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Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Friday, February 3, 2017

Guitar Anatomy and Design

Guitars come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and types, but there are certain things they all have in common. A guitar has three basic parts: a body, a neck, and the headstock (also referred to as a tuning head). You can learn how to maintain your instrument by understanding the various components better.

Body

There are basically two types of guitar bodies: hollow body and solid body. The hollow body of an acoustic guitar (shown in Figure 2-1) is what produces the instrument’s sound. The body of the acoustic guitar is composed of the top, sides, and back. The top, or “face,” of the instrument lies just below the strings. The sound hole is the round hole in the center of the top, from which the sound of the instrument emanates. The sides are the narrow pieces between the front and the back, which is the large surface parallel to the top. Generally, the back and sides of the instrument are made out of the same kind of wood, while on the majority of instruments the top is a finer, thinner piece of wood (or laminate, in the case of less expensive guitars). The top is the part of the guitar that most defines the overall sound of the guitar.
Some acoustic guitars have a piece of plastic called a pick guard glued to the top just below the sound hole. Just as the name implies, the pick guard is designed to protect the top of the instrument from damage you might inflict with your pick.
Figure 2-1: Acoustic Guitar

Sunday, January 1, 2017

The Origins of the Guitar

There are many theories on the origin of the guitar. In fact, the ancient pictures, drawings, and paintings of many cultures suggest a guitar, though these are actually stringed instruments of varying types. For example, Babylonian excavations in Central Asia unearthed cave carvings dating back to 1900 b.c. that show musicians playing together. The carvings feature stringed instruments resembling guitars as well as techniques like strumming and plucking of the strings. Similar stringed instruments like the okongo or cora are still used in parts of Africa to this day.