Guitar
The guitar is a stringed instrument played with fingers or with a plectrum (or pick). His popularity, already established in the past centuries, has become stronger in the international dissemination of Anglo-Saxon music in the twentieth century (jazz, blues, pop, rock). The guitar is used in the bossa nova, classical music, country, traditional music, some Latin or Celtic. With the piano and violin is probably the most popular in the world.
There are different types of guitars (acoustic, electric, electro-acoustic ...), all from the classical guitar, and who share the characteristics and techniques of the game while providing a rich sound unique to this family of instruments. Some guitars have a resonance chamber that amplifies the vibration of the strings. The pitch is changed by pressing a finger on the string until it comes into contact with the handle of the instrument, thus reducing the length of the party likely to vibrate. The most vibrant part is short, the sound is more acute.
By its small size, low weight, harmonic richness, its cost and its adaptation to many musical genres, she is the favorite of many for accompanying singing. As it can sing at the same time we played, it is also prized by many singer-songwriters contemporaries, especially in their infancy.
Origins
The first known instruments like the guitar back to 3000 BC. About AD in Persia. Etymologically, the word "guitar" is a combination of two words: Guit that comes from the Sanskrit Sangita meaning "music" and the second part tar purely Persian and means "rope". Sanskrit was a language originally of the Aryans, the people of Iran and North West of India.
In the dictionary Escudier (1854), it is written to "Guitar" (p. 289): "We know nothing certain about the origin of this instrument. We generally think it is as old as the harp (referring to the word) and that the Moors in Spain have made, where it then spread to Portugal and Italy . Time of Louis XIV, it was very popular in France, but it was the vogue was short-lived, and after having shone a whole new shine, a few years ago, under the fingers of strong artists skillful, it is now almost completely abandoned the most thankless and most monotonous of instruments ". As for the origin of the word, the dictionary by Alain Rey is about the name, "is taken in the thirteenth century (1275-1280 quitarre), Spanish Morisca guitarra (guitar moreshe in french, 1349 ). The word dates back to Greek Spanish Kithara possibly through the Arab kittara. The link with the Persian tar sih "three strings", name of instrument, and words (Egyptian, Chaldean) is not clear. The varying number of strings (in Greece in September), several instruments are designated by that name. The medieval Spanish knows the guitarra latina, guitar close to our present and moresca three-stringed lute and close to the ovoid shape. "
It is the Moors who brought the first guitars in Europe, in Spain in the tenth century. The modern form emerged in this country, after various changes in Latin and Moorish guitars, probably through the vihuela. Although adjacent to the lute, it is a different family and their development are different.
The guiterne was a popular instrument during the fourteenth century. It remained in use until the mid-seventeenth century. The guiterne was played with a plectrum, had a flat body, the body and the handle was constructed of the same piece of wood and usually has four strings simple. For the Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia, the inventor of the guitar as we know it is Zyryab. Born in Baghdad, he lived in the late eighth century at the court of Cordoba. He added a fifth string to Oud (Arabic lute) and founded a music school which had a considerable influence on the Arab-Andalusian music.
This is the Spanish luthier Antonio de Torres, in 1874, which gave the guitar the form and dimensions of the classical guitar today. Many variations were created in the twentieth century (folk, jazz, electric) from this guitar Torres.
Head
Located, as its name suggests, at the end of the handle is on it just attach the strings. The tension can be modified to provide them with the mechanical system worm operated by key, leading small rolled coils on which the strings. They then pass through the nut head, a small bar usually made of bone (or plastic guitars lower quality), which are cut small grooves that guide each string to the handle post of the head.
There are also electric models head. The mode was initiated in the mid-1980s by the firm Steinberger. The grip and the tuning of the strings are at the tailpiece.
The handle
The handle is an essential part, since the guitarist is to determine what notes he will play, and how (and sometimes to play directly through techniques such as legato). On a classical guitar, the neck is connected to the body by the heel piece of wood glued which may adopt different forms according to the makers.
With electric guitars, the handles were screwed, cheaper to produce and easier to repair but can alter the sound qualities of the instrument. Some manufacturers continue to use the technique of the handle glued on their top models, like the Les Paul from Gibson, to guarantee a better sustain.
Always guarantee a better sustain, some guitars, like Gibson Firebird, are constructed from a race called "driver" or "crossing". It is so called because it crosses the entire body of the instrument to reduce vibration.
On the other hand, handles of metal string guitars (electric and folk) are usually equipped with an adjustable metal bar (called "truss rod" in English) through the sleeve to help withstand voltage very important exerted by the strings. This bar is usually adjustable, allowing the guitarist to adjust the shape of its handle to his personal preferences, but also the various drafts of strings, even the aging wood.
There are also double-neck guitars. Both sleeves mounted parallel can change tuning for a song while maintaining the same guitar, and can even be used simultaneously. Thus, for example uses Polish guitarist Adam Fular, especially when tapping into his interpretations of Bach on the guitar. There are also double neck guitars, one of which is simple and the other fitted with 12 strings.
Agreement
There are normally six strings are most often granted as well, the biggest addition to the fine: mi, la, re, sol, and if half, or by EADGBE English notation of music, which replaces the name of each note in a letter of the alphabet. This combination of notes is called standard tuning.
The thicker the rope - the most serious - is called "bumblebee", it corresponds to half of the serious guitar. The rope the fine - the highest - is called "chanterelle", it is the middle peak of the guitar.
You can also tune your guitar in open agreement, otherwise called "open skill" or open tuning, general term misused all non-standard tunings, for example soil: DGDGBD (re sol re sol re si) or D: DADF # AD (re, la, D, F sharp, the IR). The guitar has the particularity of a play ground or with re all played to empty strings. The standard agreement allows you to play in different keys, and requires an open tuning capo to change the tone, or a good knowledge of fingering. This technique is widely used in traditional music, usually modal and diatonic. For example, the agreement DADGAD (without third-D4) is common in Celtic or folk music.
If a guitar has more or less than 6 strings, tuning will be adapted. Thus, on a 12 string guitar where each string of a guitar standard doubles (each pair of strings is called a "chorus"), the four choirs of strings are given to the octave (normally given a rope, the other an octave higher) and the two choirs most acute in unison.
Guitarist clamp the strings with his right hand and block the strings with the fingers of his left hand. Some left-handed reverse the position of the guitar, and those strings (where others retain it in the same way as Albert King), to keep the bass upwards: the handle is on the right. Besides the movement of strings, other changes are needed on an acoustic guitar left-handed: the dam (a small wooden bar reinforcing the table) of the soundboard is a different side of the bass and treble, and must be returned.
Features
The strings have the characteristics of flexibility and different resonance depending on the material used (mainly nylon, bronze, nickel, copper and sometimes gold to limit the oxidation caused by sweat. The choice of strings is fundamental to sound quality as for the pleasure of playing the nylon string produce a sound effect hotter (is emphasizing the frequencies that the medium Bottom metal strings, which are more sound and produce a more metallic (favoring frequencies).
The metal strings are distinguished by the type of wire that covers the "spun flat" usually have a more neutral and more matte than "spun round, brighter. They are also distinguished by their "pulling" or "coefficient of flexibility." In general, the more a rope pulling, the more it is flexible, but the sound is low. Electric guitars, which sound is artificially amplified, often have ties very low compared with acoustic guitars. Please choose the strings according to the style of music played. Some strings are suitable for rock, blues and other classical. The higher drafts require more muscles developed and may require some time to adapt. Changing the drawing of a guitar should be followed by a setting in order not to distort or even break the instrument, the tension on the neck is much stronger than the pulling is strong.
Read also Piano Keyboard
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