All about Bass,Electric,Acoustic Guitar Chords

Playing Lead Guitar

The lead guitarist of a band is typically the one who gets all of the attention. While the rest of the band contributes to the structure of a song, the lead guitarist provides memorable flourishes that are along the same theme as the rest of the song, but are unique or exciting within the framework of the song. Guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Eddie Van Halen are all particularly well known because of their work on lead guitar.

In many bands, the work of the lead guitarist is complimented by the work of the rhythm guitarist. By providing a solid rhythm for the song, the rhythm guitarist sets the pace of the song, and gives the lead guitarist material with which to work. The lead guitarist can then embellish the song with riffs and fills that work in conjunction with the rhythm of the song. In some bands, such as the Rolling Stones, the positions of lead and rhythm guitarist are more mutable, with Keith Richards and Ron Wood (currently) alternating between the two parts, sometimes switching within a single song. In other bands, the two positions remain more distinct, with one guitarist always taking the role of lead guitarist.

Lead guitarists are also known for their use of solos, either improvised or pre-written. On some occasions, pre-written solos are expanded upon, through the use of improvisation, during live performances by a band. As guitar solos tend to occur while the lead singer is not singing, attention is thus focused on the work of the lead guitarist, even though the rest of the band may also continue to play. Some lead guitarists have developed memorable styles of behavior during their solos. For example, Eddie Van Halen has a tendency to adopt an expression of surprise, looking at his hands like he can't believe what they are doing. Interestingly, his style has not always been this flamboyant. When Van Halen was an unknown band, awaiting the release of their first album, Eddie Van Halen would perform his most complex guitar work with his back to the audience, to prevent other guitarists from learning and copying his secrets. In most cases, however, the lead guitarist seems to revel in the limelight during his or her solos.

Improvisation is a key skill necessary for lead guitarists. While a lead guitarist can become well known based solely on the use of pre-written music, the truly great lead guitarists are usually those who improvise well. Artists such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are lead guitarists whose work with improvisation is legendary, though they are certainly not the only names that could be mentioned on this point. Satriani and Vai showcase their talents, along with other lead guitar greats, in a tour known as G3, where three lead guitarists perform their own work, and then all three come together for a set of cover songs, where each guitarist's improvisational skills are featured.

Nearly every lead guitarist whose name becomes famous for their guitar playing has some sort of innovation that they bring to their playing style. Whatever their innovation, it becomes their "signature," and young aspiring guitarists often try to emulate the innovative styles of their favored musicians. The best lead guitarists, however, are those who develop their own personal innovations rather than following the lead of a predecessor. Jimi Hendrix is well known for his lengthy improvised guitar solos, but probably better known for his innovation with the use of feedback and guitar effects. Randy Rhoads, former lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, used his classical guitar training to bring a new style to early 80s heavy metal music. Regardless of the exact innovation, if a lead guitarist comes up with something that seems to be new in their genre or style, they will likely be labeled as an innovator, especially if they show great skill.

Most guitarists, but particularly lead guitarists, have favorite guitars that they prefer to play, and with which they become identified. Many of these are custom guitars, such as Jimmy Page's double necked guitar, which allows him to have both a six string and a twelve string guitar at the same time. Other musicians prefer standard guitars, though many of these artists have specific modifications for their guitars. Jimi Hendrix, who was left handed, preferred a standard Fender Stratocaster, but would reverse the strings on a right handed model and basically play it backwards. Many aspiring guitarists will base their choice of a guitar on that which their idol plays, and thus artists who are willing to endorse a specific guitar can often be highly beneficial to guitar manufacturers.

With every generation of musicians, new greats emerge among lead guitarists. Though not all of the greats stand the test of time, those lead guitarists who excel at solos, improvisation, and innovation will typically be remembered well after their retirement or death. Even those lead guitarists who are not remembered still provide an important feature to the songs they play, through their use of musical embellishments that compliment the work of the rest of their band.

[http://www.guitarsland.com/leadguitar/]

Learning to Play the Guitar


Countless scores of people have learned to play the guitar over the years. Although probably the largest group of these people have learned by being taught the ropes by an experienced guitar player, this is not the only way to learn to play. Some musicians are self taught, learning to play either by ear, or through the use of a book or CD based training program. As technology has advanced, some guitar players have sought out training through computer programs or the internet. Considering briefly the pros and cons of each method can be helpful to aid an aspiring guitar player to choose the best method for the way in which they learn.

Probably the easiest way for an aspiring guitar player to learn the basics is through traditional guitar lessons. By seeking out the assistance of a more experienced guitar player, a novice will have the advantage of a trained ear listening to their playing, and then being able to offer suggestions for improvement. As most guitar lessons are between an instructor and one student, the guitar student gets the benefit of their teacher's undivided attention, and the teacher can structure the pace of the lessons to the speed at which their student picks up the new concepts and techniques. Guitar lessons can also be invaluable in teaching a new guitar player the basics of reading music and musical theory, which help to make them a better all around musician.

The main down sides of guitar lessons are typically the cost and the time required. Although some guitar players may be able to find a friend willing to teach them for free or at a very low cost, most people who seek out guitar lessons will be paying their teacher a fee. The range of prices for guitar lessons varies widely between location and instructor, so it is difficult to give a price estimate, but each student's financial situation will dictate whether or not this is affordable. The time required for guitar lessons will normally be a regularly scheduled lesson on a weekly basis, and not all aspiring musicians have the time in their weekly schedule to allow for this sort of time commitment. If a student is serious about wanting to learn to play the guitar, they will need to make the time to do so, but finding a teacher who has available time to teach when the student is not working, in school, or completing other obligations can be difficult.

Another means by which a new guitar player can learn to play guitar is through the use of a book, CD, DVD, or some combination of those three. Most music stores will offer at least one of these options for sale, and probably will offer all three. If a guitar student has access to a computer, there are some computer programs available for guitar lessons, and there are a number of sites on the internet which offer this service as well. The nice part about learning from one of these methods is that a student can work their lesson and practice time into their own schedule, rather than around an instructor's schedule. This method of learning is also fairly low cost, as it will usually require only a one time expense. Finally, some guitar students may actually learn better if they are effectively self taught, rather than if they have an instructor directing their studies.

