The guitar is a well-known string musical instrument. A central rosette, six strings, integrated tuning pegs, a handle with frets, a central sound hole: these are the characteristics that all guitars share (at least when speaking of the acoustic guitar!).
But who knows where it comes from? When did we start learning to play guitar?
From the myths and legends to the true history of the guitar, let yourself be lulled by its sweet melody. The bets are open: is the guitar of Indian, Uzbek, Arabic or Spanish origin?
Was the Instrument of the Egyptian Singer Har-Mose the First Guitar in the World?
In a remote time, even very remote, under the reign of Queen Hatshepsut - that is to say 3,500 years ago - lived an Egyptian singer named Har-Mose. She used a primitive type of 3-stringed guitar made of a polished cedar box surrounded by leather.
The Egyptians began to use this instrument that became quickly very popular. It was then introduced into Europe by the Mesopotamians. The teaching of this instrument and the first guitar lessons appeared around this time.
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This "original guitar" was successively embellished with a fourth (to reach unison) then a fifth string (in Europe), and finally a sixth in the seventeenth century. Unfortunately for Har-Mose, whose instrument was fairly rudimental, the guitar became evidently became much more sophisticated during this time.
The guitar, as we now know, even those of the greatest guitarists, is of Egyptian origin!
The Lute of Mesopotamia, a Grandfather to Jimi Hendrix's Guitar?
The lute has a semi-pear soundboard, a small bridge like a guitar, a fretboard and many strings. There are a number of commonalities.
The dôtar, a two-stringed lute with a long neck, was also seen as the origin of the modern guitar, to which more and more strings were progressively added.
At first a shepherd's instrument, it became a noble instrument in the scholarly music of the nineteenth century in Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan.
In reality, the lute is a string instrument among many others - and guitarists don't also like the idea that this is a guitar at all! Just because something has strings - doesn't make it a guitar!
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A Very Old Lady: an Ancestor of the Guitar Found in Ancient Rome?
In Antiquity, we used an instrument called the cithara (from the Greek "kithara"), a musical instrument with plucked strings. It consists of a soundboard on which were fixed strings of decreasing size, in the sense that they were increasingly fine.
With the right hand, one plucks chords while the left hand serves to pinch the frets.
For a long time this string instrument (like the others) was made out of animal gut. (For your information, it was not until 1940 that the strings went from those of animal origin to nylon.)
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It is said that the zither was imported into Spain by the Moors, and that to this instrument a neck was added to form the guitar as we know it.
Michael Kasha's Point of View and His Contributions to the Guitar
Dr. Kasha, a researcher in molecular physics and a guitar enthusiast, defines the guitar as "a plucked string instrument played with fingers or a plectrum, having a long fretted neck, a flat wooden soundboard, a head and a flat back, with, most of the time, curved flanks.”
He's the first researcher to have wondered about the following question: how to play the guitar?
Although the lute and the guitar have common ancestors, the guitar is not a derivative of the lute, he says. According to him the Greeks themselves would have borrowed the term "zither" from the Persians who had a 4-string musical instrument called the "chartar".
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The Romans have often been criticized for saying that they stole everything from the Greeks. But the Greeks too may have looked around their neighbor's home!
Michael Kasha studied the vibratory behavior of soundboards and Gibson used his research to develop the dear Series Mark, with an asymmetric bridge and a special dam. This model, not hugely marketable, was quickly abandoned.
However, studies are ongoing about the benefits of playing the guitar...
15th-19th Centuries: From the First Old Guitars to the Modern Guitar
At the time of its elaboration, the Middle Ages guitar is characterized by the following elements:
- A fairly short neck
- 8 frets maximum (there are now 22 or 24 nuts on an electric guitar neck!)
- Double strings
At this time, two forms of guitar are known:
- The Saracen guitar: it's recognized by its domed case and double strings, it's a sort of lute with a long handle.
- The Latin guitar: it has a flat case and strings made out of guts, it's the closest we know to the guitars we have today.
