An Electric Guitar has a solid body, which serves as a frame for the strings and the necessary equipment. Traditionally it has six strings but may have up to twelve. The sound of its vibrating steel strings is captured via a pickup and sent through a cable to an amplifier, which produces the louder sound. Because the guitar does not make the music the body cane be made of all different material and made into many different shapes.
Most bands feature at least two, and sometimes three, guitars. There is the lead guitar, which may be most recognizable, that plays the solos in a musical number.http://www.instrument-musical.com/Electric_Guitar_Instruments.htm The rhythm guitar does just that, carries the rhythm of the song behind the singer and the lead guitar.http://www.instrument-musical.com/Electric_Guitar_Instruments.htm The third is often a unmistakable bass guitar that drives the music with its throbbing base line.http://www.instrument-musical.com/Electric_Guitar_Instruments.htm
History of the Electric Guitar
The birth of the electric guitar may be traced to the popularity of Hawaiian music in the 1920's and 30's. Hawaiian guitars were the first instrument that depended on their sound being electrically amplified.http://www.history-of-rock.com/guitarstwo.htm
By the 1940's Gibson had firmly established electric models of the guitar on the market.http://www.history-of-rock.com/guitarstwo.htm However people wanted to experiment with the solid body and so the work began. In 1944 Leo Fender incorporated a new pickup on a solid body guitar based on the Hawaiian style and by 1946 the Fender Electric Instrument Company was formed and the Broadcaster came to market.http://www.history-of-rock.com/guitarstwo.htm
At the same time Les Paul was working along the same direction and in 1941 produced the historic "log" guitar.http://www.history-of-rock.com/guitarstwo.htm
Les Paul, who became known as the father of the electric Guitar died on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at the age of 94. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/08/14/2009-08-14_electric_guitar_hero_les_paul_dead_at_94_career_spanned_from_hitmaker_to_musical.html
Electric Guitar Sounds
Lucien Williams from Lucien Williams.com demonstrates the different sounds that an electric guitar can make. He shows how to set the pickup and the tone control to get the sounds the guitarist is looking for. different sounds may require different sounds and the versatile guitar is demonstrated aptly by him.
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
Les Paul is known as the "Father of the Electric Guitar"
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Fact:
The first song recorded on an Electric Guitar was in 1938
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Fact:
The first Electric Guitars had hollow bodies
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Fact:
Integral in defining the sound and attitude of rock 'n' roll
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Fact:
First used in jazz
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Classic models
the Les Paul by Gibson Guitars and the Stratocaster by Fender Guitars
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Essential Electric Guitar accessories
Guitar pedals to provide a distinctive sound, an electronic guitar tuner to keep the instrument in tune, guitar cables, guitar strings, guitar picks