While the upsides of self teaching mainly negate the down sides of traditional guitar lessons, the down sides are that a student misses out on individualized instruction and critique from an experienced player--basically losing the exact benefits that having guitar lessons offer. A completely self taught student may go on for years missing one or two vital aspects of guitar playing that a single lesson could have pointed out to them, or may continue doing something the hard way because no one ever explained an easier way of doing things. Additionally, teaching yourself to play guitar would certainly be difficult, if not altogether impossible, if you have no previous musical training. Previous musical training will at least give a guitar student the benefit of knowing how to read music, which is vital for a musician who does not play completely by ear.

Regardless of the method by which a new guitar player chooses to learn their instrument, the most vital part of learning to play the guitar is making time to practice regularly and often. Some instructors and instruction methods recommend daily practice to keep your skills in fine tune; at a minimum, four times a week (outside of regular lessons) is advised. If a guitar student is unable to make time to practice the techniques that they are learning, they will not be able to improve upon their use of these techniques, and their skills will ultimately stagnate. It is possible to relearn the skills, but very little earlier learning will aid a student who began to learn to play the guitar, stopped practicing for any length of time, and then returned to the instrument.

[http://www.guitarsland.com/learntoplay/]

How Does a Guitar Work?


Most human beings have heard a guitar played, either in person or through a recording. Few people, however, ever stop to wonder how a guitar works. Although the explanation can be complex, involving the physics of sound, the basic way in which a guitar works can be summarized more easily.

Sound is generated from a guitar when the strings are put into motion. Whether this motion is through strumming, plucking, or other means of making the strings move will affect the exact sound generated, but anything that vibrates the strings will produce a sound. The vibrations from the string produce a sound wave at a given frequency, determined by things such as the density of the strings and the tension with which they are stretched. The factors involved with this frequency of the sound wave being generated can also be explained in a much more elaborate fashion, but the basic idea here is that the movement and subsequent vibration of the guitar strings creates sound.

While causing some or all of the strings on a guitar to vibrate unhindered will produce a sort of chord, and while plucking the strings individually will produce separate notes, it is necessary for a guitar player to restrict the strings by some method to access a larger array of chords and notes. This is done by putting pressure on the strings in various combinations for a chord, or putting pressure on a single string for an individual note. Typically, a guitar player simply uses their fingers to create pressure on the strings, but any object that changes the tension of the strings will affect the tones produced by the guitar. When a guitar player becomes familiar with many chords, they are able to make their guitar play a wide spectrum of tones.

The strings create only a small amount of sound on their own, but aspects of the construction of a guitar serve to amplify the sound. The way in which sound from a guitar is amplified depends on whether the guitar is acoustic or electric.

In the case of an acoustic guitar, the sound waves produced by the vibrations of the strings are amplified by the body of the guitar. This is due in part to the hollow body of an acoustic guitar, but also because of the way in which the body is constructed. Guitar strings are attached to the body of an acoustic guitar at the bridge, which is located on the front of a guitar, near the open hole in the middle of the body. The front, or top plate, of an acoustic guitar is made of very light wood, and is designed to vibrate significantly. Braces on the back side of this piece keep the front relatively flat, but still allow the bridge to move freely. The vibrations of the strings cause the bridge to move, thus causing vibration in the top plate. These vibrations of the top plate are distributed over a much larger surface area than that of the strings, so the sound produced is increased in volume. For additional amplification of the sound, the sound waves bounce to the back of the guitar body, and then bounce towards the front of the guitar body, where they are released through the sound hole, which is designed to provide maximum amplification of the sound waves. So the combination of the strings, the bridge, the front and back of the guitar, and the sound hole allow an acoustic guitar to produce a louder volume of sound than strings attached to a plain board would produce.

Although in reality, an electric guitar is considerably more complex than strings attached to a plain board, electric guitars lack most of the amplification qualities of an acoustic guitar. Simply strumming or plucking the strings of an electric guitar will produce very little sound, unless the guitar is attached to an amplification device. Electric guitars create their sound electronically, through the use of magnetic pickups. The magnetic pickups register when the strings are vibrating, and transmit this information through a cord, connected to the electric guitar on one end and an amplifier on the other end. The amplifier then translates the information from the pickups, and produces a significantly louder sound than that of an acoustic guitar. That sound is then transmitted through a speaker on the amplifier. Furthermore, the sound waves from an amplifier speaker can be used to cause additional vibration of the guitar strings, creating a feedback loop. As the sound waves continuously vibrate the guitar strings, the sound can continue on indefinitely or until something is done to stop the strings from vibrating in this fashion.

The science of how a guitar works is obviously far more complex than this explanation. The basic physical actions of the parts of a guitar, however, can be simplified enough for the non-scientist to understand. Vibration causes sound waves, which are amplified either through construction or electronics, which allow us to hear and enjoy the music of guitars.

[http://www.guitarsland.com/howguitarswork/]

The History of the Guitar


While the guitar may have gained the bulk of its popularity as a musical instrument during the modern era, guitar-like instruments have been in existence in numerous cultures throughout the world for more than five thousand years. With such an extensive history, it is virtually impossible to cover its entirety within the scope of this article. Instead, mentioning several significant developments within that lengthy history helps to paint a broad overview of the history of the guitar.

The word "guitar" was brought into English as an adaptation of the Spanish word "guitarra," which was, in turn, derived from the Greek "kithara." Tracing the roots of the word further back into linguistic history, it seems to have been a combination of the Indo-European stem "guit-," meaning music, and the root "-tar," meaning chord or string. The root "-tar" is actually common to a number of languages, and can also be found in the word "sitar," also a stringed musical instrument. Although the spelling and pronunciation differs between languages, these key elements are present in most words for "guitar" throughout history.

The earliest instruments that the modern eye and ear would recognize as a "normal" acoustic guitar date from about five hundred years ago, in the late Medieval or early Renaissance periods. Prior to this time, stringed instruments were in use throughout the world, but these early instruments are known primarily from visual depictions, not from the continued existence of music written for them. The majority of these depictions show simple stringed instruments, often lacking some of the parts that define a modern guitar. A number of these instruments have more in common with the lute than the guitar.

