From Encyclopedia of Appalachia: The guitar’s origins are usually traced back to Spain, though some scholars have suggested Greek and Arabian influences. The guitar’s origins are usually traced back to Spain, though some scholars have suggested Greek and Arabian influences. The instrument’s enduring design features include a finger- board on a neck and a peghead with tuning gears. Historically, most guitars have had a body shape inspired by the violin, a resonating chamber, six strings, and E-A-D-G-B-E tuning, though twentieth century innovations have rendered these features optional. The most common acoustic guitar types played in Appalachia include steel-stringed flat-top and arch-top guitars and the smaller-bodied nylon- or gut-stringed classical and folk guitars. Electric guitars are mostly either hollow- bodied arch-top acoustic-electric instruments favored for their mellow tone or solid-bodied guitars of various descriptions. Solid-bodied instruments offer a range of tonal possibilities, employing “humbucking” or single-coil pickups, with the latter often preferred among country musicians for their twangy tone. Steel guitars usually utilize open-chord tunings and feature either electric pickups or employ metallic resonating devices for acoustic amplification. Electric steel guitars very often share few commonalities with other guitars except for a similar tonal range and a shared history. Brought to the New World by the Spanish in the seventeenth century, the guitar made its appearance in Appalachia relatively late but quickly established itself in the traditional and popular music styles of the region. Several twentieth- century Appalachian musicians and innovators have contributed to the development of contemporary guitar stylings and also to the prominence of the instrument in American music. Before the arrival of the guitar in Appalachia during the first decade of the twentieth century, traditional music within the region consisted of a cappella singing; singing accompanied by the fiddle and, later, the banjo; and instrumental performance on those two instruments. The guitar was first distributed across Appalachia as a mail-order item from Sears-Roebuck. By the dawn of recording activity within the region in the 1920s, the guitar had already become nearly as popular as the fiddle and the banjo. Among the first Appalachian musicians to play the guitar for recordings were Henry Whitter, of Grayson County, Virginia (in 1923); Rosa Lee “Moonshine Kate” Carson, who performed with her father, Fiddlin’ John Carson, of Fannin County, Georgia (in 1925); and Frank Hutchison, of Raleigh County, West Virginia (in 1926). Hutchison performed in a style highly influenced by the blues. Other white Appalachian guitarists were influenced by African American musicians, including Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family’s Maybelle Carter, both of whom recorded at the influential Bristol sessions of 1927. Meridian, Mississippi, native Rodgers, a former railroad brakeman, had learned to play guitar by observing black rail- road workers. Combining elements of the blues with folk, popular, and jazz styles, Rodgers’s accompaniment patterns and solo breaks solidified both the role of the guitar and the primacy of the guitar player in American popular music. https://youtube/watch?v=rwT-Eoaj_T8
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 16:14:49 +0000
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