Guitars
Today’s modern guitar is a chordophone with a long-neck fretted fingerboard. It typically has incurved sides, a generally flat soundboard and back, and six or twelve strings, played by plucking or strumming with the fingers or a plectrum. There are several types that are shown in this collection: the classical guitar (Spanish guitar/nylon-string guitar), including a parlor guitar; the steel-string acoustic; the electric guitar; the Hawaiian or steel guitar, played across the player’s lap with a steel bar; the Dobro or resonator guitar; and the harp guitar. The history of the guitar in Europe can be traced back in its roots to the 15th century and possibly earlier depending upon variances, such as the oud of ancient Mesopotamia.
