Guitar

A classical guitar (nylon string)

String instrument

Classification String instrument

Hornbostel–Sachs

classification

321.322

(Composite

chordophone)

Playing range

(a standard tuned guitar)

Related instruments

Bowed and plucked string instruments

GuitarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The guitar is a string instrument of the chordophone familyconstructed from wood and strung with either nylon or steelstrings. The modern guitar was preceded by the lute, vihuela,four-course renaissance guitar and five-course baroqueguitar, all of which contributed to the development of themodern six-string instrument.

There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: theclassical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acousticguitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of an acoustic guitaris produced by the vibration of the strings, which is amplifiedby the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonatingchamber. The classical guitar is often played as a soloinstrument using a comprehensive fingerpicking technique.

Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, rely on an amplifierthat can electronically manipulate tone. Early amplified guitarsemployed a hollow body, but a solid body was found moresuitable. Electric guitars have had a continuing profoundinfluence on popular culture. Guitars are recognized as aprimary instrument in genres such as blues, bluegrass,country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk,reggae, rock, soul, and many forms of pop.

Contents

1 History

2 Types2.1 Acoustic guitars

2.2 Electric guitars

3 Construction and components

3.1 General

3.2 Headstock

3.3 Nut

3.4 Fretboard

3.5 Frets

3.6 Truss rod

3.7 Inlays3.8 Neck

3.9 Neck joint or "heel"

3.10 Strings

3.11 Body (acoustic guitar)

3.12 Body (electric guitar)

3.13 Pickups

3.14 Electronics

3.15 Lining, binding, and purfling

3.16 Bridge

3.17 Saddle3.18 Pickguard

3.19 Whammy bar (tremolo arm)

3.20 Guitar strap

3.21 Self-tuning guitars

4 Tuning

4.1 Standard

4.2 Alternative

4.3 Scordatura

5 Guitar accessories

5.1 Capotasto

5.2 Slides5.3 Plectrum

6 See also7 Notes

8 References9 External links

History

Main article: History of the classical guitar

Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being aninstrument having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved

sides".[1] The term is used to refer to a number of instruments that were developed and used across Europe,

beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas.[2] Modern chordophones are the descendants of long linesof instruments that go back several thousand years to those of ancient Central Asia and India. For this reason,modern western chordophones, like the guitar, the violin, the lute and others, are distantly related to the moderninstruments of Central Asia and India, including the tanbur, the setar and the sitar. A 3,300-year-old stone carving

of a Hittite bard playing a stringed instrument is the oldest iconographic representation of a chordophone.[3]

The modern word guitar, and its antecedents, have been applied to a wide variety of cordophones since ancienttimes and as such is the cause of confusion. The English word guitar, the German Gitarre, and the French guitare

were adopted from the Spanish guitarra, which comes from the Andalusian Arabic قیثارةر qitara,[4] itself derived

from the Latin cithara, which in turn came from the Ancient Greek κιθάρα kithara,[5] and is thought to ultimatelytrace back to the Old Persian language Tar, which means string in Persian.

Although the word guitar is descended from the Latin word cithara, the modern guitar itself is not generallybelieved to have descended from the Roman instrument. Many influences are cited as antecedents to the modernguitar. One commonly cited influence is of the arrival of the four-string oud, which was introduced by the invading

Illustration from a Carolingian

Psalter from the 9th century,

showing a guitar-like plucked

instrument.

Moors in the 8th century.[6] Another suggested influence is the six-stringScandinavian lut (lute), which gained in popularity in areas of Viking

incursions across medieval Europe.[citation needed] Often depicted in

carvings c. 800 AD,[citation needed] the Norse hero Gunther (also known asGunnar), played a lute with his toes as he lay dying in a snake-pit, in thelegend of Siegfried. It is likely that a combination of influences led to thecreation of the guitar; plucked instruments from across the Mediterranean

and Europe were well known in Iberia since antiquity.[citation needed]

Two medieval instruments that were called "guitars" were in use by 1200: theguitarra moresca (Moorish guitar) and the guitarra latina (Latin guitar).The guitarra moresca had a rounded back, wide fingerboard, and severalsound holes. The guitarra Latina had a single sound hole and a narrower

neck.[7] By the 14th century the qualifiers "moresca" and "latina" had beendropped and these two cordophones were usually simply referred to as

guitars.[8]

The Spanish vihuela or (in Italian) "viola da mano", a guitar-like instrument ofthe 15th and 16th centuries, is widely considered to have been a seminalinfluence in the development of the guitar. It had six courses (usually), lute-like tuning in fourths and a guitar-like body, although early representationsreveal an instrument with a sharply cut waist. It was also larger than thecontemporary four-course guitars. By the late 15th century some vihuelaswere played with a bow, leading to the development of the viol. By the 16th century the vihuela's construction hadmore in common with the modern guitar, with its curved one-piece ribs, than with the viols, and more like a largerversion of the contemporary four-course guitars. The vihuela enjoyed only a short period of popularity in Spain andItaly during an era dominated elsewhere in Europe by the lute; the last surviving published music for the instrumentappeared in 1576. Meanwhile the five-course baroque guitar, which was documented in Spain from the middle ofthe 16th century, enjoyed popularity, especially in Spain, Italy and France from the late 16th century to the mid-

18th century.[9][10] In Portugal, the word vihuela referred to the guitar, as guitarra meant the "Portuguese guitar",a variety of cittern.

Types

Guitars can be divided into two broad categories, acoustic and electric:

Acoustic guitars

Main article: Acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitars are several notable subcategories within the acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco guitars;steel-string guitars, which include the flat-topped, or "folk," guitar; twelve-string guitars; and the arched-top guitar.The acoustic guitar group also includes unamplified guitars designed to play in different registers, such as theacoustic bass guitar, which has a similar tuning to that of the electric bass guitar.

Renaissance and Baroque guitars

The guitar player (c. 1672), by

Johannes Vermeer

Eminent South American

guitarist Agustin Barrios

Main article: Baroque guitar

Renaissance and Baroque guitars are the gracile ancestors of the modern classical guitar. They are substantiallysmaller and more delicate than the classical guitar, and generate a much quieter sound. The strings are paired incourses as in a modern 12-string guitar, but they only have four or five courses of strings rather than six. They weremore often used as rhythm instruments in ensembles than as solo instruments, and can often be seen in that role inearly music performances. (Gaspar Sanz' Instrucción de Música sobre la Guitarra Española of 1674 contains

his whole output for the solo guitar.[11] Renaissance and Baroque guitars are easily distinguished because theRenaissance guitar is very plain and the Baroque guitar is very ornate, with ivory or wood inlays all over the neckand body, and a paper-cutout inverted "wedding cake" inside the hole.

Classical guitars

Main article: Classical guitar

Classical guitars also known as Spanish guitars are typically strung withnylon strings, plucked with the fingers, played in a seated position and areused to play a diversity of musical styles including classical music. Theclassical guitar's wide, flat neck allows the musician to play scales,arpeggios, and certain chord forms more easily and with less adjacentstring interference than on other styles of guitar. Flamenco guitars arevery similar in construction, but are associated with a more percussivetone. In Mexico, the popular mariachi band includes a range of guitars,from the tiny requinto to the guitarrón, a guitar larger than a cello, whichis tuned in the bass register. In Colombia, the traditional quartet includesa range of instruments too, from the small bandola (sometimes known asthe Deleuze-Guattari, for use when traveling or in confined rooms orspaces), to the slightly larger tiple, to the full sized classical guitar. Therequinto also appears in other Latin-American countries as acomplementary member of the guitar family, with its smaller size andscale, permitting more projection for the playing of single-lined melodies.Modern dimensions of the classical instrument were established by the Spaniard

Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–1892).[12]

Extended-range classical guitars

Main article: Extended-range classical guitar

An extended-range classical guitar is a classical guitar with more than 6 strings,usually up to 13.

