It is difficult to reconstruct the full evolution of the
          guitar.Over time there have been many experiments,
          leading to a number of rather strange species.



          Kissar

          Kissar, prehistoric string instrument from Central-Africa


















Rebab

rebab

chitarra latina

chitarra latina

Antonio Torres Jurado

Antonio Torres Jurado. (1817-1892) and one of his guitars about 1888

opbouw gitaar

acoustic guitar today



kalebas banjo

kalebas


bottlenecks

bottlenecks

Les Paul

Les Paul



Adolph Rickenbacker

Adolph Rickenbacker wiyh his 'Frying Pan'


First produced electric guitar

Frying Pan with the two horseshoe magnets

Django Reinhardt en Les Paul

Django Reinhardt (L.) and Les Paul in the years forty


picture 1. Elvis Presley. picture 2. Scotty Moore(L.) and Elvis in 1956

the shadows

The shadows

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

the Beach Boys

The Beach Boys




Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

   

A lthough the guitar's predecessors have been around for thousands of years, wind and percussion instruments are much older than string instruments. But even as for other musical instruments counts also for the development of the guitar, for the man his feelings and desires to uttered that on no single other manner from to press are. The guitar is chordofone instrument. Chordofone means that the sound is produced using the ultrasounds of a string. The denomination is composed of the Greek word "chordae" what means string means and fone, (consonance/sounded).

Alexander the Great had around 385 BC, nearly the entire cultured world conquered. his realm contained found place also Persia, Egypt and Greece, through here there a culture transfer between these peoples. The Assyrische citer were passed at the Greeks and later defense at the Romans, that this instrument Cithara romana named. Thousand year there later on a neck instrument builders in Southern France, will and test at add and named their instrument Chrotta. About 100-200 after Chr., dove in Rome only shorten the lute on, after the destruction of the Roman Empire defense for centuries to disappear.

The citer and the arched rebab was plays by many people in Spain and Portugal at the middle ages, and later on in whole Europe. The rebab appeared on a mandoline with a flat top plate, two sound holes, a comb and a short neck. In the twelfth century there a new Spanish instrument appeared: the Laud that knew as well in a guitar as oval design. The instrument had been diverted of the Arabic lute that known stood as ud which during the Moorish invasion in Spain correct was come. The Laud became plays on later also in the rest of Europe. In Germany known as a Laute, England as a Lute, France as a Liuth and in the Netherlands as Luit. The design of the first guitars borrow principles of as well the Arabic ud as of the French Chrotta. Many Chrotta-players were driven away to Aragon and Catalonia by the many religious wars and there the crosses arose between Chrotta and Lute. This event is probable the cause of the arising from the guitar.



During the same period, Marco Polo turned of his trips back to Italy, by which he brought along a collection guitars and lutes from India and China.
In the thirteenth century prohibited the Spanish church the rebab that it as a diabolic instrument considered. At the usual man, the rebab was however the mostly favorite instrument and ignored also the ecclesiastic ban of the musical instrument. Until at the sixteenth century underwent the rebab small changes and the instrument became later known than the mandola that especially in Spain popularly was.

Instrument builders experimented with sound, sounds projections and wood kinds and form. The design draft of the flat back came defense in the fashion, what resulted in the vihuela, a direct precursor of the modern guitar. The name descends from the Roman term fidula. The instrument appeared on the present guitar, was had had oval, five sound holes in the top, a short neck with ten frets, five pair strings plus one single resonantion string. Just as by the present twelve string guitar, the pairs strings were resemble or voted one octave higher. There were varitions in the models, you had they also with four or seven pair strings. The rich decorated vihuela was very expensive, about that chose the usual man the four string Chitarra latina that appeared awful on the vihuela but was simpler. The Chitarra latina comes from the end of the thirteenth century and had eight sound holes in the form of two time four circles.

IIn the beginning of the sixteenth century became at the Chitarra li a fifth string added. This new version know we these days as Spanish guitar. Already quickly this vijfsnarige guitar dove everywhere on and pushed aside slow the more complicated lute. The lute lover condemned the guitar and tried give her a bad name to furnish through the guitar to associate with lewd physical exercises and morale ruin. It was not former thus differently than now that, when an instrument an innovation undergoes. Also in the years fifty and sixty, when the electric guitar at large popularity won became the instrument in the excommunication done by morals preachers. And also for now counts as then, how more the guitar with this kind of affairs became compared, of the too more dominant became her position in the European peoples music. Romantic people brought serenades on at ladies that that gladly might hear. As also now ladies, and again, in faint fall with their favorite artists.
The French and Italian guitars of the seventeenth century got a town more slender waist, and had almost all the form of the guitar as we that now know. An important difference was however yet well the five pair strings, instead of the six or twelve of the present guitar.

