By: Sam Boccella

Guitar: History and Styles

From Blues to Rock N’ Roll, the guitar has developed over time to be one of the most versatile and popular instruments;

able to be played, tuned, and built differently, the guitar can be used in any

genre of music.

Thesis:

Parts of the Acoustic guitar

Tuning Pegs

Head

Neck

Body

Sound Hole

Pick Guard

Bridge

Parts of The Electric Guitar

Tuning Pegs

Head

Neck

Body

Pick-ups

Pick guard

Bridge

Control Knobs

Around since the late 15th century.

Was considered an “Outcast”.

Were setup with four courses.

A fifth course was added.

Guitar History – 1400’s- 1500’s

(Bacon and Hunter)

Moved from peasantry to performance stage. (Guitar History)

Builders designed better designs. (Guitar History)

Benjamin Franklin played the guitar. (Bacon and Hunter)

The modern style guitar was created by C.F. Martin. (History of the Guitar)

Guitar History – 1500’s- 1800’s

Evolved from Italian and French models. (History of the Guitar)

Tuning was played around with. (Bacon and Hunter)

Much playing in pre-civil war times. (History of the Guitar)

Orville Gibson was building arch top guitars. (Chapman)

Guitar History – 1800’s- 1900

In 1900, over 78,000 guitar were produce. (History of the Guitar)

The 20th century introduced steel-stringed guitars. (History of the Guitar)

“The Frying Pan” was introduced (Chapman)

Released the ES-150 in 1936. (Bacon and Hunter)

Guitar History- 1900- 1930’s

By the 1960’s the guitar was in full maturity. (Chapman)

In 1961, Gibson release the ES-335. (PBS)

The Stratocaster and The SG were most popular. (Bacon and Hunter)

Has remained unchanged since the 1960’s. (Bacon and Hunter)

Guitar History: 1960’s- Present

First flat-top acoustic in the 1850’s. (Chapman)

The bigger the body, the bigger the sound. (Bacon and Hunter)

Construction and Sound: Flat-top Acoustics

The back and sidesuse different woods then the front known as tone woods. (Bacon and Hunter)

Brazilian Rosewood Maple

Mahogany Indian Rosewood

Types of Wood

Swamp Ash Mahogany

Alder Basswood

Types of Wood

Maple- Tightness and definition to low and high tones

Maple with Rosewood- A louder bass and a sizzling high

Mahogany- Gives full and warm tones and is balanced sound

Construction and Sound: Solid Body Electric (neck)

(Bacon and Hunter)

Front wood has different requirements. (Bacon and Hunter)

Spruce has the best use of strength and flexibility. (Bacon and Hunter)

The more vibration on the top, the louder the sound. (Chapman)

Must be the right thickness. (Bacon and Hunter)

Braces must be used so sound can be louder. (Chapman)

Wood Requirements: (Front)

Usually made from the same wood as the body

Inside the neck is a metal rod known as the “Tuss Rod”.

Must be able to vibrate

Wood Requirements: (Neck)

(Bacon and Hunter)(Bacon and Hunter)

The basic tuning is EADGBE.

“Steel Strings” describes a vast amount of compounds.

Different compounds, as well as, different gauges, give out different sounds.

Heavier gauges are louder and are harder to play.

String Requirements

(Bacon and Hunter)

Was first used by slaves to express their misfortunes. (Bacon and Hunter)

Blues is associated with the pain and agony. (Chapman)

Started as a vocal performance only. (Oliver)

Started by field hollers. (Oliver)

First associated with small towns, farms and plantations. (Oliver)

At first was considered masculine. (Chapman)

The Blues: Beginnings

Southern prisoners, road crews and many gangs began singing the blues.

Vocal performance accompanied by acoustic guitar.

By the 1890’s much of the south sang the blues.

