Guitar playing...
the ideal hobby
What is playing guitar? It is usually held flat against the player's
body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant
hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with
the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to
strike the strings.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted
(with some exceptions) and typically has six or twelve strings.
What does a guitar represent? Guitars were often played with intense
energy and distorted tones, symbolizing anarchy and revolution against
established music industry norms.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted
(with some exceptions) and typically has six or twelve strings. It is
usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or
plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously
pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite
hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of
the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant
hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and
an amplifier. The guitar is classified as a chordophone, meaning the
sound is produced by a vibrating string stretched between two fixed
points. Historically, a guitar was constructed from wood, with its
strings made of catgut. Steel guitar strings were introduced near the
end of the nineteenth century in the United States,[1] but nylon and
steel strings became mainstream only following World War II.[1] The
guitar's ancestors include the gittern, the vihuela, the four-course
Renaissance guitar, and the five-course baroque guitar, all of which
contributed to the development of the modern six-string instrument.
There are three main types of modern guitar: the classical guitar
(Spanish guitar); the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar;
and the Hawaiian guitar (played across the player's lap). Traditional
acoustic guitars include the flat top guitar (typically with a large
sound hole) or the archtop guitar, which is sometimes called a "jazz
guitar". The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings'
vibration, amplified by the hollow body of the guitar, which acts as a
resonating chamber. The classical Spanish guitar is often played as a
solo instrument using a comprehensive fingerstyle technique where each
string is plucked individually by the player's fingers, as opposed to
being strummed. The term "finger-picking" can also refer to a specific
tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass, and country guitar playing in the
United States. Electric guitars, first patented in 1937,[2] use a pickup
and amplifier that made the instrument loud enough to be heard, but also
enabled manufacturing guitars with a solid block of wood needing a
resonant chamber.[3] A wide array of electronic effects units became
possible including reverb and distortion (or "overdrive"). Solid-body
guitars began to dominate the guitar market during the 1960s and 1970s;
they are less prone to unwanted acoustic feedback. As with acoustic
guitars, there are a number of types of electric guitars, including
hollowbody guitars, archtop guitars (used in jazz guitar, blues and
rockabilly) and solid-body guitars, which are widely used in rock music.
The loud, amplified sound and sonic power of the electric guitar played
through a guitar amp have played a key role in the development of blues
and rock music, both as an accompaniment instrument (playing riffs and
chords) and performing guitar solos, and in many rock subgenres, notably
heavy metal music and punk rock. The electric guitar has had a major
influence on popular culture. The guitar is used in a wide variety of
musical genres worldwide. It is recognized as a primary instrument in
genres such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota,
ska, mariachi, metal, punk, funk, reggae, rock, grunge, soul, acoustic
music, disco, new wave, new age, adult contemporary music, and pop,
occasionally used as a sample in hip-hop, dubstep, or trap music. The
word “guitar” probably comes from the ancient Greek word κιθάρα
(kithara). Mythology attributes Hermes with creating the first kithara
from a tortoise shell, but many likenesses of Apollo show him with this
instrument. This instrument had a wooden soundboard and box-shaped body,
or resonator.