A Brief History Of The Guitar

Like most European string instruments, the guitar dates back thousands of years. The earliest ancient origin of what is now the modern guitar can be traced back to the Middle East, central Asia and India as early as 5,000 years ago. In 40 AD the Romans adapted and developed the four-string guitar: the oud. Elsewhere in Europe the Scandinavians developed a six-string instrument: the lut (lute). By 1200 AD, the four-string instrument had developed into two distinct types. The first, guitarra, morisca or Moorish guitar, was an instrument with a wide fingerboard and rounded back and several sound holes. The second was the guitarra latina, a Latin guitar, which resembled the modern guitar having a single sound hole and narrower neck.

The 15th and 16th century Spanish vihuela or "viola do mano" is usually considered the immediate ancestor to the modern guitar. It combined lute-like tuning with a guitar-like body. Its construction is thought to be a design combining the features of the Arabic oud and the European lute.

Gaetano Vinaccia, a luthier in Naples, Italy, may have built the oldest surviving six-string guitar, in 1779. The modern-day guitar usually has six strings, although they can have four, seven, eight, ten and twelve strings. Guitars are one of the primary instruments in blues, rock, pop and country music. The guitar is also central to flamenco music and used as a solo instrument. At right James Michael Thompson playing his one-of-a-kind eight-string baritone tricore resonator guitar.

Types of Guitars There are two basic types of guitars: the acoustic and the electric guitar. Acoustic guitars are not dependent on an external amplification device to be heard. It uses a soundboard, which is a wooden piece mounted to the front of the guitar body. Traditionally guitars have been constructed of combinations and various woods. At one time they were strung with animal gut, and more recently with nylon and steel strings. Some sub-categories of the acoustic guitar are classical, resonator, folk, arch top, flamenco and the acoustic bass. The electric guitar can be constructed with a solid body, semi-hollow and hollow body. The electric guitar produces little sound unless it is amplified. Electric guitars use electromagnetic pickups, which convert the vibration of the steel strings into electronic signals, which are carried by a cable or transmitter to an amplifier. When it comes to the history of the electric guitar two names come to mind Leo Fender and Adolph