“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”
― Albert Einstein
GUITAR FUN FACTS
The most valuable guitar ever made is the $2 million dollar 'Eden of Coronet' created by Aaron Shum in Hong Kong, China. It is covered in white Gold and thousands of Diamonds.
People who make or repair Guitars are called “Luthiers”
Leo Fender was a Saxophone player.
The worlds smallest guitar was made by Cornell University in New York, it is 10 Micrometers long (about the size of a single cell). When strummed the strings produce frequencies so high, the human ear cannot hear it.
The largest playable guitar in the world was made by the Academy of Science & Technology in Texas. The Gibson “Flying V” is as long as a school bus!
The longest Guitar playing marathon by an individual was 114 hours 6 minutes 30 seconds and was achieved by David Browne of Dublin, Ireland, in June 2011.
The most influential guitarist of all time, according to Rolling Stone magazine, is Jimi Hendrix.
Michael Jacksons Guitarist, Jennifer Batten came to the Fine Tune Academy, she gave our students lots of insights and advice.
The Basics
The Guitar is a stringed instrument like a Violin, Lute or Banjo.
Most Guitars have 6 Strings and around 20 Metal Frets on the fingerboard.
It is very common to play a Guitar with a Pick or Plectrum.
Guitars can play both melody and Harmony at the same time.
Guitars a very mobile, many people standup, sing and dance while playing.
There are two main types of Guitar, Electric or Acoustic.
ACOUSTIC GUITARS
Acoustic Guitars have a body with space inside that Amplifies the sound of the Strings.
Acoustic Guitars are in two main groups. Steel String and Nylon String.
* Nylon Strings are generally used to replace Catgut Strings on Modern Classical, Spanish and Flamenco Guitars.
* Steel Steel String Acoustic Guitars are more common for Cowboys, Folk and Rock Music.
ELECTRIC GUITARS
Electric Guitars use magnetic Pickups too Amplify the sound through a cable connected to an Amplifier.
Electric Guitars offer two main types of Pickups.
Single Coil - These Fender Stratocaster style pickups are great for shimmering clean Guitar sounds.
With distorted Guitar sounds, Single Coil pickups can be prone to an annoying Buzzing or “Humming” sound.
Handy tip -
If your amplifier is making a buzzing sound, try turning off some room lights. Sometimes electrical power in a room will get amplified through your Guitar/Amp.
Humbucker - These Gibson Les Paul style Pickups are made by attaching two single coil pickups side by side. By wiring the Pickups in opposite directions you can stop or “Buck” the Humming sound.
This wiring also resulted in a thicker, more powerful output signal that is popular with Guitarists who use Distorted Guitar Sounds.
Most Electric Guitars are Sold Body Guitars to Reduce unwanted Feedback.
FEEDBACK
When the Sound from the amplifier causes the guitar strings to vibrate by themselves. Resulting in a shrieking sound that will gradually get louder as it “Feeds Back” on itself.
Acoustic Guitars are prone to Feedback because the air inside the Guitar will begin to vibrate at relatively low volumes.
Feedback can be awesome, you can learn to control it.
Listen to the third verse of “Smells Like teen Spirit” by Nirvana.
Jimi Hendrix is famous for his musical use of Feedback.
FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS
Eager young musicians can get started on a Strum Stick or Ukulele by Age 3.
Young hands need a smaller Guitar. By age 5 or 6 most students have big enough hands to play a Baby Taylor or a Mini Strat.
By age 12 most students can play an adult size guitar.
Check out our free "How to Play Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin" Video Series.
HISTORY
The History of the Guitar starts with the history of the string.
Before recorded history early humans discovered that by stretching a string between sticks you could make all kinds of useful thing like a Catapult, a Bow, a Drying rack, A Bed, a Fire starter and a Music Maker.
Early humans made string from many kinds of natural materials including Plant Fiber, Horse Hair, Intestines, Silk, Linen and Rawhide.
