Acoustic Guitar History and How They Are Made

Introduction

Although not nearly as controversial as saxophones upon their introduction, acoustic guitars have nevertheless had a lasting impact on the world of music since their invention some 400 years ago. Noted for their pleasant tonality and frequently beautiful appearance, acoustic guitars remain a mainstay of several music genres such as pop and folk, and provide many newcomers to music with their first experience playing an instrument. Given their increasing popularity in recent years, it is clear that acoustic guitars are here to stay, but many people may not fully appreciate their lengthy heritage and the craftsmanship required to build such an instrument. This paper provides an overview of the history of acoustic guitars, followed by a description of how they are made; a summary of the research and salient findings is provided in the conclusion.

History of Acoustic Guitars

In 1944, Muddy Waters enthused that the acoustic guitar "is a voice like no other. The guitar is a miracle. Out of the strings and the frets comes this personality whether a blind man from Texas [Blind Lemon Jefferson] or a Gypsy from Belgium [jazz acoustic guitar pioneer Django Reinhardt] — a unique human being" (Bennett & Dawe 28). This enthusiasm for the instrument is not uncommon, nor is it even as recent as the mid-20th century. In fact, the acoustic guitar in its various permutations has enjoyed great popularity across many centuries. While the acoustic guitars commonly used today incorporate some fairly recent innovations, the basic form of the instrument has not changed all that much since it originated, most likely in Spain, at some point during the early 16th century (Guitar 1).

The modern acoustic guitar was derived from the guitarra latina, an instrument dating from the late medieval era and featuring a waisted body with just four strings (Schreiner 133). These early acoustic guitars were narrower and deeper than their contemporary counterparts, and their waists were less pronounced (Guitar 1–2). According to Gangwere, the term "guitar" is generally applied to any of a variety of plucked string instruments dating from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; these are believed to have derived from both the aforementioned guitarra latina and the guitarra morisca (202). These early guitars had only four courses of strings — three double and the top course single — that ran from a pegbox resembling a violin's to a tension bridge glued to the soundboard, or the instrument's "belly." Consequently, the bridge withstood the direct plucking of those four strings (Guitar 3). A number of changes over the years, discussed further below, resulted in the instrument popularly known today.

By the early 20th century, the acoustic guitar had assumed a high degree of prominence in the United States, particularly among jazz, blues, and folk artists who subscribed to the "myth of acousticity" that emerged during this period. According to Bennett and Dawe (2001), the myth of acousticity concerned the specific characteristics of the guitar that contributed to its rich sound, in sharp contrast to the electric guitar sound that was becoming popular: "This myth pits the supposedly superior, authentic, 'natural' sound of the traditional wooden guitar, as perceived by sensory media (ears and eyes), against the inferior amplified sounds of guitars employing electronic magnetic pick-ups, sound processors, and amplifiers" (29). The second part of the myth concerned its cultural implications, as the acoustic guitar's place in the instrument hierarchy positioned electric versions as poor substitutes that had not yet earned their place in the respectable musician's repertoire. In this regard, Evans (1997) points out that by the early 1940s, the "tonal-purity-of-the-acoustic-guitar" debate could best be understood as a legacy of cultural hierarchy — a "well-worn High Culture aesthetic for instruments used in the performance of cultivated art music" — with the acoustic guitar now "firmly established as a respectable classical instrument" (Evans 167).

By the late 1940s, most blues singers accompanied themselves on the steel-string acoustic guitar (Friedlander 19). The 1960s witnessed an explosion in the popularity of acoustic guitars, due in large part to rock and roll bands such as the Beatles and their peers, who used them to good effect (Rowley 45). By the turn of the 21st century, the acoustic guitar had become a standard feature at various pop, rock, jazz, and folk festivals across the country, the best-known being the Newport Folk Festival, Woodstock, and the Mariposa Folk Festival. These events featured blues artists for whom acoustic guitars were virtually ubiquitous, and participants believed that the music being created on these instruments was a democratizing influence on society (Bennett & Dawe 29).

Conclusion

The research showed that acoustic guitars have a lengthy and notable history that extends back 400 years to Spain, where instrument-makers refined existing forms to develop the instrument that is popular around the world today. While it is clear that electric guitars have not met the fate that early advocates of the "myth of acousticity" might have envisioned, it is equally clear that the acoustic guitar is here to stay as well. Although instrument-makers will likely continue to identify ways to improve the technical aspects of the acoustic guitar and its manufacture, it is unlikely that they will be able to improve on the basic form as refined by Antonio Torres without creating an entirely new type of instrument in the process.