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The Renaissance marks the appearance of a family of small string instruments (cordophones) in Spain, under the name of vihuela.
Ah! That sexy Spanish guitar: who could resist! Discover our top ten list of seductive guitar based songs...
The guitarra, relatively small, has four double strings while the Vihuela de Mano has six.
To date, only four authentic Vihuelas de Mano have been preserved because of their great fragility, including 2 in Paris (Musée Jacquemart-André and Musée de la musique).
In the sixteenth century, the vihuela eventually gave way to the Spanish guitar.
It was at this time that the 5-string instrument made its entrance with a standard tuning in A, D, G, B and E. As we composed these instruments, we began to look for more variations which led to an increasing number of frets: from 8 to 10 and then to 12.
In the seventeenth century, it was the Italian luthier, Antonio Giacomo Stradivari, who added a sixth string to the guitar. His competitors and successors would later do the same, while opting for six single strings rather than six pairs of strings.
And so we got E, A, D, G, B, E - the standard tuning of the guitar today!
During the nineteenth century, the shape of the soundbox evolves and makes a huge leap in the evolution of this magical instrument. Around 1850, the Spanish manufacturer, Antonio Torres, decided to change the proportions of the soundbox and to renew the materials he used. This made it possible to improve the sound as well as its projection.
One can say that he is the inventor of the classical guitar. Therefore a Spanish man! They are not quite wrong to declare that the guitar is Spanish then. Another preconceived idea about the guitar!
The guitar is an instrument that has often been "snubbed” by the high sphere of classical music.
The first college guitar course in the UK was given by John Williams (outside of his classic repertoire, Williams played for Kate Bush, David Bowie, and many, many others). This guitar lesson was given for the first time in 1965.
Therefore, and contrarily to popular belief, most older guitar heroes have a classical training.
By the Way, How Did the Electric Guitar Appear?
So, if that was the classical guitar - what about the electric? When did that start being played?
The Birth of Electric Guitars
In the 1900s, they started to use steel ropes. They offer a better resonance but also have a lot of tension on the neck. This allows you to play the guitar faster.
Christian Fredrich Martin, a German who settled in the United States, developed the technique of "brace" in X. From there on end, other luthiers and artists have made their own contribution.
- Orville Gibson was inspired by the cello so that the bridge no longer touched the strings and offered a greater resonance.
- Lloyd Loar introduced the F-holes and a floating vibrato (also commonly called the Floyd Rose).
- 1920: we add pickups to the jazz guitar.
- It was in 1930 that the electric guitar (a guitar equipped with tungsten microphones) began to be marketed by Rickenbacker.
- However, the beginning of the real electric guitar is in 1936 with Gibson and its 504 models ES150.
The solid body (full body of the electric guitar) appeared around this time at Audiovox, Rickenbacker and Epiphone. The descendants of the inventors soon started to make the Les Paul or Leo Fender, which were named after the producers.
It was in 1950 that the general public discovered the first solid body guitar by Leo Fender, the Fender Telecaster.
Nowadays, Les Paul (a solid body with two humbuckers) and Stratocaster with its two horns (on which you can change the parts as much as you wish) remain the main forms of electric guitar.
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The Guitar, a Low-Grade Instrument?
The guitar was considered inferior to the lute at the time of its appearance in the fifteenth century.
However, geniuses of composition have succeeded in making this instrument an object of lust and fantasy! What's more, playing guitar is good for the health of guitarists!
Thank you rock, jazz and blues and different guitar styles!
Just take a look at the pricing of some artists' guitars:
- The top record is held by a white Fender Stratocaster bearing the autographs of 19 artists from Mick Jagger to Brian Adams. Funds raised in 2005, $ 2.7 million, helped the victims of the 2004 tsunami.
- The best known is none other than Jimmy Hendrix's guitar, that very one that made Woodstock go wild. It was sold for 2 million dollars.
- Bob Marley's Washburn Custom was valued at between $1.2 million and $2 million. It was given by the artist to his favourite technician, Gary Carlsen, who founded the charity "Different Journeys, One Destination".