The Carulli-guitar from 1810 was one of the first with six strings that just so tuned were as the present: E A D G B E. One went over of double to single strings. Because of this became also the tuning problems solved that arose because the pairs strings of intestines, not by equal diameter were. One by the most influential guitar builders from that time was Antonio Torres Jurado from Almeria in Spain.

He furnished an important contribution in the development through the mensurelength to increase until 65 centimeters. Also he made the neck 5 centimeters narrower and made a broader sound cupboard sow the instrument got more volume. He used as one of the first mechanical tuning mechanisms and broadened the support beam through which the strings come to lie something on the body more widely out each other. The modern classic guitar has changed since then not much, one of last innovations were in the middle of forties of the previous century. The strings, which had been until then still manufactured of pig bowels, were replaced by nylon. An invention in 1935, of the American chemist Wallace Hume Carothers.


The guitar became a town more popular instrument and there became more music piece written. Under other Rossini, Haydn, Berlioz and Schubert composed for the guitar.

At the end of the nineteenth century saw to Francisco Tarrega for a recovery of the Spanish music. Present classic guitarplayers have stand still compositions of his hand on their repertoir. He made passing adaptations of Chopin, bite courts and Bach. That the guitar general is accepted is as a modern concert instrument also to thank at Andres Segovia, one by largest musicians from the history. Andres was autodidact and formed on self already an one men-orchestra. Also he has many compositions of Haydn, Händel, Mozart and yet many others for guitar works. More than fifty year he stepped over the entire world on and functioned as an ambassador for his pleased instrument, the guitar.

Andres Segovia




The development of the electric guitar and American music

In the south of the United States, the music began wanted to mix to develop when African and European influences by way of black and white men. Nearly certain is that the with skin covered gourd instrument the precursor is of the present banjo. Also slaves in that time made self guitars of large cigars box broom stick and rope. But the most guitars of the then colonial America were made in England. In the southwest of the U.S., Mexicans played as well on the guitar as on the from the sixteenth century descending vihuela. Spanish missionaries took used the instruments with to California and cowboys the guitar also of the nights the herds on the prairie calm to hold.

The Blues music is arise in the Mississippi-delta, developed from work songs, yells and other field cry. Harmonious gospeltunes got vague an accompaniment of the banjo and later on by primitive guitars, that sometimes were played on with a metal bar (slide) or bottle neck round one by the fingers neck-hand. Through with this over the strings, a complaining arose to slide and whining sound, that is so typical for the blues, but now also many in other music kinds becomes uses. Music had as well on it, on the country of the south and middle-west played always as an important role in the religion. All social activities turned at that time by religion. The guitar was played on sleepiness on farms, plantations and miner-camps. The instrument once easy to transport, was not relative expensive and almost everybody there now at least three or four chords with learn play.

In the big cities took poor men the guitar with the street on. The American blues, country & western and folkmusic were the same reasons oriented on the guitar: expensively, easily to transport, simple to play on and do sounds good. In jazz groups in New Orleans and Chicago, the guitar had it less easily. How hard the frustrated gitarist also played, he never played loud enough against the trumpet and pianos. Soon already these itself denying guitarists could take revenge by the way of the contact microphone, through which the instrument strengthens wanted to become. Eddie Durham will once in a while the first musician can be been that electric guitar have played.
Were it not that in 1925 Lester Williams Polfuss (Les Paul) did an invention that not only intensificated the sound of the guitar, but also a give the guitar unique special sound. For this reason we can considered Les Paul as the inventor of the electric guitar.








Adolph Rickenbacker, the manufacturer of the first electric guitar and founder of 'Electro String Instrument Corporation', was born in 1986 in the Canton Schwyz, Switzerland.
He emigrated beginning twentieth century with his parents to the United states and moved in 1928 to Los Angeles. In the lately 20s he started 'Rickenbacker Manufacturing Company' and began with the production of metal bodies for 'National Steal Guitars'. There he met George Beauchamp and Paul Barth.
In 1931 he set up the 'Ro-Pat-In Company'. The next year they began with the designing of the first aluminum versions of the steal guitar. In 1934, the company name was renamed in 'Electro String Instrument Corporation'.
The steal guitar was and is especially popular by the 'Hawaiian music which it is present also mostly dominant.

Already in 1930, Beauchamp experimented with a known fact: If you moves a copper wire along a magnetic field, it will changed the intensity of the magnetic field. He wind a copper wire round a magnet and made thus a coil. Above this coil he held a metal wire (string). By the movement (trembling) of this wire the electric current will changed in the coill. With this given it must be possible the sound of the guitar amplify electrically. The problem for Beachamp was now that he must got six of these (large) coils wich must so modified that they produced an even signal so it can be apply on a guitar.

