Slash’s “Sweet Child of Mine”, Brian May of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and Carlos Augusto Santana Alves’ “Maria Maria” If you are not familiar with these, then you are at a loss. Some of the best guitar performers made these songs well-known and allowed people to enjoy their music better through dancing and singing. But do you actually know the history of these musical instruments?
Guitars were never considered “in” during the older times, especially when the subject is about classical music. Due to this, a 19th century musician named Fernando Sor has worked hard to change the outlook of people regarding guitars, and he was able to do so. He has given guitars a better place in the world of music, such that it grew to be well-accepted today.
Now, guitars are one of the most popular choices for musical instruments. Typically, it has six strings, but there are also four, seven, eight, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen strings available.
Did you know that the earliest iconographic representation that seems to embody the essential features of a guitar is an old stone carving of a Hittite bard? It was said that guitars originated from Indo-Europeans who lived 4000 years ago, and that in the medieval times, Europe popularized the use of this musical instrument. Though Europeans have the credit for guitar’s development, it still cannot be disowned that Central Asia and India have used this instrument as a part of their native culture.
Roman cithara, an instrument from Rome arrived in Spain in the year 40 AD. Moors soon brought oud, an instrument with four strings, and then Scandinavians introduced their lutssoon after. From these instruments, Spain had put guitars on its most modern form. There came two types of guitars, the Moorish and Latin. From the two, the modern guitar was patterned after Latin guitars.
The lower and middle classes of society used these guitars for leisure. Then, Spain had come up with vihuela or viola de mano which became popular among Aristocrats in the 16th century.
Today, many variations of guitars already came up, though the three main types of guitars are electric, classical, and acoustic. Of the three, electric guitars have been made specifically for pop music in the United States. They give songs a distinct sound, mainly due to the fact that these guitars can be amplified and manipulated. Acoustic guitars on the other hand, give songs the purest tones and melody, while classical guitars have the characteristic sound of the baroque and romantic periods.
In addition to these, many guitar brands have already come out. Some of these are Yamaha, Taylor, and Jackson, among others.
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