History and Impact of Guitar on Todays Music - Essay Example

? History and Impact of Guitar on Today’s Music The sole purpose of this research paper is to explore the different aspects of guitar as one of the most musical instruments. This paper includes a discussion of the general overview of a guitar (definition and structure), and a detailed analysis of the various types of guitar that have existed since invention. A detailed history of guitar follows and then to sum it up the paper contains a well-informed discussion about the impact of this instrument on today’s music industry. The paper also takes into account the important dates in the development of guitar. Additionally, the different people who contributed to the development of the instrument from how it used to be to what we have today get acknowledged. Keywords: Guitar, Music, instrument Introduction Guitar is a stringed musical instrument commonly used in most of the production of music. It is a versatile instrument made of wood, and it enables the composition of complex harmonies and intonation (Hempstead & Worthington, 2005). The instrument consists of two parts; the neck from which the strings originate and the body on which the strings terminate (Wade, 2001). It is one of the most played musical instruments after piano. Most guitars have six strings, but there are some with four while others have twelve strings. Allan (2002) says that a guitar produces sound by the playing of its strings. The sound produced gets projected through electrical amplification or acoustically (for the case of electrical and acoustic guitars respectively). Playing a guitar involves plucking the strings with one hand while fretting the strings with the other hand (Hempstead & Worthington, 2005). It is one of the most fundamental musical instruments because of its convenience. It is easy to carry a guitar around because it is light and portable as compared with drums and piano (Wheeler, 1980). Types of Guitars There are several types of guitars, but all of them fall under two broad categories: acoustic and the electric guitars. The acoustic guitars depend on acoustic means as opposed to electronic means, to convert and amplify the energy of the vibrating strings to produce a sound (Kasha, 1998). This involves use of a soundboard that amplifies the vibrations of the strings. There are two types of acoustic guitars: classical and the steel-string. The classical ones have no nylon strings. Additionally, they have wider necks unlike to the steel-string guitars which have a metallic sound that is distinctive wide range of most popular music styles (Hempstead & Worthington, 2005). The body of an acoustic guitar is a hollow chamber, which makes the instrument has a deep tone. Its portability and ease of use is the quality that makes the acoustic guitars suitable to small concerts, churches and other functions (Tom & Mary, 1977). For stadium concerts and other large venues, some amplification is necessary. To do this using an acoustic guitar, the operator places the microphone a few inches from the sound-hole or alternatively by installing a pickup (Kasha, 1998). Electric guitars convert the vibration of its strings into electric impulses by use of a pickup by the principle of electromagnetic induction (Wheeler, 1980). The electric guitars differ from the others in two ways: one, they have solid bodies made from wood. The electric guitars must be amplified through electrical means in order to hear their sound (Wheeler, 1980). The use of an amplifier aims at obtaining implication of the electrical guitar. The electric guitar when amplified produces a metallic sound that does not decay fast, and this quality makes electric guitars suitable for pop, blues and jazz music (Ratcliffe, 2005). The strings of an electric guitar are thinner than those of the acoustic guitars. The strings are also very close to the neck, therefore, pressing them down requires less force (Farmer, 1988). History of the Guitar The guitar is one of the man’s oldest and most symbolic musical instruments, and it is a major building block in music. The theory of the guitar came into discovery in the early centuries, when people discovered that the sound of a bowstring could be enhanced by attaching a resonating chamber like a bow (Farmer, 1988). The history of this noble musical instrument can be tracked back more than 400 years ago. The guitars roots are in Spain, with the people of Malaga being the first users (Farmer, 1988). Many theories exist about the ancestry of the instrument, with some scholars claiming that it is a development of a lute or even the ancient Greek Kithara. When guitar was first invented, it looked nothing like what we have today. According to Michael (1968), the first guitars were lutes, which evolved into vihuelas and later on became the guitar in the fifteenth century. However, a study done by Dr. Michael in 1960 disputed these claims that guitars were initially lutes. He showed that the lutes are a result of a separate line of development, sharing common ancestry with the guitar. Lutes had no impact at all on the evolution of guitars according to Dr. Michael (1960). The only evidence that supports the kithara theory of the guitar development is the similarity between the Greek word ‘kithara’ and the Spanish word ‘quitarra’. However, it is very hard to explain how the guitar possibly could have evolved from this kithara. This is because kithara is a totally different of instrument. Kithara was a square-framed instrument, and so it would be strange for such an instrument had given its name to the