All varieties of musical instruments from across the globe have evolved over time to become what they are today. In this essay, I will be researching into how musical instruments came to be, how my primary instrument was created, and what the future could hold for it; The electric guitar.
Arguably, the oldest instrument used in music is the human voice. A musical instrument is an object used for producing sound, and I argue that the voice fits into this definition, making it the oldest musical instrument due to it being in existance for as long as man has walked the earth. The oldest man-made instruments likely to have existed will have been percussion instruments due to the simplicity of them, perhaps being made out of stone to begin with. The action of hitting trees or rocks for resources will have in turn developed primitive natural rhythms, thus leasing to the possibility of drums being created. Currently the oldest man-made instruments that have been uncovered by researchers are flutes made out of bone. These are estimated to date back between 4200-4300 years. These are what will have been the first pitched instruments, before the development of tunings and intervals, and are thought to have been used religiously during rituals or recreationally.
From this point, percussion and flute based instruments will have slowly developed until the rise of the first major human civilisation; Ancient Greece.
The ancient Greek civilisation emerged around 800BC, and fell to the invading roman empire between 300-200BC. This period of time saw the development of the musical instrument on the whole, and lead on to the advent of more refined intervals, scales, and the first known form of music notation. Music played a massive role in the ancient Greek’s civilisation, being used at events, ranging from marriages to funerals, to theatre, and religious use. In their education, music was one of what could now be considered a core subject, and was taught to the masses. Musicians in ancient greece were respected and highly thought of due to the importance of the role in their society. Due to this, the muscial instrument began to develop at a much faster rate, and this saw the introduction of bells and stringed instruments. We can still see the impact that ancient Greece left on music, as most of our modern musical terms come from latin, even the word ‘music’ itself.
It is during this time period where we can see the first practical stringed instruments invented, and are likely the oldest ancestors of the modern guitar. A couple of examples are:
Apollo’s ‘Kithara’ (guitar)
This instrument is described as having a deep and powerful sound, and requires a level of virtuosity to play. The instrument itself consists of 7 strings held up by a beam across two arms, and has a large wooden soundbox – relatable to acoustic guitars of today.
Typically this is played upright, with the left hand pressing or plucking strings, while the right hand strikes them using a plectrum.
The Orpheus’s ‘Kithara’ (guitar)
This instrument is similar to the last in construction, but has a much smaler body and thinner arms, giving it a distinctive wave-like resonance. This is played in the same way as the other kithara, however can requre the use of a sling to balance it.
These two instruments are probably the closest to a modern guitar we can get during this time period, and we even see the invention of the plectrum (guitar pick) during this time, normally being made out of thin pieces of wood or bone.
After the fall of the Greek empire, the progress of musical evoloution slows all the way down, and not a lot happens in regards to this for a long time, until we get to the middle ages/medieval period.
The medieval period lasted from around 500AD to 1400, and music began to slowly develop at this time. During this period, the foundations of more refined musical notation and some music theory concepts that would go on to help shape western music. Christianity was a huge religious influence on day to day life during this tiem era, and therfore the music of the time was effected hevily by it. This lead to layered vocal harmoies in choirs, instrumental music, and the first developed songs with intrumental accompaniement. In regards to where the guitar came from, probably the most definite ancestor to the guitar was developed during this period, called the lute.
The lute is one of the earliest examples of a stringed instrument that has the use of a fretboard like a modern guitar. Similar in design to a modern guitar, it has a hollow wooden soundbox, a bridge and nut, tuning pegs, and is played normally stood up with the help of a sling.
It is believed that the lute was used as a solo instrument, or to accompany vocals in some cases. This instrument was hugely influencial in the invention of the acoustic guitar in regards to its construction and play style.
The complexity of musical rhythms and melodies began to develop further during the medieval period, along with ways to notate and share them with others, and this in turn built up to what is known as the Renaissance period.
The Renaissance period was from around 1400 to 1600. Early renaissance music sounded very similar to medieval music, however many composers had begun trying more complex melodies, and used the clashing of notes to create dissonance. It is estimated that in between this period and the medieval period that and instrument called the ‘Guitarra Latina’ was created.
This instrument has four stings and has clear influneces in design from the lute. It was played in the same style using a plectrum. Belived to have originated in spain, this will have been key in the development of the classical/spansh guitar.
From 1600 to to worund 1750, we enter a period known as the Barouque era. From this period onwards, the way music is composed develops vastly, with many notable composers emerging; such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel. The complexity of music compostions develop even futher, and orchestras begin to becom popular.
It is thought that the guitar originated in spain during the 16th century, and then developed around this time into what we call now as a ‘classical’ or ‘spanish’ guitar.
The classical/spanish guitar can truly be held as the first modern guitar, paving the way for guitars of today. The instrument consists of 6 strings, a neck with a fretboard, and the hollow wooden body as the soundbox. This style of guitar is still manufactured to this day, and is most popular amongst classical, and flamenco players.
This guitar developed over time from it’s 4 stringed ancestor, the guitarra latina. The 4 sting guitar was tuned to: C-F-A-D, but later the modern standard tuning of E-A-D-G-B-E was developed when the additional strings were added. This tuning was adopted due as it was more comfortable to play, and musically convenient. It resluts in a tuning where the transition between playing chords and scales are less complex, and to minimize the level of hand movement needed.
Typically, classical music was not composed specifically for the spanish guitar, although many classical pieces can sound excellet when performed on one. The spanish guitar typically was used in flamenco music and other similar styles, popular in southern spain during the 18th century.