In western Europe, animal Intestines became the material of choice to make strings for musical instruments. Using a lengthy process of cleaning, drying, tanning and polishing, the gut of common animals like pigs and sheep were turned into thin, long-lasting strings. Commonly called “Catgut” strings, Cats are generally not used to make strings.
When you fire an arrow the bow string makes a cool sound. At some point early humans saw the potential for a stringed instrument by adding a resonance box to amplify the sound of the taught bow string.
Early Stringed instruments were probably very similar to the African Bow Harp or the Greek Lyre.
African Bow Harp
Greek Lyre
Harps like instruments were popular with many ancient cultures, excavations in the middle east have uncovered 5500 year old Harps.
Harps are still an essential instrument for many Celtic, Asian and South American musical styles.
The word “Guitar” comes from an old Persian word “Chartar” that means four strings.
At the Archeological Museum in Egypt they have a Guitar like instrument complete with a Pick that was found in a 3500 year old tomb.
Over thousands of years in Europe, many stringed instruments were invented that look like Guitars including Lutes, Hurdy Gurdys and Zithers.
The modern Nylon String Guitar looks much like the 4 course (4 string) “Chitarra” that was popular in Italy and Spain by 1500
By 1830 the Spanish “Guitarra” had six strings, metal frets and tuning pegs like a modern classical Guitar.
European immigrants to American brought their instruments with them. One German Immigrant called Christian Fredrich Martin experimented with stronger construction techniques that allowed for the use of steel strings. Steel strings were a relatively new invention in 1900, they were louder then Catgut strings and allowed the Guitar to keep up with popular, louder instruments like Banjo and Violin.
It is commonly agreed that Martin Guitars invented the American Style Steel String Acoustic Guitar we are familiar with today.
Volume was still a problem when it came to live performance. Dance bands of the 1920’s used loud instruments like Trumpets and Drums to get the crowd moving. Guitars were still too quiet.
Many inventors devised ingenious ways to amplify the Guitar. One of those people was a Slide Guitar Player from Texas called George Beauchamp. By 1931 Beauchamp had joined up with the National Guitar Company to produce his designs.
As the Guitar got louder, feedback became a problem. Feedback is greatly reduced if you have a Guitar with a Solid Body.
Combining George Beaucamp’s Pickups with a solid Aluminum body, the National Guitars “Frying Pan” is considered the first production solid body electric Guitar. National Guitars became Rickenbacker in 1934.
Here are the birth dates of other well known Guitars.
Fine Tune Academy Student Jack Deane Playing the Solo to Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry.
Rickenbacker “Electro String” 1935
Les Paul “Log” Guitar 1941
Fender “Telecaster” 1951
Gibson “Les Paul” 1952
Fender “Stratocaster” 1954
Gretch “White Falcon” 1954
Gibson “Flying V” 1958
Frankenstrat 1979
Paul Reed Smith 1985
Parker “Fly” 1993
Ibanez 7 String 1994
Ibanez 8 String 2007
Gibson “Robot” 2007
WHAT TO EXPECT IN GUITAR LESSONS
Guitar requires some finger strength and dexterity.
Early lessons are spent learning basic finger exercises and fun simple songs designed to build strength and introduce musical concepts and lingo.
All students are different. we have a beginner song list of over 1500 songs from many popular genres.
We use these early songs to find the Artists, Techniques and Equipment most suited to the students taste and goals.
All students learn the essential skills of Guitar Technique, Music Theory, Songwriting and Sight Reading hand in hand with learning their favorite songs.
All students are encouraged to develop their own style and repertoire.
Fine Tune Academy Student Jacob Mobley playing his original tune "800 Days" on a Gretsch Resonator Guitar.
PURCHASE
ACOUSTIC
New students often purchase an Acoustic Guitar first*
NYLON STRING ACOUSTIC
Nylon strings are less painful for new students fingers. Nylon Strings Guitars are most suited to Classical, Spanish and Flamenco music.