Flamenco guitars

Main article: Flamenco guitar

A guitarist playing a blues tune on a

semi-acoustic guitar

The flamenco guitar is similar to the classical guitar, but of lighter construction, with a cypress body and spruce top.Tuning pegs like those of a violin are traditional, although many modern flamenco guitars have machine heads. Adistinguishing feature of all flamenco guitars is the tapping plates (golpeadores) glued to the table, to protect themagainst the taps with the fingernails that are an essential feature of the flamenco style.

Many modern soloists (following the lead of Paco de Lucía) play what is called a flamenca negra, a hybrid of the

flamenco and classical guitar constructions.[citation needed]

Flat-top guitars

Main article: Steel-string acoustic guitar

Flat-top or steel-string guitars are similar to the classical guitar, however,within the varied sizes of the steel-stringed guitar the body size is usuallysignificantly larger than a classical guitar, and has a narrower, reinforcedneck and stronger structural design. The robust X-bracing typical of thesteel-string was developed in the 1840s by German-American luthiers ofwhom C.F. Martin is the best known. Originally used on gut-strunginstruments, the strength of the system allowed the guitar to withstand theadditional tension of steel strings when this fortunate combination arose inthe early 20th century. The steel strings produce a brighter tone, andaccording to many players, a louder sound. The acoustic guitar is used inmany kinds of music including folk, country, bluegrass, pop, jazz, and blues. Many variations are possible from theroughly classical-sized OO and Parlour to the large Dreadnought and Jumbo. Ovation makes a modern variation,with a rounded back/side assembly molded from artificial materials.

Archtop guitars

Main article: Archtop guitar

Archtop guitars are steel-string instruments in which the top (and often the back) of the instrument are carved froma solid billet in a curved rather than a flat shape; this violin-like construction is usually credited to the AmericanOrville Gibson (1856–1918). Lloyd Loar of the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co introduced the violin-inspired f-hole design now usually associated with archtop guitars, after designing a style of mandolin of the same type. Thetypical archtop guitar has a large, deep, hollow body whose form is much like that of a mandolin or violin familyinstrument. Nowadays, most archtops are equipped with magnetic pickups and are therefore both acoustic andelectric. F-hole archtop guitars were immediately adopted upon their release by both jazz and country musiciansand have remained particularly popular in jazz music, usually with flatwound strings.

Selmer-Maccaferri guitars

Main article: Selmer-Maccaferri guitar

Selmer-Maccaferri guitars are usually played by those who follow the style of Django Reinhardt. It is an unusual-looking instrument, distinguished by a fairly large body with squarish bouts, and either a "D"-shaped or longitudinaloval soundhole. The strings are gathered at the tail like an archtop guitar, but the top is formed from thin spruce

An 8-string baritone tricone resonator

guitar.

(like a flat-top or classical) forced into a shallow dome. It also has a wide fingerboard and slotted head like anylon-string guitar. The loud volume and penetrating tone make it suitable for single-note soloing and it is frequentlyemployed as a lead instrument in gypsy swing.

Resonator, resophonic or Dobro guitars

Main articles: Resonator guitar and Dobro

All three principal types of resonator guitars were invented by theSlovak-American John Dopyera (1893–1988) for the National andDobro (Dopyera Brothers) companies. Similar to the flat top guitar inappearance, but with a body that may be made of brass, nickel-silver, orsteel as well as wood, the sound of the resonator guitar is produced byone or more aluminum resonator cones mounted in the middle of the top.The physical principle of the guitar is therefore similar to the loudspeaker.The original purpose of the resonator was to produce a very loud sound;this purpose has been largely superseded by electrical amplification, butthe resonator guitar is still played because of its distinctive tone.Resonator guitars may have either one or three resonator cones. Themethod of transmitting sound resonance to the cone is either a "biscuit"bridge, made of a small piece of hardwood at the vertex of the cone(Nationals), or a "spider" bridge, made of metal and mounted around therim of the (inverted) cone (Dobros). Three-cone resonators always use a specialized metal bridge. The type ofresonator guitar with a neck with a square cross-section—called "square neck" or "Hawaiian"—is usually playedface up, on the lap of the seated player, and often with a metal or glass slide. The round neck resonator guitars arenormally played in the same fashion as other guitars, although slides are also often used, especially in blues.

Twelve-string guitars

Main article: Twelve-string guitar

The twelve-string guitar usually has steel strings and is widely used in folk music, blues, and rock and roll. Ratherthan having only six strings, the 12-string guitar has six courses made up of two strings each, like a mandolin or lute.The highest two courses are tuned in unison, while the others are tuned in octaves. The 12-string guitar is also madein electric forms.

Russian guitars

Main article: Russian guitar

These seven-string acoustic guitars were the norm for Russian guitarists throughout the 19th and well into the 20thcenturies. The Russian guitar is traditionally tuned to open G major.

Acoustic bass guitars

Main article: Acoustic bass guitar

Prime and bass acoustic guitars

Acoustic bass guitars have steel strings or gut strings and often the same tuning as an electric bass guitar.

Guitarrón

Main article: Guitarrón mexicano

The guitarrón is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican six-string acousticbass played in mariachi bands. It is fretless with heavy gauge nylonstrings, and is usually played by doubling notes at the octave, which isfacilitated by the unusual tuning of A D G C E A.

Tenor guitars

Main article: Tenor guitar

A number of classical guitarists call the Niibori prime guitar a "TenorGuitar" on the grounds that it sits in pitch between the alto and the bass.

Elsewhere[citation needed] the name is taken for a four-string guitar with ascale length of 23" (585 mm)—about the same as a Terz Guitar. Thetenor guitar is tuned in fifths, C G D A, as is the tenor banjo and the

cello. It is generally accepted[citation needed] that the tenor guitar was created to allow a tenor banjo player tofollow the fashion as it evolved from Dixieland Jazz towards the more progressive Jazz that featured guitar. It allowsa tenor banjo player to provide a guitar-based rhythm section with little to learn. A small minority of players (suchas Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio) close tuned the instrument to D G B E to produce a deep instrument thatcould be played with the four-note chord shapes found on the top four strings of the guitar or ukulele. The deeppitch warrants the wide-spaced chords that the banjo tuning permits, and the close tuned tenor does not have the

same full, clear sound.[citation needed]

Harp guitars

Main article: Harp guitar

Harp guitars are difficult to classify as there are many variations within this type of guitar. They are typically rare anduncommon in the popular music scene. Most consist of a regular guitar, plus additional "harp" strings strung abovethe six normal strings. The instrument is usually acoustic and the harp strings are usually tuned to lower notes thanthe guitar strings, for an added bass range. Normally there is neither fingerboard nor frets behind the harp strings.Some harp guitars also feature much higher pitch strings strung below the traditional guitar strings. The number ofharp strings varies greatly, depending on the type of guitar and also the player's personal preference. The Pikassoguitar; 4 necks, 2 sound holes, 42 strings and also the Oracle Harp Sympitar; 24 strings (with 12 sympatheticstrings protruding through the neck) are modern examples.

