Do you play the guitar? Or maybe you just like to listen to it? Read more about the history of the electric guitar and some of the musicians who made it so popular.... Do you play the guitar? Or maybe you just like to listen to it? Read more about the history of the electric guitar and some of the musicians who made it so popular....
History of the Electric Guitar
The electric guitar is perhaps the most popular musical instrument in the last half century of American music. This unique instrument provides a louder and somewhat different sound from the guitars of the past.
Electronic Sound
Now the centerpiece of many musical groups, the electric guitar had a humble beginning. In the 1920s the first attempt to electrify a stringed instrument consisted of a simple device attached to the head of a banjo-like instrument.
In 1932 the Ro-Pat-In Company was formed to manufacture electric guitars. The company succeeded with a design that featured an electromagnetic transfer of sound vibrations rather than the acoustic transfer used in earlier models.
The acoustic method transfers vibrations from the strings through the air. With electromagnetic technology the movement of the metal strings causes magnets underneath the strings to pick up and generate electric sound signals.
What generates electric sound signals in an electric guitar?
These signals are then fed to an amplifier, which strengthens them. From the amplifier the signals are fed to a loudspeaker, which projects the sound to the audience.
What device is needed to strengthen the sound signals?
The invention of the electric guitar was considered timely because of the trends in music. Big bands with large horn sections became popular shortly after the electric guitar's invention. An acoustic, or nonelectric, guitar would have been drowned out by the other instruments.
Also, recording technology at that time required greater volume from instruments to capture sound effectively. Without being electrified, the guitar would have been too soft to be recorded.
Early Pioneers
Electric guitars enabled musicians to be more creative when playing. Guitarists were able to alter, bend, and hold notes as never before.
In 1938 Eddie Durham, a guitarist with the Kansas City Five, recorded "Good Mornin' Blues," the first electric guitar solo.
It was Charlie Christian, however, who made the electric guitar more widely known and paved the way for its enormous popularity. Talented and imaginative, Christian could bend notes like no other guitarist had before him.
In August 1939 Charlie Christian auditioned with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, which many people believed to be the best band in the United States. The audience responded with such an enthusiastic ovation that Goodman signed Christian to play with his smaller jazz group and with his big band. Christian's contribution to the popularity of the electric guitar was felt for a long time.
Merle Travis, a country music performer, pioneered the solid-body electric guitar and even had a style of playing named after him. Along with Paul Bigsby, Travis invented one of the first electric solid-body guitars around 1947. They put all six tuning pegs, which tighten and loosen the strings, on one side of the head of the guitar. What did Merle Travis invent?
This design was later adopted by Leo Fender, the first person to successfully mass-produce electric guitars.
These artists and their electronic sound were instrumental in laying the foundation for a new style of music. Their techniques launched a unique sound known as rock and roll and are evident in the music of performers such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. And the rest -- as they say -- is history.
Think About It....
Look back to the passage to answer these questions.
1. According to the passage, which important result of electrifying the guitar increased its position in a band?
A. Easier tuning
B. A solid body
C. Louder sound
D. More strings
2. Charlie Christian is primarily remembered for --
A. playing with the Kansas City Five
B. bending notes and increasing the popularity of the electric guitar
C. successfully mass-producing electric guitars
D. recording "Good Mornin' Blues"
3. Which of these is the best summary of the passage?
A. A country music performer named Merle Travis pioneered the solid-body guitar and even had a style of playing named after him.
B. The electric guitar, which allowed musicians to have greater volume and more control over the notes they could play, led to a new kind of music.
C. With electromagnetic technology the movement of the metal strings causes magnets underneath the strings to pick up and generate electric sound signals.
D. The audience responded so enthusiastically that Goodman signed Christian to play with his smaller jazz group and with his big band.
4. The author probably wrote this passage to --
A. explain the roots of rock and roll
B. describe the development of the electric guitar
C. explain the features of the electric guitar
D. praise early electric guitar players
Answer Key
1. C
2. B
3. B
4. B