George Beauchamp         Patent Frying Pan (1937)

George Beauchamp       Patent Frying Pan (1937)

After many experiments Beauchamp created together with Barth, on a pick-up based, two horseshoe magnets with in that with wire wounded small iron bars, each with an own gap under the strings. On this manner, each string could individually amplified. George Beauchamp took contact with Harry Watson, in that time head manager of National String Instrument Co.
Watson was impressed of the invention of Beauchamp and made a model with the neck and a body in one piece. Then he assembled near the bridge of the body it by Beauchamp and Barth developed electric element.
Beauchamp named this prototype 'The Frying Pan'.

The Frying Pans is the first electric guitar that has been toke in production and according to today aplied principle worked. The Frying Pans was a great success at once by the steal guitarist.


Electricity had a big influence on many guitarst, but the new form of energy was not valued everywhere by the public. Many new melodies and inventieve developments were brought by Eddie Long, Freddie Green, Charlie Christian and Eddie Condon. Guitarist Eddie Condon was in the years twenty till forty one of the most important people in the Chicago-jazzscene. The development of the (electric) guitar came in that period in a rapid.

Eddie Durham Eddie Condon

Eddie Durham (L.) and Eddie Condon



An at least even important guitarist was the French gypsy Django Reinhardt. He was born on 23 January 1910 in the Liverchies, Belgian and played guitar from his twelfth.

On 2 November 1928, a catastrophe took place. There was a fire in his caravan and and Django could escape on the last moment with heavy burnings wound. As a consequence of this misfortune, he lost two fingers of his left hand. His musical career appeared ended. But he exercised however two years hard and learnd to play with three fingers a stylel to develop that was more uniquely then before the misfortune. Django was the European answer to the American jazz and after WW II he has influenced many American colleagues as, Lesson Paul B. B. King and Am Montgomery. With his group, Quintet Du, Club the France, in which sat under others the violinist Stephane Grappelli and his brother Joseph, he was made furore. Django Reinhardt died in 1953 in Fontainebleau at the consequences of a cerebral henorrhage. With like inherit historical recordings.



The last fifty years inventieve guitar players like a Les Paul, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, George vanf Eps, Barney Kessel have, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Herb Ellis and Joe Fit experimented much with other measure kinds and melodies.
In the country and western music , the guitar became uses through nearly every artist: Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, Merele Haggard and of course instrumentalests as Roy Clark, Merle Travis, Glen Campbell and Jimmy Bryant.
Mr. Guitar self, Chet Atkins is one of the most multi-purpose and respected giutarists. He started with primitive means, an ukulele with stretch threads of a wire gauze door, and designed various guitars and developed new play- and recording techniques. The last years this musician from Tennessee also moved on the classic and popular-area, but his trademark remains the instrumentale country.
The Chet Atkins style is a combination of flowing melodies, harmonies and a powerful, subdued bassline that he played by simultaneously.

Despite everything, the mass listened after WOII not longer to jazz and countryguitarists, but a new kind of music brought in the middle of the years fifty everywhere alteration. Among of the insipid crooners and performers of goody goody ballads arised the king of the rock & roll. Armed with sensual lips, rocking hips, long black hairs and broad sideburns, dressed in tight leather and point shoes, 80 kilos of pure sex and power: the truck driver from Tupelo named Elvis Presley.
He was a complete new phenomenon and the American youth, that self to develop began as a reasonable homogeneous subculture, found a new hero, that through their parents became hated. He was perfect!

Everybody had already quickly see through that this twisting maniak was no usual musician. One of his most important characteristize was that he played guitar. He started wild, pressed the instrument with a slap against his body, swung it around and let it slide behind his back. It was rose pure and explosive show-work, and then when Elvis rised to the dizzy heights of its legendary superstatus, he had been accompanied by his mate: the box with the six strings.

Elvis was a kind, religious and he respected above everything his parents. Despite the fact that his first record was made for his mother, became he attacked by conservative radio makers because he according a bad radiation would have on the youth, they say. The new generation however stood behind Elvis and bought in 1956, 10 million records of him. Many are want to go play they Elvis guitar. The youth looked at Elvis and said: What he can, can I also.' In guitar playing, they wright, songs like Hound Dog, Surfin USA, This land is yoyr land, Mr. Tambourine and many others of this kind of songs were simple playing. Just like other rock, blues, country and folksongs of B. B. King, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Rolling Stones and many others.
Elvis self was just an average gitarist. The real guitar work was done by his permanent guitarist and friend Scotty Moore, that stubborn and original riddles considered that so typical for the rock & roll.