- The classical and acoustic guitars sell a little cheaper, but Eric Clapton's CF Martin & Co of 1939 still cost the price of 791,500 dollars ...
We bet that the lute, now seldom used and relayed to the rank of museum piece, has not finished vibrating with jealousy!
The Origins of the Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument with origins traced back to the early 16th century in Spain. Guitar used to be narrower, deeper, and with a less pronounced waist than it is today. It is closely related to a guitar-shaped musical instrument played in place of lute in Spain, the vihuela. Guitar used to have only four strings: a top single and three doubles. Many things changed for this musical instrument from the 16th to the 19th century. For example, the strings went from four to six by the late 1800s.
The guitar was a popular instrument in different countries, especially France and Spain, in the 16th century. However, the guitar did not enter Canada until the mid-17th century; certain European immigrants brought it. As world music rose in popularity, better guitar models, like classical and electric guitars, have been developed. Today, the guitar is one of the most-played instruments in the world.
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What is the Origin of the Guitar in Canada?
The guitar was first brought to Canada by some European immigrants in the mid-17th century. As stated in the History of Music in Canada, the guitar was used as an instrument for lulling some Iroquois to sleep so French captives could escape death. A man named Jacques Bizard, an officer, possessed a guitar. Also, history has it that Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye had a guitar that he kept in his work cabinet.
Sometime in 1992, archeologists found engraved with a lovely muse playing the vièlè-à-bras, a guitar peg box fragment of bone found on the side of Beaupré east of Quebec in the Séminaire de Québec. The style of the guitar fragment found is said to date back to 1690 to 1720; it was found between cracks in the chapel floor, La Vie musicale that burned down in 1769.
Smith of Halifax became the first man to advertise the sale of guitars in Canada in 1752. Meanwhile, Frederick Glackemeyer first repaired and taught guitar in Montreal and Quebec. Jouve taught and performed guitar on Le Guitare Française around the same time Frederick Glackmeyer did. The young ladies' academy in Quebec City had guitar lessons in their prospectus.
Meanwhile, Montreal holds the record of being the center of Canada's guitar music until the mid-1900s. Great musicians like Signor Jean Muscarelli, Mrs. Stennett, Jean Brauneis I., and Mme Goni gave instruction and public performances on the guitar. The guitar was commonly used as a voice accompaniment and was influenced by the trends in European music.
What Are the 5 Benefits of Learning to Play Guitar in Canada?
Finding the motivation to practice the guitar is not easy. But, if you put in the effort to practice guitar every day, you get more than just becoming an expert guitarist. The more you practice guitar, the better you get at playing, and you'll see enhancements in other areas as well. So, what benefits do you have to gain from learning to play guitar in Canada? Here are 5 of them:
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Improved Discipline
When you get yourself up to learn and practice guitar every day, you're invariably learning discipline. Discipline skills are some of the most prominent skills consistency in learning and practicing guitar gives you. Furthermore, discipline is a valuable virtue and skill you can apply to every area of life.
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Increased Creativity
Playing guitar involves being creative with the chords and notes, mixing several melodies to make music. You indirectly improve your creativity skills – and these are many sought-after skills in music and the professional world.
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Broadened Horizon
A great benefit of learning to play guitar in Canada or anywhere else is that it broadens your knowledge of music generally. You're not only learning to play guitar; you're learning the fundamentals of music. This knowledge can be applied to learning other instruments. Moreover, your understanding of the music you love will improve.
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Sharpened Concentration
Learning to play guitar requires optimum concentration and attention to detail. Therefore, as you learn to play guitar, you are developing in yourself a skill set you'll find useful in all aspects of life.
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Therapeutic Benefits
Learning to play guitar in Canada or anywhere else helps create therapeutic experiences for you. One of the ways to relax and be productive is playing the guitar; the experience can be very calming. Moreover, learning guitar causes you to meet new people.
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How Can You Choose the Best Private Guitar Tutor in Canada?
