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Guitar

Difficulty Rating:

 6/10
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   Listen to a guitar  Watch a guitar player
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About the Guitar:

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist. Guitars may be played acoustically, where the tone is produced by vibration of the strings and modulated by the hollow body, or they may rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Such electric guitars were introduced in the 20th century and continue to have a profound influence on popular culture.

Equipment costs:

Low end Guitar:  £35
High end Guitar:  £3700

Accessories:

A capodastra is used to change the pitch of open strings. Capos are clipped onto the fret board with the aid of spring tension, or in some models, elastic tension. A slide is used in blues and rock to create a glissando or 'hawaiian' effect. The necks of bottles were often used in blues and country music. A "guitar pick" or "plectrum" is a small piece of hard material which is generally held between the thumb and first finger of the picking hand and is used to "pick" the strings. Some electric guitars have a tremolo arm (sometimes called a whammy bar or a vibrato bar and occasionally abbreviated as trem), a lever attached to the bridge which can slacken or tighten the strings temporarily, changing the pitch, thereby creating a vibrato effect. Eddie Van Halen frequently uses the tremolo to embellish his playing, as heard in Van Halen's "Eruption."
  • Capo
  • B-Bender
  • Detuner
  • Ebow
  • Headstock
  • JangleBox
  • Bags & Cases
  • Neck Straps
  • Pedals
  • Strings

Genres played on the Guitar:

  • Guitars are recognized as one of the primary instruments in blues, country, flamenco, rockmusic, and many forms of pop. There is also a solo classical instrument.

Famous players:

  • Segovia
  • Django Reinhardt
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • B.B King
  • Eric Clapton
  • Ediie Hazel
  • David Gilmour
  • Kirk Hammet
  • Keith Richards

Famous songs & albums:

  • Song -Artist - Band
  • Stairway to Heaven – Jimmy Page – Led Zeppelin
  • Maggot Brain – Eddie Hazel – P-Funk and the All Stars
  • Comfortbaly Numb – David Gilmour – Pink Floyd
  • All Along the Watch Tower – Jimi Hendrix

History:

Instruments similar to the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years. Modern dimensions of the classical instrument were established by Antonio Torres Jurado (1817-1892), working in Seville in the 1850s. Torres and Louis Panormo of London (active 1820s-1840s) were both responsible for demonstrating the superiority of fan strutting over transverse table bracing. The electric guitar was patented by George Beauchamp in 1936. Beauchamp co-founded Rickenbacher which used the horseshoe-magnet pickup. However, it was Danelectro that first produced electric guitars for the wider public.

Type of Guitar:

  • Guitars can be divided into two broad categories, acoustic and electric Solid Body Guitars
  • Hollow Body Guitars
  • Six Strings Guitars
  • Seven Strings guitars
  • Eight strings guitars
  • Nine String Guitars
  • Bass-guitar
  • ClassicalGuitar
  • Spanish Guitar
  • Ukulele
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