The guitar is a string instrument whose history dates as far back as 4000

years. Researchers associate it with the lute and oud, which are ancient string
instruments. The materials used to make a guitar are plastic or wood, and in
some cases, metal. Usually, this instrument has six strings. However, it can
have as many as eighteen strings or as few as four.

The guitar is considered to be a member of the family of musical

instruments called chordophones, but it is distinguished from other
chordophones by its construction and tuning. The guitar is traditionally
constructed from wood and strung with nylon or steel strings.

Guitar history is long and exciting, not only because many forms of
guitar that were used across millennia but also important modern
inventors that shaped the way we interact with guitars today. Today we
can conclude that almost every society throughout history has been
found to have used a variation of this instrument.

History of the guitar is in one sense, a history of entire modern humanity.

With roots that go all the way to the birth of modern civilization in
ancient Mesopotamia some four to five thousand years ago, the
influence of musical instruments gave us the ability to create countless
traditions. Among many instruments, simple stringed guitars and harps
started their journey from the Middle East and Persia to the all four
corners of the world, enabling our ancestors to put their touch on the
history of guitar and modern music.

Roots of modern European guitar history started during the reign of

Ancient Rome when they incorporated Greek stringed instrument Chitara
and carried her across all the territories they managed to conquer. This
guitar became the most basic and most popular type of guitar that was
used on the European continent for more than 1000 years after the fall
of Rome.
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Finding out the complete list of facts about guitars is almost impossible
because of the incredible influence this instrument has on our music and
way of life. However, here you can read about interesting guitar facts.
 The name guitar originates from the ancient Greek word ‘kithara.’ The kithara
was a popular string instrument in ancient Greece.
• In the past, people used animal intestines to make guitar strings. Nowadays,
the material used to make these strings in classical guitars is nylon.
• George Beauchamp designed the first electrically amplified guitar in 1931. It
went into commercial production in 1932. Today, the electric guitar is one of
the most popular musical instruments worldwide. For instance, did you know
the sale of electric guitars in the US in 2015 surpassed the one-million units
mark?

Guitar is an instrument that had a thousand forms and countless uses in

all musical genres, but here you can learn more about people who had
the greatest impact on their modern popularity. Stories about these
inventors will never fade away.
Jimmy Hendrix (1942 to 1970)
He is one the most famous guitar players in the world. In fact, Hendrix
achieved a nearly cult-like status because of their prowess at playing this
instrument. For instance, he was the highest paid musical performer
worldwide when he was at the height of his career.
 
Eric Clapton (Born on March 30, 1945)
Clapton is the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of his guitar-
playing skills including 18 Grammy awards in addition to a Brit Award. Rolling
Stone ranked him as the second-best guitar player of all time.

The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is held flat against the
player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while
simultaneously pressing the strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A plectrum or
individual finger picks may be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either
acoustically, by means of a resonant chamber on the instrument, or amplified by an
electronic pickup and an amplifier.
The guitar is classified as a chordophone – meaning the sound is produced by a vibrating string
stretched between two fixed points. Historically, a guitar was constructed from wood with its strings
made of catgut. Steel guitar strings were introduced near the end of the nineteenth century in the
United States;[1] nylon strings came in the 1940s.[1] The guitar's ancestors include the gittern,
the vihuela, the four-course Renaissance guitar, and the five-course baroque guitar, all of which
contributed to the development of the modern six-string instrument.
There are three main types of modern guitar: the classical guitar (Spanish guitar/nylon-string guitar);
the steel-string acoustic guitar; and the Hawaiian guitar (played across the player's lap). Traditional
acoustic guitars include the flat top guitar (typically with a large sound hole) or an archtop guitar,
which is sometimes called a "jazz guitar". The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the strings'
vibration, amplified by the hollow body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. The
classical Spanish guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a
comprehensive fingerstyle technique where each string is plucked individually by the player's fingers,
as opposed to being strummed. 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 a pickup and amplifier that made the instrument loud
enough to be heard, but also enabled manufacturing guitars with a solid block of wood needing no
resonant chamber. A wide array of electronic effects units became possible
including reverb and distortion (or "overdrive"). Solid-body guitars began to dominate the guitar
market during the 1960s and 1970s; they are less prone to unwanted acoustic feedback. As with
acoustic guitars, there are a number of types of electric guitars, including hollowbody
guitars, archtop guitars (used in jazz guitar, blues and rockabilly) and solid-body guitars, which are
widely used in rock music.
The loud, amplified sound and sonic power of the electric guitar played through a guitar amp has
played a key role in the development of blues and rock music, both as
an accompaniment instrument (playing riffs and chords) and performing guitar solos, and in many
rock subgenres, notably heavy metal music and punk rock. The electric guitar has had a major
influence on popular culture. The guitar is used in a wide variety of musical genres worldwide. It is
recognized as a primary instrument in genres such
as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk, reggae, rock, soul,
and pop.