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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Have you just bought a parlor guitar and thought it’d be cool to learn parlor guitar style? The guitar’s tuning impacts how it sounds and what styles will sound good on it. Read more to learn how to play and tune parlor guitar style. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Have you tried retuning your synth, but gotten frustrated by the limited number of keys? Do you want your keyboard’s chords to sound stronger when playing brass, string, and organ sounds? Supplemented Equal Temperament (SET) is a new and powerful tuning system that allows your chords to sound stronger and more in tune. Kurzweil’s PC3K synth also makes it a breeze to switch keys while using SET. Read more to learn how to change keys in Supplemented Equal Temperament. Estimated reading time 7 minutes.
Do you want your ukulele to sound like the Hawaiian players? How you tune impacts your ukulele’s sound. Read more to learn how to tune your ukulele like a Hawaiian. You will also learn the song “Aloha ‘Oe (Farewell to Thee).” Estimated reading time 6 minutes.
Are you tired of your band sounding out of tune? Can’t get the classic rock sound when jamming with your group? Read more to learn how to jam like a rock star with open E tuning. You will also learn the song “Gimme Shelter.” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you want to capture the sound of 70s rock guitar? Amp settings, effects, pickups, and strings all play a role in crafting your guitar sound. Nevertheless, the tuning you choose remains an important factor in your guitar sound that you might have overlooked. You will also learn the song “Brown Sugar.” Read more to learn how to sound like a rock star with open G tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Have you had a hard time getting the sound of your favorite rock guitarist? Have you ever felt frustrated that the guitar sounds out of tune? In the post, “Tune Like a Rock Star,” we talked about how Keith Richards tunes his guitar without holding down any frets. Today, you will play an 80s rock guitar style that works well with this special open tuning. Read more to learn how to play like a rock star with open G tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Are you passionate about singing? Do you have a hard time singing or playing in tune? Learn the 10 Elements that Impact Singing in Tune. Estimated reading time 14 minutes.
Does your student confuse the notes on the instrument? Learn how color coding musical instruments leads to LD and special needs success. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Does your student use the wrong fingers? Color coding the fingers for music learning enables LD students to accurately finger the music for smoother playing and faster response time. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Tired of having your guitar or synth sound out of tune? “Intonation and Supplemented Equal Temperament” shows how to make them sound amazing! Estimated reading time 12 minutes.