The Blues- Pre- Civil War

(Oliver)

After the Civil War, Blues became a vocal/guitar combination. (Oliver)

Early Blues guitar used standard/fretless finger styles with a slide object. (Chapman)

From 1890 to 1910 was when Blues evolved to how it is played today. (Oliver)

The Blues: 1860’s – 1900’s

First popularized in 1911-1914. (Bacon and Hunter)

All early records of Blues were instrumentals. (Bacon and Hunter)

Mamie Smith recorded “Crazy Blues”. (Baker)

Many American Troops brought the Blues back home. (Baker)

Blues became mainly duos, small groups and bands. (Baker))

The Blues: 1900-1920’s

Blues Musicians did not use electric guitar until 1932; years after its availability. (Baker)

T-Bone Walker in the 1930’s was the first Blues guitarist to use the electric guitar. (Baker)

The 1940’s brought an explosion of talent. (Bacon and Hunter)

Around this time players like B.B King emerged. (Bacon and Hunter)

The Blues: 1930’s- 1940’s

Electric Blues became popular in Chicago, Memphis, St. Louis, and Detroit. (Baker)

Blues in the 1950’s was mainly inspired by the “Mississippi Blues” sound. (Chapman)

Chicago Blues became popular when Muddy Waters released “I Can’t Be Satisfied”. (Oliver)

B.B. King, Bo Diddley, and John Lee Hooker (Baker)

The Blues: 1950’s

Many of the previous decades Blues musicians continued to play. (Oliver)

Record labels were focusing on European talent. (Oliver)

Focused on freedom rights as well as problems in America. (Baker)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Rolling Stones and Cream.

70’s brought a mixture of Blues and Rock N Roll. (Oliver)

The Blues: 1960’s- 1970’s

A resurrection of Blues was seen. (Bacon and Hunter)

Stevie Ray Vaughan released “Texas Flood” in 1983. (Chapman)

Late 80’s saw a popularity of earlier decades Blues artists

90’s brought new technologies to recordings

Recently there isn’t much popularity in Blues.

The Blues: 1980’s- present

Always was a part of the south. (Byworth)

Was past on from Generation. (Chapman)

The Fiddle was the main instrument. (Byworth)

Country adopted the guitar due to its cheap production. (Chapman)

Country: Beginnings

Little knew of Country until radio. (Byworth)

Fused with other music genres including the blues. (Chapman)

The 1930’s brought electrified and steel playing. (Chapman)

The first successful country artist was John Carson. (Byworth)

Country: Development

In 1941, “Walking The Floor Over You”. (PBS)

Developed mainly from “Bakersfield Sound”. (Chapman)

Brought sophistication towards Country. (Byworth)

The 70’s brought new talented guitarists. (Byworth)

Country- 1940’s- 1970’s

(Baker)

Attempted crossover to pop audience. (Byworth)

This style was known as “Urban Country”

Similar to country of the 60’s and 70’s

“The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by The Charles Daniels Band

Country: 1980’s

The name “Rock N’ Roll” came from Alan Freed.

Developed from the popularity of black rhythm and blues.

The first recording was “Rocker 88”.

Artists like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lewis and many others.

Rock N’ Roll: 1950’s

(World News Digest)

Music evolved in new directions. (Rock Music)

Became much more experimental. (Rock Music)

The Beatles, Eric Clapton The Jimi Hendrix Experience. (Chapman)

Rock N’ Roll: 1960’s

(World News Digest)

Revival of 50’s style Rock N’ Roll started to show.

Electronic music as well as Progressive Rock

Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead.

Styles like Punk were introduced.

Rock N’ Roll: 1970’s

(World News Digest)

In the 1981 Music Television (MTV) was introduced. (World News Digest)

In the early 1980’s “New Wave” had began to to hit the seen. (World News Digest)

Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston and Madonna. (Bacon and Hunter)

The Beginnings of Hip-hop. (World News Digest)

Rock N’ Roll: 1980’s

By the 1990’s Hip-Hop dominated radio airplay. (Chapman)

A new style of music known as Alternative hit the scene in the early 90’s. (World News Digest)

Nirvana, Sound garden, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. (World News Digest)

By the late 1990’s a group of young teens came on the scene. (Bacon and Hunter)

Rock N’ Roll: 1990’s

Will be taught the structure of an “A” chord

What’s a Chord?a combination of usually three or more

musical tones sounded simultaneously.

Class Activity

Index finger is 1

Middle Finger is 2

Ring Finger is 3

Pinky is 4

Finger Placement

Frets

Strings

Pinky Finger

Ring Finger

Middle Finger

The “A” Chord