Transcript Country Music Instruments

COUNTRY MUSIC
INSTRUMENTS
Instruments used in Country Music
A Guitar
The Guitar
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Early guitars were first used in the 12th century in
Europe, descendant from instruments in China and
India
The oldest representation of a guitar is a 3,000 year
old carving
Inspiration for the guitar could have come from a four
stringed instrument called an oud brought to Europe
by invading Moors in the 8th century, or the
Scandinavian six stringed lute (800AD)
Two types of guitars were common by 1200AD
(Moorish and Latin)
Latin Guitars
A picture of Latin medieval guitars
The Guitar
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The Spanish vihuela was created in the 15th
century and was the main influence for our
modern style of guitar
It had a body much like a modern guitar, larger than
its contemporaries, with six strings and a system for
tuning
In the late 15th century, some vihuelas were played
with bows leading to the violin/viola.
The vihuela died out by the end of the 16th century
The five stringed Baroque guitar took over in
popularity until modern guitars
Vihuela
Painting depicting a viheula player from 1520
The Guitar
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There are many, many different types of guitar in
use today.
Types of guitars most commonly used today fall
generally into three categories:
 Acoustic
 Electric
 Classical
Classical Guitar
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Also known as Spanish guitars
Nylon strings played with fingers
Wide, flat neck allows for ease of playing scales
and arpeggios
Comes in different sizes (Flamenco guitars, requinto,
guitarron)
Classical guitar
Electric Guitar
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Invented in 1931, used first by jazz musicians
Can have hollow, semi-hollow, or solid bodies
Steel strings played with picks
Produce very little sound without amplification
Electromagnetic pickups transfer the vibrations of
the strings into signals that are then fed through
the amp via a cable
Sound can be modified through other electronic
means
Usually have seven strings, though can have as
few as one and as many as fourteen
Electric Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
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A group of guitars that create sound without
amplification
Uses an acoustic soundboard to project the sound
Strings vibrate against the soundboard, the
soundboard resonates at the same frequency,
creates a different timbre without changing pitch
Has a hollow body to increase resonance
Sound travels from string to soundboard to body
cavity to outside air
Acoustic Guitar
Videos
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Classical Guitar
Acoustic Folk
Electric Guitar
A Fiddle
The Fiddle
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The Fiddle and the violin are technically the same
instrument
Fiddle or fiddling refers to the style of playing,
NOT the instrument itself
Fiddling is done on stringed instruments that are
played with bows
Emerged in Europe in the 10th century
Two different lira (stringed instruments) developed in
this time- one played sitting up and one played while
being held up
The Fiddle
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The instrument held sitting up was called the lira di
gamba and was held by the legs. It died out in the
Renaissance, due to its inferior sound
The instrument held up by the arm was called the lira
di braccio. It became the violin.
Fiddling was normally done as solo work, because
it was done in small dance settings where a group
of instruments would be too loud
By the 20th century, groups of instrumentalists were
more common
The Fiddle
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Fiddlers could push their instruments harder than
classical violinists
Violin playing is generally smoother and more
classical in nature
Fiddling usually keeps a stronger beat, and is a
harsher sound from pushing the bow harder onto
the strings.
Video
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Fiddling
Classical Violin
The Banjo
The Banjo
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A four, five or six stringed instrument with a piece
of animal skin or plastic stretched over a circular
frame
Simpler forms of the instrument were fashioned
by Africans in Colonial America, adapted from
several African instruments of similar design.
Occupied a central place in African American
traditional music, then became popular in
the minstrel shows of the 19th century.
Slaves influenced early development of country and
bluegrass, through the introduction of the banjo
The Banjo
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Original African instruments did not have tuning or
frets; those notions came from the Caribbean in the
17th century
Instruments in many other countries throughout the
15th and 16th centuries were very similar to the banjo,
but were derived from the lute
In the 1830s, Joel Sweeney was the first white
man to play the banjo on stage
The Banjo
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Banjos usually have a wooden rim with a tightened
animal skin or synthetic head, like a drum
Some banjos have resonator plates on the back, to
give the instrument more volume
Two techniques are used to play the Banjo- drones
and rolls
 Drones
play quick single melody notes
 Rolls play accompaniment chord patterns
Banjo Videos
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Banjo
Asian Big Band