During the Renaissance, guitars were either four-course or five-course, meaning that they had four or five strings or sets of strings. In the case of those guitars with sets of strings, or courses, the pair of strings in a given course would generally be tuned to the same note or to two notes an octave apart. In this way, these Renaissance-era guitars were similar to a modern twelve string guitar, which has twelve strings placed in six courses, and each course is tuned similarly or in a complimentary fashion. The sound produced by these four-course and five-course guitars would have been a richer sound than that of a modern six string guitar, because of the larger number of notes from the larger number of strings.

There is some uncertainty about the exact date of the earliest six string guitar. The best extant possibility is dated 1779, and was made by Gaetano Vinaccia. However, the authenticity of six string guitars alleged to have been made prior to 1790 is often suspect, as many fakes have been discovered dating to this era. The early nineteenth century is generally accepted as the time period during which six string guitars began taking on their modern shape and dimensions. Thus for nearly two hundred years, luthiers, or guitar makers, have been producing versions of the modern acoustic guitar.

The first electric guitar was not developed until the early twentieth century. George Beauchamp received the first patent for an electric guitar in 1936, and Beauchamp went on to co-found Rickenbacker, originally known as the Electro String Instrument Company, with Adolph Rickenbacher. The spelling of the company name differs from Rickenbacher's given surname to distance himself from his German ancestry, which was seen as suspect during the world wars. Although Rickenbacker began producing electric guitars in the late 1930s, this brand received most of its fame in the 1960s, when John Lennon used a Rickenbacker guitar for the Beatles debut performance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. George Harrison later bought a Rickenbacker guitar of his own, and the company later gave him one of their earliest twelve string electric guitars. Paul McCartney also used a Rickenbacker bass guitar for recording. The Beatles continued to use Rickenbacker guitars throughout their career, and made the instruments highly popular among other musicians of the era.

The Fender Musical Instruments Company and the Gibson Guitar Corporation were two other early electric guitar pioneers, both developing models in the early 1950s. Fender began with the Telecaster in 1950 and 1951, and the Fender Stratocaster debuted in 1954. Gibson began selling the Gibson Les Paul, based partially on assistance from jazz musician and guitar innovator Les Paul, in 1952. The majority of present day solid-body electric guitars are still based largely on these three early electric guitar designs.

Throughout the history of the guitar and related stringed instruments, an enormous number of individuals have made their mark on the way in which guitars were built, played, and perceived. Though some of these individuals are particularly well known, like the Beatles or Les Paul, the majority of these people are virtually invisible to most modern guitar fans. By looking at the entire history of the guitar, rather than just recent developments, largely confined to electric guitars, it is possible to see more of the contributions of earlier generations.

[http://www.guitarsland.com/history/]

Pickguard


Also known as a scratchplate. This is usually a piece of laminated plastic or other material that protects the finish of the top of the guitar from damage due to the use of a plectrum or fingernails. Electric guitars sometimes mount pickups and electronics on the pickguard. It is a common feature on steel-string acoustic guitars. Vigorous performance styles such as flamenco, which can involve the use the guitar as a percussion instrument, call for a scratchplate to be fitted to nylon-string instruments.

Vibrato Arm


The Vibrato (pitch bend) unit found on many electric guitars has also had slang terms applied to it, such as "tremolo bar (or arm)", "sissy bar", "wang bar", "slam handle", "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 effects pedal brand "Digitech".

Leo Fender, who did much to create the electric guitar, also created much confusion over the meaning of the terms "tremolo" and "vibrato", specifically by misnaming the "tremolo" unit on many of his guitars and also the "vibrato" unit on his "Vibrolux" amps. In general, 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. However, following Fender's example, electric guitarists traditionally reverse these meanings when speaking of hardware devices and the effects they produce. See vibrato unit for a more detailed discussion, and tremolo arm for more of the history.

A distinctly different form of mechanical vibrato found on some guitars is the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, commonly called Bigsby. This vibrato wraps the strings around a horizontal bar, which is then rotated with a handle by the musician.

Another type of pitch bender is the B-Bender, a spring and lever device mounted in an internal cavity of a solid body electric, guitar that allows the guitarist to bend just the B string of the guitar using a lever connected to the strap handle of the guitar. The resulting pitch bend is evocative of the sound of the pedal steel guitar.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Electronics

On guitars that have them, these components and the wires that connect them allow the player to control some aspects of the sound like volume or tone. These at their simplest consist of passive components such as potentiometers and capacitors, but may also include specialized integrated circuits or other active components requiring batteries for power, for preamplification and signal processing, or even for assistance in tuning. In many cases the electronics have some sort of shielding to prevent pickup of external interference and noise.

Lining, Binding, Purfling

The top, back and ribs of an acoustic guitar body are very thin (1-2 mm), so a flexible piece of wood called lining is glued into the corners where the rib meets the top and back. This interior reinforcement provides 5 to 20 mm of solid gluing area for these corner joints. Solid linings are often used in classical guitars, while kerfed lining is most often found in steel string acoustics. Kerfed lining is also called kerfing (because it is scored, or kerfed to allow it to bend with the shape of the rib).

During final construction, a small section of the outside corners is carved or routed out and then filled with binding material on the outside corners and decorative strips of material next to the binding, which are called purfling. This binding serves to seal off the endgrain of the top and back. Purfling can also appear on the back of an acoustic guitar, marking the edge joints of the two or three sections of the back.

Binding and purfling materials are generally made of either wood or plastic.

Bridge


The main purpose of the bridge on an acoustic guitar is to transfer the vibration from the strings to the soundboard, which vibrates the air inside of the guitar, thereby amplifying the sound produced by the strings.

On both electric and acoustic guitars, the bridge holds the strings in place on the body. There are many varied bridge designs. There may be some mechanism for raising or lowering the bridge to adjust the distance between the strings and the fretboard (action), and/or fine-tuning the intonation of the instrument. Some are spring-loaded and feature a "whammy bar", a removable arm which allows the player to modulate the pitch moving the bridge up and down. The whammy bar is sometimes also referred to as a "tremolo bar" (see Tremolo for further discussion of this term - the effect of rapidly changing pitch produced by a whammy bar is more correctly called "vibrato"). Some bridges also allow for alternate tunings at the touch of a button.

