Most guitarists learn to strum without thinking about what they’re actually doing. A strummed guitar fulfills two functions: one is rhythmic, the other harmonic. The harmonic function is to supply a “wash” of sound relating to a chord, the equivalent of holding a chord on a keyboard. But because the guitar does not have much sustain, the notes will die unless they are struck again. Repeated striking sustains the presence of the chord. The relationship between strumming technique and sustain can be vividly heard on the mandolin, where rapid strumming is required to keep the notes “present”. Violinists solve this problem when they draw a bow across the string, continually exciting it to vibrate.
The rhythmic function has two components: the rhythm with which the chords are produced and the percussive attack (usually produced by a pick) on the guitar strings. Both aspects are important for solo performers accompanying themselves on the guitar. Guitarists working with a rhythm section or recording with a variety of instruments need to realize, though, that they no longer have to carry the whole of the rhythm with their strumming.
Good strumming patterns balance tempo against sustain. At a slow tempo, you hit the strings more frequently because the chords die away. At faster tempos, you might not need to hit them so often, unless like Jimmy Nolan or Nile Rodgers your guitar part is at least as significant for its percussive effect as for its harmonic effect.
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Posted on 5 March '10 by Music And Song, under Guitar. No Comments.
The acoustic guitar came to America in the 1850s, thanks mainly to immigrants from Eastern Europe. Guitar maker Christian Friedrich (C. F.) Martin left his native Germany because of dissatisfaction with the restrictive guilds that oversaw all instrument making back home.Meanwhile, factories were built to turn out inexpensive guitars by the dozens, and mail order catalogs like Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward began selling five-dollar instruments.
In the nineteenth century the guitar was promoted as a parlor instrument for young ladies to play. In the time before phonographs and radio, music-making was a favorite amateur activity. Young women were especially encouraged to learn music as an important social skill. While the piano was large and ungainly, the guitar was small and sweet voiced at the time, most guitars were far smaller than today’s jumbo models, and they were all strung with gut strings in the classical style. Because of this, the guitar was thought to be an ideal instrument for young ladies, and it soon became popular.
As stage performers began taking up the guitar in the early twentieth century, they clamored for louder instruments that could fill a concert hall. Guitar makers responded by making bigger guitars; others began experimenting with different shapes for the guitar’s body to improve bass response and volume. The Martin company made an important contribution in the teens with the introduction of their so-called D or Dreadnought guitar. With a wider lower bout (or half of the body), and with construction strong enough to withstand the newly introduced steel strings, the instrument was immediately popular for its loud bass volume and carrying power.
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Posted on 21 February '10 by Music And Song, under Guitar. No Comments.
The history of the guitar includes periods of fantastic popularity followed by periods of decline. The eighteenth century proved a time of low ebb for the guitar, until at its end the double strings gave place to single ones, and the sixth string was added to create the familiar form of today’s guitar. Sheep’s gut was used for the first three strings. The basses were formed by winding silver-plated copper wire onto a core of silk thread.
With the sixth string came a new wave of popularity with the public, led and inspired by virtuoso players who also composed and wrote instruction methods for the guitar in its new form. The main centers were Vienna and Paris, and great players such as Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829) from Italy and Fernando Sor (1778–1839) from Spain were drawn to emigrate to the north where enthusiastic audiences and students awaited them. Both composed extensively for the guitar, and laid the foundation for the solo repertoire. Ferdinando Carulli (1770–1841) produced a guitar method that is used to this day, and the “25 Melodious Studies” of Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853) are still part of the standard student repertoire.
Following this great wave of popularity came a period of decline and neglect, and by the middle of the nineteenth century the guitar was little played and rarely heard in concert. It was really thanks to Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909) that public interest was again awakened.
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Posted on 7 February '10 by Music And Song, under Guitar. 1 Comment.