Extended-range guitars

Main article: Extended-range classical guitar

Dave Murray of Iron Maiden playing

a Fender electric guitar.

For well over a century guitars featuring seven, eight, nine, ten or more strings have been used by a minority ofguitarists as a means of increasing the range of pitch available to the player. Usually, it is bass strings that are added.Classical guitars with an extended range are useful for playing lute repertoire, some of which was written for luteswith more than six courses. A typical example is the modern 11-string archguitar, invented and played by Peter

Blanchette.[13]

Guitar battente

Main article: Guitar battente

The battente, called "chitarra battente" in Italian, is generally smaller than a classical guitar and usually played withfour or five single or double course metal strings of equal gauge. It is traditionally played in Southern Italy in theregions of Calabria, Campania, Basilicata and Puglia to accompany the voice as well as dancing (tarantella, orpizzica). Depending on the region it is from, the battente has either a flat back (fondo piato) or a rounded back(fondo bombato). The term "battente," which means "to beat" in Italian, has do with the style the guitar is generallyplayed in, which is principally as a rhythm instrument. It is very likely that the battente is derived from the baroqueguitar, of which is shares many characteristics.

Electric guitars

Main article: Electric guitar

Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies, andproduce little sound without amplification. Electromagnetic pickupsconvert the vibration of the steel strings into signals, which are fed to anamplifier through a cable or radio transmitter. The sound is frequentlymodified by other electronic devices or the natural distortion of valves(vacuum tubes) in the amplifier. There are two main types of magneticpickups, single- and double-coil (or humbucker), each of which can bepassive or active. The electric guitar is used extensively in jazz, blues, R& B, and rock and roll. The first successful magnetic pickup for a guitarwas invented by George Beauchamp, and incorporated into the 1931Ro-Pat-In (later Rickenbacker) "Frying Pan" lap steel; othermanufacturers, notably Gibson, soon began to install pickups in archtopmodels. After World War II the completely solid-body electric waspopularized by Gibson in collaboration with Les Paul, and independentlyby Leo Fender of Fender Music. The lower fretboard action (the heightof the strings from the fingerboard), lighter (thinner) strings, and itselectrical amplification lend the electric guitar to techniques less frequentlyused on acoustic guitars. These include tapping, extensive use of legatothrough pull-offs and hammer-ons (also known as slurs), pinchharmonics, volume swells, and use of a tremolo arm or effects pedals.

The first electric guitarist of note to use a seven-string guitar was jazz

guitarist George Van Eps, who was a pioneer of this instrument.[citation needed] Solid body seven-strings were

popularized in the 1980s and 1990s in part due to the release of the Ibanez Universe guitar,[citation needed]

endorsed by Steve Vai. Other artists go a step further, by using an eight-string guitar with two extra low strings.

Although the most common seven-string has a low B string, Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds and Rickenbacker)uses an octave G string paired with the regular G string as on a 12-string guitar, allowing him to incorporate chiming12-string elements in standard six-string playing. In 1982 Uli Jon Roth developed the "Sky Guitar," with a vastlyextended number of frets, which was the first guitar to venture into the upper registers of the violin. Roth's seven-

string and 33-fret "Mighty Wing" guitar features a six-octave range.[citation needed]

The electric bass guitar is similar in tuning to the traditional double bass viol. Hybrids of acoustic and electric guitars

are also common. There are also more exotic varieties, such as guitars with two, three,[14] or rarely four necks, allmanner of alternate string arrangements, fretless fingerboards (used almost exclusively on bass guitars, meant toemulate the sound of a stand-up bass), 5.1 surround guitar, and such.

Some electric guitar and electric bass guitar models feature piezoelectric pickups, which function as transducers toprovide a sound closer to that of an acoustic guitar with the flip of a switch or knob, rather than switching guitars.

Those that combine piezoelectric pickups and magnetic pickups are sometimes known as hybrid guitars.[15]

Construction and components

General

Modern era guitars can be constructed to meet the demands of both left and right-handed players. Traditionally thedominant hand is assigned the task of plucking or strumming the strings. For the majority of people this entails usingthe right hand. This is similar to the convention of the violin family of instruments where the right hand controls thebow. Left-handed players sometimes choose an opposite handed (mirror) instrument, although some play in astandard handed manner, others play a standard handed guitar reversed, and still others (for example Jimi Hendrix)play a standard handed guitar strung in reverse. This last configuration differs from a true opposite handed guitar inthat the saddle is normally angled in such a way that the bass strings are slightly longer than the treble strings toimprove intonation. Reversing the strings therefore reverses the relative orientation of the saddle (negatively affectingintonation), although in Hendrix' case this is believed to have been an important element in his unique sound.

Headstock

Main article: Headstock

The headstock is located at the end of the guitar neck farthest from the body. It is fitted with machine heads thatadjust the tension of the strings, which in turn affects the pitch. Traditional tuner layout is "3+3" in which each side ofthe headstock has three tuners (such as on Gibson Les Pauls). In this layout, the headstocks are commonlysymmetrical. Many guitars feature other layouts as well, including six-in-line (featured on Fender Stratocasters)tuners or even "4+2" (Ernie Ball Music Man). However, some guitars (such as Steinbergers) do not haveheadstocks at all, in which case the tuning machines are located elsewhere, either on the body or the bridge.

Nut

Main article: Nut (string instrument)

The nut is a small strip of bone, plastic, brass, corian, graphite, stainless steel, or other medium-hard material, at thejoint where the headstock meets the fretboard. Its grooves guide the strings onto the fretboard, giving consistentlateral string placement. It is one of the endpoints of the strings' vibrating length. It must be accurately cut, or it can

1. Headstock

2. Nut

3. Machine heads (or pegheads, tuning keys, tuning machines,

tuners)

4. Frets

5. Truss rod

6. Inlays

7. Neck

8. Heel (acoustic) Neckjoint (electric)

9. Body

10. Pickups

11. Electronics

12. Bridge

13. Pickguard

14. Back

15. Soundboard (top)

16. Body sides (ribs)

17. Sound hole, with Rosette inlay

18. Strings

19. Saddle

20. Fretboard (or Fingerboard)

contribute to tuning problems due to stringslippage or string buzz. To reduce stringfriction in the nut, which can adversely affecttuning stability, some guitarists fit a rollernut. Some instruments use a zero fret just infront of the nut. In this case the nut is usedonly for lateral alignment of the strings, thestring height and length being dictated by thezero fret.

Fretboard

Main article: Fingerboard

Also called the fingerboard, the fretboardis a piece of wood embedded with metalfrets that comprises the top of the neck. It isflat on classical guitars and slightly curvedcrosswise on acoustic and electric guitars.The curvature of the fretboard is measuredby the fretboard radius, which is the radiusof a hypothetical circle of which thefretboard's surface constitutes a segment.The smaller the fretboard radius, the morenoticeably curved the fretboard is. Mostmodern guitars feature a 12" neck radius,while older guitars from the 1960s and1970s usually feature a 6-8" neck radius.Pinching a string against the fretboardeffectively shortens the vibrating length ofthe string, producing a higher pitch.Fretboards are most commonly made ofrosewood, ebony, maple, and sometimesmanufactured using composite materialssuch as HPL or resin. See below on section"Neck" for the importance of the length ofthe fretboard in connection to otherdimensions of the guitar.

