| The guitar (violao) is a musical instrument | | | | Flamenco guitars; Steel string guitars |
| that utilizes strings to produce sound. | | | | (include the flat top or `folk` guitar); |
| Usually, guitar is made with six strings, but | | | | Twelve string guitars; Arch-top guitars; |
| four, seven, eight, ten and twelve string | | | | Renaissance or Baroque guitars; Resonator, |
| guitars are not rare. | | | | resophonic or Dobro guitars; Russian guitars; |
| | | | Acoustic bass guitars; Tenor guitars; Harp |
| Guitar (violao) is considered as an | | | | guitars; Extended range guitars; Guitar |
| instrument in many forms of music like blues, | | | | battente. |
| country, flamenco, rock and even pop. | | | | |
| Acoustically playing, the guitar involves | | | | Electric guitars: Electric guitar bodies are |
| production of the tone by vibration of the | | | | solid, semi-hollow or hollow. The sound |
| string and modulation by the hollow body. | | | | produced is little and low without |
| Electronic manipulation can also be done on | | | | amplification. An amplifier forms an integral |
| the tone using an amplifier. | | | | part of electric guitars. Vibrations of steel |
| | | | strings converted into electric signals by |
| Combinations of various woods, with either | | | | electromagnetic pick-ups are fed in to an |
| nylon or steel strings are used for the | | | | amplifier using a cable or radio transmitter. |
| construction of guitars. The person who makes | | | | The sound is often modified either using |
| and repairs string instruments like guitar is | | | | electronic devices or through distortion of |
| called a luthier. | | | | valves naturally. The pick-ups here are of |
| | | | two types: single line or double line, each |
| History and development of string instruments | | | | can be either active or passive. Electric |
| similar to guitar (violao) can be traced back | | | | guitar sound is most commonly used in jazz, |
| to at least 5,000 years. In those days, when | | | | rock-n-roll and blues style of music. |
| synthetic material was not available for | | | | |
| making guitars, a guitar was defined as `a | | | | Construction of the guitar (violao) is based |
| long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, | | | | on whether the player is left-handed or |
| ribs, and a flat back instrument, most often | | | | right-handed. Usually, players use their |
| with incurved sides`. | | | | dominant hand to pluck the strings. For most |
| | | | of the people, it is the right hand. The |
| There are two major types of guitars: | | | | other hand of the player is on the frets for |
| | | | depressing and gripping guitar strings. |
| Acoustic guitar (violao): A soundboard | | | | |
| (present in the front of the guitar body in | | | | The various major guitar components include: |
| the form of a piece of wood) is used to | | | | headstock, nut, fretboard, frets, truss rod, |
| produce the sound from this kind of guitars. | | | | inlays, neck, heel or neck joint, strings, |
| No external arrangement or device is needed | | | | guitar body and pickups. |
| to produce sound. This makes the acoustic | | | | |
| guitar quieter than other commonly found band | | | | There are certain accessories that might be |
| or orchestra instruments and often an | | | | helpful while playing a guitar (violao). |
| external amplifier is used to make the guitar | | | | Accessories like: Plectrum - also called the |
| sound audible and to match the sound of other | | | | guitar pick, is used for picking the strings. |
| band instruments. The latest range of | | | | It is made of a plastic like hard material; |
| acoustic guitars come with a host of pick-ups | | | | Slides - used for creating glissando effect |
| for amplifying and modifying the raw guitar | | | | in blues and rock genre of music. Neck of a |
| sound. | | | | bottle, knife blade or round metal bar, any |
| | | | of these can be used as a slide; Copatasto - |
| Within the acoustic guitar type, the | | | | it is used for changing pitch of open |
| sub-categories include: Classical guitars; | | | | strings. |