Not unimportantly for the success were the composers duo Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller who stood guarantor for many hits.

Jerry Lieber (L.) & Mike Stoller

And also to not to forget Elvis manager, Colonel Tom Park. 1909 born in Breda, Netherlands as Andreas Cornelis (Three) vanf Kuijk, felt fine at how the music and the phenomenon Elvis Presley must been marketing.

Colonel Tom Parker with Elvis



After its soldier service, that was planned conscious by Colonel Parker, Elvis worked at a comeback. In the middle of the years seventy reached The King prevent to the top. The success became him however fatally. On 16 August 1977, Elvis died in his countryhouse Graceland in Memphis at the consequences passed away of excessively (medicine) use. After his death became Elvis however more popularly than ever, his records/cd' s become yet always eager bought. Titles are released again and have still not lost att power, witness the fact that they shatter again towering in the charts.

In the begin times of the rock and roll, instrumentale numbers were particular populare. You just needed to turn the radio on and you could heard a saxofoon, guitar or organ. Records like Tequila of the Champs and Red River Rock of Johnny and the Hurricanes scored good. Walk Don' t Run, a classic of the Ventures, almost five months in the chards with as most exchange rate number two.
In England, there were The Shadows with them records Apache, Atlantis, Wonderful and many others. Duane Eddy claimed that he had invented the technique of the pulling up of the strings . He made a several hits by which he played only on the low strings. Later on he came behind that there were a few more. Just as other records from that time were, that of Duan Eddy to the present standards not 'polished', but titles as Ramrod, Rebel Rouser and Cannonball sounded the best as they hard were played. He showed that you at that you could make really good music with simple means.

Chuck Berry on the other hand developed a style of guitar playing, that by named is characterizing for the rock & roll: 'Oh my, but that country boy could play.' That Country boy of the lyrics of 'Jhonny B. Goode' was original Coloured boy, but the record company and radiopeople had that rather trouble with, seen were considered in that time the black people in the U.S. not yet as full fellow citizens.
The two strings-attacks, in meanwhile he did his famous 'duck-walk', sounded from every jukebox. And those who put frequent coins in it were under other Mick Jagger, Keith Richard, Marc Bolan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Jimmy Page.


Eric ClaptonJeff BeckJimmy Page

(vlnr) Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck en Jimmy Page



Real good gitaristen were scarce, but there were thank goodness exceptions as Mickey Baker who did the tuneful guitar playing on the calypso-song 'Love Is Strange by Mickey & Sylvia, and at the end of every couplet a blues-riddle. Jam Burton did the vicious country-rock-soli on the first records of Rick Nelson and later through nearly everybody became asked for studio work. Good 'Southern" guitar work is to be heard on rockabilly-songs of Carl Perkins (Blue Suede Shoes), Buddy Holly (That Will Be The Day), Eddie Cochran (Summertime Blues) and Bill Haley (Rock Around The Clock).

Mickey Baker en James Burton


Also surfmusic was responsible for popularize of the guitar. In the beginning, this style had alone success at the American west Coast, but after a while, the music entire the whole world. With the most importand surfgroup of course 'The Beach Boys', but also the earlier named instrumentale band 'The Ventures' be part of this category. The guitarists of surfgroups were played mainly on Fenderguitars, with name the Stratocaster was very popular.
During the first rock & roll-wave arose also an increasing interest in the traditional American music. For example The Kingston Trio. Nicely dressed they sang about railroadtracks, legendary heroes, and executions of notorious bandits (Tom Dooley), everything naturally in close harmony. Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Phil Ochs sang about comparable subjects, but brought also their ideas about subjects as politics, war, civil rights pay attention.

Not much people outside the coffee house-circuit knew a Bob Dylan, but the Byrds and The goody goody Peter, Pauls and Mary were in the middle of the sixties commercial enough to used some ideas and errands of him to make million sellers. Bob Dylan on the chards, together with Leslie Filthy, Jan & Dean and Freddie & The Dreamers. The public savage more to know come over honest music without tricks, they wanted songs with new ideas that you forced to thinking, songs about real people. Because this new folkmusic had her roots in the blues and the country & western, begun people musicians like Limped Williams, Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Jacket Elliot, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Walter "Furry' Lewis, Leadbelly, Sam 'Lihtnin' Hopkins, Josh White, Fred McDowell and Brownie McGhee to re-discover. Some were descendants of slaves, traveling d workers and lease farmer. The most lived long enough to enjoy this appreciation. Others became really well known afther been passed their seventy already. About it have been undertaken tell wrote just so much attempts the styles of these singers to classify as about writers there were. The common factor was however that they all played the guitar.



electric guitar (Fender Stratocaster)