Chris J Knutsen

Since the nineteenth century, the distinct tones of k&299;k&257; kila, the Hawaiian steel guitar, have defined the island sound. Here historian and steel guitarist John W. Troutman offers the instrument's definitive history, from its discovery by a young Hawaiian royalist named Joseph Kekuku to its revolutionary influence on American and world music. During the early twentieth century, Hawaiian musicians traveled the globe, from tent shows in the Mississippi Delta, where they shaped the new sounds of country and the blues, to regal theaters and vaudeville stages in New York, Berlin, Kolkata, and beyond. In the process, Hawaiian guitarists recast the role of the guitar in modern life. But as Troutman explains, by the 1970s the instrument's embrace and adoption overseas also worked to challenge its cultural legitimacy in the eyes of a new generation of Hawaiian musicians. As a consequence, the indigenous instrument nearly disappeared in its homeland. Using rich musical and historical sources, including interviews with musicians and their descendants, Troutman provides the complete story of how this Native Hawaiian instrument transformed not only American music but the sounds of modern music throughout the world.

The Guitar in America offers a history of the instrument from America\'s late Victorian period to the Jazz Age. The narrative traces America\'s BMG (banjo, mandolin, and guitar) community, a late nineteenth-century musical and com-mercial movement dedicated to introducing these instru-ments into America\'s elite musical establishments. Using surviving BMG magazines, the author details an almost unknown history of the guitar during the movement\'s heyday, tracing the guitar\'s transformation from a refined parlor instrument to a mainstay in jazz and popular music. In the process, he not only introduces musicians (including numerous women guitarists) who led the movement, but also examines new techniques and instruments. Chapters consider the BMG movement\'s impact on jazz and popular music, the use of the guitar to promote attitudes towards women and minorities, and the challenges foreign guitarists such as Miguel Llobet and Andres Segovia presented to America\'s musicians. This volume opens a new chapter on the guitar in America, considering its cultivated past and documenting how banjoists and mandolinists aligned their instruments to it in an effort to raise social and cultural standing. At the same time, the book considers the BMG community within America\'s larger musical scene, examining its efforts as manifestations of this country\'s uneasy coupling of musical art and commerce. Jeffrey J. Noonan, associate professor of music at Southeast Missouri State University, has performed professionally on classical guitar, Renaissance lute, Baroque guitar, and theorbo for over twenty-five years. His articles have appeared in Soundboard and NYlon Review .

Guitarists love guitars. Few own just one, and most are dreaming of their next acquisition. To help them out, here is the ultimate bucket list of guitars—plus guitar amps and various guitar effects—that aficionados must play.Included are the classics, such as the great Fender guitars, the Stratocaster and Telecaster, and the stylish Gibson Les Paul. Included as well are the dream creations—masterpieces from D’Angelico and Gretsch. And then there are the weird guitars—the outrageous, rare, and so-strange-they’re-cool, and your beloved childhood guitar that you first learned on. Included as well are the guitar amps, from vintage to current, rare to essential, plus the stompboxes, foot pedals, and guitar effects that you simply have to take for a ride.Each instrument is profiled along with a short description of its history, technical features, and what it’s like to play.Photographs and rare memorabilia add the crowning touch, making this the perfect impulse buy or giftbook for any and all guitarists.

This illustrated encyclopedia to acoustic guitars demonstrates their elegant beauty and which famous musicians favored which brands throughout the years.

(Guitar Reference). Foreword by C.F. Martin IV. This comprehensive guide explains how to buy and maintain the guitar that matches your needs. From its beginning in European classical music, through American innovations like blues, jazz, country, and all the way to rock, pop and folk, the acoustic guitar's versatility is remarkable. This book covers all types of models with an emphasis placed on steel-string flattops, archtops and classical guitars. Topics covered include: How to tell the difference between a good sounding and bad sounding instrument; How much of the sound is determined by the wood; How to amplify and maintain its natural sound; How much money to spend in order to get an instrument that matches your level of playing; A color section illustrates historically significant instruments.