Acoustic Guitars for the Great Unplugged
By MNJ
| Posted in Guitar
Guitar like instruments are seen in the stone bas-relief sculptures of the Hittites in northern Syria and Asia Minor dating as far back as 1350 B.C. The word ‘guitar’ also has its origins in the Middle East, deriving from ‘guit’, the Arabic word for ‘four’, and ‘tar’, Sanskrit for ‘string’.
Right, that’s enough history. Nowadays, don’t we take the humble steel string acoustic guitar for granted? How many classic songs have been written on the acoustic guitar, starting out with a few simple chords? Elvis made an icon of the Gibson SJ-200, John and George used the Gibson J-160E and Paul an Epiphone Texan to write Beatles classics, I wonder what became of him. All guitar players go back to the acoustic at some point; song writing, practice, teaching and attempting different picking styles. I’ve got to mention a man who started so many guitarists down the acoustic road with his piece ‘Anji’, Bert Jansch. I can’t emphasise enough the influence this guy has had on guitar players since the sixties. Jimmy Page, Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher all cite him as an influence.
The steel string flat top acoustic guitar is the bedrock instrument for so many musical genres; folk, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz and rock-n-roll, and has been one of the major cultural icons of the twentieth century, Dylan with a ukulele anybody? Even if you’ve never played guitar, the acoustic is a great place to start, cheap, easy, and a whole lot of fun.
Tags: acoustic guitar, bluegrass, Epiphone, Gibson, steel string, ukulele