On almost all modern electric guitars, the bridge is adjustable for each string so that intonation stays correct up and down the neck. If the open string is in tune but sharp or flat when frets are pressed, the bridge can be adjusted with a screwdriver or hex key to remedy the problem. In general, flat notes are corrected by moving the bridge forward and sharp notes by moving it backwards. On an instrument correctly adjusted for intonation, the actual length of each string from the nut to the bridge saddle will be slightly but measurably longer than the scale length of the instrument. This additional length is called compensation, which flattens all notes a bit to compensate for the sharping of all fretted notes caused by stretching the string during fretting.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Pickups

Pickups are transducers attached to a guitar that detect (or "pick up") string vibrations and convert the mechanical energy of the string into electrical energy. The resultant electrical signal can then be electronically amplified. The most common type of pickup is electromagnetic in design. These contain magnets that are tightly wrapped in a coil, or coils, of copper wire. Such pickups are usually placed right underneath the guitar strings. Electromagnetic pickups work on the same principles and in a similar manner to an electrical generator. The vibration of the strings causes a small voltage to be created in the coils surrounding the magnets, this signal voltage is later amplified.

Traditional electromagnetic pickups are either single-coil or double-coil. Single coil pickups are susceptable to noise induced from electric fields, usually mains-frequency (60 or 50 hertz) hum. The introduction of the double-coil humbucker in the mid 50's did away with this problem through the use of two coils, one of which is wired in a reverse polarity orientation.

The type and model of pickups used can greatly affect the tone of the guitar. Typically, humbuckers, which are two magnet/coil assemblies attached to each other are traditionally associated a heavier sound. Single coil pickups, one magnet wrapped in copper wire, are used by guitarists seeking a brighter, twangier sound with greater dynamic range.

Modern pickups are tailored to the sound desired. A commonly applied approximation used in selection of pickup is that less wire (lower dc resistance) = brighter sound, more wire = "fat" tone. Other options include specialized switching that produces coil-splitting, in/out of phase and other effects. Guitar circuits are either active, needing a battery to power their circuit, or, as in most cases, equipped with a passive circuit.

Fender Stratocaster type guitars generally utilize 3 single coil pickups, while most Gibson Les Paul types use humbucker pickups.

Piezoelectric, or piezo, pickups represent another class of pickup. These employ piezoelectricity to generate the musical signal and are popular in hybrid electro-acoustic guitars. A crystal is located under each string, usually in the saddle. When the string vibrates, the shape of the crystal is distorted, and the stresses associated with this change produce tiny voltages across the crystal that can be amplified and manipulated.

Some piezo equipped guitars use what is known as a hexaphonic pickup. "Hex" is a prefix meaning six. In a hexaphonic pickup separate outputs are obtained from discrete piezoelectric pickups for each of the six strings. This arrangement allows the signal to be easily modified by on-board modelling electronics, as in the Line 6 Variax brand of electric guitars, the guitars allow for a variety of different sounds to be obtained by digitally manipulating the signal. This allows a guitar to mimic many vintage models of guitar, as well as output alternate tunings without the need to adjust the strings.

Another use for hexaphonic pickups is to send the output signals to a MIDI interpretation device, which determines the note pitch, duration, attack and decay characteristics and so forth. The MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) interpreter then sends the note information to a sound bank device. The resulting sound can closely mimic numerous types of instrument.


[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Body (electric guitar)

Most electric guitar bodies are made of wood and include a plastic pick guard. Boards wide enough to use as a solid body are very expensive due to the worldwide depletion of hardwood stock since the 70's, so the wood is rarely one solid piece. Most bodies are made of two pieces of wood with some of them including a seam running down the centre line of the body. The most common woods used for electric guitar body construction include maple, basswood, ash, poplar, alder, and mahogany. Many bodies will consist of good sounding but inexpensive woods, like ash, with a "top", or thin layer of another, more attractive wood (such as maple with a natural "flame" pattern) glued to the top of the basic wood. Guitars constructed like this are often called "flame tops". The body is usually carved or routed to accept the other elements, such as the bridge, pickup, neck, and other electronic components. Most electrics have a polyurethane or nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Other alternative materials to wood, are used in guitar body construction. Some of these include carbon composites, plastic material (such as polycarbonate) and aluminium alloys.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Body (acoustic guitar)


In acoustic guitars, string vibration is transmitted through the bridge and saddle to the body via sound board. The sound board is typically made of tone woods such as spruce or cedar. Timbers for tone woods are chosen for both strength and ability to transfer mechanical energy from the strings to the air within the guitar body. Sound which is further shaped by the characteristics of the guitar body's resonant cavity.

In electric guitars, transducers known as pickups convert string vibration to an electric signal, which in turn is amplified and fed to speakers, which vibrate the air to produce the sound we hear. Nevertheless, the body of the electric guitar body still performs a role in shaping the resultant tonal signature.

In an acoustic instrument, the body of the guitar is a major determinant of the overall sound quality. The guitar top, or soundboard, is a finely crafted and engineered element made of tonewoods such as spruce and red cedar. This thin piece of wood, often only 2 or 3mm thick, is strengthened by differing types of internal bracing. The top is considered by many luthiers to be the dominant factor in determining the sound quality. The majority of the instrument's sound is heard through the vibration of the guitar top as the energy of the vibrating strings is transferred to it.

Body size, shape and style has changed over time. 19th century guitars, now known as salon guitars, were smaller than modern instruments. Differing patterns of internal bracing have been used over time by luthiers. Torres, Hauser, Ramirez, Fleta, and C.F. Martin were among the most influential designers of their time. Bracing not only strengthens the top against potential collapse due to the stress exerted by the tensioned strings, but also affects the resonance characteristics of the top. The back and sides are made out of a variety of timbers such as mahogany, Indian rosewood and highly regarded Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra). Each one is primarily chosen for their aesthetic effect and can be decorated with inlays and purfling.