Frets

Main article: Fret

Frets are metal strips (usually nickel alloy orstainless steel) embedded along thefretboard and located at exact points thatdivide the scale length in accordance with a specific mathematical formula. Pressing a string against a fret determinesthe strings' vibrating length and therefore its resultant pitch. The pitch of each consecutive fret is defined at a half-

step interval on the chromatic scale. Standard classical guitars have 19 frets and electric guitars between 21 to 24frets, although guitars have been made with as many as 27 frets.

Frets are laid out to accomplish an equal tempered division of the octave. Every twelve frets represents one octave.The twelfth fret divides the scale length exactly into two halves, and the 24th fret position divides one of thosehalves in half again. The ratio of the spacing of two consecutive frets is (twelfth root of two). In practice,

luthiers determine fret positions using the constant 17.817---an approximation to 1/(1-1/ ). If the nth fret is a

distance x from the bridge, then the distance from the (n+1)th fret to the bridge is x-(x/17.817).[16]

Frets are available in several different gauges and can be fitted according to player preference. Among these are"jumbo" frets, which have much thicker gauge, allowing for use of a slight vibrato technique from pushing the stringdown harder and softer. "Scalloped" fretboards, where the wood of the fretboard itself is "scooped out" betweenthe frets allows a dramatic vibrato effect. Fine frets, much flatter, allow a very low string-action but require otherconditions, such as curvature of the neck, to be well-maintained to prevent buzz.

On steel-string guitars, frets are eventually bound to wear down; when this happens, frets can be replaced or, to acertain extent, leveled, polished, recrowned, or reshaped as required.

Truss rod

Main article: Truss rod

The truss rod is a metal rod that runs along the inside of the neck. It is used to correct changes to the neck'scurvature caused by the neck timbers aging, changes in humidity or to compensate for changes in the tension ofstrings. The tension of the rod and neck assembly is adjusted by a hex nut or an allen-key bolt on the rod, usuallylocated either at the headstock, sometimes under a cover, or just inside the body of the guitar underneath thefretboard and accessible through the sound hole. Some truss rods can only be accessed by removing the neck. Thetruss rod counteracts the immense amount of tension the strings place on the neck, bringing the neck back to astraighter position. Turning the truss rod clockwise tightens it, counteracting the tension of the strings andstraightening the neck or creating a backward bow. Turning the truss rod counter-clockwise loosens it, allowingstring tension to act on the neck and creating a forward bow. Adjusting the truss rod affects the intonation of aguitar as well as the height of the strings from the fingerboard, called the action. Some truss rod systems, called"double action" truss systems, tighten both ways, allowing the neck to be pushed both forward and backward(standard truss rods can only be released to a point beyond which the neck is no longer compressed and pulledbackward).

Classical guitars do not require truss rods as their nylon strings exert a lower tensile force with lesser potential tocause structural problems. However their necks are often reinforced with a strip of harder wood, such as an ebonystrip running down the back of a cedar neck. There is no tension adjustment on this form of reinforcement.

Inlays

Main article: Inlay (guitar)

Inlays are visual elements set into the exterior surface of a guitar. The typical locations for inlay are on the fretboard,headstock, and on acoustic guitars around the soundhole, known as the rosette. Inlays range from simple plasticdots on the fretboard to intricate works of art covering the entire exterior surface of a guitar (front and back). Someguitar players have used LEDs in the fretboard to produce unique lighting effects onstage.

Fretboard inlays are most commonly shaped like dots, diamond shapes, parallelograms, or large blocks in betweenthe frets. Dots are usually inlaid into the upper edge of the fretboard in the same positions, small enough to bevisible only to the player. These usually appear on the odd numbered frets, but also on the 12th fret (the one octavemark) instead of the 11th and 13th frets. Some older or high-end instruments have inlays made of mother of pearl,abalone, ivory, colored wood or other exotic materials and designs. Simpler inlays are often made of plastic orpainted. High-end classical guitars seldom have fretboard inlays as a well-trained player is expected to know his orher way around the instrument.

In addition to fretboard inlay, the headstock and soundhole surround are also frequently inlaid. The manufacturer'slogo or a small design is often inlaid into the headstock. Rosette designs vary from simple concentric circles todelicate fretwork mimicking the historic rosette of lutes. Bindings that edge the finger and sound boards aresometimes inlaid. Some instruments have a filler strip running down the length and behind the neck, used for strengthor to fill the cavity through which the trussrod was installed in the neck.

Elaborate inlays are a decorative feature of many limited edition, high-end and custom-made guitars. Guitarmanufacturers often release such guitars to celebrate significant or historic milestones.

Neck

Main article: Neck (music)

A guitar's frets, fretboard, tuners, headstock, and truss rod, all attached to a long wooden extension, collectivelyconstitute its neck. The wood used to make the fretboard usually differs from the wood in the rest of the neck. Thebending stress on the neck is considerable, particularly when heavier gauge strings are used (see Tuning), and theability of the neck to resist bending (see Truss rod) is important to the guitar's ability to hold a constant pitch duringtuning or when strings are fretted. The rigidity of the neck with respect to the body of the guitar is one determinantof a good instrument versus a poor one. The shape of the neck can also vary, from a gentle "C" curve to a morepronounced "V" curve. There are many different types of neck profiles available, giving the guitarist many options.Some aspects to consider in a guitar neck may be the overall width of the fretboard, scale (distance between thefrets), the neck wood, the type of neck construction (for example, the neck may be glued in or bolted on), and theshape (profile) of the back of the neck. Other types of material used to make guitar necks are graphite (Steinbergerguitars), aluminum (Kramer Guitars, Travis Bean and Veleno guitars), or carbon fiber (Modulus Guitars andThreeGuitars).

Double neck electric guitars have two necks, allowing the musician to quickly switch between guitar sounds.

Neck joint or "heel"

See also: Set-in neck, Bolt-on neck, and Neck-through

This is the point at which the neck is either bolted or glued to the body of the guitar. Almost all acoustic steel-stringguitars, with the primary exception of Taylors, have glued (otherwise known as set) necks, while electric guitars areconstructed using both types. Most classical guitars have a neck and headblock carved from one piece of wood,known as a "Spanish heel."

Commonly used set neck joints include mortise and tenon joints (such as those used by C.F. Martin & Co.),dovetail joints (also used by CF Martin on the D-28 and similar models) and Spanish heel neck joints, which arenamed after the shoe they resemble and commonly found in classical guitars. All three types offer stability. Bolt-on

necks, though they are historically associated with cheaper instruments, do offer greater flexibility in the guitar's set-up, and allow easier access for neck joint maintenance and repairs.

Another type of neck, only available for solid body electric guitars, is the neck-through-body construction. Theseare designed so that everything from the machine heads down to the bridge are located on the same piece of wood.The sides (also known as wings) of the guitar are then glued to this central piece. Some luthiers prefer this methodof construction as they claim it allows better sustain of each note. Some instruments may not have a neck joint at all,having the neck and sides built as one piece and the body built around it.

Strings

See also: Classical guitar strings

The standard guitar has six strings but four-, seven-, eight-, nine-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars are also available.

Classical and flamenco guitars historically used gut strings but these have been superseded by polymer materials,such as nylon and fluorocarbon.

Modern guitar strings are constructed of metal, polymers, or animal or plant product materials. Instruments utilizing"steel" strings may have strings made of alloys incorporating steel, nickel or phosphor bronze. Bass strings for bothinstruments are wound rather than monofilament.

Body (acoustic guitar)

See also: Sound box

In acoustic guitars, string vibration is transmitted through the bridge and saddle to the body via sound board. Thesound board is typically made of tone woods such as spruce or cedar. Timbers for tone woods are chosen for bothstrength and ability to transfer mechanical energy from the strings to the air within the guitar body. Sound is furthershaped by the characteristics of the guitar body's resonant cavity.

