About Guitars Instruments

Introduction

Guitars instruments are string instruments which project sound when the fingers or a pick plays its strings. The term guitar was coined from the ancient Sanskrit word ‘tar’ which meant string. Because of this many names from the family of string instruments also ends in ‘tar’. The guitar is believed to be an ancient instrument and estimated to have been around since 1800-1900 BC. Similar looking instruments have been known to originate in Egypt and Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq.

History

The early form of the guitars instruments came with four strings as it was derived first from the Old Persian ‘chartar’ while literally meant four strings. With passing years, it varied with the number of strings. The evidences lie in the carvings found on stone walls in churches and cathedrals which date back from the Roman Times through the Medieval Ages. An angel found to be holding a guitar can be seen in St. Stephen’s Church. The year this angel was made is 1591. A step closer to its modern day counterpart, the five stringed Italian ‘guitarra battenete’ had lesser frets. Its sixth string was later added during the 17th century which European guitar makers followed. This is almost the same as the modern day guitar.

Features

Guitars instruments are either acoustic or electric. An acoustic guitar is mainly made up of wood. It will usually have a flat soundboard, a rib, and a flat back with in-curved sides. The electric guitar is made of solid, semi-hollow or hollow bodies. It uses an electric cable that is usually connected to the base of the body and plugged into a set of pedals or straight into an amplifier. Unlike an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar needs power. Standard guitars instruments have six strings. The top of a guitar is called the headstock, where the tuners are to be found. The function of these tuners is for adjusting the pitch of every string. The strings are guided from the tuners to the neck by a tiny object called the nut. The neck attaches the headstock to the body of the instrument. Along the neck of a guitar are metal strips in the surface known as frets. The first fret is situated between the nut and the first piece of metal. In the body of an acoustic guitar, a sound hole which is designed to project the sound can be found. In the body of an electric guitar, a pick up, situated beneath the strings, amplifies the sound.

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