STEEL STRING ACOUSTIC
If the student is inspired by music that is played on a steel string guitar, buy a Steel String Guitar. The Majority of popular Guitar Music from 1920 - Date is played on Steel String Guitars.
NEW
Decent new acoustic guitars start at $150.
As you pay more money you get better quality materials and improved features.
Solid Wood Top
The next level of acoustic guitars have a “Solid Wood Top”. The Top is the front part of the guitar with the sound hole. Having a top that is made out of one piece of wood sounds better but costs more. Cheaper guitars have a plywood top, Better guitars often have a solid Spruce top. Guitars with Solid Tops start at around $400. Most people buy one of these lower midrange Guitars as their first Guitar.
Features to Look For
Many guitars in the $400+ range offer useful features that are worth having.
Cutaway - A piece of the body next to the neck is removed. It looks cool and allows for easier access to the upper frets.
Electric-Acoustic - Acoustic Guitars that have a Pickup or Microphone built in. Very handy for performing or recording.
Built in Tuner - Many acoustic guitars come with this great feature.
Once you get to around $1000 you find guitars with quality wood and iconic brands like, Martin, Gibson and Taylor.
In General $4000 Acoustic Guitars are not better sounding then $1600 Acoustic Guitars. The price comes from using expensive, exotic woods and hand construction techniques to please the ear and taste of discerning musicians and collectors.
Extras
You should also expect to purchase Picks, Guitar Strap, Guitar Stand, Spare Strings, Tuner, Sheet Music, Music Stand, Case, Guitar Multi-tool and Capo.
ELECTRIC GUITAR
*You CAN start with an Electric Guitar first, they are often easier to play then Acoustic Guitars. The downside to an Electric Guitar is the extra expense of an Amplifier and the relative complexity of cables, volume knobs and switches. If the student is in love with Electric Guitar and are keen to learn what all the knobs and switches do, Electric Guitar first is fine. Almost all Electric Guitars use steel strings.
Most electric guitars can be split into two families. Fender Stratocaster “Strat” style or Gibson Les Paul style.
Scale Length, Pickup and Bridge Style define these families.
Scale Length
Fender Stratocasters or “Strat’s” have a slightly longer neck or “Scale Length” then a Gibson Les Paul.
The difference is subtle, just 3/4 of an inch total.
Players with smaller fingers often feel more comfortable on a Guitar with a shorter scale length like the Gibson Les Paul.
Pickup Style
Fender Strat’s use Single Coil Pickups, Gibson Les Paul’s us Humbucking Pickups.
While single coil pickups are awesome, most new students choose guitars with Humbuckers, especially if they want to play Rock music.
Bridge Style
Fender Strats have a Floating tremolo bridge, Gibson Les Paul’s have a fixed Bridge.
The “Bridge” is a piece of metal with holes or slots to hold the strings on the guitar body.
A “Tremolo Bridge” can move backward and forward, allowing the strings to go up or down in pitch by manipulating the “tremolo arm” or “whammy bar”.
A fixed Bridge is screwed into the body and does not move.
DOUBLE LOCKING BRIDGES
“Floyd Rose” style locking bridges are fantastic for keeping a guitar in tune when going crazy on the whammy bar. If the style of music you are interested in uses these techniques, you need one. For everyone else, avoid locking bridges, they add expense and complexity that you don’t need.
Other Manufacturers offer many variations on Scale length, Pickup and Bridge configuration. For example, many Ibanez Guitars feature Fender scale length necks with both humbucking and Single Coil pickups called “Super Strats”
Basic Electric Guitars start at $100. Many of these cheap Guitars look just like Guitars costing $1500+.
Whats the difference between an Epiphone Les Paul priced at $299 and a Gibson Les Paul priced at $2999 when they look almost the same.
MATERIALS
The fact is EVERYTHING is different, all the Metal, Wood, Plastic and Electronic parts are cheaper.
