The archive contains posts about teaching and alternate tuning the guitar.
Where did it come from?
Guitar is a fretted, six stringed lute-like instrument of Spanish origin. It can be made louder either acoustically or electrically, and its roots go back thousands of years.
Lute-like instruments go back to about 2000 BC in Mesopotamia. While Europe’s lute appeared around the 10th century AD.
The lute had gut strings tied across the neck as frets. This means that lute players had to tune the frets and the strings.
An ancestor of the guitar, the lute came from the Middle Eastern oud. At first called the al oud, the lute’s name gradually morphed into its current form.
The term Luthier survives as the name for modern guitar makers, even though luthiers rarely make lutes anymore.
Many antique instruments existed, such as the cittern, that had names similar to the guitar, but did not directly influence it.
However, the vihuela is widely thought to be an important predecessor. The vihuela had six strings, a similar body build, and very similar tuning.
From Spain, the instrument has traveled all over the world. Often, when instruments cross into a different cultural region, the tuning and musical style do not travel with it.
Thus, the styles most linked with the instrument (rock, blues, and folk) do not sound like the original Spanish style. Rather, Spanish styles sound somewhat similar to classical guitar music.
I once met a guitarist from Spain. And it surprised me when she commented that people in the US often said her playing did not sound like real guitar music. This shows that, while it remains a Spanish instrument, the Spanish style does not strongly influence the instrument’s current styles.
As it traveled, it has picked up many alternate ways of tuning. Blues, Rock, folk, and African world music styles all use alternate tunings. Particularly known for its alternate tunings, Hawaiian slack-key guitar has hundreds of open and alternate tunings.
Many of the posts in The Successful Music Student blog focus on better ways to tune alternate tunings.
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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What’s a chord progression? It’s when you have a sequence of successive harmonies. In this post, we’ll look at common chord progressions, including rock n roll, the 12 bar blues, and jazz chord progressions. These can work as either piano chord progressions or guitar chord progressions. Read “Chord Progression (Including the 12 Bar Blues)” to learn the harmonic structure for these three styles of music. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you want to know how to read sheet music? It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking vocal sight reading, reading classical music, or understanding guitar tab, basic music reading will remain mostly the same. In some way, shape, or form all music notations track notes and rhythms, but how they do so will sometimes be different. Read more of “Reading Music (A Quick Guide to How to Read Music)” to get an overview of how to read sheet music. Estimated reading time 5 minutes.
Do you want to try out open G tuning, but don’t know where to start? While G tuning has a wonderfully resonant quality, there are still some things you need to think about before you begin learning these alternate guitar tunings. Keep reading “What’s the Catch with G Guitar Tuning?” to find out what makes it both captivating and challenging at the same time. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
“What is your definition of a good musician?” Being a good musician means much more than just playing and singing. It’s also about how they affect those around them. Read more to find out what makes a good musician. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Do you want to understand the notes, chords, and patterns in the C scale better? Figuring out how scales and chords work together will unlock your ability to improvise, compose, and play music. Keep reading to learn how the C major scale (including the C major chord scale) works. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
Are you a music teacher? Do you have a student who struggles with obsessive perfectionism? While having a high standard is a good thing, obsessive perfectionism can be debilitating. Keep reading to learn how to shatter the perfectionism chains in music lessons. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Do you want to tune the ukulele with a free online tuner? If you’d like to get your ukulele into the standard ukulele tuning in equal temperament, don’t worry, I have what you need. However, did you know that the Hawaiians tune their instruments so that their ukes sound a lot better? Click to tune up the most common versions of the tuning. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you want to know what notes and chords are in the G major scale? Do you find the theory behind the G major chord scale confusing? To truly understand music, you must know how to construct scales and how to build chords from the scale tones. Read “The G Major Scale (Including the G Major Chord Scale)” to learn how they work. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Do you want to tune your guitar online? If you want to tune your guitar to normal standard tuning in equal temperament, I’ve got you covered. However, did you know that professional guitarists have other ways of tuning standard guitar tuning to make their guitars sound better? Read “Guitar Tuner Online: Standard Guitar Tuning” to learn eight versions of standard tuning. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Are you a music teacher? Are you organizing your first music recital? Whether you’re doing a classical recital, Christmas piano recital, a mini recital, or a chamber music recital, these musical recitals will all be organized basically the same way with just a few variations. Read more to answer the question, “How do I organize a recital concert?” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.