The body of an acoustic guitar has a sound hole through which sound is projected. The sound hole is usually a round hole in the top of the guitar under the strings. Air inside the body vibrates as the guitar top and body is vibrated by the strings, and the response of the air cavity at different frequencies is characterised, like the rest of the guitar body, by a number of resonance modes at which it responds more strongly.

Instruments with larger areas for the guitar top were introduced by Martin in an attempt to create louder volume levels. The popularity of the larger "dreadnought" body size amongst acoustic performers is related to the greater sound volume produced.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Strings

Modern guitar strings are manufactured in either metal or organo-carbon material. Instruments utilising "steel" strings may have strings made of alloys incorporating steel, nickel or phosphor bronze. Classical and flamenco instruments have historically used gut strings but these have been superseded by nylon and carbon-fibre materials. Bass strings for both instruments are wound rather than monofilament.

Guitar strings are strung almost parallel to the neck, whose surface is covered by the fingerboard (fretboard). By depressing a string against the fingerboard, the effective length of the string can be changed, which in turn changes the frequency at which the string will vibrate when plucked. Guitarists typically use one hand to pluck the strings and the other to depress the strings against the fretboard.

The strings may be plucked using either the fingers or a pick (or plectrum).
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Neck

A guitar's frets, fretboard, tuners, headstock, and truss rod, all attached to a long wooden extension, collectively constitute its neck. The wood used to make the fretboard will usually differ from the wood in the rest of the neck. The bending stress on the neck is considerable, particularly when heavier gauge strings are used (see Strings and tuning), and the ability of the neck to resist bending (see Truss rod) is important to the guitar's ability to hold a constant pitch during tuning or when strings are fretted. The rigidity of the neck with respect to the body of the guitar is one determinant of a good instrument versus a poor one. The shape of the neck can also vary, from a gentle "C" curve to a more pronounced "V" curve. There are many different types of neck profiles available, giving the guitarist many options. Some aspects to consider in a guitar neck may be the overall width of the fingerboard, scale (distance between the frets), the neck wood, the type of neck construction (for example, the neck may be glued in or bolted on), and the shape (profile) of the back of the neck. Other type of material used to make guitar necks are graphite (Steinberger guitars), aluminium (Kramer Guitars, Travis Bean and Veleno guitars), or carbon fiber (Modulus Guitars and ThreeGuitars).

Neck joint or 'Heel'
See also: Set-in neck, Bolt-on neck, and Neck-through

This is the point at which the neck is either bolted or glued to the body of the guitar. Almost all acoustic guitars, with the primary exception of Taylors, have glued (otherwise known as set) necks, while electric guitars are constructed using both types.

Commonly used set neck joints include mortise and tenon joints (such as those used by CF Martin & Co. guitars), dovetail joints (also used by CF Martin on the D28 and similar models) and Spanish heel neck joints which are named after the shoe they resemble and commonly found in classical guitars. All three types offer stability. Bolt-on necks, though they are historically associated with cheaper instruments, do offer greater flexibility in the guitar's set-up, and allow easier access for neck joint maintenance and repairs.

Another type of neck, only available for solid body electric guitars, is the neck-through-body construction. These are designed so that everything from the machine heads down to the bridge are located on the same piece of wood. The sides (also known as wings) of the guitar are then glued to this central piece. Some luthiers prefer this method of construction as they claim it allows better sustain of each note. Some instruments may not have a neck joint at all, having the neck and sides built as one piece and the body built around it.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Truss rod


The truss rod is a metal rod that runs along the inside of the neck. It is used to correct changes to the neck's curvature caused by the neck timbers aging, changes in humidity or to compensate for changes in the tension of strings. The tension of the rod and neck assembly is adjusted by a hex nut or an allen-key bolt on the rod, usually located either at the headstock, sometimes under a cover, or just inside the body of the guitar underneath the fretboard and accessible through the sound hole. Some truss rods can only be accessed by removing the neck. The truss rod counteracts the immense amount of tension the strings place on the neck, bringing the neck back to a straighter position. Turning the truss rod clockwise will tighten it, counteracting the tension of the strings and straightening the neck or creating a backward bow. Turning the truss rod counter-clockwise will loosen it, allowing string tension to act on the neck and creating a forward bow. Adjusting the truss rod affects the intonation of a guitar as well as the height of the strings from the fingerboard, called the action. Some truss rod systems, called "double action" truss systems, tighten both ways, allowing the neck to be pushed both forward and backward (standard truss rods can only be released to a point beyond which the neck will no longer be compressed and pulled backward). Classical guitars do not require truss rods as their nylon strings exert a lower tensile force with lesser potential to cause structural problems.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Inlays


Inlays are visual elements set into the exterior surface of a guitar. The typical locations for inlay are on the fretboard, headstock, and on acoustic guitars around the soundhole, known as the rosette. Inlays range from simple plastic dots on the fretboard to intricate works of art covering the entire exterior surface of a guitar (front and back). Some guitar players have used LEDs in the fretboard to produce a unique lighting effects onstage.

Fretboard inlays are most commonly shaped like dots, diamond shapes, parallelograms, or large blocks in between the frets. Dots are usually inlaid into the upper edge of the fretboard in the same positions, small enough to be visible only to the player. Some older or high-end instruments have inlays made of mother of pearl, abalone, ivory, coloured wood or other exotic materials and designs. Simpler inlays are often made of plastic or painted. High-end classical guitars seldom have fretboard inlays as a well trained player is expected to know his or her way around the instrument.

In addition to fretboard inlay, the headstock and soundhole surround are also frequently inlaid. The manufacturer's logo or a small design is often inlaid into the headstock. Rosette designs vary from simple concentric circles to delicate fretwork mimicking the historic rosette of lutes. Bindings that edge the finger and sound boards are sometimes inlaid. Some instruments have a filler strip running down the length and behind the neck, used for strength and/or to fill the cavity through which the trussrod was installed in the neck.

Elaborate inlays are a decorative feature of many limited edition, high-end and custom-made guitars. Guitar manufacturers often release such guitars to celebrate significant or historic milestones.

