flexibility, was the reason why the guitar became popular.
• By the beginning of the 1800’s: Some guitars used fan struts under the soundboard and featured six strings (like the modern guitar). Also changed during this time was the neck (which was raised), the fingerboard (which used ebony or rosewood), and the tuning pegs (which were replaced with machine tuners). Guitars like these are most similar to early classical guitars.
• By the late 1800s: A man named Antonio Torres Jurado changed the guitar dramatically by refining the strutting of the guitar. This allowed for as many as seven struts to be spread out like a fan under the soundboard. Additionally, the size of the body and the width of the neck were greatly increased. As a result of Jurado’s improvements, the guitar had greater bass response and volume. Jurado’s work made it possible for the guitar to meet the demands of both the solo performer and the concert stage.
• The Present: Our modern guitar is practically the same as the one made by Jurado.
As was previously said, this is but a brief introduction to the fascinating history of guitars. If you wish to find out more on certain types of guitars, such as the history of Acoustic, Electric or Bass guitars, you can check out our articles titled “The Acoustic Guitar”, “The Electric Guitar”, and “The Bass Guitar”.
Gray Rollins is a featured writer for GuitarsLand.com. If you're interested in learning more about the the history of the guitar or if you'd like to learn more about acoustic guitars, then visit us.
• 1400 B.C: The Hittites play a four-string, guitar-like instrument. This four string instrument had soft, curved sides, which were somewhat similar to the current guitar. Also around this time, the Greeks produced a similar instrument which was modified by the Romans and became known as the cithara.
• By 1200 A.D.: There were two types of guitars. One type was known as the Moorish guitar (guitarra morisca). This guitar had a wide fingerboard, rounded back, and several sound holes. The type of guitar was the Latin guitar (guitarra Latina). The Latin guitar looked more like our current guitar with a narrower neck and just one sound hole.
• The late 1400’s: A new guitar, called the vihuela, evolved from the two types of guitar mentioned. The vihuela was a large instrument with double the strings of the Latin and Moorish guitars, a longer neck and ten or eleven frets. The Portuguese and Spanish courts preferred the vihuela over any other instrument for roughly 200 years.
• Until the late 1600’s: The vihuela, and another instrument called the lute, were more popular than the guitar. This changed when the popularity of the lute declined because it had too many strings and was too hard to play and tune. The vihuela was replaced by four and five course guitars of that time. Four course guitars had seven strings—a single high string and three pairs of other strings—while five course guitars had nine strings—a single high string and four pairs of other strings. Some feel that the addition of the fifth course during the 16th century, which gave the guitar greater flexibility, was the reason why the guitar became popular.
• By the beginning of the 1800’s: Some guitars used fan struts under the soundboard and featured six strings (like the modern guitar). Also changed during this time was the neck (which was raised), the fingerboard (which used ebony or rosewood), and the tuning pegs (which were replaced with machine tuners). Guitars like these are most similar to early classical guitars.
• By the late 1800s: A man named Antonio Torres Jurado changed the guitar dramatically by refining the strutting of the guitar. This allowed for as many as seven struts to be spread out like a fan under the soundboard. Additionally, the size of the body and the width of the neck were greatly increased. As a result of Jurado’s improvements, the guitar had greater bass response and volume. Jurado’s work made it possible for the guitar to meet the demands of both the solo performer and the concert stage.
• The Present: Our modern guitar is practically the same as the one made by Jurado.
As was previously said, this is but a brief introduction to the fascinating history of guitars. If you wish to find out more on certain types of guitars, such as the history of Acoustic, Electric or Bass guitars, you can check out our articles titled “The Acoustic Guitar”, “The Electric Guitar”, and “The Bass Guitar”.
Gray Rollins is a featured writer for GuitarsLand.com. If you're interested in learning more about the the history of the guitar or if you'd like to learn more about acoustic guitars, then visit us.
How To Play Guitar Effortlessly Like A Master
Did you ever notice that when people see a guitar master play (or any great instrumentalist for that matter), they all seem to say the same things? He/she plays so effortlessly, they make it look so easy, they don’t even seem to be trying…
Do you see a pattern here? The great guitarists all play in such a manner that it looks effortless, it looks easy. And do you know what the secret is? It is easy. And yes, I know, they’ve played for many years, they’ve mastered the guitar and as a result they now play effortlessly. Seems so obvious. But the secret that nobody seems to talk about is this.