early Spanish quitarra (Farmer, 1988). The first version of the guitars, known as, the four-course guitars because they had a total of four strings. Later in the sixteenth century, another invention of the guitar took place. This invention led to the five-course guitars. The bowl harps and the tanburs are the earliest known stringed instruments to the archaeologists (Wheeler, 1980). Before the time of the development of human culture, people made bowl harps using the calabashes and tortoise shells. The oldest known archaeological representation, of an instrument that exhibited all the crucial features of a guitar is a stone carving at Alaca Huyuk in Turkey (Wade, 2001). It dates more than three thousand years ago. Many of the stringed instruments existed in Central Asia as shown by the archaeological findings. These findings show that most of the instruments have been used in almost unchanged form for much number of years (Wade, 2001). Many of these instruments found in Asia have their names ending with the suffix ‘tar’, with the prefix indicating the number of strings the instrument had. The ancient tanburs and harps spread around the world with the travelers, seamen and merchants. Chatar, a four-stringed Persian instrument, reached Spain. From here, the users changed it in terms of the way it looked by acquiring pairs of tuned strings instead of the original one strings. From there, then its name changed to quitarra/chitarra (Wade, 2001). By the beginning of renaissance, the four-course had become prevalent in Europe. During the 16th century, the earliest known music for the four-course ‘chitarra’ was composed, and at around the same time, the five-course guitarra bettente which gradually replaced the four-course instrument was discovered in Italy (Hempstead & Worthington, 2005). This five-course instrument came with a standard tuning system. During the 17th century, a sixth course was added to the five-course Italian instrument. This six-course arrangement paved way for six single strings through the driving force of the Italians. In this transition from the five-course to six single strings, some existing five-course instruments were modified to the new pattern of stringing (Hempstead &Worthington, 2005). The modern guitars began to take shape at the start of the 19th century. The modern guitar took its current form when Antonio Torres, a Spanish maker increased size of the body and modified its proportions around the mid-18th century (Tom & Mary, 1977). His design bettered the volume, projection and the tone of the instrument. Soon it was embraced as the accepted standard of guitar construction, which has remained unchallenged until today. At the end of the 19th century, Orville Gibson was building archtop guitars, which had oval sound holes. He experimented with anything that would make the sound better, and he designed a steel-string guitar with a body constructed in such a way that it produced more volume (Ratcliffe, 2005). He was joined by another designer by the name Lloyd in the early 1920s, and the two refined the arch top guitar into its familiar form (Ratcliffe, 2005). They incorporated the f-holes, cello-type tailpiece and a floating bridge. In the late 1920s, Les Paul began experimenting with ways that could make an electric guitar. He invented a solid body the electric guitars by adding pickups to the jazz guitars, but these electric guitars became more successful in 1936 when Gibson introduced the ES150 model (Ratcliffe, 2005). With the arrival of the amplification, it now became possible to get rid of the sound box completely. The pickups are devices that are attached to a guitar (underneath the guitar strings) that detect the vibrations of the strings and their energy into electrical energy (Farmer, 1988). The Gibson Guitar Company began producing its very famous Les Paul Guitar in the year 1952, and this became a very powerful influence in the music (Farmer, 1988). The music experts do not agree well about where the guitar was first played. According to Farmer (1988), most of the music experts argue that an instrument that very much resembled a guitar was played in Egypt more than one thousand years ago. Many of the most famous ancient musicians played and wrote music for the guitar in the early 18th century. Impact of Guitar on Today’s Music Today, guitars are acknowledged as a primary instrument in many music genres such as folk, country, blues, metal, soul, reggae and rock music. There is no other musical instrument around the world that is as popular as the guitar (Wheeler, 1980). Today, most of the musicians use guitar in almost every music played. For example, the country and most of the western music would not be the way they are without this instrument. Also, the American blues music would not be a nice as they are without the sound of a guitar. The same case applies to the roll music and the rock music, which would almost be impossible without this noble instrument (Farmer, 1988). When listening to music, the first thing to hear apart from the lyrics is the sound of the guitar. If one listens to the songs of 1940s and 1950s and compares them to the modern day songs, there is a huge variation. The guitar causes this huge and significant difference. There is no musical instrument that has had such a huge impact on the revolution of music like the guitar. Still, the electric guitar is the one that has had the most impact. Before the invention of the electric guitar, the acoustic guitar was the one mostly used. The acoustic guitar introduction changed the quality of music by giving musicians another