Guitar

A guitar isstringed musical instrument played withfingers orplectrum (guitar pick).

The ultimate origin ofguitarunknown;emerged frommixturestringed instruments usedwestern Europe inlate Middle AgesRenaissance. (Claims thatevolved fromlute do not seembe verifiable. The Spanish vihuela appearsbe an intermediate form,lute-style tuning andsmall guitar-style body, but itnot clear whether this representstransitional form or simplydesign that combined features fromtwo familiesinstruments.)

Guitars have frets onfingerboard,fixpositions ofnotes, or scale. Guitars usually have six strings, although therevariations on this,most common beingtwelve-string guitar,ukelele, which has four strings, andbass guitar, which usually has four strings but also existsfivesix-string versions.

A varietydifferent tuningsused. The most common by far, known as "standard tuning",(lowhigh) E-A-d-g-b-e'. Standard tuning has evolvedprovidegood compromiseboth simple fingeringmany chords, andabilityplay common scalesminimal left hand movement.

Some common alternate tunings

1. E-A-d-f#-b-e which providessame intervals as forrenaissance luteso you can playyour guitar directly from tablature.
2. D-G-d-g-b-d commonly usedblues or slide guitar
3. D-A-d-g-b-e' frequently usedfolk music,by nu metal bands

Therealso tenor guitars, baritone guitars tuned ADGCEA (or GDGCDG, GDGCEA, GCGCEG, ...)fifth lower thannormal guitar, treble guitars tunedfourth higher thanstandard (prime) guitar,contrabass guitars, whichtuned one octave lower than prime guitars.

Broadly speaking, guitars can be divided into 2 categories:

1. Acoustic guitars: The traditional guitarnot dependent on any external deviceamplification, unlikeelectric guitar (see below). However,unamplified guitarnotloud instrument, that is,cannot "compete"other instruments commonly foundbandsorchestras,termssheer audible volume. Most acoustic guitarsavailable todaybuiltelectronicsenable amplification. Thereseveral subcategories withinacoustic guitar group: classicalflamenco guitars, bothwhich use nyloncomposite strings,steel string guitars, which includesflat top, or "folk" guitar,closely related twelve string guitar, andarch top guitar. A recent arrival inacoustic guitar group isacoustic bass guitar, similartuning toelectric bass.
   1. RenaissanceBaroque guitars: These aregracile ancestors ofmodern classical guitar. Theysubstantially smallermore delicate thanclassical guitar,generatemuch quiter sound. The stringspairedcourses as inmodern 12 string guitar, butonly have four or five coursesstrings rather than six. They were more often used as rhythm instrumentsensembles than as solo instruments,can often be seenthat roleearly music performances. (Gaspar Sanz' Instrucción de Música sobre la Guitarra Española1674 constitutesmajority ofsurviving solo corpus forera.) RenaissanceBaroque guitarseasily distinguished becauseRenaissance guitarvery plain andBaroque guitarvery ornate,inlays all overneckbody, andpaper-cutout inverted "wedding cake" insidehole.
   2. Classical guitars: Thesetypically strungnylon or gut,amplificationprovided byresonant hollow body. Theynormally played inseated positionusedplay classical music. Flamenco guitarsalmost equalconstruction, havesharper sound, andusedflamenco. In Mexico,popular mariachi band includesrangeguitars, fromtiny requinto toguitarron,guitar larger thancello, whichtuned inbass register.
   3. Flat top guitars: Similar toClassical guitar, but withnarrower, reinforced neckstronger structural design,sustainextra tensionsteel strings which producelouderbrighter tone,acoustic guitar isstaplefolk, traditionalblues music.
   4. Resonator, resophonic or dobro guitars: Similar toflat top guitar, but withmetal resonator mounted inmiddle oftop rather than an open sound hole. The purpose ofresonator isamplifysound ofguitar; this purpose has been largely superseded by electrical amplification, butresonatorstill played by those desiring its distinctive sound. This typeguitarmore commonly played face up, onlap ofseated player,often withmetal or glass slide.
   5. 12 string guitars usually have steel strings andwidely usedfolk musicrockroll. Rather than having only six strings,12-string guitar has pairs, likemandolin. Each pairstringstuned eitherunison (the two highest) or an octave apart (the others). Theymade bothacousticelectric forms.
   6. Archtop guitarssteel string, acoustic instruments which featureviolin-inspired designwhichtopback ofinstrumentcarved incurved rather thanflat shape. Lloyd Loar ofGibson company invented this variationguitar after designingstylemandolin ofsame type. They were immediately adopted by both jazzcountry musicians, but fell outstyle when rockroll grew popular since their designnot capableextreme amplification.
   7. Acoustic bass guitars also have steel strings,matchtuning ofelectric bass, whichlikewise similar totraditional double bass viol,"big bass",staplestring orchestrasbluegrass bands alike.
2. Electric guitars: Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow or hollow bodies,produce little or very low sound without amplification. Electromagnetic pickups convertvibration ofsteel strings into electric signals whichfedan amplifier throughcable or radio device. The soundfrequently modified by other electronic devices or natural distortionvalves inamplifier. The electric guitarused extensivelybluesrockroll,was commercialized by Gibson togetherLes Paulindependently by Leo Fender. The electric basssimilartuning totraditional double bass viol.

Hybridsacousticelectric guitarsalso common. Therealso more exotic varieties, such as double-necked guitars, all manneralternate string arrangements, fretless fingerboards,such.

See also: guitarist, bass guitar, Jazz guitar, electric guitar, Chitarrone, Casio guitar, Air guitar

External Links

• Photosreplica RenaissanceBaroque guitars can be found amonglutes at Wayne Cripps' lute pages.
  • N.B. — The similar-looking vihuelas shown therenot guitars.