Great guitarists did not struggle for years, playing everything with a lot of tension and struggle and then somehow after many years they suddenly began to play effortlessly. No, in fact, they started out playing effortlessly from the beginning. Yes, they started with the end in mind. They played effortlessly from the moment that they began to work on the piece of music. Playing effortlessly is not something that comes after years of struggle and stress. In fact, you can begin to play effortlessly starting with your first guitar lesson. And if you have a wise and experienced teacher they will have gotten you started on that path on day one.
What this means is that you must play in a relaxed and effortless way from the moment you first pick up the guitar. Struggle, strain and stress do not lead to relaxation. It is only a lack of strain and relaxation that leads to further relaxation.
Do you see a pattern here? The great guitarists all play in such a manner that it looks effortless, it looks easy. And do you know what the secret is? It is easy. And yes, I know, they’ve played for many years, they’ve mastered the guitar and as a result they now play effortlessly. Seems so obvious. But the secret that nobody seems to talk about is this.
Great guitarists did not struggle for years, playing everything with a lot of tension and struggle and then somehow after many years they suddenly began to play effortlessly. No, in fact, they started out playing effortlessly from the beginning. Yes, they started with the end in mind. They played effortlessly from the moment that they began to work on the piece of music. Playing effortlessly is not something that comes after years of struggle and stress. In fact, you can begin to play effortlessly starting with your first guitar lesson. And if you have a wise and experienced teacher they will have gotten you started on that path on day one.
What this means is that you must play in a relaxed and effortless way from the moment you first pick up the guitar. Struggle, strain and stress do not lead to relaxation. It is only a lack of strain and relaxation that leads to further relaxation.
Learn Guitar - The History Of Blues Guitar
Many Blues guitar lessons would aid pupils learn the 8-bar blues, the standard 12-bar blues, the licks, chord progress and the acoustic Blues technique, amongst some other methods. Blues guitar lessons are available for the beginner, where fundamental Blues guitar playing is taught, while more advance classes would address topics such as pentatonic and blues scales and a range of soloing techniques amongst which are string bending, slides, vibrato, and pull-offs, just to list a few.
Blues guitar lessons are useful not just to aspiring Blues musicians, but to those who wish to follow a career or employ in a field of study pertaining to Country and Western music, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues or even Rock and Roll, as these musical genres are also powerfully influenced by Blues music.
As the Blues relates to an entire music genre, Blues guitar lessons should enable the student to discover and be pretty proficient in playing Classic Blues, Country Blues, Acoustic and even Electric Blues. An realizing of the different, regional Blues style would also be beneficial to pupils in music. Blues guitar lessons would many likely also address the impact instrumentalists such as B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters had on Blues music, while performing artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Steve Ray Vaughn too, were a few of the great performing artists that were subject to the magic of the Blues, whose guitar playing techniques can be learnt by promising instrumentalists; who can then later grow their own fashion of music.
Pupils, who wish to enter in taking Blues guitar lessons, would find many choices open to them when choosing a suitable, training program. For example, there are net established learning methods, DVD s, a variety of books that address Blues guitar playing techniques, video demonstrations and Blues guitar classes which can perhaps be tailor-make to their demands. regardless of the fashion of study you select, you desire to practise more and more each day in order to make yourself excellent in Blues guitar playing.
Learning to play the guitar doesn't need to be difficult.
Blues guitar lessons are useful not just to aspiring Blues musicians, but to those who wish to follow a career or employ in a field of study pertaining to Country and Western music, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues or even Rock and Roll, as these musical genres are also powerfully influenced by Blues music.
As the Blues relates to an entire music genre, Blues guitar lessons should enable the student to discover and be pretty proficient in playing Classic Blues, Country Blues, Acoustic and even Electric Blues. An realizing of the different, regional Blues style would also be beneficial to pupils in music. Blues guitar lessons would many likely also address the impact instrumentalists such as B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters had on Blues music, while performing artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Steve Ray Vaughn too, were a few of the great performing artists that were subject to the magic of the Blues, whose guitar playing techniques can be learnt by promising instrumentalists; who can then later grow their own fashion of music.
Pupils, who wish to enter in taking Blues guitar lessons, would find many choices open to them when choosing a suitable, training program. For example, there are net established learning methods, DVD s, a variety of books that address Blues guitar playing techniques, video demonstrations and Blues guitar classes which can perhaps be tailor-make to their demands. regardless of the fashion of study you select, you desire to practise more and more each day in order to make yourself excellent in Blues guitar playing.