In electric guitars, transducers known as pickups convert string vibration to an electric signal, which in turn isamplified and fed to speakers, which vibrate the air to produce the sounds we hear. Nevertheless, the body of theelectric guitar still performs a role in shaping the resultant tonal signature.

In an acoustic instrument, the body of the guitar is a major determinant of the overall sound quality. The guitar top,or soundboard, is a finely crafted and engineered element made of tonewoods such as spruce and red cedar. Thisthin piece of wood, often only 2 or 3 mm thick, is strengthened by differing types of internal bracing. Many luthiersconsider the top the dominant factor in determining the sound quality. The majority of the instrument's sound isheard through the vibration of the guitar top as the energy of the vibrating strings is transferred to it.

Body size, shape and style has changed over time. 19th century guitars, now known as salon guitars, were smallerthan modern instruments. Differing patterns of internal bracing have been used over time by luthiers. Torres, Hauser,Ramirez, Fleta, and C.F. Martin were among the most influential designers of their time. Bracing not onlystrengthens the top against potential collapse due to the stress exerted by the tensioned strings, but also affects theresonance characteristics of the top. The back and sides are made out of a variety of timbers such as mahogany,Indian rosewood and highly regarded Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra). Each one is primarily chosen for theiraesthetic effect and can be decorated with inlays and purfling.

This Fender Stratocaster has features

common to many electric guitars:

multiple pickups, a vibrato

unit/tremolo bar, and volume and tone

knobs.

The body of an acoustic guitar has a sound hole through which sound projects. The sound hole is usually a roundhole in the top of the guitar under the strings. Air inside the body vibrates as the guitar top and body is vibrated bythe strings, and the response of the air cavity at different frequencies is characterized, like the rest of the guitarbody, by a number of resonance modes at which it responds more strongly.

Instruments with larger areas for the guitar top were introduced by Martin in an attempt to create louder volumelevels. The popularity of the larger "dreadnought" body size amongst acoustic performers is related to the greatersound volume produced.

Body (electric guitar)

See also: Solid body

Most electric guitar bodies are made of wood, and include a plastic pick guard. Boards wide enough to use as asolid body are very expensive due to the worldwide depletion of hardwood stock since the 1970s, so the wood israrely one solid piece. Most bodies are made of two pieces of wood with some of them including a seam runningdown the center line of the body. The most common woods used for electric guitar body construction includemaple, basswood, ash, poplar, alder, and mahogany. Many bodies consist of good sounding but inexpensivewoods, like ash, with a "top," or thin layer of another, more attractive wood (such as maple with a natural "flame"pattern) glued to the top of the basic wood. Guitars constructed like this are often called "flame tops." The body isusually carved or routed to accept the other elements, such as the bridge, pickup, neck, and other electroniccomponents. Most electrics have a polyurethane or nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Other alternative materials towood, are used in guitar body construction. Some of these include carbon composites, plastic material (such aspolycarbonate), and aluminum alloys.

Pickups

Main article: Pick up (music technology)

Pickups are transducers attached to a guitar that detect (or "pick up")string vibrations and convert the mechanical energy of the string intoelectrical energy. The resultant electrical signal can then be electronicallyamplified. The most common type of pickup is electromagnetic in design.These contain magnets that are tightly wrapped in a coil, or coils, ofcopper wire. Such pickups are usually placed right underneath the guitarstrings. Electromagnetic pickups work on the same principles and in asimilar manner to an electrical generator. The vibration of the stringscreates a small voltage in the coils surrounding the magnets. This signalvoltage is carried to a guitar amplifier that drives a loudspeaker.

Traditional electromagnetic pickups are either single-coil or double-coil.Single-coil pickups are susceptible to noise induced from electric fields,usually mains-frequency (60 or 50 hertz) hum. The introduction of thedouble-coil humbucker in the mid-1950s did away with this problemthrough the use of two coils, one of which is wired in a reverse polarityorientation.

The types and models of pickups used can greatly affect the tone of the guitar. Typically, humbuckers, which aretwo magnet–coil assemblies attached to each other are traditionally associated with a heavier sound. Single-coilpickups, one magnet wrapped in copper wire, are used by guitarists seeking a brighter, twangier sound with greaterdynamic range.

Modern pickups are tailored to the sound desired. A commonly applied approximation used in selection of apickup is that less wire (lower DC resistance) = brighter sound, more wire = "fat" tone. Other options includespecialized switching that produces coil-splitting, in/out of phase and other effects. Guitar circuits are either active,needing a battery to power their circuit, or, as in most cases, equipped with a passive circuit.

Fender Stratocaster-type guitars generally utilize three single-coil pickups, while most Gibson Les Paul types usehumbucker pickups.

Piezoelectric, or piezo, pickups represent another class of pickup. These employ piezoelectricity to generate themusical signal and are popular in hybrid electro-acoustic guitars. A crystal is located under each string, usually in thesaddle. When the string vibrates, the shape of the crystal is distorted, and the stresses associated with this changeproduce tiny voltages across the crystal that can be amplified and manipulated.

Some piezo-equipped guitars use what is known as a hexaphonic pickup. "Hex" is a prefix meaning six. In ahexaphonic pickup separate outputs are obtained from discrete piezoelectric pickups for each of the six strings.This arrangement allows the signal to be easily modified by on-board modelling electronics, as in the Line 6 Variaxbrand of electric guitars; the guitars allow for a variety of sounds to be obtained by digitally manipulating the signal.This allows a guitar to mimic many vintage models of guitar, as well as output alternate tunings without the need toadjust the strings.

Another use for hexaphonic pickups is to send the output signals to a MIDI interpretation device, which determinesthe note pitch, duration, attack and decay characteristics and so forth. The MIDI (Musical Instrument DigitalInterface) interpreter then sends the note information to a sound bank device. The resulting sound can closely mimicnumerous types of instruments. The MIDI setup can also enable the guitar to be used as a game controller (i.e.,Rock Band Squier) or as an instructional tool, as with the Fretlight Guitar.

Electronics

On guitars that have them, these components and the wires that connect them allow the player to control someaspects of the sound like volume or tone. These at their simplest consist of passive components such aspotentiometers and capacitors, but may also include specialized integrated circuits or other active componentsrequiring batteries for power, for preamplification and signal processing, or even for assistance in tuning. In manycases the electronics have some sort of shielding to prevent pickup of external interference and noise.

Lining, binding, and purfling

The top, back and ribs of an acoustic guitar body are very thin (1–2 mm), so a flexible piece of wood called liningis glued into the corners where the rib meets the top and back. This interior reinforcement provides 5 to 20 mm ofsolid gluing area for these corner joints. Solid linings are often used in classical guitars, while kerfed lining is mostoften found in steel string acoustics. Kerfed lining is also called kerfing (because it is scored, or kerfed to allow it tobend with the shape of the rib).

During final construction, a small section of the outside corners is carved or routed out and filled with bindingmaterial on the outside corners and decorative strips of material next to the binding, which are called purfling. Thisbinding serves to seal off the end grain of the top and back. Purfling can also appear on the back of an acousticguitar, marking the edge joints of the two or three sections of the back.

Binding and purfling materials are generally made of either wood or plastic.

Bridge

Main article: Bridge (instrument)

The main purpose of the bridge on an acoustic guitar is to transfer the vibration from the strings to the soundboard,which vibrates the air inside of the guitar, thereby amplifying the sound produced by the strings.

