Musical Instruments - The Guitar
By Barney Garcia
The guitar is a musical instrument composed a hollow box and strings. The instrument makes noise when someone plucks the strings, which creates a vibration through the body and the neck of the guitar. Guitars are either acoustic or electric. Acoustics are guitars that have the hollow box, therefore the music is a type of echo. This type of guitar does not need any external machines for amplification. This is not a loud instrument because the sound cannot be amplified by electricity, therefore are typically played solo or are played by a microphone which will increase the volume. Many folk musicians used the acoustic version of the guitar. The electric version however, has no hollow box, and the music is made loud through an amp that is connected to the guitar by an electrical cord. Without amplification they make very little sound but once they are plugged into an amp, electromagnetic pickups convert the vibration of the strings into electronic signal which produce noise. Electric guitars are commonly used by jazz, blues and rock and roll musicians.

The guitar is a product of many other similar musical instruments that have been popular for at least 5000 years. Archeologists have found evidence



of similar instruments from carvings, drawings and statues in old Iranian art. Throughout history, the guitar evolved into what we know of it today. The electric guitar was invented in 1931 by Anthony Vick and George Beauchamp in North Carolina.

The guitar consists of several parts which include the headstock; which is found at the end of the guitar neck, the nut; which is found on the headstock and effects the sound of the instrument, the machine heads, the fret board; which is along the neck of the guitar and changes the sound of the instrument when strings are pinched against it, the truss rod; which affects how much tension is put on each string, the inlays; which are small designs along the neck, the neck, the neck joint, the body; which varies between acoustic and electric versions, the pickups; which are found only on electric guitars and which pick up the string vibrations so they can be amplified, electronics; which are found on only some guitars and allow the player to control certain aspects of the sound, the bridge and the pickguard.

Guitars have been given many nicknames over time, which include box, guit-fiddle, bread winner and axe. The guitar is a very popular instrament used by virtually all musicians, including very famous groups such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Limp Bizkit and Creed.

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