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Frets

Frets are metal strips (usually nickel alloy or stainless steel) embedded along the fretboard and located at exact points that divide the scale length in accordance with a specific mathematical formula. Pressing a string against a fret determines the strings' vibrating length and therefore its resultant pitch. The pitch of each consecutive fret is defined at a half-step interval on the chromatic scale. Standard classical guitars have 19 frets and electric guitars between 21 to 24 frets.

Frets are laid out to a mathematical ratio that results in equal tempered division of the octave. The ratio of the spacing of two consecutive frets is the twelfth root of two , whose numeric value is about 1.059463. The twelfth fret divides the scale length in two exact halves and the 24th fret position divides the scale length in half yet again. Every twelve frets represents one octave. In practice, luthiers determine fret positions using the constant 17.817, which is derived from the twelfth root of two. The scale length divided by this value yields the distance from the nut to the first fret. That distance is subtracted from the scale length and the result is divided in two sections by the constant to yield the distance from the first fret to the second fret. Positions for the remainder of the frets are calculated in like manner.[16]

There are several different fret gauges, which can be fitted according to player preference. Among these are "jumbo" frets, which have much thicker gauge, allowing for use of a slight vibrato technique from pushing the string down harder and softer. "Scalloped" fretboards, where the wood of the fretboard itself is "scooped out" between the frets allows a dramatic vibrato effect. Fine frets, much flatter, allow a very low string-action but require other conditions such as curvature of the neck to be well maintained in order to prevent buzz. Frets worn down from heavy use can be replaced or, to a certain extent, re-shaped as required.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Fretboard

Also called the fingerboard, the fretboard is a piece of wood embedded with metal frets that comprises the top of the neck. It is flat on classical guitars and slightly curved crosswise on acoustic and electric guitars. The curvature of the fretboard is measured by the fretboard radius, which is the radius of a hypothetical circle of which the fretboard's surface constitutes a segment. The smaller the fretboard radius, the more noticeably curved the fretboard is. Most modern guitars feature a 12" neck radius, while older guitars from the '60's and '70's usually feature a 6" - 8" neck radius. Pinching a string against the fretboard effectively shortens the vibrating length of the string, producing a higher pitch. Fretboards are most commonly made of rosewood, ebony, maple, and sometimes manufactured or composite materials such as HPL or resin. See below on section 'Neck" for the importance of the length of the fretboard in connection to other dimensions of the guitar.


[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Nut


The nut is a small strip of bone, plastic, brass, corian, graphite, stainless steel, or other medium-hard material, at the joint where the headstock meets the fretboard. Its grooves guide the strings onto the fretboard, giving consistent lateral string placement. It is one of the endpoints of the strings' vibrating length. It must be accurately cut, or it can contribute to tuning problems due to string slippage, and/or string buzz.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Headstock


The headstock is located at the end of the guitar neck furthest from the body. It is fitted with machine heads that adjust the tension of the strings, which in turn affects the pitch. Traditional tuner layout is "3+3" in which each side of the headstock has three tuners (such as on Gibson Les Pauls). In this layout, the headstocks are commonly symmetrical. Many guitars feature other layouts as well, including six-in-line (featured on Fender Stratocasters) tuners or even "4+2" (Ernie Ball Music Man). However, some guitars (such as Steinbergers) do not have headstocks at all, in which case the tuning machines are located elsewhere, either on the body or the bridge.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

General

Guitars can be constructed to meet the demands of both left and right-handed players. Traditionally the dominant hand is assigned the task of plucking or strumming the strings. For the majority of people this entails using the right hand. This is because musical expression (dynamics, tonal expression and colour etc) is largely determined by the plucking hand, whilst the fretting hand is assigned the lesser mechanical task of depressing and gripping the strings. This is similar to the convention of the violin family of instruments where the right hand controls the bow. A minority, however, believe that left-handed people should learn to play guitars strung in the manner used by right-handed people, simply to standardise the instrument.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Electric guitars

Electric guitars were originally designed by an assortment of luthiers - guitar makers, electronics enthusiasts, and instrument manufacturers, in varying combinations.

Guitar innovator Les Paul experimented with microphones attached to guitars.[1] Some of the earliest electric guitars, then essentially adapted hollow bodied acoustic instruments, used tungsten pickups[citation needed] and were manufactured beginning in 1931 by Electro String Instrument Corporation in Los Santos under the direction of Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamp. Their first design of a hollow body guitar instrument that used tungsten pickups was built by Harry Watson, a craftsman who worked for the Electro String Company. This new guitar which the company called "Rickenbackers" would be the first of its kind.[2]

The earliest documented use of the electric guitar in performance was during October 1932 in Wichita, Kansas by guitarist and bandleader Gage Brewer who had obtained two instruments directly from George Beauchamp of Los Angeles, California. Brewer publicized them in an article appearing in the Wichita Beacon, October 2, 1932 and through a Halloween performance later that month.

The first recording of an electric guitar was by jazz guitarist George Barnes who recorded two songs in Chicago on March 1st, 1938: Sweetheart Land and It's a Low-Down Dirty Shame. Many historians incorrectly attribute the first recording to Eddie Durham, but his recording with the Kansas City Five was not until 15 days later.[3] Durham introduced the instrument to a young Charlie Christian, who made the instrument famous in his brief life and is generally known as the first electric guitarist and a major influence on jazz guitarists for decades thereafter.

The version of the instrument that is best known today is the solid body electric guitar, a guitar made of solid wood, without resonating airspaces within it. Rickenbacher, later spelled Rickenbacker, did, however, offer a cast aluminum electric steel guitar, nicknamed The Frying Pan or The Pancake Guitar, beginning in 1931. This guitar is reported to have sounded quite modern and aggressive when tested by vintage guitar researcher John Teagle. The company Audiovox built and may have offered an electric solid-body as early as the mid-1930s.

Another early solid body electric guitar was designed and built by musician and inventor Les Paul in the early 1940s, working after hours in the Epiphone Guitar factory. His log guitar (so called because it consisted of a simple 4x4 wood post with a neck attached to it and homemade pickups and hardware, with two detachable Swedish hollow body halves attached to the sides for appearance only) was patented and is often considered to be the first of its kind, although it shares nothing in design or hardware with the solid body "Les Paul" model sold by Gibson.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_guitar]

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into electrical current, electric guitar is a electric string musical instrument which is then amplified. The signal that comes from the guitar is sometimes electronically altered to achieve various tonal effects prior to being fed into an amplifier, which produces the final sound.

