HISTORY OF THE GUITAR
The Guitar is an ancient instrument. The history and the development of the guitar could be traced back to 4000 years, from the ancient Egypt to Middle East Asia (India), Europe (Greek, Spain) and Africa.
An Egyptian singer called Har-Mose made a guitar-like instrument with three strings. It has a sound board made up of a nice polished cedar wood
The English word ‘guitar’ came from the Spanish word ‘quitarra’ and Latin word ‘cithara’. However, it has its root word from the Ancient Sanskrit word ‘tar’ which means string.
1 tar = 1 string
2 tars= 2 strings
3 tars= 3 stings
6 tars= 6 strings
Before the evolution of the Guitar, there had been series of strings instruments, namely, lyre, harp, Indian sitar (5 or many strings), Persian chartar strings (4 strings). The Spanish made their own type of guitar which has nylon strings. A typical African type of guitar is called Goje (Hausa name for guitar), developed in West Africa. It has strings and a wood attached to a calabash, which serves as the sounding box.
The electric guitar, with six strings (solid body) was invented in the 1930s. It has knobs for volume control and hole where a cable will be connected to an amplifier for sound output. One of the inventors was Les Paul. The person who plays the guitar is called a guitarist.
The bass guitar has strings with low pitches. The first modern bass guitar has four strings (strings 1-G, 2-D, 3-A, 4-E). Nowadays, we have five and six strings bass guitars designed to create more feels and depth with accompanying groove by the bass guitarist.
Features of the guitar
- Strings
- Hollow body (sound box)
- Wood.
- Neck.
- Fret board/fingerboard
- Tuners/ tuning pegs.
Different types of guitar
- Acoustic (box) guitar.
- Classical- Spanish guitar.
- Indian sitar.
- Mandolin.
- Electric guitar.
- Goje (from Africa)
PLAYING THE GUITAR
Guitar is a type of chordophone. A typical acoustic or classical guitar has 6 strings. One can play the guitar by strumming or by plucking the strings.
Learning how to play the guitar is good, however, it can be challenging. The student have the patience to go through the process of playing the guitar, as well as unwitting interest in the instrument. Some guitar strings are made of steel and nylon, you will need to hold down the strings on the board to produce the required notes, if not playing an open string. The effort (applied force) comes from the fingers and you could spend a considerable amount of time pressing down the strings, and moving the fingers across the board while holding several notes together (chords).
Classical guitars have nylon strings, and many students prefer to start learning with a nylon-string guitar to avoid the effect of the metallic strings. However, the sound produced by the nylon strings is different from the metallic strings because of the properties of the materials.
Classical guitar music requires a lot of skill and note reading, so be prepared to take up a module that leads to playing classical guitar music. The South Americans also use the classical-Spanish (flamenco) type of guitar with predominant tunes feel in the beauty of merenge and salsa music.
You can pick up any of the guitars mentioned above, depending on the style of music you want to learn.
Tips to play C Major scale on the acoustic guitar
The guitar is tuned to concert keys .Guitar strings are named from down to up.
String 1(high pitch) to string six (low Pitch).
E A D G B E (Open strings)
6 5 4 3 2 1
The chord of C major consists of C E G (open string 3) and C¹, as shown in the diagram above
C Major scale with tonic solfa
C D E F G A B C¹
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
| Key-note | String | Fret | Finger | Tonic solfa | |
| 1 | C (Tonic/home note) | 5 | 3 | 3 | doh (d) |
| 2 | D | 4 | Open | Open | ray (r) |
| 3 | E | 4 | 2 | 2 | meh (m) |
| 4 | F | 4 | 3 | 3 | fah (f) |
| 5 | G | 3 | Open | Open | soh (s) |
| 6 | A | 3 | 2 | 2 | lah (l) |
| 7 | B | 2 | Open | Open | Teh (t) |
| 8 | C¹ (octave) | 2 | 1 | 1 | doh (d¹) |
Octave is the eighth note (C¹- d¹)
The 1st and 6th strings have the same name, but of different pitch. The 6th string produces a low pitch note while the 1st string a high note.
For example,
Pluck string 5, press fret 3, using finger 3 will give you note C or doh
String 4, open string will give note D-ray
TMI Guitar course
- Parts of the guitar
- The fret board
- Names of keys and scales
- Fingering chart
- Musical notes and alphabets
- Notes on the treble staff
- C major scale
- Short phrases and chords
It is worth noting that for each student an individual programme of learning to play the guitar is made by taking into account his level, abilities and preferences, which necessarily includes:
- Correct hand position or setting;
- development of the mobility of fingers and hands;
- playing chords, notes and tablature;
- work on hearing, sense of rhythm;
- study of the technical side of the issue (combo amplification, gadgets, instrument tuning, etc.).
Playing an electric guitar at any level of training
If you are a beginner, then training will be built in stages from a complete beginner’s level, in an understandable language and at a comfortable pace. If you have already learned how to play the guitar a long time ago, our teachers will help you to improve your skill, improve your technique, assist, and make sense of difficult moments in your favorite works.
And, if you are a master of your instrument and want to become even greater, then in any case, come for the audition, so that the teacher will determine what else you can be taught where there are growth zones. Although there is always a space to grow!
Tips to play your first melody on the guitar:
- Play the open strings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
- Play the C major scale above and memorise it
Try these notes on the guitar
E D C D E E E
D D D E E E
E D C D E E E
C D D E D C
It will sound, Mary had a little lamb.
GUITAR MUSIC GENRES
The guitar is used in many genres of music worldwide,
1) Highlife
2) Rock
3) Jazz
4) Blues
5) Raggae
6) Hip pop
7) Worship and praise
A guitarist can study as many styles as possible. This will expand the guitarist’s music and enable him/her to perform on a global setting, more also, using the skills to impart the music of the community.
Learning to play the electric guitar – the string world
The electric guitar sound gets its amplification from the combo amp or through sound arrangement with a rack of effects: distortion, overdrive, and lots of other rocky sound.
The names of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Jimmy Hendrix cause a thrill, in the world of the electric guitar playing!
Everyone, regardless of age, musical skills and knowledge can learn the electric guitar.
The electric guitar came alive at the beginning of the 20th century. The history of the development of the instrument is closely connected with Leo Fender and Les Paul – these are musicians and inventors whose names are known to majority of guitar players.
Also, See our Other Courses/offers:
- Saxophone Training
- Voice Training
- Kids Music School
- Gospel & Worship Studies
- Composition & Arranging Courses
TONALITY Music School.
For more information or bookings:
Call 08055972777; 07088240850
OLU Sam