The History of the Guitar

The guitar, which is also known as the violao, is a popular stringed instrument which works by producing sound when the strings are plucked or strummed.  The number of strings can vary, for example 6 strings, 12 strings, or even 4, 7, 8 and 10.

The guitar or violao has been played in very varied and different types of music which include rock, pop, blues, folk, flamenco and country music. An acoustic sound involves production of the tone via the vibration of the string in the guitar body when it is either strummed or plucked. Obviously this doesn’t totally apply to the electric guitar where the sound is produced quite differently. In this case the actual guitar sound is produced by a guitar amplifier.

A man or woman that makes and repairs guitar strings is known as a luthier. Guitar strings can be made from either nylon or steel, which is down to the personal preference of the musician.  Depending on the materials used in the guitar construction, many different sounds can be produced.

In various forms the history of the guitar can be traced back approximately 5,000 years.

The two main kinds of guitars or violaos

For the acoustic violao guitar, the sound is actually produced from a soundboard, which is present in the front of the guitar body in the form of a piece of wood.  No outside device or arrangement is required to produce the sound.  This makes the acoustic violao quieter than other orchestra instruments. Because of this sometimes you’ll find that an external amplifier is used  to enable the sound to be more audible so to assist it to match the sound created by other band instruments being used in conjunction with the acoustic guitar. A range of pick-ups are provided with some of the latest violao guitars for of the raw acoustic guitar sound’s amplification and modification.

The acoustic, violao guitars type sub categories include Classical guitars; Flamenco guitars, Steel string guitars (including the flat top or `folk` guitar), Twelve string guitars; Renaissance guitars or Baroque guitars; Arch-top guitars; Resonator, Resophonic or Dobro guitars, Acoustic bass guitars, Russian guitars, Tenor guitars, Harp guitars, Extended range and Guitar Battente guitars.

A short introduction to Electric Guitars

Although they can be also semi hollow or, sometimes, hollow, electric guitar bodies are usually solid.  Without any form of amplification the electric guitar sound is somewhat dulled to say the least, but when a guitar amp is added the difference in sound quality is amazing.  For that reason it is obvious that a guitar amplifier is an integral component of the electric guitar. In other words an electric guitar without an amp is like a car without wheels.

When plucked or strummed the steel strings are converted into electric signals by electro-magnetic pick-up’s which are relayed to the electric guitars amplifier using either a radio transmitter or a cable.

The electric guitar produces a sound which is very often modified. This is achieved either with electronic devices or through the natural valve distortion. The two types of pick-ups are double line or single line pick-ups. Each of these pick-ups can either be passive or active.  From listening to your own favourite guitar anthems you will know yourself that the electric guitar sound can quite literally be an electrifying experience

Generally, guitar players will pluck the strings of the electric violao with their dominant, strong hand.  The other hand is used on the guitar neck frets to press and depress the guitar strings as appropriate for the sound that is to be produced as part of the music of the guitar.

A list of the main components of the violao guitar

The main components include the guitar headstock, nut, guitar fretboard, the frets themselves, truss rod, inlays, obviously the guitar strings, guitar neck heel or neck point, the guitar body and, finally, the guitar pickups.

Other accessories which can hugely increase your playing pleasure and versatility are the guitar plectrum, which is also called the vialao pick or guitar pick, which of course is used for ‘picking’ the strings.  This can be made from a hard plastic or wood. In addition there are slides which can be used for the creation of a glissando effect heard in blues and rock musical genres. Finally the copatasto is used for changing the pitch of open strings.

I hope you found these guidance notes useful to you for aiding and adding to your knowledge of the violao or guitar.  It’s great to have you here so now please keep looking around our guitar website.

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