Plywood instead of solid Mahogany.
Pressed metal parts instead of Die-cast.
Cheap Chinese pickups
Cheaper quality paints and varnishes.
QUALITY CONTROL
Gibson Guitars are hand finished in the USA by master craftsmen. Epiphone's are made in Korea, China, or Indonesia on semi automated mass production lines. This results in only perfect Gibsons get sent to the store while budget Guitars are well known for minor flaws in construction and finish.
Good quality electric Guitars start around $400.
Pro level Guitars and American built Guitars start at around $1000
Over $1500 Guitars do not necessarily sound better, they often use exotic woods, parts or construction techniques that result in a higher price.
Guitars do not need exotic woods to sound good, many famous Guitarists use Guitars made from very common wood like Alder or Ash.
EXTRAS
You should also expect to purchase Picks, Guitar Strap, Guitar Stand, Spare Strings, Case, Sheet Music, Music Stand, Tuner, Guitar Multi-tool, Capo, Cable and Effect Pedals.
Fine Tune Academy Student Javon Playing "Breeze" by Bulb in Drop C Tuning
AMPLIFIER.
Without an Amplifier or “Amp” Electric guitars are very quiet.
Starting at $40
For practice you can connect your Guitar too your Iphone using an adapter like an “iRig”
Starting at $100
To rock your bedroom a practice amp with 5-20 watts of power is perfect.
Starting at $200.
To play with a Drummer you will need an Amp with 30 watts+ and preferably a 12” speaker,
Starting at $400
To play shows with a full band you need an amp with 50 watts+ and preferably two 12’ speakers.
Starting at $500
Rather then carrying a van load of equipment many Guitar players are using Rack or Foot pedal mounted multi-effect pedals with preamps and speaker emulators that can be plugged straight into the Venues P.A. System.
Combo Amp - When the Electronics and Speakers are combined in the same box.
Starting at $1000
Stack - The ultimate Guitar amp for most people is some kind of Stack. A Stack is the “Head” containing all the electronics and two Speaker cabinets containing four 12” speakers each. These components are “stacked” on top of each other. Most Stacks are 50-120 watts. The famous “Marshall Stack” retails for $5000.
It is possible to play a stadium with any size Amp by using a Microphone placed in front of the speaker connected to Stadium P.A System.
Valve/Tube Amps - Starting in the 1930’s amplifiers used vacuum tubes. With the development of the Transistor in the 1960’s, tube amplifiers began to be replaced by “Solid State” transistor Amplifiers. While Solid State amps are cheaper and generally more reliable then Tube Amps, many Guitar players prefer the more natural tone of a Tube Amp.
Built in Effects - Many modern Amplifiers have effect pedal style effects built into their electronics. This can save money on buying additional effect pedals.
USED
There are many used Guitars available in store and online. Assuming the Guitar is in good condition expect to pay 50% of the new price. Used Guitars are prone to wood warping, make sure the neck is straight and the body does not have any bending or rippling in it.
Fine Tune Academy Student Bella Burns playing "Marry Me" By Train.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/finetuneacademy/videos/
Popular Guitar Players
Charlie Christian
Joe Perry
Slash
Eric Clapton
B.B. King
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Eddie Van Halen
Angus Young
Steve Vai
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Dave Gilmour
Carlos Santana
Joe Satriani
Keith Richards
Jeff Beck
Tony Iommi
Chuck Berry
Brian Setzer
Brian May
Chet Atkins
Mark Knopfler
Robert Johnson
Tom Morello
Yngwie Malmsteen
Django Reinhardt
Les Paul
James Hetfield
Buddy Guy
Al Di Meola
Ry Cooder
The Edge
Randy Rhoads
Joe Walsh
Alex Lifeson
John Williams
Derek Trucks
Brad Paisley
Joe Bonamassa
George Benson
Alan Holdsworth
Dick Dale
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