Learning about guitars

The guitar is the defining instrument of blues and rock and roll, so by default it has become the defining instrument of the American music experience. If you want to learn about guitars, you should really understand that you'll be learning the history of music in America.

The guitar became so omnipresent because it's such a flexible instrument. You can play chords, you can play a bassline. You can take the melody or act as a rhythm section. A guitarist in the hands of a master is like an orchestra unto itself, able to sound like more than one instrument at a time.

I first learned about guitars when I was a young kid - no more than four or five years old - and my aunt would play and sing in her rocking chair. She played Irish folk songs, plucking them out easily and singing out the lyrics in her beautiful alto voice. Hers was a standard, six-string acoustic guitar of the type you can see and hear every day just about anywhere, but each guitar really has its own unique style and personality.

The typical guitar is six string, but there are other styles as well. You can find a four string guitar, or a 7 string, or even the 12 string - probably the second most popular and well known besides the six string. Such luminaries as Pete Townsend, Robbie Krieger and Tom Marello have all played the 12 string guitar to great effect, adding yet another dimension to this remarkable instrument.

If you look hard enough, you could even find an 18 string guitar. Go to Youtube and look it up - you can hear folks plucking out familiar tunes on this unfamiliar instrument.

Of course, one of the other things that has made guitars so prevalent is the fact that as an instrument it's equally great acoustically and electrically. Most bluesmen made their name playing the acoustic guitar; most rock and roll guitar heroes are known for their work with the electric guitar. There's something about guitars - maybe it's the ability to self-harmonize - taht lends the instrument that range.

Once you've learned about guitars and how they shaped music, the next step is up to you. Maybe the guitar speaks to you and you're ready to pick it up and become the next BB King. Maybe you've decided to become a bassist instead, which is understandable - less pressure! Either way, understanding the origin of the instrument's popularity today is key to getting the most from yourself musically.

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