As defined by the Royal Spanish Academy have the guitar is:
“Stringed musical instrument consisting of a sounding board in a figure eight, a long neck with frets and strings, usually six, which are sounded with the fingers.”.
More full is found in wikipedia tells us:
“The guitar is a plucked string musical instrument, consisting of a wooden box on a pole that is attached the fingerboard or storeroom, usually with a sound hole in the center of the lid and six strings. On the fingerboard are inlaid dishes that allow the different tones. Its specific name is classical guitar, Spanish guitar or guitar Creole.
It is the most widely used in genres like blues, rock and flamenco, and quite common in singers. It is also used in genres such as rancheras and cruppers addition to the folklore of various countries.
When the instrument is smaller than a guitar is called a fife and when it is largest bass guitar. The latter is often used by the mariachi. “
With these initial definitions, and assuming that everyone who wants to follow this course of guitar should have a guitar, or at least have seen some, we will describe the main types of guitar in existence.
1 .- SPANISH GUITAR CLASSICAL GUITAR OR (also native guitar or baroque guitar)
It is the most widespread of the guitars, the most widespread among the songwriters and the general folk music in the world. It is also the recommended start playing the guitar, for its low price and not having used the strings so hard.
It is a musical instrument of Mediterranean origin, the strings are nylon, its wooden body. The most important figure in the history of guitar design and construction was Torres, and current models of classical guitars are still being built almost exactly the way to Torres.
2 .- THE FLAMENCO GUITAR
The flamenco guitar is usually a little smaller than the classic, and the rings and the background are of Spanish cypress to produce a bright and penetrating sound, more volume.
This instrument is a mixture of Castilian and Moorish guitar. It is less heavy than the classical guitar and the box has dimensions that are narrower. This guitar is made with other woods that give that sound so characteristic metallic and incisive. Its strings are also nylon, like the classical guitar.
The way it alternates the touch of the Moorish guitar with the strumming of the Spanish guitar, adding percussion blows in the box, and tremolos and “flourishes”. This “Spanish guitar” is the eighteenth-century renewal of the vihuela de mano.
It is usually made of cypress wood cedar with handle for the lid is typically used spruce. You sound to be heard required by the singing, dancing and fussiness. Currently, headstock is the most widely used metal, wood and raises the pitch problems.
3 .- THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR
The acoustic guitar is a type of guitar with steel strings (steel strings), whose sound is generated by the vibration of the strings that are amplified in a wooden enclosure or some acrylic.
The term “acoustic” is used as opposed to electric guitar. Actually all electric guitars are not like classical or Spanish guitar are audible as a state with a sounding board and sound by themselves without the need for external amplification system. However, the Spanish language the term appears to be only for acoustic guitars with steel strings. The adjective “sound” is taken directly from English (acoustic guitar) for the use of that adjective Anglophones do to differentiate the guitar case in relation to the electric guitar. It is clearly redundant since the guitar, by definition, is an acoustic instrument. Acoustic guitar designs derived from C. F. Martin, Orville Gibson, mainly American luthiers activities primarily in the late s. XIX. For example, the Germans used to call them the adjective western (literally “west guitars’, such as movies), which is closer to nature and the kind of music that made them popular.
The guitar commonly known as “acoustic” is usually characterized by a box with wider “shoulders” straighter and narrower neck (even admitting the many types of acoustic guitar), but its main feature is that it uses metal strings of nickel or steel. This produces a greater resonance and a sharp sound that a Spanish guitar.
These can be divided into two main types:
Martin: The whole history of the acoustic guitars are linked to the name of Christian Frederick Martin, founder of the company that bears his name, company that has made and continues to make excellent quality guitars. The House Martin manufactures a variety of acoustic guitars that ranks as a fairly complex system.
From arched top: Traditionally, the top and bottom of a guitar are curved pieces of wood carving quite thick and solid, a technique that allows more bow.
4 .- THE GUITAR ELECTROACÚSTICA
This guy is not really a type of guitar, but the result of “live” on acoustic guitar. Are cash guitars (acoustic or Spanish) that have a pre-electronic amplification to connect an external amplified source. They are also called electrified guitars, deeming that we term synonymous, and it highlights the fact that the previous system can be installed at source or by the user.
The electrification of a guitar case eliminates the use of the microphone as connected as an electric guitar to an external amplifier. This largely avoids the couplings and facilitates the work of the engineer on the recordings. However, the sound is not exactly the same as the microphone picks up sound that is within and not outside the box, where you can hear the actual sound of the guitar.
The difference with an electric guitar case (which are commonly used in jazz) is mainly the type of pill, because while these guitars use “pieces” and give a more crystalline sound, sharp and natural, normal electric guitar Magnetic pads used and gives a new sound and different, more full of mids.
5 .- THE ELECTRIC GUITAR
The electric guitar is a stringed instrument with one or more electromagnetic transducers, called pads (pickups, in English), which convert the string vibrations into electrical signals can be amplified and processed. There is no sounding guitars (electric guitar sound) or a smaller box than usual (semi-solid), which may have shaped holes to the outside in “f” similar to the soundboards of violins and other acoustic instruments. Historically the first to invent were the hollow body, the cash flow from guitars to which incorporated a microphone in order to be heard in jazz bands.
There are in the market three basic types of microphones or “pills”:
The first and most common are simple pills, which have a single winding, making a more bright sound but generate a discharge or noise to be saturated by some kind of distorsión.Este effect of pills may be observed in Fender guitars stratocaster or telecaster.
The latter are the double coil, ie two simple microphones together. This allowed basically eliminate the noise and the discharge to be generated with simple pills, and moreover, a deeper sound, thick and crisp. Gibson brand guitars such as Les Paul and SG models, use this type of microphones.
The third type of microphones are the active pills. Unlike pills single or double, these have an integrated preamplifier which gives the sound a lot more gain, clarity and volume. They are also called as no pads have ceramic magnets to the eye as if the microphones are listed above. Can be seen placed in several brand guitars Jackson or ESP.
Some electric guitars also have a system that generates a bridge vibrato effect: the lever.
The electric guitar always needs to be connected to an amplifier or PA system, mixing, etc.., Via a cable (usually a 6.3 mono jack). The electric guitar is one of the most important today, and we would still essential in many modern musical genres.
Among the manufacturers of such recognized brands include guitars Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, PRS, Jackson, Parker and many more.
6 .- OTHER GUITARS AND SIMILAR
RUSSIAN GUITARS: These guitars contain seven strings instead of six. The tuning of this guitar is completely different from Spanish, it is not just an acoustic guitar with string added. Traditionally, it uses an open tuning in G major.
MIDI guitars: These are special guitars guitars or conventional adapters let you control a MIDI synthesizer (data transmission protocol that allows you to send music information between different devices connected by wires). Thus, a guitarist who has no ability to execute a keyboard or electric organ can shoot them from a midi guitar.
One basic technique is to use a converter monophonic midi audio frequency audio signal by taking the guitar by placing a microphone in the mouth of it or through its audio output. Bridges are also more sophisticated market that can detect vibration of each branch separately so you can run consistent, ie they have 6 voices polyphony or simultaneous firing of notes.
OTHER “BROTHERS” OF THE GUITAR: The fife (guitar smaller), the charango, ukulele, the Timple (typical instrument in the Canary Islands, etc.)
