History of the Guitar

Guitar History, the Meaning of the Word Guitar, Guitar Terminology, Buy Guitars and More!

Figurines playing the ancestor of the Guitar. Excavated in Susa, Iran. Dated 2000-1500 BCE. Kept at the National Museum of Iran.

Instruments similar to what we know as the guitar have been popular for at least 5,000 years. The guitar appears to be derived from earlier instruments known in ancient central Asia. Instruments very similar to the guitar appear in ancient carvings and statues recovered from the old Iranian capitol of Susa. The modern word, guitar, was adopted into English from Spanish, possibly from earlier Greek word kithara. Prospective sources for various names of musical instruments that guitar could be derived from what appear to be a combination of two Indo-European roots: guit-, similar to Sanskrit sangeet meaning "music", and -tar a widely attested root meaning "chord" or "string"..

The word guitar may also be a Persian loanword to Iberian Arabic. The word qitara is an Arabic name for various members of the lute family that preceded the Western guitar. The name guitar was introduced into Spanish when guitars were brought into Iberia by the Moors after the 10th century.

The guitar player, by Jan Vermeer van Delft

The Spanish vihuela appears to be an intermediate form between the ancestral guitar and the modern guitar, with lute-style tuning and a small, but guitar-like body. It is not clear whether this represents a transitional form or simply a design that combined features from the two families of instruments. In favor of the latter view, the reshaping of the vihuela into a guitar-like form can be seen as a strategy of differentiating the European lute visually from the Moorish oud. (See the article on the lute for further history.) The Ancient Iranian lute, called tar in farsi also is found in the word guitar. The tar is thousands of years old, and could be found in 2, 3, 5, 6 string variations.

The electric guitar was invented by Anthony Vick of Winton, North Carolina, with the help of George Beauchamp and Paul Berth, in 1931. Rickenbacher was the inventor of the horseshoe-magnet pickup. However, it was Danelectro that first produced electric guitars for the wider public. Danelectro also pioneered tube amp technology.

Guitar Terminology
The guitar has come to be called many different colloquial names over time such as: box, guit-fiddle, bread-winner and axe. The pitch bend arm found on many electric guitars has also had slang terms applied to it, such as "tremolo bar", "sissy bar", "whammy handle", and "whammy bar". The latter two slang terms led stompbox manufacturers to use the term 'whammy' in coming up with a pitch raising effect introduced by popular guitar brand "Digitech".

Leo Fender, who did much to revolutionize the modern electric guitar, also created much confusion over the meaning of the terms "tremolo" and "vibrato", specifically by misnaming the "tremolo" bar on his guitars and also regarding the "Vibrolux" amps. Vibrato is a variation in pitch, whereas tremolo is a variation in volume, so the tremolo bar is actually a vibrato bar and the "Vibrolux" amps actually had a tremolo effect.

A capo (used to change key without changing fingering) is sometimes called a "cheater".

A slide, (bottle or knife) used in blues and rock to create a 'gliss' or 'hawaiian' effect. Many times, the necks of bottles were used.

From Wikipedia

Click Here For Short Electro Acoustic Guitar Video Lesson

Guitars For Sale: Live Guitar Bids On Ebay

Real-Time Bids For Guitars and More!

Live Bids For Guitars For Sale on Ebay
Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Cds, Guitar Strings and More: EbayGuitars!

Click Here For More Musical Instruments For Sale!

Acoustic Guitars For Sale, Guitar Bags, Strings and More:

Acoustic Guitars	Electric Guitars	Bass Guitars
Effects Pedals	Microphones	Drums
Amplifiers	Computer Recording	Drum Machines
Electronic Keyboards	Mixers	Keyboard/ Piano

Band & Music Blogs

Be A Guest Blogger!

Podcasts

Midi Music Files at Ebay!

Music Samples and Loops

Music Videos & DVDs

Guitar History

History of the Guitar

Guitars For Sale: Live Guitar Bids On Ebay

Real-Time Bids For Guitars and More!

Contact