The electric guitar was first used in jazz and has also long been used in many other popular styles of music, including almost all genres of rock and roll, country music, blues, ambient (or "new-age"), and even contemporary classical music.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_guitar]

Electric guitars

Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies, and produce little sound without amplification. Electromagnetic pickups convert the vibration of the steel strings into electrical signals which are fed to an amplifier through a cable or radio transmitter. The sound is frequently modified by other electronic devices or the natural distortion of valves (vacuum tubes) in the amplifier. There are two main types of pickup, single and double coil (or humbucker), each of which can be passive or active. The electric guitar is used extensively in jazz, blues, and rock and roll, and was commercialized by Gibson in collaboration with Les Paul, and independently by Leo Fender of Fender Music. The lower fretboard action (the height of the strings from the fingerboard) and its electrical amplification lend the electric guitar to some techniques which are less frequently used on acoustic guitars. These include tapping, extensive use of legato through pull-offs and hammer-ons (also known as slurs), pinch harmonics, volume swells, and use of a tremolo arm or effects pedals.

Seven-strings were popularized in the 1980s and 1990s in part due to the release of the Ibanez Universe guitar, endorsed by Steve Vai. Other artists go a step further, by using an 8 string guitar with two extra low strings. Although the most common 7-string has a low B string, Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds and Rickenbacker) uses an octave G string paired with the regular G string as on a 12 string guitar, allowing him to incorporate chiming 12 string elements in standard 6 string playing.

The electric bass guitar is similar in tuning to the traditional double bass viol. Hybrids of acoustic and electric guitars are also common. There are also more exotic varieties, such as guitars with two, three, or rarely four necks, all manner of alternate string arrangements, fretless fingerboards (used almost exclusively on bass guitars, meant to emulate the sound of a stand-up bass), 5.1 surround guitar, and such.

Some electric guitar and electric bass guitar models feature Piezoelectric pickups, which function as transducers to provide a sound closer to that of an acoustic guitar with the flip of a switch or knob, rather than switching guitars.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Flat-top (steel-string) guitars
Similar to the classical guitar, however, within the varied sizes of the steel-stringed guitar the body size is usually significantly larger than a classical guitar and it has a narrower, reinforced neck and stronger structural design. This allows the instrument to withstand the additional tension of steel strings. The steel strings produce a brighter tone, and according to many players, a louder sound. The acoustic guitar is used in many kinds of music including folk, country, bluegrass,pop, jazz and blues.

Archtop guitars
These are steel string instruments which feature a violin-inspired f-hole design in which the top (and often the back) of the instrument are carved in a curved rather than a flat shape. Lloyd Loar of the Gibson Guitar Corporation invented this variation of guitar after designing a style of mandolin of the same type. The typical Archtop is a deep, hollow body guitar whose form is much like that of a mandolin or violin family instrument and may be acoustic or electric. Some solid body electric guitars are also considered archtop guitars although usually 'Archtop guitar' refers to the hollow body form. Archtop guitars were immediately adopted upon their release by both jazz and country musicians and have remained particularly popular in jazz music, usually with flatwound strings. The electric semi-hollow body archtop guitar has a distinct sound among electric guitars and is consequently appropriate for many styles of pop music. Many electric archtop guitars intended for use in rock and roll have a Tremolo Arm.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

The modern Ten-string guitar

To put it succinctly, the addition to the guitar of four strings tuned a specific way (C, A♯, G♯, F♯) is to this instrument as the invention of the various pedals is to the piano. To appreciate the analogy, three concepts first need to be understood. These are that: there exists a phenomenon called resonance; a string has certain resonant frequencies corresponding to its overtones or harmonics; the guitar's fingerboard is normally tempered so that, of the pitches produced by the left hand on the fingerboard, really only the octaves of the open strings, and to a large extent their fifths, are 'in tune' with the strings' resonant frequencies. As a consequence of the above, the fact of the matter is that the (normal) guitar as an instrument has an inherent inconsistency between those sounds produced on the fingerboard that are effectively enforced and sustained by so-called sympathetic resonance (that is E, B, A, and D) and those other eight tones of the chromatic octave, each of which lacks the same support from a sympathetic string, in other words, from a string whose strongest resonant frequencies (that is, fundamental, octaves or fifths) include a resonant frequency that corresponds to the pitch produced on the fingerboard. This inconsistency has been corrected by the introduction of the modern 10-string guitar.

Conceived in 1963 by Narciso Yepes, the concept of the modern 10-string guitar follows a strict musical and scientific logic. Yepes discovered that, by adding four strings tuned to four very specific pitches, string resonance would be available for all 12 tones of the chromatic octave, without introducing any redundant resonances (more of E, B, A, and D) that would serve only to perpetuate, or worse, augment the inconsistency. In other words, the invention of Yepes was the addition of the strings C, A♯, G♯, F♯, which vibrate when pitches corresponding to their resonant frequencies are initiated on adjacent strings. Thus (to consider only one of these tuned resonators, the 10th string, or F♯): if F♯ is played (on the 6th string), the 10th string will resonate in unison. Likewise, it will produce the higher octaves f♯, or f♯' when these pitches are played on higher strings. In addition, this same F♯-string will resonate when its fifth is played, producing the tones of c♯ or c♯'. In the same manner each of the twelve tones of the chromatic octave is now supported by a string resonator, and (should the performer so wish) any tone can be sustained beyond the moment when the left-hand finger has let go of (or shifted position on) the string upon which the sound was initiated. The analogy to the pedals of the piano should now be evident. It should also be noted that (correctly understood) the idea of the modern 10-string guitar is, in a sense, exactly contrary to what is in the popular opinion considered to be the 'obvious' reasons for adding extra strings, that is to say extended bass range as open strings and/or simplification of left-hand technique through the avoidance of barrés and stretches. While the modern 10-string guitar does offer the extended bass range (scordatura of the 7th, or lowest, string is possible down to Helmholtz A1), it is contrary to other so-called 'multi-string' guitars, including ones that arbitrarily also have ten strings, in the sense that these make no attempt to resolve the resonance issue and, indeed, even augment it when additional B, A, or D strings (and their resonances) are introduced. Nevertheless, for better or worse, the popular opinion seems to prefer (as far as methods of stringing and tuning go) the 19th century concept of a 10-string guitar (extra basses for the sake of extra basses) rather than the nuanced interpretative possibilities that the modern instrument has to offer.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Classical guitars

