Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
(The picture is of 6 plastic plectrums)
A guitar plectrum is a small piece of hard material (eg. plastic) and is generally held between the thumb and first finger of the strumming hand. The plectrum can also be known as the pick, as it is used to 'pick' the strings.
The plectrum is used mainly for the electric and steel-string acoustic guitars. Most classical guitar players don't use a plectrum.
Though today they are mainly plastic, plectrums come in materials such as bone, wood, steel or tortoise shell. Tortoise shell was the most commonly used material in the early days of plectrum-making, but as tortoises and turtles became more and more endangered, the practice of using their shells for plectrums, among other things, was banned.
The plectrum is used mainly for the electric and steel-string acoustic guitars. Most classical guitar players don't use a plectrum.
Though today they are mainly plastic, plectrums come in materials such as bone, wood, steel or tortoise shell. Tortoise shell was the most commonly used material in the early days of plectrum-making, but as tortoises and turtles became more and more endangered, the practice of using their shells for plectrums, among other things, was banned.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Geography of guitars...
(The picture is of a Latin cithara)Different types of instrument in the 'guitar family' originate from all across Europe in the 12th century. The tanbur, the setar and the sitar were originally from ancient central Asia and India. The oldest known iconographic representation of an instrument displaying the main features of a guitar is a 3,300 year old stone carving of a Hittite bard.
The word guitar was adopted into English from the Spanish Guitarra, German Gitarre and French Guitare - all taken from the Latin Cithara.
The guitar is descended from the Roman cithara, brought by the Romans to Hispania around 40 AD. By 1200 AD, the four-string guitar had evolved into two kinds: the guitarra moresca (Moorish guitar) which had a rounded back, wide fingerboard and several soundholes, and the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) which resembled the modern guitar with one soundhole but with a narrower neck.
In the 14th and 15th centuries the moresca and latina were dropped and these four course instruments were just called guitars.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Electric guitars
Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies, and need an amplifier to produce sound. A pick or plectrum is usually used to strum the strings on an electrical guitar.The electric guitar was created in the 1930s by Adolf Rickenbacker. Since then, many variations of the electric guitar have evolved - including the semi-acoustic, the electric acoustic and the electric bass among many more.
Friday, March 5, 2010
About guitars...
Acoustic guitars have been used for over a thousand years. The three main types of modern acoustic guitar are: the classical guitar, the steel string guitar and the archtop guitar.
The sound or tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the vibration of the strings. The sound of the strings is amplified by the hollow body of the guitar.
The classical guitar is usually played as a solo instrument. Electric guitars were introduced in the 1930s and they are enhanced by an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone.
The sound or tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the vibration of the strings. The sound of the strings is amplified by the hollow body of the guitar.
The classical guitar is usually played as a solo instrument. Electric guitars were introduced in the 1930s and they are enhanced by an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone.
(classical guitar)
Monday, March 1, 2010
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