The Guitar

Courtney Strauss
Ms. Aiken
English - Per. 4
January 10, 2003 While people may think that guitars are all the same, there are actually a few different and interesting types. Electric and acoustic guitars are both fascinating, have a unique background, and are built entirely different from each other.
Acoustic guitars have been played for centuries. Guitar-like instruments were even played in ancient Egypt. The Moors, who invaded Spain as early as 711 A.D., were credited for bringing it to Europe from northern Africa (Goertzen).
Antonio de Torres Jurado, a Spanish guitar maker of the 1300's, developed the modern guitar that is played today. Francisco Tarrega, a Spanish guitarist and composer, developed the modern playing techniques at around the same time period (Goertzen).
While the guitar has been a widely known instrument for centuries, it has never been taken seriously. The first book with only guitar music was published in 1552 (Hill 25), more than two centuries after the guitar's beginnings. The guitar was always considered a toy to fool around with, or an instrument for the lower class (Hill 24). Even Beethoven, who considered the guitar a "miniature orchestra," never wrote a single piece for it. Symphony and Orchestra arrangements do not include guitar parts either. All the way into the 18th and even 19th century, people still did not compose a lot of music for the guitar. Over history, the guitar's popularity has risen and fallen. Even when people finally began writing music for it, not many people ever listened to the guitar (Hill 31).
The acoustic guitar is a complex instrument. A good guitar is made of lightweight wood, and usually has strings of steel, brass, or nylon. Generally there are six strings, but sometimes there can be anywhere from four to twelve. The strings are fastened to the bridge, which is a small piece of wood on top of the instrument. The strings extend along the fingerboard, and fasten to tuning keys at the head. Narrow strips of metal, called frets, lie along the fingerboard underneath the string. These mark the position of a specific tone (Goertzen). If you press the string against the frets with one hand, and pluck or strum the strings with the other, you will get different tones (Hill 9). The acoustic guitar produces sound waves by plucking the stings, causing a vibration to occur in the instrument (Schrader). There are also different kinds of acoustic guitars. One is the folk guitar. It generally has steel or steel-wound-on-silk strings. The bridge is sometimes referred to as the 'saddle.' The folk guitar is fairly large in size when compared to its cousin, the classical guitar. The classical guitar is usually much smaller and lighter than the folk. It has nylon strings. In the past, 'cat-gut' strings were used, but due to a higher price, and the increase of quality in nylon, 'cat-gut' strings have become rare (Hill 9).
Though the electric guitar has the same shape and playing techniques as the acoustic guitar, it is extremely different. The electric guitar doesn't even make the actual sound itself. Instead of making a vibration inside the instrument, like an acoustic, the electric guitar takes the same vibrations, and puts them through an electronic device that will translate them into sound. Then, the electronic device will amplify it, and play the final sound through a loud-speaker. Because the vibrations are played electronically, people have the ability to alter the sound. This is done by controls on the actual guitar face. With these, one can also change the volume, enabling the electric guitar to produce a much larger range of sound than the acoustic (Schrader).
The electric guitar is a very new instrument when compared to its acoustic relative. The electric guitar began to gain popularity in the 1930's. Companies began commercially producing them around the same time period. Now, the electric guitar is played in rock music, and in jazz. It can both accompany a vocalist and other instruments, or be used as a solo instrument (Goertzen).
Although the electric guitar and the acoustic guitar are different and have been overlooked as toys in the past, they are both wonderful and interesting instruments.
Works Cited

Goertzen, Valerie Woodring. "Guitar." World Book Encyclopedia. 2002

Hill, Thomas A. The Guitar; An Introduction to the Instrument. New
York: Franklin Watts Inc, 1973

Schrader, Barry. "Electronic Instruments." The New Book of
Knowledge. 1999