Learning to play the guitar doesn't need to be difficult.
A Guide On How To Play Guitar Chords For Beginners
Why acoustic guitar need to be used by beginners?
Since the metallic string acoustic guitar enables the preciseness of the finger placement, beginners can learn the guitar chords well with it. However, since the fret broad of classical guitar is essentially wider, it's easier to play. Nonetheless, its drawback is that you can not vividly listen to the details of the chords you are playing. Electric guitars are not recommended because they have the tendency to hide your terrible playing technique.
Thus, it is a good idea that a beginner start learning the guitar chords on the acoustic guitar. Having learned the fundamental chords, you can move on to the nature of guitar you wish to specialize in. To confidently and correctly play the different chords whichever type of guitar you use, training with the acoustic guitar can really help you.
Found below is the short and brief guide on how to play guitar chords for beginners.
So far, guitar chords that only require the use of one finger are the simplest ones that novices can learn to play. This is the standard step to perfecting the chords for better tuning.
The one-finger G chord release. Just put your third finger behind the third fret that is placed on the first string of the guitar. Then, strum the basic four strings.
The fundamental C chord. At the rear of the first fret, position your first finger on the second string. Then, strum the first three strings.
The critical chords. The major chords you can start to play are A, C, D, E, and G.
The minor chords. The minor chords comprise the A minor, D minor, and E minor.
Below are some of the essential tips on how to play guitar chords for beginners.
Avoid depressing too tensely on the guitar strings. To produce sound, moderately press on the strings. What makes a difference is to permit the notes to resonate effortlessly without risking them to sound out of tune.
Do drop your left wrist. This will help you to position your fingers vertically on the guitar fretboard, resulting in brilliant sounding notes. A large number of beginners who are starting to learn how to play guitar chords for beginners have a tendency to let the back of their fingers to touch and dampen the next guitar string. The humming sound of the guitar strings can be removed by good positioning of the fingers.
Create as minimal movement as you can while switching your fingers from one particular chord to another.
Close your eyes while practicing changing guitar chords. Learn to sense the guitar chords with your fingers. You must first learn rapidly the movement of your secondary hand to feel the location of the strings and frets. After that, increase on your strumming as well as plucking in your primary hand.
These are the simple yet highly effective techniques on how to play guitar chords for beginners.
Since the metallic string acoustic guitar enables the preciseness of the finger placement, beginners can learn the guitar chords well with it. However, since the fret broad of classical guitar is essentially wider, it's easier to play. Nonetheless, its drawback is that you can not vividly listen to the details of the chords you are playing. Electric guitars are not recommended because they have the tendency to hide your terrible playing technique.
Thus, it is a good idea that a beginner start learning the guitar chords on the acoustic guitar. Having learned the fundamental chords, you can move on to the nature of guitar you wish to specialize in. To confidently and correctly play the different chords whichever type of guitar you use, training with the acoustic guitar can really help you.
Found below is the short and brief guide on how to play guitar chords for beginners.
So far, guitar chords that only require the use of one finger are the simplest ones that novices can learn to play. This is the standard step to perfecting the chords for better tuning.
The one-finger G chord release. Just put your third finger behind the third fret that is placed on the first string of the guitar. Then, strum the basic four strings.
The fundamental C chord. At the rear of the first fret, position your first finger on the second string. Then, strum the first three strings.
The critical chords. The major chords you can start to play are A, C, D, E, and G.
The minor chords. The minor chords comprise the A minor, D minor, and E minor.
Below are some of the essential tips on how to play guitar chords for beginners.
Avoid depressing too tensely on the guitar strings. To produce sound, moderately press on the strings. What makes a difference is to permit the notes to resonate effortlessly without risking them to sound out of tune.
Do drop your left wrist. This will help you to position your fingers vertically on the guitar fretboard, resulting in brilliant sounding notes. A large number of beginners who are starting to learn how to play guitar chords for beginners have a tendency to let the back of their fingers to touch and dampen the next guitar string. The humming sound of the guitar strings can be removed by good positioning of the fingers.
Create as minimal movement as you can while switching your fingers from one particular chord to another.
Close your eyes while practicing changing guitar chords. Learn to sense the guitar chords with your fingers. You must first learn rapidly the movement of your secondary hand to feel the location of the strings and frets. After that, increase on your strumming as well as plucking in your primary hand.
These are the simple yet highly effective techniques on how to play guitar chords for beginners.
