Musical
Instrument: Guitar
In
many history books, even some that are highly rated, you
will read that guitars
was invented by the classical-era Greeks. This is due
to a simple mistake. The Greeks had an instrument which
they called a Kithara. As this was a stringed instrument
and that the name resembles closely that of the guitar,
historians tend to assume that this was a guitar. The
Kithara was in fact a type of lyra or harp, nothing to
do with the guitar. Also, if you look at ancient Egyptian
paintings, you will see many musical instruments which
could easily be mistaken for a guitar. Even by those of
us who have been playing the instrument for twenty years.
The
fact is that, quite often, in these ancient paintings,
the instruments in question were used as religious objects
and were not even played. Through rigorous study, it becomes
obvious that the guitar is not an ancient musical instrument.
LuteCloser
to us in time, most of us will think of the lute as a
direct ancestor to the guitar. This is indeed correct.
Think of it as the “father” of the guitar.
The lute, this instrument favoured by troubadours of the
dark ages and the renaissance, more closely resembles
a modern bass than a guitar. Usually, it had four strings
which would be plucked. One could not strum a lute.
The
body of the lute was oval and the back was rounded, sort
of like an Ovation guitar. The result of this was that
the lute was not a loud instrument. Hence, it could not
be played in any kind of band setting.
Now,
to get from the lute to the guitar, many elements are
missing. One of these is the treble strings. Another the
pinched waist. Finally, the flat back of the instrument.
In
comes the vihuela. Think of it as the “mother”
of the guitar. This instrument was developed in Spain
in the 15th century. The vihuela has a slightly pinched
waist, a smaller body than the lute and treble strings,
in pairs, called courses, which were made to be strummed.
VihuelaIt’s
about a hundred years later, some time during the 16th
century that someone (nobody will ever know who) had the
idea of mixing the two instruments together. Making the
body more like that of the vihuela, but sized closer to
that of the lute. The neck was closer to that of the vihuela.
Finally, both bass and treble strings were added to the
instrument.
The
first examples of this instrument are very crude. Some
very beautiful models were made by violinmaker Stradivarius.
But the instrument was still far from being as complex
as its modern counterpart.
It’s
toward the end of the eighteenth century that we can start
talking about the modern guitar. This was a time when
the US were electing their first president, Britain was
in the throes of the first industrial revolution and Napoleon
seized power in France.
I’ve
often heard how Art achieves its greatest moments when
civilization is in the midst of conflict or pressure.
Just look at the Rock and Roll revolution during the cold
war. One could find many examples of this sort. I don’t
know whether any studies have actually ever been done,
but I’d certainly be interested in reading one.
At
any rate, it’s at this moment that the modern guitar
makes its first appearance. It’s unclear whether
this was in France or in Italy. But here was an instrument
very similar to the ones we see today, with six strings.
This
is when the machine head was invented and so the old wooden
peg box, used to hold the strings and tune them was discarded.
It’s also at this time that guitar makers started
carving the heads of guitars. Although they usually aren’t
carved nowadays, makers still leave their mark on the
headstock. A very old tradition.
In
the late 18th century, José Pagés and Josef
Benedid started adding fan-shaped struts inside the body
of the guitar in order to amplify the sound. This method
was picked up by other guitar makers, such as François
Lacôte in Paris. It’s also at this point that
the “floating arm technique” came about. Previously,
one rested the little finger of the right hand on the
sound board. This was a technique which had been handed
down from lute players.
But
the finishing touches, involving volume and tone, were
added by Antonio de Torres Jurado. He increased the size
of the body, increased the distance between the bridge
and the nut and improved on the fan shape of the struts.
The result being that finally a guitar could be played
with an orchestra. Previously, the sound of the guitar
would be completely buried by that of the other instruments.
However, that still did not make it a popular instrument.
Well,
popular with the masses, just not with the “serious”
musical community. During the 1950's, Julian Bream (only
one of the greatest names related to the classical guitar)
was threatened with expulsion from the music college for
playing his guitar on the premises.
The
first college level guitar course in the UK was given
by John Williams (apart from his classical work, Williams
has played for such people as Sky (the original Sky, not
the pop outfit from a few years ago), Kate Bush, David
Bowie, and many, many others). This course was given,
for the first time, in 1965. Hence, and contrary to popular
belief, not many of the older guitar heroes are classically
trained.
The
guitar, being such an easy instrument to learn (not play
well, but at least learn a few basic chords and songs),
became very popular within the masses. Especially in South
America where it immediately became a hit. In Europe and
North America, though, it was snobbed at. Even today,
there are very few concertos written for the guitar, as
it is still snobbed at by many people in the classical
community.
The
20th century has seen most of the instrument’s improvements.
First, the old cat gut strings were replaced by metal
and nylon strings. Then, the classical (or Spanish) guitar
was modified to make the acoustic guitar in an attempt
to have an even louder sounding instrument.
Many
attempts to electrify the instrument were made, primarily
by Martin. Here came the invention of the pick-up. The
pick up is generally a coil of fine copper wire wound
around a bar magnet. This generates a magnetic field.
Once the strings move into this field, they generate pulses
of electrical energy which are transmitted to the amp.
The
first amps came out toward the end of the 1930's. However,
the main improvements were made by Leo Fender. The first
electric guitars were hollow bodied models. Although these
look fantastic and sound great, they are quite inconvenient
on stage where the sound coming from the amps tend to
make the instrument vibrate and thus create feedback.
If you ever have a chance to see B.B. King live, notice
that he stuffs the inside of Lucille with a towel to diminish
the vibration.
Enter
Les Paul. His first electric hard-body guitar was basically
a log (it was even called “the log”) with
a neck and two double-coil pick-ups set into it. He gave
it its distinctive look in order to make it more attractive,
then sold the idea to Gibson. And they still make it.
Leo
Fender was another innovator in the milieu. Coming up
with the Telecaster for country music, then later with
the Stratocaster. Note that Leo Fender sold the company
in 1965 as he was convinced he had little time to live.
He sold the company to CBS for $13 million dollars. He
came back during the seventies and left again as he didn’t
agree with the quality of the work being done by the company.
Eventually they were bought out by a Japanese company
who created the Squire series with much less than impressive
results.
Another
innovation of Leo Fender is the bass. He invented this
instrument for live bands. Because of the electric guitar,
bass notes, played on a contrabass could not be heard
live. Fender thought of creating a bass based on a guitar.
The first model was the Fender Precision Bass.
DobroAnother
strange guitar that was produced in the 1930's is the
Dobro. The first one was made in 1926 by National. This
looks like an acoustic guitar, except that the body is
made of aluminium. At the back of the front panel are
resonator plates (hence, this type of guitar is also known
as “resonator”). A Dobro doesn’t need
to be plugged in to sound loud. The aluminium body produces
a sound which is quite distinctive.
Since
then, many experiments have been tried. Mainly in an attempt
at getting more sustain or because of the scarcity of
certain woods, various materials have been tried. Acrylic
being one of them. Although it looks fantastic and does
wonder to sustain, it can do weird things toward the tone
of the instrument.
Warlock
Acrylic SeriesIn an attempt to come up with a material
that would be lighter, yet denser than wood, Steinberger
invented graphite. Many professional guitarists swear
by it. Go visit guitar manufacturer’s websites,
or just visit a guitar store and you’ll see strange
things. Such as two solid wood plates, front and back,
sandwiching a cork body. All in all, and by the looks
of things, the instrument’s progression is far from
over (A-J Charron).
