Description

The guitar is a popular musical instrument classified as a stringinstrument with anywhere from 4 to 18 strings, usually having 6.The sound is projected either acoustically or through electricalamplification (for an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar,respectively). It is typically played by strumming or plucking thestrings with the right hand while fretting (or pressing against thefrets) the strings with the fingers of the left hand. The guitar isa type of chordophone, traditionally constructed from wood andstrung with either gut, nylon or steel strings and distinguishedfrom other chordophones by its construction and tuning. The modernguitar was preceded by the gittern, the vihuela, the four-courseRenaissance guitar, and the five-course baroque guitar, all ofwhich contributed to the development of the modern six-stringinstrument. There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar:the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-stringacoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of an acousticguitar is produced by the strings's vibration, amplified by thebody of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. Theclassical guitar is often played as a solo instrument using acomprehensive finger-picking technique. The term "finger-picking"can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues, bluegrass,and country guitar playing in the United States. Electric guitars,introduced in the 1930s, use an amplifier that can electronicallymanipulate and shape the tone. Early amplified guitars employed ahollow body, but a solid body was eventually found more suitable,as it was less prone to feedback. Electric guitars have had acontinuing profound influence on popular culture. The guitar isused in a wide variety of musical genres worldwide. It isrecognized as a primary instrument in genres such as blues,bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal,punk, reggae, rock, soul, and many forms of pop.