The Month of Rock
Rocking out and listening to guitar solos has been a part of the music for the past half century. The guitar has been an influential part of culture whether played by famous artists like Elvis for concerts or celebrities like Adam Sandler to serenade girls in their movies. Guitar is relatively easy to teach on a beginners level and it has become one of the most popular portable instruments in the world. In 1987, April became a month to celebrate guitars and to promote guitar-based products around the world. During this time, it's a great time to learn about guitars and to look into different guitar products and accessories.
The guitar has cloudy origins with pictures of people playing instruments resembling guitars as far as Babylonian times about three thousand years ago. The earliest known occurrence of an instrument called a guitar is in the 1200’s, when the Spanish used the Guitarra Latina and Guitarra Morisca. These instruments had the framework of a modern guitar with multiple strings and two points of attachment like any chordophone. In the 1600’s the baroque guitar started becoming popular in multiple countries: Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal. Today, the guitar is becoming increasingly attractive to newer musicians. About 2.5 million guitars are bought each year in the U.S. alone.
During the month of April, guitar companies, GAMA and NAMM, promote their products as a way to express their interest and spark ours in guitars. The two types of guitars they promote are acoustic and electric guitars. The difference between the two is quite vast. Acoustic guitars are hollow and lets sound vibrations to enter the instrument and multiply the sounds coming out. Electric guitars are filled with electronics and use magnets that record when the metal strings are strung and makes those sounds come out of an amplifier. With guitars, many accessories are like picks and tuners are optional, but help musicians play better.
So, take a moment, appreciate your guitar, and rock out.
Dexter Hom