The Electric Guitar : The Greatest Inventions Of The 20th Century

From the moment I heard the majestic scream of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar, I knew I had to learn how to play guitar. I was but only a listener at the time, but the passion of a musician budded within me, and locked my vicarious attention on every note. The more I listened to Van Halen, the more I wanted to stop being a listener, and start being a creator. It was like some insane urge came over me every time I listened to them - telling me to create something. It was a musical high.

In this paper, I am going to discuss my experiences playing in the WNE, the bass guitar, and the one and only Willie Nelson. In the legendary WNE, I am the bass player. For this project, it took hours on end of studying the bass inside and out to become this legendary player that I dreamt of before this project. The electric bass, a mystical object that is the foundation of every song, was invented by Paul Tutmarc. Since the 1960s the bass guitar has replaced other instruments

Rock ‘n’ roll has played a major role in some known historical developments post World War 2. Music plays a significant part in America 's Cold War culture. Music gave us a sense of new technologies and helped the world to prosper. It also is linked with African Americans living in the South. Music was known for shaping the lives of the people during the 1950s and 1960s. Music was geared towards the youth, race, ethnicity, gender and class. “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America” by Altschuler, Glenn C, tells us the story of the birth of rock and roll during the concrete years of 1955 to 1965. Altschuler gives us a overview of how rock ‘n’ roll has an historical context. “ For two years the Times printed dozens of

The extraordinary performances, recording, and lyrics of James Marshall Hendrix have made him impossible to forget. This American rock music guitarist made a legendary mark not only in the history of rock 'n' roll but also on the pop culture as a whole (Ross 32). With unique techniques never seen before and blatant sex-related performances on stage, he became one of the most influential music figures of the 60s (Kamin).

Of all the artists of the psychedelic era, Jimi Hendrix was the most influential. Jimi took inspiration from the soulful guitar of blues players and developed his own style from it. Jimi was left-handed and played his Stratocaster guitar upside down while creating unearthly sounds that humbled other guitarists of the time. Hendrix was unknown until playing at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 where he played an amazing array of songs and then lit his guitar on fire at the end of the show (DeCurtis 133). Although Jimi seemed like a very wild and unpredictable person on stage he was actually a focused musician, that part of Jimi's personality is explained in this quote by Ernie Isley: "The best musicians are very observant. They hold their arms wide, willing to embrace suggestions; they study their craft, and Jimi certainly did all that." (Lanham 102) But as

He raised the bar of playing and caused guitarists to sacrifice all their time studying the instrument with the hope to keep up. The guitar work and techniques used in Van Halen were unheard of at the time. Eddie Van Halen is a special case, he invented and revolutionized completely new techniques. The most iconic technique used by the legend is the world famous tapping. This is when both hands of the guitar player are used on the fretboard to play notes. This goes against the traditional way where one hand is used to hold down the note and the other hand is used to pick it. He realized that he didn’t have to pick the note and by freeing up his right hand he could play extra notes on the fretboard. Eddie Van Halen also brought fast alternate picking to the table. No one knew it was possible to play that fast until the first time they listened to the second track “eruption” of the first album which stuck pure terror into every guitar player. Other techniques used were pinch harmonics, where the pick was tilted at an angle to produce an overtone. He also popularized natural harmonics, where the overtones were tapped out over the frets using the left or right hand. Eddie Van Halen revolutionized the way the whammy bar is used. The whammy bar when used pulls the strings flat on the guitar and is normally used a little to create a natural vibrato sound. Eddie Van Halen took this

There are certain musicians that come along that shift a culture, attitude, or future musicians. Another musician that went on influence future generations and considered one of the greatest guitar players in the world is Eddie Van Halen.

In the novel Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie uses a great deal of symbolism. What may come across as just an object actually has a meaning. From specifically Robert Johnson’s guitar to the vast population shown dealing with alcoholism, Alexie creates a deeper meaning of the novel. The most well represented symbol in the novel is Robert Johnson’s guitar.

This is a story of the man who owned the 60’s music generation with his guitar finesse. Hendrix is perceived as a guitar sorcerer who used his teeth to play the strings, guitar between his legs and behind his head in brand new outbursts of musicality.

No matter what radio station is being played, who is playing, or the type of genre is performed at some point in time everyone has heard the chaotic sound of the electric guitar. Nowadays there’s only a few who know the origin of which the electric guitar. The man who created the first prototype of the electric body guitar was Lester William Polsfuss, also known as Les Paul. Without this man, much of the music that is listened to today would be drastically different; just the sound of the dull acoustic guitar would not be able to grasp our attention as securly.

Jimi Hendrix, born as Johnny Allen Hendrix, is one of the most legendary guitarists in rock music. As the Rolling Stones puts it Jimi is “ one of the biggest culture figures of the 60s” (Kemp). He has been and still is a major influence on guitarists and other musicians. Of course, like many famous musicians, he had to work his way to the top being a sideman for a bit.

He went on to expanding his talents by writing songs for the band he co-founded. Once his band, Van Halen, was signed to Warner Bros. Records, he was able to travel to far places to perform on stages outside of those in small town clubs. For the past 35 years, the famous guitarist has impressed large audiences with his revolutionary two-handed techniques and styles on the stringed instrument. Like most nineteenth-century virtuosos, Van Halen’s highly accomplished and distinguished technical ability greatly displays his virtuosic musicianship.

The Guitar is a stringed musical instrument with six or twelve strings that is played by either plucking or strumming the strings. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. If an individual were asked to identify a guitar most people would answer the question correctly more so than they would if they were asked about another instrument. When people think about famous guitarists, they more than likely think of famous rock and roll guitarists and do not think about the many other famous guitarists in other musical genres such as jazz or country. The guitar is a well-known instrument that influences many musical genres including Country.

More than any other instrument, the electric guitar has shaped and redefined music in the last century. Although popular culture did not pay much attention to it when it was first introduced in the 1930s, it has since become equated with the very essence of rock and roll music. On an international level, the electric guitar is by far "the most famous instrument to come out of the United States" (howstuffworks.com).

and for the most of it the idea of the guitar has shifted onto that of