On all electric, acoustic and original guitars, the bridge holds the strings in place on the body. There are many variedbridge designs. There may be some mechanism for raising or lowering the bridge saddles to adjust the distancebetween the strings and the fretboard (action), or fine-tuning the intonation of the instrument. Some are spring-loaded and feature a "whammy bar," a removable arm that lets the player modulate the pitch by changing thetension on the strings. The whammy bar is sometimes also referred to as a "tremolo bar" (see Tremolo for furtherdiscussion of this term—the effect of rapidly changing pitch produced by a whammy bar is more correctly called"vibrato"). Some bridges also allow for alternate tunings at the touch of a button.

On almost all modern electric guitars, the bridge has saddles that are adjustable for each string so that intonationstays correct up and down the neck. If the open string is in tune, but sharp or flat when frets are pressed, the bridgesaddle position can be adjusted with a screwdriver or hex key to remedy the problem. In general, flat notes arecorrected by moving the saddle forward and sharp notes by moving it backwards. On an instrument correctlyadjusted for intonation, the actual length of each string from the nut to the bridge saddle is slightly but measurablylonger than the scale length of the instrument. This additional length is called compensation, which flattens all notes abit to compensate for the sharping of all fretted notes caused by stretching the string during fretting.

Saddle

The saddle of a guitar refers to the part of the bridge that physically supports the strings. It may be one piece(typically on acoustic guitars) or separate pieces, one for each string (electric guitars and basses). The saddle'sbasic purpose is to provide the end point for the string's vibration at the correct location for proper intonation, andon acoustic guitars to transfer the vibrations through the bridge into the top wood of the guitar. Saddles are typicallymade of plastic or bone for acoustic guitars, though synthetics and some exotic animal tooth variations (e.g.fossilized tooth, ivory, etc. ) have become popular with some players. Electric guitar saddles are typically metal,though some synthetic saddles are available.

Pickguard

Main article: Pickguard

Also known as a scratchplate. This is usually a piece of laminated plastic or other material that protects the finish ofthe top of the guitar from damage due to the use of a plectrum or fingernails. Electric guitars sometimes mountpickups and electronics on the pickguard. It is a common feature on steel-string acoustic guitars. Vigorous

performance styles such as flamenco, which can involve the use of the guitar as a percussion instrument, call for ascratchplate, or pickguard to be fitted to nylon-string instruments.

Whammy bar (tremolo arm)

Main article: Tremolo arm

Many electric guitars are fitted with a vibrato and pitch bend device known as a "tremolo bar (or arm)," "sissy bar,""wang bar," "slam handle," "whammy handle," and "whammy bar." The latter two terms led stompboxmanufacturers to use the term whammy in coming up with a pitch raising effect introduced by popular guitar effectspedal brand Digitech.

The tremolo arm is common enough that there is a technical term, hard tail, for a guitar without one.

Leo Fender, who did much to create the electric guitar, also created much confusion over the meaning of the terms"tremolo" and "vibrato" by the naming the "tremolo" unit on many of his guitars and also the "vibrato" unit on his"Vibrolux" amps. In general, vibrato is a variation in pitch, whereas tremolo is a variation in volume, so the tremolobar is actually a vibrato bar and the "Vibrolux" amps actually had a tremolo effect. However, following Fender'sexample, electric guitarists traditionally reverse these meanings when speaking of hardware devices and the effectsthey produce. See vibrato unit for a more detailed discussion, and tremolo arm for more of the history.

Another type of pitch bender is the B-Bender, a spring and lever device mounted in an internal cavity of a solidbody electric guitar that allows the guitarist to bend just the B string of the guitar using a lever connected to the straphandle of the guitar. The resulting pitch bend is evocative of the sound of the pedal steel guitar.

Guitar strap

A guitar strap is a strip of fabric with a leather or synthetic leather piece on each end. It is made to hold a guitar viathe shoulders, at an adjustable length to suit the position favored by the guitarist.

Guitars have varying accommodations for attaching a strap. The most common are strap buttons, also called strappins, which are flanged steel posts anchored to the guitar with screws. Two strap buttons come pre-attached tovirtually all electric guitars, and many steel-string acoustic guitars. Strap buttons are sometimes replaced with "straplocks," which connect the guitar to the strap more securely.

The lower strap button is usually located at the bottom (bridge end) of the body. The upper strap button is usuallylocated near or at the top (neck end) of the body: on the upper body curve, at the tip of the upper "horn" (on adouble cutaway), or at the neck joint (heel). Some electrics, especially those with odd-shaped bodies, have one orboth strap buttons on the back of the body. Some Steinberger electric guitars, owing to their minimalist andlightweight design, have both strap buttons at the bottom of the body. Rarely, on some acoustics, the upper strapbutton is located on the headstock.

Some acoustic and classical guitars only have a single strap button at the bottom of the body—the other end mustbe tied onto the headstock, above the nut and below the machine heads.

Some acoustic and classical guitars come with no strap buttons at all. In this case, one or two strap buttons canusually be added to the guitar, or a "classical guitar strap" (also called a "guitar harness" or "neck strap") can beused, which supports the guitar by hooking into the sound hole.

Self-tuning guitars

See also: Musical tuning

Self-tuning guitars are computerized guitars programmed to tune themselves. The Gibson Robot Guitar, released in2007, is often mistaken as the first of this kind, but was preceded by the Transperformance system by at least 20

years. Gibson has also released a second, self-tuning model called the Dark Fire.[citation needed][17]

Tuning

Main article: Guitar tunings

See also: Stringed instrument tunings

The guitar is a transposing instrument. Its pitch sounds one octave lower than it is notated on a score.

Standard

A variety of tunings may be used. The most common tuning, known as "Standard Tuning," has the strings tunedfrom a low E, to a high E, traversing a two octave range—EADGBE. When all strings are played open the resultingchord is an Em7/add11.

The pitches are as follows:

StringScientific

pitchHelmholtz

pitchInterval from

middle CFrequency

(Hz)

1st E4 e' major third above 329.63

2nd B3 b minor second below 246.94

3rd G3 g perfect fourth below 196.00

4th D3 d minor seventh below 146.83

5th A2 A minor tenth below 110.00

6th E2 Eminor thirteenth

below82.41

The table below shows a pitch's name found over the six strings of a guitar in standard tuning, from the nut (zero),to the twelfth fret.

In the standard guitar-tuning, one

major-third interval is interjected amid

four perfect-fourth intervals. In each

regular tuning, all string successions

have the same interval.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

E F F♯ G A♭ A B♭ B C C♯ D E♭ E

B C C♯ D E♭ E F F♯ G A♭ A B♭ B

G A♭ A B♭ B C C♯ D E♭ E F F♯ G

D E♭ E F F♯ G A♭ A B♭ B C C♯ D

A B♭ B C C♯ D E♭ E F F♯ G A♭ A

E F F♯ G A♭ A B♭ B C C♯ D E♭ E

For four strings, the 5th fret on one string is the same open-note as the next string; for example, a 5th-fret note onthe sixth string is the same note as the open fifth string. However, between the second and third strings, anirregularity occurs: The 4th-fret note on the third string is equivalent to the open second string.

In standard tuning, the C-

major chord has three shapes

because of the irregular

major-third between the G-

and B-strings.

Alternative

Main article: Guitar tunings#Alternative

See also: Open tunings and Regular tunings

Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise between simple fingering for many chords and theability to play common scales with reasonable left-hand movement. There are also a variety of commonly usedalternative tunings, for example, the classes of open, regular, and dropped tunings.