option apart from the mandolin and banjos. It was a great asset for the musicians as it allowed them to compose record and perform their music from anywhere. This was because of its portability (Millard, 2013). There was high resistance when the electric guitar was first introduced to the music industry. The people who resisted feared that it would not have a desirable effect to the fans, and would not have any positive impact in the industry. However, these critics came to be proved wrong. The introduction of electric guitars first had a huge impact on concert halls. It became a huge asset. Earlier, concert halls where usually small and only contained a small number of people. This was because the audible range of the acoustic guitar had limitations to a short distance. However, because the electric guitar could have its sound amplified meant that people can clearly hear from greater distances hence the concert halls were expanded. So the musicians moved from playing for a few hundred people to entertaining thousands of them. This has continued to increase, and today musicians play for hundreds of thousands people, and selling out every seat (Zager, 2012). The electric guitar has greatly evolved from its original make. There have been some additional features on the guitar. These features have allowed musicians to create music styles that are unique to individual artists. The electric guitar has the unique ability of capturing the musician’s emotions in a way no other instrument can do (Millard, 2013). This is hugely attributed to the electric guitar’s ability to be amplified. These guitars always come with an amplifier. If the electric guitar is played without the amplifier, it fails to create the mood altering sounds attributed to it. The electric guitar has been used to express feelings that are either difficult or impossible to express by words. It has literally created an electrifying effect on the modern day music. The guitars have hugely improved the quality of music today. When it entered the music industry, the electric guitar was used by, the then, musicians like Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis and company to produce their unique signature sound. The today’s electric guitar and amplifier can both be modified to create a wide variety of music. Later, the effect pedals were invented. They were in between the guitar and amplifier; musicians could further improve the sounds they create. Advancement of the electric guitar’s technology has made it possible for guitarist today to produce any imaginable sound with it. This is through the use of digital effect processor. As the guitars become more ubiquitous, they cause music to change (Millard, 2013). In the 20th century, the guitar played a huge role in the development of the American popular and country music. When the guitar was introduced, it was used as a parlor instrument. It was adopted by both blacks and whites and people from different social classes. The guitar was in the first place an instrument of low volume, but technological advancements on it have enabled it to get its own public setting. Today, guitars and cowboy hats, are the identifying features of cowboys. The guitar can play the chords in a more effective way than the old day’s banjos and fiddles. This has moved to improve the quality and acceptability of the country music today. The guitar is also attributed to the creation and survival of rock and roll music. Rock and roll brought new innovative sounds that were never produced. This was because of the use of electric guitars. Through its amplification ability, the electric guitar had unlimited capabilities. The guitar sounds eventually became the signature sound for rock and roll. This is through its unique power cords. Today, it is impossible to think of a rock concert without the loud guitar sounds in the background. The guitar sounds also made rock music to be different from jazz. The guitar sounds and voices were altered, in the recording studios, to give rock and roll recordings a different dimension from other recordings of popular music (Zager, 2012). In conclusion, the revolution of music since the 1940s via the 70s until today has to some level been attributed to the invention and advancement of the guitar. The guitar’s simple but powerful technology, cost and portability, has greatly altered the landscape of music in the country and worldwide. References Allan, F. M. (2002). The Cambridge Companion to Blues and Gospel Music. New York: Cambridge University Press Farmer, H. G. (1988). Historical Facts for Arabian Musical Influence. Manchester: Ayer Publishers Hempstead, C., & Worthington, W. E. (2005). Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis publishers. Kasha, D. M. (1998). New Look at the History of the Classic Guitar: Guitar Review. New York: Pantheon Publishers Michael, K. (1968). A New Look at the History of a Classic Guitar. New York: Pantheon Publishers Millard, A., (2013). The Electric Guitar: History of American Icon. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Print. Ratcliffe, A. (2005). Electric Guitar Handbook. UK: New Holland Publishers Tom, S., & Mary, A. E. (1977). Guitars: From Renaissance to Rock. New York: Paddington Press Ltd. Wade, G, (2001). A Concise History of the Classic Guitar. New York: Mel publications Wheeler, T. (1980). The Guitar Book: A Handbook for Electric and Acoustic Guitarists. New York: HarperCollins Zager, M. (2012). Music Production: For Producers, Composers, Arrangers and Students. Plymouth: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Print. Read More