Guitar history & types of guitar

Summary

In this lesson, students will learn about the origins and development of the modern-day guitar, as well as get familiar with the most common types of the instrument.

_{The timing and pacing of the exercises in this lesson plan example are approximate and will differ depending on your students' skill level. If the pace of this lesson plan is too fast for you, divide it into several lessons and add additional activities (see 'Activities' section). If the pace of this lesson plan is too slow for you, explore the 'Beyond the lesson' chapter at the end of this lesson plan for additional activities.}

⏰ Time: 45 min

🎓 Grades: 5-12

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson, students will be able to...

• Get familiar with the guitar history;
• Recognize the sound of a guitar;
• Recognize different types of guitars.

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:

• None

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io web app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to WIFI
• Guitars (optional)

Song suggestions

Inspiration

🕐 5 min - Listen to guitar

• Open a song from the suggestion list (except “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” - it will be used later in the lesson) and project it onto a screen. Click on “Guitar” under “Tools” - “Visuals” to make the guitar chord diagrams visible.
• Listen to a part of the song, for example, Intro.

What is the main instrument you can hear? (Acoustic or electric guitar)

How would you describe the sound of the guitar? (Choose suitable adjectives: mellow, sweet, soft, mild, bright, harsh, distorted etc.)

Theory

🕐 10 min - Guitar history

- Guitar is a plucked string instrument made of wood. Its name originates from the ancient Greek “kithara” - a lyre-like string instrument played by Greek gods.

- The guitar is related to oud (an Arab string instrument with a curved back, originating before 3000 BC) and lute - its European version.

• To hear the sound of the lute, listen to Verse 1 and Chorus 1 from the song “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher”.
• Discuss these questions:

What's the difference between the lute sound and the guitar sound?

How would you describe the lute sound?

Have you heard lute played in other songs?

- In the early 16th century, the Spanish guitar had an hourglass-shaped body, flat back and four courses (three pairs of strings and the thinnest single string).

- A fifth course of strings was added before 1600. At the end of the 18th century, a sixth course was added. Before 1800, the courses were replaced by single strings tuned E-A-D-G-B-E, same as the modern guitars.

- Early guitars had gut strings, which were later replaced by nylon and steel strings.

- In the beginning of the 20th century musicians found that the guitar was too quiet for modern music. Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamp solved it by building a hollow-bodied electric guitar in 1931.

- It was further improved and transformed by such guitar makers as Les Paul and Leo Fender who built the first solid-body electric guitars in the 1940s.

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🕐  10 min - Guitar types

• Guitars can be divided in two categories: acoustic and electric.
• Acoustic guitars are designed to be played without amplification. Here are some of the acoustic guitar types:

Classical, also called “Spanish” guitar has six nylon strings that are plucked with fingers. It is used to play classical music.

Flat-top guitar has steel strings, a larger body and a narrower neck than the classical guitar. It's used in such musical styles as folk, country, pop, jazz, and blues.

Archtop guitar has a curved top and is used mainly in jazz and country music.

Resonator guitar is partly made of metal, which makes it sound louder and brighter.

Twelve-string guitar has 6 pairs of steel strings

• Electric guitars can have solid, semi-hollow or hollow bodies. They usually have 6 steel strings and produce little sound without amplification, thus electromagnetic pickups are used to capture the string vibrations and amplify their sound.
• Bass guitars can be both acoustic or electric. The most common ones have 4 strings, there are also models with 5 or 6 strings.
• Fretless guitars have fretless fingerboards that are mostly used on bass guitars to imitate the sound of the upright bass.

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🕐  15 min - Compare guitars

• Take a look at the guitar(s) you have available in the classroom.

What type(s) are they?

• Select one of the songs below and project it onto the screen!

Supermassive Black Hole

Freaks

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Let It Go

• Ask students what type of guitar they heard and how would they describe its sound. (The mentioned songs feature electric guitar.)
• Select one of the songs below and project it onto the screen!

More Than Words

Fast Car

Heather

• Ask students what type of guitar they heard and how would they describe its sound. (The mentioned songs feature acoustic guitar.)
• Discuss what are the differences between the electric and acoustic guitars and their sounds.

Reflection

🕐  5 min - Discussion

• Which guitar type do you like best? Which one would you like to play?
• What songs would you like to learn on the guitar?

Beyond the lesson

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by…

• Choosing a guided song tutorial and learning a song on the guitar

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