An open tuning allows a chord to be played by strumming the strings when "open", or while fretting no strings. Thebase chord consists of at least 3 notes and may include all the strings or a subset. The tuning is named for the basechord when played open, typically a major chord, and all similar chords in the chromatic scale can then be played

by barring exactly one fret.[18] Open tunings are common in blues and folk music,[19] and they are used in the

playing of slide and bottleneck guitars.[18][20] Ry Cooder uses open tunings when he plays slide guitar.[19]

For the standard tuning, there is exactly one interval of a major third between the second and third strings, and allthe other intervals are fourths. The irregularity has a price. Chords cannot be shifted around the fretboard in thestandard tuning E-A-D-G-B-E, which requires four chord-shapes for the major chords. There are separate chord-

forms for chords having their root note on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth strings.[21]

In contrast, regular tunings have equal intervals between the strings,[22] and so they have symmetrical scales allalong the fretboard. This makes it simpler to translate chords. For the regular tunings, chords may be moveddiagonally around the fretboard. The diagonal movement of chords is especially simple for the regular tunings that

Ry Cooder plays slide-guitar

with open tunings.

are repetitive, in which case chords can be moved vertically: Chords can be moved three strings up (or down) inmajor-thirds tuning and chords can be moved two strings up (or down) in augmented-fourths tuning. Regulartunings thus appeal to new guitarists and also to jazz-guitarists, whose improvisation is simplified by regularintervals.

On the other hand, some chords are more difficult to play in a regular tuning than in standard tuning. It can be

difficult to play conventional chords especially in augmented-fourths tuning and all-fifths tuning,[22] in which the largespacings require hand stretching. Some chords, which are conventional in folk music, are difficult to play even in all-

fourths and major-thirds tunings, which do not require more hand-stretching than standard tuning.[23]

In major-thirds tuning, the interval between open strings is always a major third. Consequently, four frets

suffice to play the chromatic scale. Chord inversion is especially simple in major-thirds tuning. Chords areinverted simply by raising one or two notes by three strings. The raised notes are played with the same finger

as the original notes.[24][25] In contrast, in standard tuning, the shape of inversions depends on the

involvement of the irregular major-third.[26]

All-fourths tuning replaces the major third between the third and second strings with a fourth, extending the

conventional tuning of a bass guitar. With all-fourths tuning, playing the triads is more difficult, butimprovisation is simplified, because chord-patterns remain constant when moved around the fretboard. Jazzguitarist Stanley Jordan uses the all-fourths tuning EADGCF. Invariant chord-shapes are an advantage of

other regular tunings, such as major-thirds and all-fifths tunings.[22]

Extending the tunings of violins and cellos, all-fifths tuning offers an expanded range

CGDAEB,[27] which however has beenimpossible to implement on a conventional

guitar. All-fifths tuning is used for the lowest fivestrings of the new standard tuning of RobertFripp and his former students in Guitar Craft

courses; new standard tuning has a high G on its

last string CGDAE-G.[28][29]

Another class of alternative tunings are calleddrop tunings, because the tuning drops downthe lowest string. Dropping down the loweststring a whole tone results in the "drop-D" (or"dropped D") tuning. Its open-string notesDADGBE (from low to high) allow fordominant basses in the keys of D and D minor.It simplifies the playing of simple fifths

(powerchords). Many contemporary rock bands re-tune all strings by severalsemi-tones, making, for example, Drop-C or Drop-B tunings.

Scordatura

Many scordatura have been used on the guitar. A common form of scordatura

involves tuning the 3rd string to F♯ to mimic the standard tuning of the lute,especially when playing renaissance repertoire originally written for the lute.

Chords can be shifted

diagonally in major-thirds

tuning and other regular

tunings. In standard tuning,

chords change their shape

because of the irregular

major-third G-B.

A variety of guitar picks

Guitar accessories

Though a guitar may be played on its own, there are a variety of commonaccessories used for holding and playing the guitar.

Capotasto

Main article: Capo

A capo (short for capotasto) is used to change the pitch of open strings. Caposare clipped onto the fretboard with the aid of spring tension, or in some models, elastic tension. To raise the guitar'spitch by one semitone, the player would clip the capo onto the fretboard just below the first fret. Its use allowsplayers to play in different keys without having to change the chord formations they use. Because of the ease withwhich they allow guitar players to change keys, they are sometimes referred to as "cheaters" or the "hillbilly crutch."Classical performers are known to use them to enable modern instruments to match the pitch of historicalinstruments such as the renaissance lute.

Slides

Main article: Slide Guitar

A slide, (neck of a bottle, knife blade or round metal bar) used in blues and rock to create a glissando or"Hawaiian" effect. The necks of bottles were often used in blues and country music. Modern slides are constructedof glass, plastic, ceramic, chrome, brass or steel, depending on the weight and tone desired. An instrument that isplayed exclusively in this manner, (using a metal bar) is called a steel guitar or pedal steel. Slide playing to this day isvery popular in blues music and country music. Some slide players use a so-called Dobro guitar.

Some performers that have become famous for playing slide are Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Ry Cooder,George Harrison, Bonnie Raitt, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Duane Allman, Muddy Waters, Rory Gallagher,and George Thorogood.

Plectrum

Main article: Guitar pick

A "guitar pick" or "plectrum" is a small piece of hard material generallyheld between the thumb and first finger of the picking hand and is used to"pick" the strings. Though most classical players pick with a combinationof fingernails and fleshy fingertips, the pick is most often used for electricand steel-string acoustic guitars. Though today they are mainly plastic,variations do exist, such as bone, wood, steel or tortoise shell. Tortoiseshell was the most commonly used material in the early days of pick-making, but as tortoises and turtles became endangered, the practice ofusing their shells for picks or anything else was banned. Tortoise-shellpicks made before the ban are often coveted for a supposedly superiortone and ease of use, and their scarcity has made them valuable.

Picks come in many shapes and sizes. Picks vary from the small jazz pick to the large bass pick. The thickness ofthe pick often determines its use. A thinner pick (between 0.2 and 0.5 mm) is usually used for strumming or rhythmplaying, whereas thicker picks (between 0.7 and 1.5+ mm) are usually used for single-note lines or lead playing.The distinctive guitar sound of Billy Gibbons is attributed to using a quarter or peso as a pick. Similarly, Brian Mayis known to use a sixpence coin as a pick. David Persons is known for using old credit cards, cut to the correctsize, as plectrums.

Thumb picks and finger picks that attach to the finger tips are sometimes employed in finger-picking styles on steelstrings. These allow the fingers and thumb to operate independently, whereas a flat pick requires the thumb and oneor two fingers to manipulate.

See also

Outline of guitars

Notes

1. ^ Kasha, Dr. Michael (August 1968). "A New Look at The History of the Classic Guitar". Guitar Review 30,3-12

2. ^ Wade, Graham A Concise History of the Classic Guitar Mel Publications, 2001

3. ^ Dr. Michael Kasha, "A New Look at The History of the Classic Guitar", Guitar Review 30, August 1968, pp.3-12.