Anyone can learn, but only a few can teach; teaching is not as easy as everyone makes it to be. Likewise, just having a guitar-playing skill is fundamental, but it is not enough to teach guitar. Coupled with knowing how to play the guitar, a good guitar tutor should communicate that guitar knowledge effectively. As such, you don't want to jump at just any guitar player you find. So if you're in search of a great private guitar tutor in Canada, here's how to know you've found one.
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He is Qualified and Experienced
The guitar tutor should have experience teaching music, a bachelor's or higher degree in music, and professional experience of performing music. For example, you might want to request a sample of his recorded music.
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He Has Attitude
A great guitar tutor should be great at guitar and teach it. However, some guitar tutors only do it for the money; finding someone who tutors for the love of it is hard. Therefore, you want to ensure your tutor is committed to teaching; he should view it as a duty and not an inconvenience.
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Style Doesn't Matter
Different tutors have different teaching styles but the same result. You don't have to look for a private guitar tutor based on the style you want to learn, especially if you're a beginner. There'll be a need to first learn many fundamentals of the guitar, and how they are taught doesn't matter. Moreover, even after learning the guitar fundamentals, general music proficiency is more important than style.
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Personality Matters
You will want to work with a private tutor whose personality matches or is at least compatible with yours. Personality compatibility makes the guitar learning process easy and helps you get the best from the tutor's teaching style.
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Popularity is a Plus
It helps if the private guitar tutor has testimonials and reviews so you can know what you're signing up for. If the tutor is from a popular learning platform, like Superprof, you know you are in good hands. Superprof has a global supply of guitar tutors with great guitar playing skills and years of experience teaching the guitar. So, if you need a great tutor to break down complex guitar techniques, Superprof is a good place to get one.
Can You Learn and Master Guitar Online?
Yes, you can learn and master the guitar online – with dedication and effort on your part. Many people believe a traditional guitar course with a guitar instructor is the best way to learn and master the guitar. But that assertion could not be any further from the truth. With a well-structured course, you can learn to play the guitar and even be a master in it.
Learning and mastering guitar online is possible because qualified and experienced guitar tutors have compiled their knowledge into a structured course and made it available online. Traditional guitar lessons also make use of some of these courses. Therefore, the teaching tool is there; all that's needed is to take a step and begin learning. Moreover, learning guitar online is easier and more flexible; you can learn from anywhere.
Learning guitar begins with a basic learning course for a good foundation in playing guitar, which is possible online. The course is structured, taking you from learning how to carry the guitar to playing all kinds of songs with it.
There is a rich supply of e-learning platforms for learning the guitar online. Superprof offers great guitar lessons with highly qualified and experienced guitar tutors from whose wealth of knowledge you can tap. Whatever your guitar ambitions, dreams, and goals, a Superprof guitar tutor can take you there.
You get the idea, the history of the guitar is vast, because it counts a crazy number of distant relatives. Building on its success, it has also integrated classrooms in the twentieth century. Take the next step in the history of the guitar and find online guitar lessons for kids.
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In conclusion, playing guitar is an art that has been in the world for centuries. The instrument has gone from being a musical instrument to a music sensation worldwide. The guitar is a sensational instrument, complex but worth learning.
Learning and mastering the guitar takes as much dedication as learning math, maybe even more. Consistent practice is needed to master any instrument, including the guitar. Hiring a tutor is one good way to hold yourself accountable for practicing guitar. With a tutor, there's always a guitar practice assignment to carry out. More so, how much personal practice you put into playing the guitar will determine how long it'll take you to master it.
Superprof provides excellent guitar tutoring services at affordable prices and for all levels. Therefore, whether you are a guitar beginner or expert, there is a guitar tutor for you on Superprof. Most importantly, when you're hiring a guitar tutor in Canada, you stand the chance of saving costs on your first class. Most Superprof guitar tutors in Canada offer the first hour of their first classes free.
Now discover scientific proof that playing the guitar is good for you!
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