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Researched by Eric G. |
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Research Introduction
Did you know that the first
electric guitar was made out of a frying pan? Well now you
know! There is a ton of different kinds of guitars from around
the world; some of the main guitars in America are the electric,
acoustic, classical, steel and bass guitar.
History of Guitars
The
first ever guitar was made in the country Malaga, it was a small
four-string guitar a very simple design. Fransisco Terreya
developed the style of playing the guitar with his fingernails.
In the classical period of time the old four-string guitar got enhanced
into a six-string guitar. The first ever-classical guitar was made in
the 19th century, but Gibson and Les Paul made the first ever-electric
guitar out of a frying pan. When the first guitar was made the
lute was really popular but then the guitar started to come around and
became very popular.
The Types of Guitars
The main
five guitars in America are the electric, acoustic, classical, and the
bass guitar. The electric is a wood guitar with a solid or hollow
body. They all have nylon strings except the steel guitar which has a
steel body and steel strings. The acoustic guitar is a guitar
with a wood hollow body and steel strings, also called the Mexican
flamenco guitar. The classical guitar is pretty much the same
thing as an acoustic guitar but the classical guitar has nylon strings
not steel. The bass guitar is a guitar with four-strings and a
much lower but louder sound than the guitar. Some other guitars
are the double and triple neck guitars usually used in jazz
music. There are many relatives of the guitar some of them are
the Banjo, Mandolin, the Lute and the Guitarron which is a Mexican
guitar bigger than a Cello.
Sound
The sound made by a
guitar is made by the vibration of the strings, but the electric guitar
is different. The electric guitar’s sound is made when the
pickups collect the sound then they send the sound down to the
amplifier where it is re-produced with a better sound then
before. Pickups collect the sound by detecting sound and taking
them to the amplifier to be amplified. Picks are little pieces of
either plastic of some kind of stone. Guitars picks come in all sorts
of shapes and sizes, some you hold mostly to strum the guitar, and some
you attach to your fingers and use them to pluck the guitar.
Acoustic and classical guitars make their sound by the noise hitting
against the inside walls of the guitar and creating sound.
Structure
The
guitar is made of many kinds of wood: pine, spruce, cedar, redwood,
plywood, rosewood and many more different kinds of wood. Acoustic
and classical guitars have a hollow wood body and a sound hole that
helps get the sound into the guitar so it can vibrate and produce the
sound. The main parts of a guitar are the soundboard, back, neck,
the sides, headstock and the fret board, but there are many more
parts. In order for the guitar to have good sound it has to be
tuned right. The tuning is when the tuners are turned and the
strings tighten or loosen depending on which way you turn it which
makes the sound has a higher of lower pitch.
Strings and Chords
In
the times when the guitar had first been invented the strings where
made of catguts. Most guitars have six strings, but the real
amount can be between 4-12 but sometimes it varies. Some
different chords require certain strings to be played and some to not
be played. In rock music guitar players play power chords, which
are notes with a bare sounding tone. Guitars with 12 strings are
usually used in classical, blues and rock music.
Conclusion
As you can see the guitar
can be very interesting. A guitar is made of many kinds of
wood. Guitars can make sound in different ways, which varies by
the type of guitar. The first guitar was made in a country called
Malaga. Aren’t guitars cool! They make me want to go out
and buy one right now, how about you?
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