4. ^ Farmer, Henry George (1988), Historical facts for the Arabian Musical Influence, Ayer Publishing, p. 137,ISBN 0-405-08496-X

5. ^ Kithara appears in the Bible four times (1 Cor. 14:7, Rev. 5:8, 14:2 and 15:2), and is usually translated intoEnglish as harp. Strong's Concordance Number: 2788 BibleStudyTools.net(http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=2788&version=kjv)

6. ^ Summerfield, Maurice J. (2003). The Classical Guitar, Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1800 (5thed.) Blaydon on Tyne: Ashley Mark Publishing. ISBN 1-872639-46-1

7. ^ blog.reddogmusic.co.uk (http://blog.reddogmusic.co.uk/2012/05/08/history-of-the-acoustic-guitar/) , History ofthe Acoustic Guitar

8. ^ Tom and Mary Anne Evans. Guitars: From the Renaissance to Rock. Paddington Press Ltd 1977 p.16

9. ^ "The first incontrovertible evidence of five-course instruments can be found in Miguel Fuenllana's OrphenicaLyre of 1554, which contains music for a vihuela de cinco ordenes. In the following year Juan Bermudo wrote inhis Declaracion de Instrumentos Musicales: "We have seen a guitar in Spain with five courses of strings." Bermudolater mentions in the same book that "Guitars usually have four strings," which implies that the five-course guitarwas of comparatively recent origin, and still something of an oddity". Tom and Mary Anne Evans Guitars: Fromthe Renaissance to Rock. Paddington Press Ltd 1977 p.24

10. ^ "We know from literary sources that the five course guitar was immensely popular in Spain in the earlyseventeenth century and was also widely played in France and Italy...Yet almost all the surviving guitars were builtin Italy...This apparent disparity between the documentary and instrumental evidence can be explained by the factthat, in general, only the more expensively made guitars have been kept as collectors' pieces. During the earlyseventeenth century the guitar was an instrument of the people of Spain, but was widely played by the Italianaristocracy." Tom and Mary Anne Evans. Guitars: From the Renaissance to Rock. Paddington Press Ltd 1977p.24

11. ^ The Guitar (From The Renaissance To The Present Day) by Harvey Turnbull (Third Impression 1978) -Publisher: Batsford. p57 (Chapter 3 - The Baroque, Era Of The Five Course Guitar)

12. ^ Morrish, John. "Antonio De Torres" (http://www.guitarsalon.com/articles.php?articleid=18) . Guitar SalonInternational. http://www.guitarsalon.com/articles.php?articleid=18. Retrieved 2011-05-08.

13. ^ "Peter Blanchette, Composer & Archguitarist" (http://www.archguitar.com/) . Peter Blanchette.http://www.archguitar.com/. Retrieved 2009-10-19.

http://www.archguitar.com/. Retrieved 2009-10-19.

14. ^ "The Official Steve Vai Website: The Machines" (http://vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/guitar040.html) . Vai.com.1993-08-03. http://vai.com/Machines/guitarpages/guitar040.html. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

15. ^ "Hybrid guitars" (http://www.guitarnoize.com/blog/category/hybrid-guitars/) . Guitarnoize.com.http://www.guitarnoize.com/blog/category/hybrid-guitars/. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

16. ^ Mottola, R.M.. "Lutherie Info—Calculating Fret Positions" (http://www.liutaiomottola.com/formulae/fret.htm) .http://www.liutaiomottola.com/formulae/fret.htm.

17. ^ "Gibson.com" (http://www.gibson.com/Products/DarkFire.aspx) . Gibson.com. 2008-06-24.http://www.gibson.com/Products/DarkFire.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-15.

18. ̂a b Sethares (2010, p. 16)

19. ̂a b Denyer (1992, p. 158)

20. ^ Denyer (1992, p. 160)

21. ^ Denyer (1992, p. 119): Denyer, Ralph (1992). "Playing the guitar ('Intervals: Fingerboard intervals', p. 119)". Theguitar handbook. Special contributors Isaac Guillory and Alastair M. Crawford (Fully revised and updated ed.).London and Syndey: Pan Books. pp. 118–119. ISBN 0-330-32750-X.

22. ̂a b c Sethares, Bill (2001). "Regular tunings" (http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/regulartunings.pdf)(pdf). Alternate tuning guide. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin; Department of Electrical Engineering.pp. 52–67. 2010 Alternate tuning guide, including a revised chapter on regular tunings(http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/alltunings.pdf) .http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/regulartunings.pdf. Retrieved 19 May 2012.

23. ^ Patt, Ralph (14 April 2008). "The major 3rd tuning" (http://www.ralphpatt.com/Tune.html) . Ralph Patt's jazzweb page. ralphpatt.com. cited by Sethares (2011). http://www.ralphpatt.com/Tune.html. Retrieved 10 June 2012.

24. ^ Griewank (2010, p. 10): Griewank, Andreas (1 January 2010), Tuning guitars and reading music in major thirds

(http://vs24.kobv.de/opus4-matheon/frontdoor/index/index/docId/675) , Matheon preprints, 695, Rosestr. 3a,12524 Berlin, Germany: DFG research center "MATHEON, Mathematics for key technologies" Berlin, Postscriptfile (http://vs24.kobv.de/opus4-matheon/files/675/7047_mathtune.ps) and Pdf file (http://vs24.kobv.de/opus4-matheon/files/675/7046_mathtune.pdf) , http://vs24.kobv.de/opus4-matheon/frontdoor/index/index/docId/675

25. ^ Kirkeby, Ole (1 March 2012). "Major thirds tuning" (http://v3p0.m3guitar.com/) . m3guitar.com. cited bySethares (2011). http://v3p0.m3guitar.com/. Retrieved 10 June 2012.

26. ^ Denyer (1992, p. "Triads: Triad inversions", p. 121)

27. ^ Sethares (2001, "The mandoguitar tuning", pp. 62–63)

28. ^ Tamm, Eric (2003) [1990], Robert Fripp: From crimson king to crafty master(http://www.progressiveears.com/frippbook/ch10.htm) (Progressive Ears ed.), Faber and Faber (1990), ISBN 0-571-16289-4, Zipped Microsoft Word Document (http://www.erictamm.com/rf.zip) ,http://www.progressiveears.com/frippbook/ch10.htm, retrieved 25 March 2012

29. ^ Fripp (2011, p. 3): Fripp, Robert (2011). Pozzo, Horacio. ed. Seven Guitar Craft themes: Definitive scores forguitar ensemble (http://partitasmusic.com/) . "Original transcriptions by Curt Golden", "Layout scores andtablatures: Ariel Rzezak and Theo Morresi" (First limited ed.). Partitas Music. ISMN 979-0-9016791-7-7.DGM Sku partitas001. http://partitasmusic.com/.

References

Denyer, Ralph (1992). The Guitar Handbook. Special contributors Isaac Guillory andAlastair M. Crawford (Fully revised and updated ed.). London and Syndey: Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-32750-X.Sethares, William A. (2011). "Alternate tuning guide"

(http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/alternatetunings.html) . Madison, Wisconsin: University ofWisconsin; Department of Electrical Engineering. 2010 PDF version by Bill Sethares(http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/alltunings.pdf) .http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/alternatetunings.html. Retrieved 19 May 2012.

External links

Instruments In Depth: The Guitar (http://www.bsmny.org/features/iidguitar/index.php) An online feature fromBloomingdale School of Music (October 2007)Stalking the Oldest Six-String Guitar (http://www3.uakron.edu/gfaa/stalking.html)Guitar physics (http://www.bsharp.org/physics/guitar)

International Guitar Research Archive (http://library.csun.edu/igra/)The Guitar (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/guit/hd_guit.htm) , Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, TheMetropolitan Museum of Art featuring many historic guitars from the Museum's collection

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