The modern acoustic guitar is very similar to the spanish guitar, the main difference being that it generally has a thinner neck, and has reinforcments in it’s body in order to take more pressure from tesion on the strings. It is estimated to be around the year 1850 when the first ‘modern’ style acoustic guitar was produced by a spanish guitar manufacturer called Antonio Torres Juardo.
The next major breakthrough for the guitar, and all instruments in fact, was the advent of electricity.
In 1872, a man called Benjamin Franklin conducted an experiment that would prove that lightning and electrical sparks were the same thing, and is often refered to as the person responsible for discovering or validating electricities existance. A major breakthrough however was when Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan invented the first practical lightbulb in 1878.
With the invention of electricity, It was not long before people began to experiment using this new technology with their instruments. inevitably leading to the electric guitar of today.
In 1876 a man called Alexander Graham Bell invented the first telephone. This is a huge breakthrough with technology, as sound can now be picked up by a microphone, and amplified by a speaker on the other end.
While the person/people responsible for the invention of the first electric guitar is debatable, most sources agree that the first commercially viable guitar was created by Adolf Rickenbacker, George Beauchamp and others who formed a corporation called Ro-Pat-In. The guitar was built using a pickup, designed by Beauchamp, on the cast aluminium body of a hawaiian. Beauchamp’s pickup design was nicknamed ‘The Horseshoe’ and was the first refined single coil pickup that would then later be refined by several guitar companies such as Fender.
< Diagram of a single coil pickup’s construction
Due to this guitar’s small rounded body, it was nicknamed ‘The Frying Pan.’ This guitar came out of produciton in 1932, and were sold under the name Electro.
In around 1934 the world renowned guitar company Gibson began the plans to release their response to ‘The Frying Pan,’ a metal-bodied lap steel called the E-150.
In 1947, a musician called Merle Travis comissioned Paul A Bigsby toproduce what would become the first true solidbody electric guitar. The guitar itself was very sleek in design, having a single cutaway in the body (much like the later Gibson Les Paul), a single blade pickup, and a headstock with tuners all on one side.
In 1950, Leo Fender and George Fullerton worked together and released the Fender Esquire, later releasing the double pickup version called originally the Broadcaster before being renamed the Telecaster. The idea of this guitar was to release an electric guitar that embraced its own sound, and could be mass produced. The Fender telecaster design is still in prodcution to this day.
< Fender Telecaster
In around 1939, a guitarist called Les paul began experimenting on a solid bosy electric prototype, later to be nicknamed ‘The Log.’ A solid block of pine wood formed the body of the guitar, and the neck from a Gibson L-Series guitar was used. The pickups were screwed onto the guitar’s body and he added a vibrato to it. Later he approched Gibson with his idea in 1941, but was regected. Gibson later reached out to Les Paul in 1951 as they then needed to compete with Fender’s Telecasters and their P-bass. Thus, the iconic Gibson Les Paul was born.
Probably the best known example of someone who plays a Les Paul would Slash:
Guitars of today now come in all shapes and sizes, and are tailored to specific roles or genres. Guitars now can be made out of all varieties of woods, and the electronics have come a long way in regards to how pickups sound. The electric guitar is now a common sight in contemporary music, and is used in almost every genre depending on what that specific guitar is tailored towards. The overall technique to playing a guitar has stayed the same throughout time, whether you use a plectrum or fingerpick, with innovative guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen introducing new techniques such as various solo patterns and bends and such. Van Halen was a pioneer for metal players across the world as he was very experimental with harmonics and finger tapping in his music.
In modern times, we have access to all varieties of equipment and technology to help us write and record music. The facilities to do so are accessible by most people today, and the recording quality of most softwares now is better than ever before. Music in general has become a part of an average persons day to day life, various styles have developed over the years, and now it’s more accesible than ever before thanks to the invention of the internet, and online streaming services such as Spotify.
Advancing technology has led to the creation of guitars like the Line-6 Variax, which can change tuning without having to do anything to the strings:
Similar in idea to the Variax, guitar company Gibson released a range of guitars that can tune themselves thanks to a robotic tuner built onto the back of the headstock. This reduces the time taken to tune your guitar drastically, although some would argue that its level of accuracy is not 100% effective just yet.
Guitars with slanted frets are a recent trend aimed at metal guitarists, and have been named ‘multiscale guitars’:
An interesting piece of equipment that has been developed in recent years is an effects module for an acoustic guitar. This is called the “Tonewood Amp” and allows the user to add effects such as delay and reverb to their acoustic guitar without the need of an amplifier. It’s a really interesting concept, and it provides a good quality effect sound to the guitar:
A company called ‘Gamechanger Audio’ have taken an aspect of the piano, and made it available for use with a guitar; The sustain pedal. This pedal is essentially does the same thing as one on a piano, which is revolutionary as now this allows for a guitarist to accompany themselves by sustaining a chord and then playing melodically over the top of it:
The basics of the guitar have stood the test of time for centuries, and I believe that the instrument itself is now irreplaceable due to it’s versatility and popularity across the globe. Technology surrounding the instrument is going to continue to develop though, and could potentially lead to anything from new sounds to the way a guitar is constructed and played. Realistically I can see the popularity of the Tonewood Amp taking off at some point, and perhaps this could lead to acoustic guitars coming with this technology built in to the instrument already. Guitars with built in effects pedals built in have already started being produced, but I think this will become more refined in future years, and perhaps get to a point where it is considered standard of an electric guitar. Wireless audio transmitters have become more popular now rather than the use of guitar cables, although they aren’t yet 100% reliable, I can see this technology eventually becoming built into a guitar as standard in future years as this would be really useful for touring musicians who are on stage often.
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