A Brief History Of The Modern Guitar
Although it may seem that guitars are fairly new, similar instruments which fit the definition have been around, and been very popular, for at least five thousand years. The classical guitar we know today, with its six strings, was developed in Spain originally, although it has a long and diverse history itself, and like many instruments, has a mixed heritage, borrowing as it does from various similar musical trends in instrumentation.
Much of the origin of the spanish six stringed guitar can be traced back to the Middle East, and in particular central Asia and India, where the sitar and other similar stringed instruments were very popular. In addition to the sitar, which is still popular today and has a very distinctive sound which almost immediately conjured up images of India, the guitar has a heritage which can be traced back to such instruments as the tanbur and the setar which both originate from Iran.
However, these historical origins can be predated still further, and we can take the history of the development of the guitar back to a record which is well over three thousand years old. There is a carving of a Hittite bard holding a stringed instrument which cannot be mistaken for anything other than an early form of a guitar like instrument, which shows that the instrument had already gained a popular role within society. The word sitar and guitar seem very similar, and this is because they both share the same ancestry.
The word guitar comes from the Latin word cithara meaning stringed instrument, and this word in turn comes from Greek heritage. The Greek word, kithara is thought to come from the Persian word sitar, which is where the words guitar and sitar share a lexical ancestor.
The word cithara, the Latin word from which guitar is derived, refers to an ancestor of the modern six string guitar, and was a popular instrument in Roman times, although rather than strummed, it appears to have been plucked, generating a fairly distinctive sound, and one fairly dissimilar to the traditional sound we associate today. In fact, the sound was more likely to be more similar to the Indian or Persian sitar sound quality than the European sound we hear today. The Romans brought their cithara with them to Spain, or Hispania as it was called, sometime in the first century AD, and was later adapted to incorporate some of the style and developments of another stringed instrument, the oud, which was brought by the Moors over six hundred years later. It was at this same time that the lute, popular in Scandinavian countries, was becoming very popular.
The lute has more in common with the six stringed guitar, as it too had the same six strings, although the back of the lute was curved, generating a different acoustic sound. The very well known Viking hero, Gunther, is depicted with a lute, as the Vikings took to the Scandinavian instrument very well, and it has been depicted in many carvings of that era. The oud and the cathira both developed into two guitar like instruments, but with different sounds, resulting in the Moorish guitar which was popular in around the 13th century, and the Latin guitar, which is the one which most closely resembles the guitar we think of today.
Much of the origin of the spanish six stringed guitar can be traced back to the Middle East, and in particular central Asia and India, where the sitar and other similar stringed instruments were very popular. In addition to the sitar, which is still popular today and has a very distinctive sound which almost immediately conjured up images of India, the guitar has a heritage which can be traced back to such instruments as the tanbur and the setar which both originate from Iran.
However, these historical origins can be predated still further, and we can take the history of the development of the guitar back to a record which is well over three thousand years old. There is a carving of a Hittite bard holding a stringed instrument which cannot be mistaken for anything other than an early form of a guitar like instrument, which shows that the instrument had already gained a popular role within society. The word sitar and guitar seem very similar, and this is because they both share the same ancestry.
The word guitar comes from the Latin word cithara meaning stringed instrument, and this word in turn comes from Greek heritage. The Greek word, kithara is thought to come from the Persian word sitar, which is where the words guitar and sitar share a lexical ancestor.
The word cithara, the Latin word from which guitar is derived, refers to an ancestor of the modern six string guitar, and was a popular instrument in Roman times, although rather than strummed, it appears to have been plucked, generating a fairly distinctive sound, and one fairly dissimilar to the traditional sound we associate today. In fact, the sound was more likely to be more similar to the Indian or Persian sitar sound quality than the European sound we hear today. The Romans brought their cithara with them to Spain, or Hispania as it was called, sometime in the first century AD, and was later adapted to incorporate some of the style and developments of another stringed instrument, the oud, which was brought by the Moors over six hundred years later. It was at this same time that the lute, popular in Scandinavian countries, was becoming very popular.
The lute has more in common with the six stringed guitar, as it too had the same six strings, although the back of the lute was curved, generating a different acoustic sound. The very well known Viking hero, Gunther, is depicted with a lute, as the Vikings took to the Scandinavian instrument very well, and it has been depicted in many carvings of that era. The oud and the cathira both developed into two guitar like instruments, but with different sounds, resulting in the Moorish guitar which was popular in around the 13th century, and the Latin guitar, which is the one which most closely resembles the guitar we think of today.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)