These are typically strung with nylon strings, played in a seated position and are used to play a diversity of musical styles including classical music. The classical guitar is designed to allow for the execution of solo polyphonic arrangements of music in much the same manner as the pianoforte can. This is the major point of difference in design intent between the classical instrument and other designs of guitar. Flamenco guitars are very similar in construction, but are associated with a more percussive tone. In Mexico, the popular mariachi band includes a range of guitars, from the tiny requinto to the guitarron, a guitar larger than a cello, which is tuned in the bass register. In Colombia, the traditional quartet includes a range of instruments too, from the small bandola (sometimes known as the Deleuze-Guattari, for use when traveling or in confined rooms or spaces), to the slightly larger tiple, to the full sized classical guitar. The requinto also appears in other Latin-American countries as a complementary member of the guitar family, with its smaller size and scale, permitting more projection for the playing of single-lined melodies. Modern dimensions of the classical instrument were established by Antonio Torres Jurado (1817-1892). Classical guitars are sometimes referred to as classic guitars.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Renaissance and Baroque guitars

These are the gracile ancestors of the modern classical guitar. They are substantially smaller and more delicate than the classical guitar, and generate a much quieter sound. The strings are paired in courses as in a modern 12 string guitar, but they only have four or five courses of strings rather than six. They were more often used as rhythm instruments in ensembles than as solo instruments, and can often be seen in that role in early music performances. (Gaspar Sanz' Instrucción de Música sobre la Guitarra Española of 1674 constitutes the majority of the surviving solo corpus for the era.) Renaissance and Baroque guitars are easily distinguished because the Renaissance guitar is very plain and the Baroque guitar is very ornate, with inlays all over the neck and body, and a paper-cutout inverted "wedding cake" inside the hole.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Acoustic guitars

An acoustic guitar is one not dependent on an external device to be heard but uses a soundboard which is a wooden piece mounted on the front of the guitar's body. The acoustic guitar is quieter than other instruments commonly found in bands and orchestras so when playing within such groups it is often externally amplified. Many acoustic guitars available today feature a variety of pickups which enable the player to amplify and modify the raw guitar sound.

There are several notable subcategories within the acoustic guitar group: classical and flamenco guitars; steel string guitars, which include the flat top or "folk" guitar; twelve string guitars and the arch top guitar. The acoustic guitar group also includes unamplified guitars designed to play in different registers such as the acoustic bass guitar which has a similar tuning to that of the electric bass guitar.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar]

Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in Australia.

The game features a guitar-shaped peripheral (resembling a miniature Gibson SG) that the player uses to simulate the playing of rock music. The gameplay is very similar to the GuitarFreaks, in that the player uses the guitar controller to hit scrolling musical notes. The game features covers of 30 popular rock songs spanning fives decades of rock, from the 1960s to current music.

Guitar Hero became a surprise hit, earning critical acclaim and winning many awards from major video game publications. The game's success launched the billion-dollar Guitar Hero franchise, spawning the sequels Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Development

An interview with Harmonix developer Ron Kay describes many of the details of the development of Guitar Hero.[1][2]

The idea of Guitar Hero was directly inspired by Konami's GuitarFreaks arcade game, where the player used a guitar-shaped controller to interact with the game. At the time, GuitarFreaks had not seen much exposure in North America. RedOctane, who were then in the business of making dance pads for games like Dance Dance Revolution for home consoles, were planning to also create guitar controllers, and had approached Harmonix about making a guitar-based game for those controllers. With a budget of about one million dollars (which Kay noted was "pretty tiny for a video game"), the two companies worked to make Guitar Hero. Kay noted that "No one had any notions about it being a massive success; we all just thought it would be fun to do."

Harmonix worked with third party controllers that were already on the market, and started with "super-basic Pong-style graphics" for the game display; through this, they found that "the controller really was the kind of magic sauce for what we wanted to do." Further art was added led by Ryan Lesser, using the art team's involvement in the music scene. Based on the experience from Frequency and Amplitude, the team realized that "people don't necessarily relate to really abstract visuals", and included the depictions of live performances as previously used in Karaoke Revolution. During development, the team identified three focuses for gameplay: the note-matching aspect, the development of Star Power as "to provide a little more depth to the game — some replay value, some interest for people as they were playing beyond just hitting the notes", and showmanship by incorporating the whammy bar and tilting of the guitar into established gameplay.

The team did not have any initial idea of what songs would be present in the final game. Kay noted that "We wanted 30 or 40 songs for the game and put a hundred on our wish list." Harmonix continually had to modify the track list as certain songs were cleared or removed based on licensing issues, balancing difficulty and popularity of the track list, which continued concurrent with the development of the game engine and up nearly to the shipping date. "Gem tracks" for a song were developed by a team in Harmonix, taking usually a day for a song, identifying key notes to "make you feel as if you're a brilliant musician." Software algorithms were used to assess the difficulty of the tracks, and the quality assurance team helped to rebalance the tracks for accuracy and difficulty. The software also allowed Harmonix to quickly make changes to the set list or to reauthor a song to make sure the overall difficulty of the game was appropriate.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero_(video_game)

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist.

Guitars are recognized as one of the primary instruments in blues, country, flamenco, rock music, and many forms of pop. There is also a solo classical instrument. Guitars may be played acoustically, where the tone is produced by vibration of the strings and modulated by the hollow body, or they may rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Such electric guitars were introduced in the 20th century and continue to have a profound influence on popular culture.

Traditionally guitars have usually been constructed of combinations of various woods and strung with animal gut, or more recently, with either nylon or steel strings. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers.